Ask the Hydra!

[Widdershins 9,959]

   It has been something I've thought alot about, that it seems odd that nobody has tackled the idea of a hydra before. Many complicated things come together to form our personality to the way it is today. A fact that is even further complicated when your several beings sharing the same body. Since it would likely help you to first read a bit about the description of Gallimaufry or "Mauf" and his backstory; you can find out more about The Cephalli Family here.

   Feel free to direct your questions to whichever head you feel like, though as it is a hydra the other heads can, and likely will, interrupt to give their own two bits too. Which works out fine, between the six heads you're likely to get the truth. Each head will be represented by their own color text; feel free to let me know if some of the colors don't show up too well or hurt your eyes. As I will essentially be roleplaying as six simultaneous characters, give me some time to untie the necks out in their proper orders, heh.

 

 

From henceforth on, I shall spend the rest of this thread in Character(s)!

 

   As you've heard rumors around Ponyville of some sort of hydra that wrecked the town up a bit a few months ago, but seemed more or less repentant afterward, you took it upon yourself to explore a bit of the Everfree where the creature was last seen shambling towards. After a few hours you find a rather large cave that leads into the earth that is a short walk from the edge of the forest. Judging by the size of the mouth of the cave, the wide trail of flattened, smashed & chewed on trees that lead directly to it with a deep rut in the ground from a massive tail, you wouldn't be surprised if this happens to be where the hydra headed. You don't hear much noise coming from inside, apart from a low rumble of breath, so you assume rightfully so that the beast must be sleeping right now. Perhaps you can sneak inside to take a quick look & sprint back out before the behemoth notices you and come back with a tale to brag about Ponyville about?

    As you slowly walk down the cave entrance you notice how most of the bottom half seems worn down by the dragging hulk of the monster, while the upper half of the cave has dents along the upper sides with a few stalactites having been recently broken off, giving the impression that one of the heads hit itself and blamed the others and started attacking itself, which seems to confirm your impressions of hydras. You begin to start doubting the course you chose to take for today...

   As you round a corner, you finally see it. What appears to be a massive scaly ball & wall of muscle taking up a healthy portion of the room you just entered. While part of you considers that something that huge probably wouldn't notice something as small as you unless you shoved a spear in that fat hunk of flesh; that thought is rather drowned out by the other thought of "Okay, job done here. GET going now!" You carefully turn to leave, but as you do you inadvertently kick a small pebble out of your way and it noiselessly skids a few feet away.

   Almost immediately you hear a large honking noise like someone just stepped on a chicken, as one long & rubbery neck of the hydra shoots out behind the heap of scaled flesh, hits a corner of the ceiling and starts loudly squawking.

"Warning! Warning! Warning! Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! Doom, Death! We're being invaded, invaded! Death, Doom! It's gonna eat us alive! Help me! I don't wanna die! Help, help, help, help, help....."

"Wurrgh...will yeh bloody well shut up already, yeh stupid, boneless, noneck..."

 

And from that, the cave begins to fill with the sound of the hydra shuffling & awkwardly, but loudly trying to rock itself back onto its legs. As the thought reaches your brain that running would be a good idea right about now, the Hydra succeeds in righting itself with a forward somersault and in the moment its thick, tree-trunk like claws hit the ground with all of its weight behind it, the ground quakes with so much force that rocks and stalactites crumble off the walls, you're knocked off your hooves & you're pretty sure this place is caving in. As the dust settles & you quickly scramble back up, you get a quick look at the behemoth. Some of the heads look limp & as if they were still sleeping, and what ones aren't are up and looking in your direction groggily & grumpy. You turn to run, and as you do a deep, throaty, raspy roar rises up behind you.

 

" Who dares disturb the sleep of the great Hy-"

" *snuffle* I taste something *****able around here..."

" Every! Bloody! Time!!"

