Basilisk

Very closely related to the cockatrice, the basilisk appears in numerous bestiaries and encyclopedias before becoming, in contemporary times, a creature featured in numerous role-playing games.

The basilisk is said to have been born, like most of the snakes mentioned in Greek mythology, from the blood that flowed from the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa as Perseus flew holding her in his hand. The names of the snakes born from this blood are not specified. Others dispute this origin and believe instead that the basilisk hatched from a spoiled chicken egg (Septuagint, Isaiah 59), possibly incubated by a toad.

Aristotle (4th century BC) is said to have mentioned the basilisk's lethal power: "It is true that if the basilisk can kill us, we can reciprocate by presenting it with the polished surface of a mirror: the poisonous vapors it emits from its eyes will strike the ice, and, by reflection, will send back to it the death it wishes to inflict." 3 And Alexander the Great is said to have had a mirror-polished shield forged to protect himself from basilisks while on his way to conquer India. 2

For role-playing games such as D&D, Pathfinder, and several others.

Scale: 28 mm

Size: Extra Large (75 mm base)