Brambleback

The Brambleback is a magical beast whose body fuses plant and animal into a single living organism, a merging of flora and fauna that makes it as much a growing thing as a moving one. It is counted as a sentient being, carrying its own awareness rather than acting on instinct alone, and it makes its home among forests, a setting suited to its part-plant nature. Where the Brambleback first came from has never been recorded, and its true homeland remains unidentified. It has, however, been observed in Kumungu, at least one confirmed place where these creatures have appeared. The species is bound up with Ivern, the forest being whom mortals came to call Bramblefoot, the Green Father, and the Old Woodsman. After he was transformed into all that remained of the God-Willow, Ivern wandered far across Ionia and beyond and formed close kinships with creatures great and small, observing their habits and lending an occasional hand. Bramblebacks were among the beings he delighted in; he is remembered for playing tricks with the mischievous creatures much as he hugged thorny elmarks and laughed with the elder-fungus of the woods. That playful, mischievous streak is the clearest trait recorded of the Brambleback itself.