Lernaean hydra

Lernaean hydras were a rare variety of hydra.

Description
These creatures resembled the standard hydra, a multi-headed reptile with scales that ranged from grayish-brown to dark brown.

Abilities
Whenever the head of a lernaean hydra was removed it would quickly regenerate from the stump along with another head, though this could be prevented by applying fire or acid to the injured neck stump. In ages past scholars believed that this ability was unique to the lernaean hydra, but later scholars found that all hydras possessed this trait.

Lernaean hydras could only support an amount of heads that was exactly twice that of their original number of heads. Any heads beyond that amount would wither away and fall off within a day.

Until all heads were removed from their body, a lernaean hydra could not die. The spells disintegrate, finger of death, and slay living were some of the few known means to bypass this creature's near-invulnerability and kill them outright.

History
A fifty-headed lernaean hydra was said to have been slain by the giant goddess Hiatea in order to prove herself to her father, Annam All-Father. She was said to have used her enchanted spear to slay it, preventing the regeneration of its heads by cauterizing them with fire.

In the mid-14 century DR, a lernaean hydra was known to lair within a hidden room of Undermountain's third floor. In the latter half of this century, around 1372 DR, a six-headed lernaean hydra roamed the valley of High Thorog after having been freed from Telkoun's Tower.

Ecology
Like most hydras, lernaeans lived solitary lives and only gathered for the purpose of mating.

Habitats
Like the standard hydra these creatures were typically found in marshes, swamps, and underground lairs. In particular, they were known to inhabit the Umber Marshes in the Unapproachable East. They were also known to be found in the marshes of Cormyr, including the Farsea Marshes and the Tun Marshes.

Relationships
Much like other hydras, lernaeans were often preyed upon by dragons and were rarely ever known to be domesticated.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Ruins of Undermountain