Strangling Vine

''A long brown vine that winds its way throughout the jungle canopy, this plant has shiny, moss-like leaves of deep green spread out along its length. The leaves carry wicked thorns along their undersides.''

Combat
The strangling vine's tactics are simple. It waits until a suitable prey appears, only revealing its presence as it snakes down from the canopy to strike. The vine will also immediately shorten itself, dragging the target up into the canopy to hang until dead.

Only once its prey is dead (or, more specifically, once it has stopped breathing and begun to cool) will the vine release the target. Nibenese monks that wander the Crescent Forest in meditation are said to know techniques to control their breathing and blood flow that can foil a strangling vine, tricking the plant into releasing its target while still alive.

Description
The strangling vine is a solitary parasite that exists by looping itself around its target and throttling it to death. It dwells in the upper canopy, extending itself across known pathways and animal tracks. When it detects a suitable prey, it loops itself down and attempts to strangle or crush the target.

As the body decomposes, its nutrients feed the host trees around which the strangling vine has woven itself. The vine itself draws vital sustenance from these hosts, benefiting indirectly from each death it causes.

The strangling vine seems to possess a rudimentary intelligence and will actively seek vulnerable areas on its prey's body. The vines appear to be able to identify major blood vessels and airways and focus upon these.

The average strangling vine stretches up to 25 feet through the jungle, often twining between three or four trees, and has approximately ten thorny leaves per fivefoot section.