*the right & left heads continue bickering in not-so-quiet whispers as the more wide-eyed and slender center head leans towards you & starts quietly talking to you in as reassuring a manner as it can*

"I try to set up a good entrance, and what do you do but ruin it with your senseless, stupid..."    "Pfft! Hee-Hee! Ya cute when ya ain' got ya sleep!"

" S-sorry about that, *yawn* Didn't mean to scare you or anything...Oh, uh, hey, are you from Ponyville? Been meaning to learn more about society. Feel free to ask us anything!"

 

[catnet 9,356]

Let's say you all had your own separate bodies. Would you still be hanging around each other, or would you have parted ways?

[Widdershins 9,959]

@@Blue cheese,

 

  "Aww, but we're a fam-ily! I'd never wanna leave behind my big brothers! That's whatta family does is stick toge-

 

     "OUR TAIL, NO!"

      "OUR TAIL, NO!"                             "G-guys... that's pretty harsh, especially considering how I already have a spell to-"

 

               "I can get around loads more wooing done without these guys on my literal back! Kinda cramps a guy's style having to be around your siblings 24/7, know what I mean, bro? When its just me, all the more room to have the babes drape themselves on me like the way you know they want to!"

   "Ugh! Iffen ya think ah want ta spent another second of me life with this pack ah' boneless numbnecks then yeh gotta 'nother tink comin'! Between THIS woma'nizin' sleazeball, the dolt, the dweeb, the dumbell, an' the spineless WUSS! I'm goin' raght spare crazy 'ere!"

 "Now Short-

 DON'TCALLMESHORT!!

   ...stack, Sunny is right, cohesive familial bonds are important for proper mental growth and can prevent & promote..."

 Oh, buck out of it yeh mud-mouth, ain't nobody askin' y-

   Shortstack!

  

The shortest, reddest of the heads visibly flinches when his "bigger" sister calls out his name.

 "Uhh... y-yes?..."

"What's womanizing mean?"

"That uh... that uh m-means that he...uh..."       "...and which one of those names you were tossin' about just now was aimed at me?"

 "Uh-uhm...well the, uh..."

 

      "I feel we may have gotten off subject yet again."   "Well, that hardly impedes persistent pursuit of the discussion that at present time our duly concourse endeavors to ascertain certain aspects of-"

  "Uhh... can we get on with it?"   "Yeah! Get on wit' it!"

 

     Monolith carries on with his thought, barely aware of having been interrupted.

   "- with which we shall forthwith explain. Contrary to points having been previously mentioned, familial bonds doth not indeed place expectations of physical proximity upon thine parties involved. T'would some make take such an opportunity to broaden their horizons with-

    "Loads of broads!"

-new experiences, it does not seem likely that we, as an originally aggregate animal anomaly, are to be apart for too long. Nor doth the spell that allots us our separate forms ordain us to be apart for long enough for that to be much of an issue. Personally, as it seems minorly impactful I do not see it impeding or effecting much at all. Thereontofor, I doth not care.

  Simpsy. I believe the question was also directed upon thee.

    Youcan'tmakeme!!

 Slimpsy.

  Of course I wouldn't! You know the saying! Safety in numbers! Even if that does spread disease easier! Even if we don't really get sick that often...but that only means we're overdue!

Slimpsy.

  You think I wanna be alone?!! Not have anyone else to depend on or throw in front of whatever's trying to eat me!?!

Slimpsy.

   And there always is something, you know! Its the wild out there, man! It's eat or be eaten! It's game over, man! I can't take that! I'm just some weak worm waiting to be crushed underneath some bigger, spiked, combat boot! I'LL DIE! IDON'TWANNABEALONE!!!

 

  Slimpsy immediately clings to Monolith's neck, and attempts to hide himself among the others' necks. Muffled squeaks from both Slimpsy & Shortstack (the latter being 'lightly' pounded by Sunny for being "a big meanie-head again.") distract the hydra from the question and it soon forgets what it was talking about.

