Hydra in the Forest - Point of Interest

General Summary

Expedition Performed on September 12th, 2021

Mita's Report

Today, we set off on an expedition to take a closer look at the hydra that resides in the drow corrupted forest near Stokra with the intent of observing its behavior and seeing if we can find any advantageous terrain in which we may set up weapons such as ballistae against it. Finding the lair itself took a day, which I have marked on my map, and despite the map not having one, there seems to be a pond of sorts in which it has made its home. There are several places that we have determined that can potentially house such ballistae near its lair, but it is dangerously close, and stealth and speed are paramount to setting them up if Dragon’s Wings does decide to deploy such weaponry against them.
Upon closer inspection of its lair, we found the creature asleep underwater. Above the lair is a cliff, which with enough force, may be able to cave in the beast should we have the means to do so. As we approached it, however, it woke up and began to immediately track us, using mainly its senses of sight and smell. For anyone that is attempting to stealth around the beast, it is highly recommended that they mask their smell in some way before getting close. It is also fairly agile, able to easily climb the cliffs around it. I have also noticed branches wrapped around its body and heads, suggesting that it is responsible for felling several trees near its nest.
As it was getting quite dark, we decided to rest for the night, and attempt to witness its combat capabilities. I had to prepare new spells to summon an elemental to fight it. The night went by peacefully, and by the time we got there in the early hours of the morning, the creature was gone from the pond. Uriel and I summoned an Ice Elemental and a shadow creature to test the hydra’s combat capabilities. It was not too long after that the hydra returned to its nest with a deer in one of its heads. Upon seeing the elemental and shadow creature, the hydra threw the deer up and finished its meal quickly before engaging in combat. The ice elemental and shadow creature were no match for the hydra. However, what I did notice is that when the shadow creature cut the hydra, the blood that oozed out wasn’t normal. For front-line combatants, it may be wise to be wary of the blood that oozes out when cutting the creature. After seeing that fight, it started to sniff the air, and noticed our scent, and started to track us down. We immediately fled the scene before it could catch up to us.
On the way back, we got ambushed by some drow. After dealing with them, we made it back to the tower in one piece.
In summary, here is a quick rundown of what we have learned about the hydra

• We have learned about the location of the lair in which the hydra resides - a pond in the forest

• We have learned about the area around the hydra, including some high ground terrain in which to take advantage of if needed

• We have learned about how the hydra tracks down its prey using sight and smell

• We have learned that it leaves its lair at night, only to return during the morning. The creature may be nocturnal.

• The rumors about the hydra having 27 heads are greatly exaggerated. It seems to only have 6 heads from what we were able to witness

We have learned about some of its combat capabilities, including the following:

• It is capable of great speed and agility, able to run quickly and traverse the cliffs around its lair with ease

• It is capable of great strength, able to knock down massive trees in the forest

• It has great combat prowess, able to easily overpower an ice elemental and a shadow creature with ease and in a matter of seconds

• While we did not witness any ranged capabilities of the hydra, the lengths of its heads are not to be underestimated, and it does have the ability to reach prey some distance away

• It can throw objects as well, able to throw a deer carcass high up into the air using its heads.

• For those that can slash at the beast, the blood that oozes out from the wound may be of concern, it does not look like the blood that flows in normal beasts. This may be due to the corruption that it's subjected to.

• Its body is completely covered in scales, I was not able to find an unprotected spot on the creature

• It is capable of restraining a target by biting down on limbs with several of its heads at once

Ysgard

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The Island of Ysgard in its currently discovered entirety.

Report Date

12 Sep 2021