Name: Greater Northern Hydra (kath - “Hydra Nördliche”)
Habitat: Northern Karnor
Rarity: Very Rare
Threat: Moderate-Very High
Description: The Greater Northern Hydra is a rare cousin of the more common marsh hydras, notable for its dramatic coloration, thick armor scales, and tendency towards larger size than southern hydra. Like their smaller, darker cousins, these hydra are most known for their ability to to rapidly regrow their heads, and are commonly observed with three or more.
Hydra vary wildly in size due to their unique aetheric biology; a mature hydra is generally somewhat larger than a horse, but certain rare specimens have been observed to be hundreds of meters long. Like southern Hydra, these creatures prefer to keep most of their bodies submerged in lakes or rivers, both to help support their own enormous weight and ensure that large predators can only attack the heads, which the Hydra is happy to lose.
Although the hydra’s lower body is seldom observed, small hydra appear almost like lizards, with identifiable midsections, tails, and four clawed appendages. Older and larger hydra bodies outgrow their legs, which commonly remain folded up against their bodies, which they move via serpentine undulation.
Biome Role: Hydras are an apex ambush predator, and even young hydra are rarely killed by anything less than a dragon. Due to their strange metabolism, hydra can go for months or years between feedings; however, the effort of growing heads will rapidly deplete a hydra’s metabolic energy, initiating a feeding frenzy. Hydra also play an unusual role in the regulation of aether in an area; they rely on ambient sources of energy to cultivate their Gallstones, which helps reduce otherwise-dangerous levels of radiation from deposits of dragonshards or similar anomalies.
Diet: Hydra are obligate carnivores, but prefer to eat fish rather than expend the energy leaving their watery dens looking for large prey. In addition to fish, they commonly ambush large mammals which enter striking distance, and are an especially large threat to horses. Although they do not digest it well, Hydra commonly consume large quantities of plant matter when they are preparing to molt or after growing additional heads.
Aging & Reproduction: Hydras undergo a unique reproductive process. All hydra begin egg-laying at maturity, but the eggs remain unfertilized until a hydra has completed a mating-battle with another hydra, a process which involves the victor ripping off one or more heads from the loser and grafting them on to their own bodies. Though the loser survives and ultimately regains heads, the loss of energy and experience makes them less likely to win future mating-battles, and such unlucky hydra often die after impregnating several others. Hydra become infertile once they reach a certain age, but are capable of recognizing the scent of their offspring, who often lair nearby so their own parent can provide additional protection.
Hydras do not die of old age per se, but continue to grow. A very successful hydra can live for upwards of a hundred and fifty years; but eventually, such a hydra becomes too large to move and function properly, becoming immobile and paralyzed. Hydra which decide to nest near the wrong types of source for their Gallstone production are also prone to dangerous cancers.
Size: A hydra’s size is purely a function of its age and Gallstone quality. Most are large animals, often dwarfing larger mammals like bears or moose, but not dramatically larger. A few are titanic creatures, surpassing a hundred meters in length.
Abilities and Features:
- Gallstone - The Hydra’s Gallstone is the secret to its long life, great size and miraculous regeneration. Hydra scales and skeletons are aetheric conductors, pulling energy out of the surroundings and directing it into a single organ near the core of the beast, which slowly-develops into a pearl-like store of aether. This organ filters and converts raw elemental power, mixing it into an energy perfect for the creation and manipulation of raw biomass. Unlike classic “magic vampires” a hydra cannot simply use ambient energy to fuel its regeneration- it must use its Gallstone.
- Adaptive Limb Regeneration - When a hydra is wounded, it draws stored power from its Gallstone to rapidly regenerate the lost flesh- however, it is not limited to simply restoring the limb as it was, and may instead produce a variety of changes to try to obtain an advantage. The most commonly-known usage is for the monster to produce two heads for each head removed, but a hydra can regrow other limbs and produce heads with specialized organs. Notably, however, when a hydra’s head is cut off the hydra does lose the benefit of the memories and personality that head maintained.
- Specialized Organs - Hydra have been recorded to create heads with entirely new poison glands on the fly, create acid-spitting organs, gain thermal vision and even create heads simply to observe a situation and devise new tactics.
Cultural Significance (If applicable): Hydra are very uncommon in Karnor, but their regenerative power has always captured the public imagination, and they are popular monsters in fables and legends. They’re rare enough, and largely confined to icy climes, that few civilized endeavors ever run into them; in those rare occasions when someone does, they are often mistaken for dragons and are sometimes the true cause of a drunken tavern tale about a dragon eating a man’s horse. Small specimens are prized for hunting preserves, as it’s thought to be a mark of skill to kill one exclusively by cutting off heads until it falls dead.
Reasons to interact: Hydra leather is moderately valuable, as small necromatic alterations will give it a regenerative quality, allowing for expensive clothes which repair themselves when cut. Unfortunately, hydra flesh is very brittle; if untreated, a hydra corpse will soften and turn to mush within a day or two of death.
Hydra Gallstones are very valuable for alchemy, and can be used to infuse mixtures with an unusually pure healing element. The Gallstones of very large hydras can be used to create machines which sustain life long past the point where the subject should be dead, though the lore of such devices has largely been lost to time.
Recommended Stats: An adult hydra is a very dangerous animal, and likely to challenge an Expert combatant, even if they are prepared and properly armed, though hydras can usually be distracted and trapped with some foresight and planning. The largest hydras are engines of destruction which can survive hundreds of killing blows and dozens of Master-level spells, and is best avoided when possible.