[Handsome Changeling 1,851]

@@Widdershins, 

Void shuffles papers, clears his throat, looks up at the gargantuan form of the Hydra and pauses, then throws the papers everywhere
"Scripts suck! Anyway, sooooo... Ya know mating with other lovely Hydra's voluptuous bodies? How is that possible wouldn't you all, feel awkward? AND the toilet journeys must be fun right?" 

Edited January 31, 2017 by Handsome Changeling

[Widdershins 9,959]

  @@Handsome Changeling,

 

The greener head rears back and begins laughing itself to tears:

  Bahaaahueehaaaahooooooo....                        

...ah hate yeh so much raght now...                                                             What's mating mean?!

                                                                                            It...uhm, uh...w-well...

 

After the longer, green neck gets done laughing, it snakes its way back down to a more level height with the changeling.

  Weell, iffen ya really wanna know how things work, its best to get some hooves-on knowledge innit? Don' think we've managed to bag ourselves a changeling yet & I bet that'd be quite the wild r-

           Blither! Bite him or ah'll bite yee!!                    Sigh...

As the closer neck lightly bites the green neck and attempts to slowly pull him back, the green head snickers & continues on.

 

    Well anyhow, can't say for sure how hydra-on-hydra works, as we very rarely have ever gotten a chance there. Fit to be a mess, I tell ya what! Though not for lack of trying! Had our fling with a Rockdog once and all that needed was enough determination and...

  Tite'nt no words fit fa mixed company!               Hah! We're always mixed company!

 

    Thing with hydras is... uhm, we're built to take every ounce of energy we can get out of what we eat. It isn't natural for us to welcome competition into our territory for much of any reason. Uhm... not to mention it seems we're quite the rare species, only ever met one other hydra and that didn't really turn out all too well...

                         We hydras pretty much corner the market on the term "love-bite!" Not that that doesn't have a bit of an appeal to it too!...

     A-a-anyhow, i-its p-probably just as well on account of... we do seem to be fully capable of... uh... uhm...

                                       Doth thee require aid?

                              Yes, no... uh... I'd rather you didn't go into another one of your dissertations  on the subject with Sunny around to...

   Thy hath oft rebutted my attempts before to explain such base matters to her when oft it twould expedite & alleviate prior situations.

 I don' like mah big brother keepin' no secrets from me! Whattaya got Blithy?           Oh, fine, just try to keep it-

 

   Hermaphrodism  is a trait oft seen in the genus of Hydra due to....             Sigh....

  sparse conditions brought on predation from such a large species & its prevalent tax it doth weigh on its environment. Due to such markedly low birth & growth rates one can deduce from scant historical records that the subject organism can oft go said long life-span without  being granted due opportunity to fulfill its procreative duties.

    Nope. Still don' get it.

   In lieu of not finding suitable biological components of correlating matrices, given subjects may deem it fit to initiate self-procreation in an attempt to stave off extinction of its genetic line.

 

      Baaaaisically....              Ugh.

  What Bluntsnout here is saying, is that while our own species is lucky to pop up once in any given nation (not like species ain't no thing, bruddah!) we do still have the option, if it comes to it, of laying our own eggs. I could even boink my own sis-

   SLIMPSY! USE TACKLE ATTACK! NOW!!

  Wait!What!Huh!

    Both of the long, left-side necks go down in a loose tangle, the green head losing track of its topic amidst its own snorting laughter of what it almost got away with saying.

     So what was he talkin' about there?       Dunnae worry abut et, Lass. Yeh know how yeh brother gits...

  I-it's uhm, just an awfully complicated mess when it comes to Hydras. The closest I can get to theorizing about the subject is through old tales of hydra courtship rituals flattening forests or carving out new canyons. Whatever it is, I can't say it would be pretty.

 

 

  And, well, for your second question is quite a bit easier on that biological field.

   Aye, we just don't. 

         Like the ninnymuggins 'ere said earlier, wit' as much bulk as we gots ta feed, we cannae afford to have any waste.

