Basilisk

A construct routinely associated with the Lone Power. It is generally assumed that this association means the Lone Power created basilisks Itself -- or, more accurately, assembled them; like other constructs, they are not alive in the strict sense of the word, but are more like machines made of organic material.

There are three kinds of basilisk: hot, cold and starry. So far only the cold variety has turned up in the series -- Kit runs into a flock of them during his search for Darryl in AWAL. They are described as looking rather like living paper planes (hence the occasionally-used nickname "origami basilisk".) They have a triangular symmetry with three wings set at 120-degree angles to one another, and a long, nasty, toothy mouth running the length of the body between two of the wings. The wings are clawed at the forward edge, and the whole creature is covered with a pale-blue short fur or down.

The cold basilisks are by far the least difficult of the three types for a wizard to deal with. They are the least dangerous (their main purpose in life being to tear things apart with those claws) and are vulnerable to heat. Hot basilisks are similarly vulnerable to cold, but are much tougher and somewhat more intelligent. The worst ones to deal with are the starry basilisks (the nickname has to do with their six-pointed stellate appearance). These generate a field which can make the flesh and other tissues of a victim petrify: if the effect persists too long, it becomes permanent, and the victim dies. The hot basilisks generate a similar field which can melt the flesh right off the bones of whatever creature is unable to escape their area of influence.

In all cases, basilisks are most dangerous in packs. Individual specimens can be dealt with fairly easily, but (knowing this weakness) basilisks do not often allow themselves to be separated from their pack-groups unless specifically sent away from them on some errand by the Lone One.

(In European heraldry, basilisks are often confused with cockatrices, but in actuality they are very different creatures.) (AWAL et seq.)