Bloom Crawler (SCoC)

The bloom crawler is an unusual plant that bears an uncanny resemblance to a toad. They are strong and hardy creatures that often choose to ignore fights they’re capable of winning. Left to itself, a bloom crawler uses its power of locomotion to follow the sun, always staying where the light is most direct. They trample meandering trails through their forests, and unwary travelers may find themselves following a bloom crawler in circles, mistakenly assuming they’ve found a game trail.

Diverse Diet. Bloom crawlers get nearly all of their energy from sunlight, but as they follow the sun they also graze indiscriminately, swallowing grass and soil alike. They use viney tendrils to smack bugs out of the air around them, devouring anything that sticks to the vines. Oddly, they can’t digest the seeds of fruit or other vegetation, and instead carry them alongside its own seeds.

Vegetative Defenses. Being energetic piles of vegetation, bloom crawlers sometimes must defend themselves against creatures that would nibble on them. Instead of using the force of its full body, or its toothy maw, a bloom crawler uses its vine tendrils to rapidly whip enemies. It can also spit its seeds with great force, which is useful in propagating its species but also serves as a weapon that dissuades most threats.

Animal Helpers. Although they can fend off most large herbivores, bloom crawlers often find themselves overwhelmed by insects they simply can’t manage. Bloom crawlers encourage birds to visit their leaves to help eat the bugs that vex them, creating a partnership that benefits both.
More intelligent creatures have learned to take advantage of this need, learning that the bloom crawler will follow any creature that helps it clean its leaves. Some communities of wood elves have used this trick to gather bloom crawlers into semi-domesticated herds.