  From examples gathered over multitudinous era, it doth seem verily that little substance can not be digested wholly & in its entirety down to a molecular level.

   Granted, there's been a few times we 'ad caught ourselves a bug, but none 'at lasted long. Few times we a' had tae chew shrapnel out of our own bodies n' digest our own flesh, but 'at ol' regenerative powers kicked inna fa that.

   Well, we do still get dirty from time to time, but nothing we can't cover with a small stream or a tongue bath.

 

                                                                                                                                                                         Ooh! Ooh, let go! I got a gag for that one!!

   

[Mast. Equestos/Gigas 340]

(Masked Commander scanned the hydra and computer voice reads)  

 

"Name: Hydra

 

Type: Chimera mix with many species 

 

Age: Unknown

 

Gender: Unknown"

 

"Well well, now this is a interesting specimen. I have never seen a chimera at this standard.

 

As for my questions: Can replace your body parts with other living being parts if you loose one of them or do they grow back? 

 

What are your favorite things to do during the day?"

 

 

 

 

 

[Widdershins 9,959]

@@Mast. Equestos/Gigas,

   Augh!!!   Technology!Takeitawaaay!! It's gonna steal our souuuls!!

 

   Shortstack attempts a lunge to bite the device out of your grasp, coming up far too short as usual.

 *Snap*   Bloody hoohah, got it all wron' anyhow. We ain' no chimera! Thas ah disrespect'l as callin' a body ah monkey or summadat!...

            Hmm, Well, I suppose it does technically fit. We have seen naturally occurring Chimeras around, though I think that mostly refers to magical constructs... I suppose regeneration technically falls under...

   We do bite our own heads off from time ta time. Suppose you could ram a broom in place of one of our necks and play it like a puppet!

   We don't, uh, that's not how regeneration works though... If we get a big enough chunk taken off, like de- DE-CAPPIT-ATIOOOON!!

Uh, yeah. That usually takes a week or more to regrow, depending on how big the part was. Typically, its easier to just push the severed sections back into place & let the flesh sort of restitch itself back together. So in short, It kinda has to be our own genetic material to work.

 

   Ahem. Chimera: 1. (often capitalized) A fire-breathing monster, commonly represented with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail. 2. Any similarly grotesque monster having disparate parts, esp. as depicted in decorative art. 3. a horrible or unreal creature of the imagination; a vain or idle fancy. 4. Genetics. An organism composed of two or more genetically distinct tissues, as an organism that is partly male and partly female, or an artificially produced individual having tissues of several species.

   Y-you... actually memorized the dictionary I gave you? I thought you-

   In all but two of seven points thus bespoken of in the preceding quote verbatim we prove sufficiently apt for the aforementioned terminology utilized by said debated contraption.

     ...Figures 'ed side wit' ta soulless machine...

 

 

   *Blink* Oh, ah, right. Your second question! Well, uhm, well sleep mostly. A hydra has a lot of downtime to keep our systems running. So aside from our few excursions into Ponyville from time to time to gather food & learn more about pony culture when we separate our body to go in groups of two in our pony... uhm, forms... there's, uh, not too much we do.

   Well... I usually try to visit the local library to catch up on history & other things from a pony point of view. I... uhm... also try to talk to ponies to see how their lives have been but... well, that doesn't always seem to turn out quite so well.

     Mostly because a' yah talkin' t'er bloody ears off, ya wussy-boy! Me, I get in, get tha food I was bloody well sent in fa' an' git out. I don' givva bloody neckstump what any ah ya bloody ponies give a bloody darn about. I dinnae care what nunnayah think about me! Lessen ya wanna pick a fight wit' me, an' I'll give yah a good whatfor, ya bloody little runt! E'ryone wants a piece of the-

  PIE! She holds just the bestest best ever parties an' she always knows how to best have fun! Speaking of which there's usually some sort of music to dance to or somepony ta dance with or friends to make n' hug n' love n' squeeze and... Oh! And I like to visit Sweet Apple Acres n' help out there too because Applejack says I'm really good at the farm working thingie & she's just the cutest cute mare ever and OOH! Rarity said something last time about teaching me what makeup n' fashion n' dresses n'... Ooh! And there was that little toy shop I saw last time with that cute decoration on the front with the silly little sign that I wanted visit then there's those cute, little, adorable little bunnies on that field otherside of Ponyville that I saw that one time when I was....

