Cockatrice

Cockatrices are among the smallest of the wyverns, being of similar stature to the common goose. Like many members of the bird wyvern family, the head is short and blunt-snouted, with a downturned lower jaw. The few teeth are present only in the tips of the jaws, with the four upper front teeth per side being the largest and slightly forward-pointing, and the front lower teeth being angled even more strongly forward. At the base of the skull are two extremely elastic sac-like organs used for storing poison from ingested plant material. The sac is close enough to the throat for the cockatrice to expel the poison with an exhalation of breath. Before it leaves the throat, the poison mixes with fumes from digesting material in the cockatrice's stomach, creating a thick, heavy vapor.   The long, slender forelimbs are overall similar to those of most other wyverns. Like other wyverns, the first finger is the shortest and the third is the longest. Like all other known wyverns, a long, pointed wrist bone known as a "styliform element", exceeds both the third finger and the ulna in length, extending backward from the forelimb bones. This styliform, an adaptation to help support the membrane, may have been a newly evolved wrist bone, or a calcified rod of cartilage. It is slightly curved and tapered at its outer end.   Cockatrices are among the most colorful of the wyverns with a heavy covering of feathers. The feathers are all very simple in structure and "paintbrush-like", with long quill-like bases topped by sprays of thinner filaments. Small patches of wrinkled skin are present between the fingers and the styliform bone, like all known wyverns, the planes of cockatrice are formed by a skin membrane rather than flight feathers. The membrane stretched between the shorter fingers, the elongated third finger, and the styliform bone, and connects to the torso. Everything about the cockatrice from its colorful feathers to its sharp comb is designed to draw the eye. To meet the gaze of the cockatrice is death. Any living creature that makes eye contact with the cockatrice instantly turns to stone.

Female cockatrice lay a clutch of about 15 eggs once per year. These eggs typically hatch after 2 months. Cockatrice chicks are precocious and follow their mother in a family group. They typically reach maturity after 6 months.

Cockatrices prefer drier climates and build their nest far from rivers and in places where it is harder for water to accumulate.

Though classified as an omnivore, cockatrices are primarily small prey specialists and receive little to no nutrition from the plants they consume. But these plants are absolutely vital to the cockatrice’s survival. Cockatrices have a weak bite, they can’t maintain their speed very long, and they’re not exactly known for the acrobatic flight of other wyverns. Not to mention the cockatrice's own gaze makes it hard to actively hunt and chase prey for the risk of turning the potential meal to stone. Thus, the cockatrice’s ability to hunt relies almost entirely on the plants it consumes. But these aren’t your ordinary grass. The cockatrice is very picky and only eats plants with toxic qualities. As a corruption of a basilisk, the cockatrice has its own form of toxic attack. Once ingested, the cockatrice’s system appropriates these plant toxins and stores them inside sac organs at the back of the mouth. When it gets hungry, the cockatrice will find a scent trail left behind by prey and follow it to the animal’s burrow. By combining the fumes from digesting plant matter with the poisons it’s stored in its sacs, the cockatrice creates a heavy poison cloud that it expels into the prey’s burrow. Effectively gassing the occupants and allowing it to feed.

Some cockatrices have strong organizations and community groups. Desert cockatrices, for example, have a strong social hierarchy and are facultatively colonial during breeding. Providing mutual aid has also been recorded within many of the cockatrice groups. Young cockatrices have been known to play and take part in elaborate social games. Documented group games follow "king of the mountain" or "follow the leader" patterns. Other play involves the manipulation, passing, and balancing of sticks. Cockatrices also take part in other activities, such as sliding down smooth surfaces. These games are understood to play a large role in the adaptive and survival ability of the wyverns.     Even with the powerful tools at their disposal, cockatrices are prey to dragons and other wyverns who are immune to its gaze. Basilisks also frequently prey on cockatrice eggs and their own killer vision trumps the cockatrice’s. The cockatrice’s predators aren’t just limited to other monsters but regular animals as well. A cockatrice who doesn’t keep its head on a constant swivel is vulnerable to being attacked from behind. If a dog or fox were to get the jump on a cockatrice and manage to get a grab on the head or neck, then it’s lights out. But no predator is as notorious as the weasel. For whatever reason, weasels are completely immune to the cockatrice’s gaze and poison. As such they routinely hunt cockatrice without fear and watching the two fight makes one realize just how much the cockatrice relies on its abilities. The only thing a cockatrice can really do is fly away. The weasel's proficancy at killing cockatrices are so renowned that medieval bestiaries are filled with depictions of them killing cockatrices.

Cockatrices can be tamed. Albeit, with a great deal of caution and patience.

If a trained chef carefully removes the poison sacks, cockatrice meat can be one of the more palatable delicacies the Lower-Levels has to offer. It tastes like chicken.

Comparable to corvids, cockatrices are found in some of the harshest environments on Earth, where surviving requires higher intelligence and better adaptations. Secondly, cockatrices are omnivorous, suggesting that they are exposed to more different stimuli and environments. Furthermore, many cockatrices live in a large family group and demonstrate high social complexities.   Their intelligence is boosted by the long growing period of the young. By remaining with the parents, the young have more opportunities to learn necessary skills.   When compared to dogs and cats in an experiment testing the ability to seek out food according to three-dimensional clues, cockatrice out-performed the mammals. A meta-analysis testing how often wyverns invented new ways to acquire food in the wild found cockatrice to be the most innovative. An Organization review suggested that their cognitive abilities are on par with those of non-human great apes.

Basilisks and cockatrices were originally separate creatures until one was mistranslated as the other in a 14th-century book, leading to the two names being considered largely synonymous afterward. A study into the notes of alchemists reveals that the cockatrice was actually the result of experiments into creating a tamable form of basilisk by having a rooster incubate a snake egg. The nascent cockatrice killed its creator upon hatching and escaped into the wild. This exact incident independently occurred enough times for the escapees to find each other and establish a stable breeding population. Mentions of the cockatrice can be found in the works of Pliny the Elder and several mentions in the Book of Isaiah. However, it could be possible for these to be mistranslations of the older and more famous basilisk. The beast appeared sometime around the 14th century featuring in the heraldry of some European families. Within the Trench, cockatrices are quite rare due to the lack of poisonous plants to fuel their poison breath. Those that have survived have done so by preying on small poisonous monsters and bugs to maintain their toxic abilites.