Hydra
| Harper Field Dossier | |
|---|---|
| Combat reference | |
| Type | Many-headed reptilian horror; a writhing knot of necks and teeth |
| Vulnerabilities | Fire — only flame will keep a severed neck from sprouting anew |
| Resistances | |
| Immunities | |
| Condition Immunities | |
| Strong Saves | A brute of flesh and stamina more than mind |
| Senses | Watches every quarter at once; near impossible to take unawares |
| Movement | Lumbers on land and swims well; will board a ship or wade ashore after prey |
| Notable Abilities | Strikes with every head at once, each a biting maw on a long neck, and snaps at any foe who slips past its guard. Cut off a head and two more may take its place unless the stump is seared shut |
| Provenance | |
| Knowledge | Partial |
| First Encountered | Session 50, boarding a longship in the Sea of Moving Ice |
| Filed by | Agent Wren, of the Tellstone circle |
The Harpers' Read
The hydra's terror is its heads — count them, for each one bites on its own, and woe to the warrior who tries to walk past that thicket of necks, for every head will snap at him as he goes. Hacking them off feels like progress and is a trap: a severed neck regrows, and worse, sprouts double, so that a careless butcher only makes the monster deadlier. The only honest way to take a head for good is to burn the stump shut — a torch, a flask of oil, a pixie of hellfire, anything that cauterises. Better still, forget the heads entirely and pour fire and raw destructive magic into the body until the whole thrashing mass goes still. Keep it off your decks if you can; in close quarters it will chew through your crew before you fell it.
Encounters of Record
- Session 50 — A six-headed hydra heaved itself aboard Deez Nuts' longship and killed a sailor before the company learned to cauterise its stumps with hellfire; Shade finished it with a chromatic orb.
Harvest Profile
CR 8 — Rare ceiling. Rules: Monster Harvesting. Because the tissue regenerates, more than one viable sample of the restorative parts can be cut from a single corpse.
| Component | Tool | Rarity | Effect | Primary for | Contributor to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regrowing Hydra Flesh (signature) | Cook's / Herbalism / Poisoner's (toxic tissue) | Rare | Regeneration & healing | Potion | Wondrous |
| Regenerative Marrow | Herbalism | Rare | Regeneration & healing | Potion | Wondrous |
| Neck-Sinew Bundles | Leatherworker's | Rare | Regenerative sinew — mending cords & straps | Armor | Weapon, Wondrous |
| Hydra Heart-Cluster | Alchemist's | Rare | Many-hearted stamina — endurance & vitality | Potion | Wondrous |
| Hydra Bile | Alchemist's / Poisoner's | Uncommon | Acid — corrodes & burns | Potion, Bomb | Poison, Weapon |
| Many-layered Hide | Leatherworker's | Uncommon | Resilient hide; protection | Armor | Wondrous |
| Regrowth Nodules | Herbalism | Uncommon | Budding regenerative tissue | Potion | — |
| Swamp-Oil Glands | Alchemist's | Uncommon | Water-shedding oil — proofing & slick | Potion | Bomb, Wondrous |
| Skull-Plates | Smith's | Uncommon | Dense skull-bone plating | Armor | Weapon |
| Vital Ichor | Alchemist's | Common | Structure only | — | Potion, Poison, Bomb |
| Hydra Blood | Alchemist's / Poisoner's | Common | Structure only | — | Potion, Poison, Bomb |
| Hydra Fangs | Smith's | Common | Structure only | — | Weapon, Armor, Bomb |
| Neck Vertebrae | Smith's | Common | Structure only | — | Armor, Weapon |
| Hydra Hide Scraps | Leatherworker's | Common | Structure only | — | Armor, Wondrous |
| Hydra Meat | Cook's | Common | Structure only | — | Rations |
Harvest Record
Harvested in Session 50; quantities include the 2026-09 retro pass (margin bonuses). Banked totals: Harvested Materials.
| Component | Qty | Outcome | Recovered by (roll) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regrowing Hydra Flesh | 2 | Recovered | Shade(26) |
| Regenerative Marrow | 1 | Recovered | Karma(19) |
| Neck-Sinew Bundles | 1 | Recovered | Keyleth(15) |
| Hydra Bile | 5 | Recovered | Shade · Xanphina (10) |
| Many-layered Hide | 2 | Recovered | Keyleth |
| Regrowth Nodules | 2 | Recovered | Karma |
| Swamp-Oil Glands | 1 | Recovered | Xanphina |
| Vital Ichor | 2 | Recovered | Xanphina |
| Hydra Blood | 6 | Recovered | Shade · Gootcha (7) |
| Hydra Fangs | 1 | Recovered | Baelgrum(7) |
| Neck Vertebrae | 1 | Recovered | Baelgrum(7) |
| Hydra Hide Scraps | 3 | Recovered | Keyleth |
| Hydra Heart-Cluster | — | Left | — |
| Skull-Plates | — | Left | — |
| Hydra Meat | — | Left | — |
See also
- Bestiary — the company's field bestiary
- Monster Harvesting · Harvested Materials