  Sunny Flush keeps chattering away while the others talk.

    Well... There are an awful lot of mares around Equestria to hit on. I DO say. So there's always some trouble to get into. Heh, heh, Giggity.

 Usually stop by Sugarcube Corner for a bit to down a few bags of sugar, maybe see who's there. Pinkie sure does know how flirt. Heh.

  Then, Oh, I don't knooow. Maybe buzz the town for a while to see what everypony is up to & stick my snout where it doesn't fit! Heh-hee, I usually don't got to look for a party since there's always one going on around me. Heck, I am the party, baby!

 

...

 Tea.

      ...That's... that's not an activity, Monolith... Say something else... like... like what you usually spend your time with.

  Teatime.

  Sigh... something else besides tea? Something you find amusing maybe?...

 Math.

 

   Ugh, oh well...You have anything to add, Slim-

 Youcan'tmakeme!

    ......

 I'd rather not even leave the cave, if you left it up to me! Do you not see the chaos that hits that town on a daily basis?!!? It's a madhouse! A madhouse!!!  Jeez... I m-mean... shoot... what, I-... I don't know! Is panicking constantly considered a hobby?!

 I'm probably not even safe in this cave either!! I don't do things, I avoid them!!

... Well... some do say I make a decent runner & dancer... but I d-don't dance... that's how you spring hamstrings... and running can cause slipped disks which can rupture the third joint above the.....

[Widdershins 9,959]

@@Moon Dancer.,

 

   A-... Affliction? Whattaya talkin' about? Yee sayin' I'm sick or somethin'? That ah'm weak, some sorta an' invalid? Do I look like some patient that needs be inna 'os'pital ah somethin'? Do I amuse yee?!!?

  With that, the redder neck attempts to lunge at you, stopping far too short to reach with its infuriated snapping. The other heads barely bother curbing him, seemingly knowing more than the antagonizing head about how it clearly can't reach.

   Eh, put a sock in it shorty. You know th-     Whozyacallin'short!!!       that not many try to insult those that're bigger'n them.

 

    Dunno about no afflictions thou'... Hmph, Lessen ya count how poorly we seem to get on with ponies. We ain't never gonna make no friends if ya keep snappin' at everypony, Shortie!                                         I ain't short...

 

   Well... I do suppose we kind of are, in a way...

I mean, we haven't really met too many other hydri, But it does seem as if we kind of are sorta more... unique in a way.

  It may seem that an erstwhile traumatic event in our younger days as spawn may or may not hath provided our matrices with a suitable dose of magic from schools chaotic in nature that would henceforth ensue results culminating in magic susceptibility and theorized heightened sentience.

    You... weren't even born then. How could you...?

 Deductive Reasoning.

Uhh... okay. Guess you could say, uhm, our 'affliction' is...uhm, 'Magic.'

                                                                                                        And also a whooole lotta dysfunction!

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Well your a hydra hmmm well I guess I'll have to hunt you down...

Unless well you dont intend on hurting anypony. You don't intend on that do you?

Edited April 10, 2017 by Maple Bat
Now its more of a question

[Elric Leaftail 23]

Oh wow, SIX heads? That's pretty...impressive?

So...what are your thoughts on the fearsome and monstrous reputation your kind possesses?

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Maple Bat

  Och, yeh wan tae start somethin'? Bring it, BattyBoy an' whal' see 'o ends it! Ah'll chew yeh up n' -

  Once more, the shortest red neck gets clunked from behind.

