A mandragora rises spontaneously from a mandrake root that has drawn nutrition from the corpse or ichor of a demon. A typical mandragora stands at just over 3 feet tall and only weighs 30 pounds. However, its size hides the creature's fantastic strength and brutality. When a mandragora attacks, its fingers grow into whipping, thorny vines nearly 10 feet long, with which it makes its slam attacks.

A mandragora rarely strays far from its lair amid tangled roots or vines, but when it encounters any other creature, it attacks regardless of the odds. However, a mandragora can usually recognize druids and does not attack them or their animal companions unless they attack it first. It has no qualms about attacking a druid's allies.

When mandragora poison is mixed with its thick, gooey, sap-like blood and 1,000 gp worth of alchemical reagents, the resulting fluid can be used as a focus for the scrying spell. The fluid only lasts for the duration of the spell's casting time and resulting effects but the subject of the spell takes a –4 penalty on the save to resist it.

A mandrake root that is growing on or near a demon's corpse or ichor has a 2% chance of awakening as a mandragora within a day of first absorbing the tainted material. A creature that wants to create a mandragora can do so with alchemy; the process requires a day of work, a mandrake root, several pints of ichor or the body of a demon of CR 6 or above, and a successful DC 25 Craft (alchemy) check. The newly created mandragora is hostile, even to its creator.

Special Abilities

Poison (Ex) Slam—injury; Save Fort DC 15; Frequency 1/round for 4 rounds; Effect Confusion and fatigue; Cure No saves but “ Act normally ” Result on the confusion behavior table ends the effect.

Shriek (Su) Once per day as a standard action, a mandragora can give voice to an unsettling shriek. All creatures within a 30-foot spread of a shrieking mandragora must make a DC 15 Will save or become nauseated for 1d4 rounds. This is a sonic, mind-affecting ability. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Vulnerable to Supernatural Darkness (Ex) In areas of supernatural darkness (such as those created by Deeper darkness , but not by Darkness ), a mandragora is slowed, as the Slow Spell.