Gulguthydra

A gulguthydra was a super-rare monstrous aberration that was a combination of a gulguthra and a hydra.

Description
"They're nasty creatures even under normal circumstances."

- Zasian Menz upon finding a fire-like gulguthydra

These vile creatures were described to be the "ultimate scavengers" and stood at over tall and weighting. Gulguthydrae had the many-headed (usually six) and serpentine aspects of hydrae, whilst having the stench, habits, and twin tentacles of gulguthras. Thick coats of slime coated the scavengers, and they had razor-sharp teeth. These omnivorous creatures were exceptionally rare, and so it was unknown if they had a language of their own, or were able to communicate in another way. Due to their rarity, they were only found alone. They had three stocky legs to carry around their huge mass. It was unknown if these creatures could even reproduce.

Their naturally dark gray to brown complexion helped them disguise themselves among caverns and swamps. In addition, their skin was as hard as rock.

Behavior
Devouring everything in their paths, these aberrations left no treasure.

Combat
These creatures charged directly at whatever prey or enemy was in front of them, and struck out at anything nearby that was edible with their tentacles and multi-headed bites. As such, gulguthydrae could attack as much as eight other creatures at the same time. Their stench would cause most opponents to become immediately nauseated, being unable to attack or even cast spells.

Gulguthydrae were naturally well-armored, yet still able to move at moderate speeds (both running and swimming).

History
It was unknown how exactly these rare hybrids came to be. However, many believed that they spawned during the Time of Troubles of 1358 DR. During this turbulent era, many surges of wild magic occurred, especially around the Sword Coast, and were a potential cause.

Being exceptionally rare, only few accounts of gulguthydrae have been made throughout history. It was known that a couple of these beings lurked in the Farsea Marshes of Cormyr. These reports stated that beholderkin would stay around the huge creatures, feeding on the scraps whilst gulguthydrae were feasting. The gulguthydrae, which warded off other predators, would tolerate the eyeball beholderkin presence, as they would sometimes daze and freeze swift foes with their eye beams. This aided the gulguthydrae to catch almost any prey that fell into their paths.

During the Rat Hills Conflagration of 1367 DR, a party of adventurers were killed and towers of garbage were set alight. A gulguthydra was seen inhabiting the area before the crisis. During that same year, they could occasionally be found in the sewers beneath nearby Waterdeep.

In 1373 DR, Zasian Menz, Myshik Morueme, and Kaanyr Vhok traveled to the Elemental Plane of Fire. They located the remains of a creature that resembled a fire version of a gulguthydra.

Ecology
These creatures would seemingly eat anything, from plant-based material to humans. While they could and would eat things like trees, they preferred softer food, particularly meat. They could grab their prey with their huge tentacles and subsequently eat them. They carved swaths of destruction as they compulsively consumed everything in their paths, leaving slime-coated paths behind them.

Habitats
In Northwest Faerûn, they could be found dwelling within the Mere of Dead Men, the High Forest, the Cold Woods, the Moonwoods, and rarely within the sewers of Waterdeep.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Mortal Consequences
 * The Gossamer Plain