 Stackie! No! Bad brudder! Behave yourself! That ain' no way ta treat a guest n' a friend! More than anything, we just wanna have friends n fun!

  Heh... not to mention we get more than enough trouble just trying to coordinate ourself without angering the dominant species on the planet. We've dealt with roving knights before looking for an impressive beast to slay.                   An' sent 'em bloody packin', we did!           Well, not counting the many times we've spent months regeneratin' from bein' chopped ta pieces.

  Tis not a hydra's place to mix well with other species. Competition for comestible energy is a risk our medium cannot accept. Alas, for thy toll our body takes on the surrounding ecosystems, t'were not rare for us to completely drain a nearby town.

 Aye, inna matter o' hours we can strip a forest doon tae a right depleted wastelan'.

  The bluish middle neck frantically looks between the two prior heads as they speak then quickly looks back to you while sweating in an attempt to combat it's brothers' claims.

H-heh... n-not that we're saying, of c-course, that we're any threat to Ponyville be... because of that! Our trips for food into town are good enough, and barring that the trees out here in the Everfree make a sufficient snack with as rapidly as they grow back! P-point is that coexistence is a key goal f-for us!     Yeah! Fwends for tha wins!

    Hmmph... 'swhat you rubberneckers say...    What was that, Stackie?  Uhhh...Just, uh....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@Elric Leaftail

    Huh. Dunnae ask a hydra what 'is thoughts be lessen yer willin' tae- PORN!

  Ngrrrr.... Flit....  That...that weren't even the bloody questi-                  You even know what you can do with this many necks? There's totally more ponies into that sorta thing then you'd think!                   Dun MAKE me BITE yah!  Oh, like Shorty can even reach this side of the body! 'O yeh calin-!! GRAAAH!!!

  The front left & right heads commence with their usual cackling taunts & infuriated lunging at each other.

  Heya, Blither? Whatsa Porn?      Uh-uhm... it's a... can we... heh... I'll, uh, tell you wh-when your older? Can... just w-we... the uh, that question now...

 

   Eh-heh... y-yeah. We kind of know we're not all that welcome as we are. Even as ponies we tend to stir up trouble. It's understandable though. It's hard for our kind not to see anything that doesn't run fast enough as a potential food source.

 *whimper*  ...we've been ran out of more towns than I can even count... but I... we... us, understand that, we have demolished towns before. We are a monster after all.

   Oh nonsense, Swimpsy-Whimpsy!                                         Did... did she just call me a wimp? I-I mean I am but...

     That town fled before we could introduce us! Why no pones wanna give a big lizard her right due?!

  Albeit it may have followed suit after thineselves hath ripped the back half of an occupied restaurant off.        But I gawt hungwy!

    Lest we forget the silo of grain we chewed through & the few wagons we walked through on our way in.

            Eh-heh.... sublety is kinda hard to accomplish when your nearly thirty feet tall... In fact, don't think we were even aware we were heading into a town at the time.

   Heh, so I can't argue that the reputation is entirely unwarranted, but...h-heh, well... we try? Right?...

    Ow! The little nub-neck bit me! Do somethin' Sunny! No tattlin', spineless!  But I still don' get it! Am I older now, Big Brudder? Eh-heh... we, uh.. calm down won't you, Shortstack?... OW! Augh! Hey! Watch it! You're turning the body again! Who's got control of the legs now?!!?

 As the hydra begins to devolve once more into a tangled, in-fighting mess one last head swings by as the body spins around to look straight at you & deliver one final line.

      And Thus, it begins anew. You may find it suitable to back up for a bit. Further.

[Maple Bat 3,568]

Well I trust you for now...

Can you all read or hear each others thoughts since the heads are connected or not

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Maple Bat

   Well... kinda yes and no...  I mean, I do suppose theoretically its a sort of telekinetics... If I understand the theory of that magic anyway. It's more like... moderate coordination, you understand? Sort of like... one side of limbs being innately aware of the other half.

