Cactaceae

This gentle soul loves all things cactus. The plants grow along its back, sprouting from its very spine and past its thick scales to bask in the sunlight this creature so desperately searches for. The easiest place to find a Cactaceae is in the desert, curled up in large patches of cacti. Yet, if you find a coil of cacti that seem to spiral up towards the sky, do not touch it. A Cactaceae will not attack unless provoked but sneaking up on one is a one-way ticket to its sickly venom.

A single bite from this creature can kill anything within several minutes. Sucking out the poison is impossible as the venom turns into a blob within the very blood vessels it is in, foaming up to cut off blood flow and, eventually, suffocating the target by blocking air from reaching its lungs. Although the venom is dangerous, this creature rarely strikes without warning. The diamond rattler on its tail is the best warning it can give. If provoked or scared, Cactaceae will rattle for as long as it can before striking whoever or whatever is threatening it. If it can run, it will.

Such a large creature needs a lot of space to exist in but Cactaceae are not beyond settling close to civilization of dragons or beasts. Their presence is seen as a blessing from the gods. They bring vegetation by dropping cactus seeds all over the ground, nurturing the small plants it so desperately loves. No one knows why such a creature loves something as strange as a cactus, but no one questions it. After all, it just seems content surrounded by cacti, the spines running off of its scales causing gentle whispering in the air.