Ironmaw

Ironmaws were a type of sentient and carnivorous tree native to the Lower planes.

Description
Ironmaws largely resembled dead, oak trees, though their trunks and limbs were much thicker than they ought to be based on their height. They were either leafless, or had leaves covered with tiny splotches of blood. Their twisted limbs were very long and had to be contorted to conceal their true length. Their limbs could reach to a length of. On the lower part of their trunks was a jagged mouth crevice, in length, that was lined with sharp knife-edged ridges of bark.

On average an ironmaw grew to be tall. Their trunk and bark was as dense as iron.

Personality
Ironmaws were ill-tempered and very malicious, liable to attack any creature that passed by them. They possessed a surprising degree of cunning and would wait patiently for all potential prey to wander into striking distance. Even if they had recently fed, for their ravenous hunger was near endless.

Abilities
Ironmaws had the ability to disguise themselves as any type of deciduous tree, which they used to waylay travelers and prey on animals. They slowly grew false leaves, as well as changed the color and texture of their bark to match the forest around them. It could anywhere from two to five days for them to form a perfect duplicate.

Being that they were plants, ironmaws were immune to paralysis, poisons, sleep and polymorph spells, as well as stunning.

Combat
Ironmaws grasped prey with their extensive branches and then dragged them to their waiting jaws. They would not do this to creatures holding fire though, instead slapping or striking at them to keep the creature away.

Society
Ironmaws were not social creatures. They would typically uproot themselves to destroy nearby saplings, ensuring that they wouldn't have to share their hunting grounds. However, there were places in the Lower planes where several ironmaws could be found clustered around a particularly rich area.

They were typically more active during daylight hours. They reproduced parthenogenetically, producing a bud once every three to seven years, which they would plant near a recent kill and then abandon.

Diet
Ironmaws were a carnivorous species and gained no nourishment from sunlight.

Homelands
Ironmaws were native to the Lower planes. There they could be found in forests, hills, and marshes of areas with a temperate or warm climate. They tended to stay in one area for extended periods of time, thus the area around them was often littered with the remains of their past victims.

They were particularly known to grow in the 248 layer of the Abyss and the fiendish plane of Fury's Heart.

Languages
Ironmaws only knew how to speak the Abyssal language.

Relationships
Some fiends were known to plant ironmaws to act as guardians of passageways or other accesses to their lairs.

Ironmaws acted as servants of the deities Deep Duerra, Laduguer and Talona.