From D&D again
My first encounter with a cockatrice was in my first Dungeons & Dragons game. I was playing a Dwarven warrior and opened a treasure chest to find this dangerous creature lurking inside. It turned me to stone before I could get a look at the tiny figurine. What I saw was that my character was turned to stone by an angry chicken. So Cockatrice and Chicken shall forever be entwined in my mind. Now, this is a real mythological creature with a complicated birth and a relation to the Basilisk. I think I remember it being born in a certain material on a certain day with a certain star in the sky. Really exact.
The picture at the top is kind of right for the Windemere version only it’s more feathery and no leather wings. Some have colorful tails if they grow big enough. Their ‘stone stare’ is not as potent as one would think since it is a slow enchanted instead of an immediate change. In the wild, the Cockatrice will pin its prey or injure its legs to give itself enough time for the change. Then they shatter the statue to eat the internal organs that have been turned into clay. Being a favorite dungeon and treasure horde trap creature, most of these are found in abandoned ruins. Small flocks of 4-5 can be found in the wild, but only those areas that have barely been touched by even the most basic civilization.
I’ve yet to decide how big a threat the cockatrice will be throughout the Windemere stories since they are a tough one to include. It’s really a high fatality monster even with the reduction in stoning ability. Unlike the ‘version’ found in the series so far, the ‘true’ Cockatrice’s power can’t be reversed simply by looking away. It means I’ll have to decide if I should cripple a character, add fodder solely to show the power, or never give them a chance to use it. A warning to all fantasy authors: Think before unleashing a deadly beast on the group. No kills can reduce their future potency.
Check out these two books for more Cockatrice fun. Click the Covers!
Cover art by Jason Pedersen
The Cock of the South By C.S. Boyack
Legends of Windemere 
Thanks for the nod. I loved Gallicus the cockatrice. He was a lot of fun to write.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome. Thought you’d like that nod. Always great to have a fun character to write, especially something unique like a cockatrice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on Entertaining Stories and commented:
Gallicus the cockatrice gets a nod in this post. Visit Charles’ blog first, then check him out in The Cock of the South. It would be fun to compare to the version in The Compass Key.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for the reblog. It would be an interesting comparison. Though to be fair, it’s a spectral cockatrice in The Compass Key.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your vivid descriptions makes me want to add one to my world. 🙂 But I don’t see how it would fit.
LikeLike
They’re a tough one to add at times. Doesn’t hurt to keep them in mind in case you find an opening.
LikeLike
Ha ha ha – “my character was turned to stone by an angry chicken” 😀 Classic!
Good writing tip on the fatality aspect 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
At 13 that was the best explanation we could come up with. Needless to say, my dwarf refused to go near anything that clucked after he was revived.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pity. I hoped he’d become a great fan of KFC, just to get his own back.
LikeLike
He would, but he didn’t know if eating a cockatrice would turn him back to stone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Those KFC buckets are even more dangerous than I realized.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Especially when you factor in the grease and oil.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Mmm… Grease…
LikeLike
I loved that line too, Nicholas!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great minds… 😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
One of my first encounters with a cockatrice was in A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. The cockatrice (or it might have been a basilisk, but in that series they’re interchangeable) started off being a serious threat, but then the hero actually ended up using the cockatrice to help stop an evil bug infestation.
Also, I love that you think of them as angry chickens.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They do look very chicken-like in that picture. I think I heard about the cockatrice/basilisk eating evil insects. A great use for them beyond the ‘monster that needs killing’.
LikeLike
It was actually a really cool way they used the cockatrice. They gave it to a centaur, who basically held the cockatrice facing away from him and then ran in a big circle around the bigs, stoning them all. Well, most of them. There was also some wildfire involved. But the cockatrice did some serious work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sorry. I was laughing at the phrase ‘stoning them all’ because I just thought of another comical version of a cockatrice. 😀
LikeLike
Excellent post, Charles! That creature is certainly a feathery little fiend, although in Craig’s book, he was really rather cute! Mind you, he was just a baby.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I prefer the cute ones than these critters. Though I’d think the cute ones would be deadlier. You couldn’t resist looking at those.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thats true! Never thought of that! 😀
LikeLike
Nicholas took my joke so I’ll just say this sounds like a bothersome creature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Truly an irritant to adventurers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah.
LikeLike
An almost handsome monster! I find it rather enchanting (sorry for the pun)!
LikeLiked by 1 person
No apologies necessary. This is a very pun-heavy and welcoming blog. 😀
LikeLike
I learn something new on every visit. Fantasy writers have some cool characters.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Definitely a lot of mythology and folklore to play with. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person