Stemdragon

The stemdragon is a unique predator native to Nexus. This giant plant-animal hybrid utilizes its ability to masquerade as local plant life in order to ambush its prey. Keeping its massive lower body burrowed in the ground, the stemdragon erupts from the earth when prey draws near, snapping up any creature fooled by its disguise. Its heavy, rotund lower body is supported by no less than five pairs of legs, ranging from muscular hind legs to the more vestigial top limbs. It has a long skinny neck, ending in a narrow head equipped with dangerously powerful jaws and a mouth full of jagged teeth. Its rear is covered in a number of large thorny spikes, which the stemdragon can launch as a barrage of prickly missiles.

As a carnivorous plant, stemdragons are partly dependent on sunlight and absorb nutrients from the ground when burrowed. However, they prefer fresh meat and will patiently wait for a succulent morsel to stumble across its path. Although they are often found near the Whimwood forests of Galeras, they can be found in other parts of Nexus as well. Their ability to burrow rapidly into the ground allows them to conceal their large forms, as well as provide a defense mechanism on the rare occasion when they are outmatched.

SPECIAL ATTACK: Thorn grenade! When threatened, stemdragons reach behind and pull at one of the thorny spikes growing from their rump, showering the surrounding area with explosive spikes.

ARCHIVE FUN FACT! The Exile adventurers Liara, Buck Wanderbeck, and Sarge had an up-close and personal encounter with a stemdragon on their first trip to Nexus. Needless to say, the encounter was unpleasant for all parties involved, but especially the stemdragon.

Galactic Archive
Stemdragon is the name new arrivals to Nexus have given to a strange, predatory plant-animal hybrid that appears to be a mature form of the whimwood plant. Instead of being rooted in the ground, however, these plants undergo a metamorphosis that transforms them and allows them to uproot themselves from the ground to go about on many pairs of feet like and enourmouse long-necked insect, albeit one with no discernible means of sight.

The reasons for this transformation are not clearly understood, as it only occurs in a small percentage of stemdragons. Though lacking in intelligence, they are furiously aggressive and will attack anything and everything in sight. Stemdragon attacks are a constant danger to those hoping to harvest whimwood fibers.

Diet
Stemdragons are not picky eaters, nor are they particularly intelligent. Instead they operate on instinct and raw aggression. They have been known to consume living prey of all sizes, but also machinery, vehicles, even parts of buildings - nothing is safe when a stemdragon is on the loose.