Heath Adders
The zigzag-backed vipers of warm heath, dry terraces, and thorn, whose bite can kill a child, and against which scholars at Stillgate and herders at the Grey Line carry the same poultice.
Overview
Heath adders are the vipers of the Cradle web's dry, warm ground. They bask on heath and old terraces and in the thorn, and their bite, painful and sickening to a grown person, can kill a child or a dog. Scholars camped at Stillgate's gate in the Witnessfields and herders at the Grey Line carry the same poultice against it, and the same caution.
Appearance
A heath adder is short and thick, about as long as a Human's forearm and hand, with a broad, flat head distinct from the neck. Its eyes are red-brown with a vertical slit pupil. Down its back runs a dark zigzag stripe on a ground that is grey in the males and brown or coppery in the females, with a dark V or X on the top of the head. Some are all black.
It moves slowly and lies still in the sun, coiled flat to catch the warmth. Disturbed, it hisses loudly and strikes fast, then retreats.
Habitat and Range
Heath adders live in open, warm, dry ground with cover: the heath and grassed terraces of the Witnessfields and the sunny clearings and thorn of the Briarreach. They are found as well on the heathy uplands of the Confluence Basins and the dry terraces of the Headwater Marches.
Behaviour and Temperament
An adder hunts voles, mice, lizards, and fledglings, striking and letting go, then following the poisoned prey until it dies. It is shy and slips away from footsteps, and most bites happen when it is trodden on or picked up. Adders gather in numbers to sleep through the winter in a dry bank, and come out together on the first warm days.
Life Cycle
Females bear live young in late summer, half a dozen to a dozen, each as long as a finger and already venomous. Adders may live fifteen years.
Uses and Dangers
The bite swells, bruises black, and sickens: vomiting, faintness, and in a child or a small person sometimes death. Herders and travellers carry a poultice of herbs pressed to the bite and bound, and healers who know Vital Magic draw the venom out with Toxin Draw into a blackening poultice. Dogs, sheep, and cattle are bitten more often than people.
Lore and Belief
Basin Humans say an adder will not die until sunset, however it is killed. Thornbound children learn adder sign with the other warnings of the forest. Some Flockturn herders say the adders of the Witnessfields guard the markers; scholars at Stillgate say only that the old terraces are warm and full of voles, and wear boots.
Treasure-seekers who dig the old terraces for buried hoards say the adders lie thickest where the gold is, which is why so few have found it.