The vampire cactus attacks by shooting the
needles at the tips of its leaves into its victim. These
needles have a range of three yards. They remain attached
to the leaves by a thick, rubbery thread that unreels from
within the leaf. This thread is the vessel through which
the plant drains its victim's bodily fluids.
Once a target is dead, the plant reels in the needles
from that target and readies them to fire at any other
victim that presents itself. When it reaches satiation, it
reels in all its needles and does not attack anything again
for 2 days.
Damage to threads or leaves does no permanent harm
to the plant, since it can regrow a damaged leaf in several
days. The only way to kill the plant is to destroy its core.
Vampire cacti are immune to lightning and electrical
attacks (they ground the electricity into the desert through
their roots). They're very vulnerable to fire, however. Since
they have no minds, sleep, charm illusion, and other
mind-affecting spells have no effect.
Terrain: Any desert
Frequency: Very rare
# Appearing: 1-3
Vampire cacti are plants of the deep desert that
supplement their water supply by draining liquids from
animals that come within range.
Vampire cacti resemble century plants, with 12 fleshy
leaves, each tipped with a sharp needle about one inch
long. Sprouting from the plant's central core is a single
spike rising to a height of five to six feet. The leaves are
about five feet long, but droop toward the ground so the
main body of the plant stands about three feet high.
The leaves are dusty green with a narrow band of yellow
around their margins. The needles on their tips are white.
The central spike is golden yellow. Once every
midsummer a single small flower blooms at the top of the
central spike. This flower is blood-red in color. After this
flower has been pollinated, a small blood-red fruit forms.
The fruit is moist and sweet-tasting, almost irresistible to
most birds.
The plant itself is rooted to one spot, but it can move
its leaves rapidly. Vampire cacti are usually surrounded
by the skeletons and drained corpses of warm-blooded
denizens of the desert (kangaroo rats, etc.).