    Well, the way it works in most creatures that ain't got six separate minds workin' the same body, ya hear?

   For the most part, it isn't really all that important for us to know what or where the other heads are when we're usually together.

    Not tha' its too hard ta predict what these numbskulls is gonna do when its almost always 'cause trouble!'

Though, to an extent... even when we're seperate entities we can still kind of guess where each other are if we concentrate. Like... if Slimpsy feels like he's running alot, tired, cold and panicky, we can sort of guess that he might be running through a forest.

   Though he is always like that, so we've kinda learned to tone that out.

        T'would one could, in theory, correlate it to the phenomenon known only as Twin Telepathy. A makeshift, albeit ersatz, awareness of another whereabouts slash condition. Thus could forthwith be explained & diluted somewhat by prolonged social contact resulting in enough experience to utilize to a suitable prognostic.

    In short... ya spend ne'er about a cen'try wit yer siblin's yappin' in yer ear, ya kinda tend tae know what they up tah. 'Sides... It'd prolly rot me brain if I knew halfa what debauch'ry that garden snake wha' thinkin.

     The longer, green head snakes down towards the shorter one with a snide smirk. Oh, aye... and whattaya think I'm thinkin' now, Shortie?

    ...That ah'm about ta chew ya to bits?

   Nooo... about how'd you'd look inna frilly little dress!                                                   Ooh! OOooh! I saw just the one that'd fit you the other day, Stackie!

                                                      STOP ENCOURAGIN' HIM!!!

[Contrast 292]

Not that I'm planning anything malicious, but is that myth about a hydra losing its head true? Will more heads grow back, and if so, would it still be the same personality?

[Widdershins 9,959]

@Contrast

     'O 'Course it ain't yee Lil' Idjit!

             Huh...Shortstack don't... Sigh... Why's he always have to be the first one out of the gate?...                       Assertiveness.

Well, ah, glad you asked though...

      The whole "Two-in-Place of One" thing is sort of a bit of an over-exaggerated myth.

  We, like, totally regenerate faster than most'd think possible. That'sa how the stories get started ya know! They send a knight in that cleaves a hydra clean in two, body seems dead, and a month or three later, the thing is back up & at it like nothing happened.

  Though, on tha bright side o' things, we can turn a quick profit there if any aspirin' monster slayers wanna reliable source of income.

     See, if any creature was capable of regenerating that quickly and that exponentially, then nature would quickly supply its own death. The body would quickly give out trying to supply enough blood to the ever-increasing amount of heads.

    Regrow back too much, and the resulting substrate underneath collapses under its own weight.

     ...Though... we have heard of...a few cases of a hydra eventually becoming a solid ball of nothing but heads.... which is absolute nightmare fuel if you ask me!

 

      See, the thing is, that like a Tree with its rings, a Hydra grows a new head at even intervals of its lifespan.

     Any respect'fil hydra has at leat over three 'eads on 'im.            Below three doth be referred to as a Runespoor. As thus forth as mine own research doth apply.

    Though from what I know... kind of... as I guess, hydra instinct is that we do need to... kind of "prune" our own heads off at some point. If we're anything to go by, if a Hydra gets any further beyond this, we start getting far too chaotic and risk literally tearing ourselves apart in our own arguing.

 

     ...I HAVE heard though, that there once was an ancient hydra progenitor that managed to keep all of its heads pruned off. Making all of its multiple consciousness funnel into one mind and giving it almost omnipotent, prophetic powers. So... yeah, heads do compete... which has me worried. But... well, we tend not to, because... well...

    That sounds Bloody Painful!!!

Though we DO do that though from time to time! Usually me! Usually to give us a "Time-Out" from each other, if ya catch me drift!

   Though yeah, you're right about that. We can regenerate a head fully back from the stump in a week, give or take, complete with the same mind/personality.

      Aye! Really, the only way to actually kill a Hydra n' keep it from regeneratin' back is to hit the major br-   HEH-EH-HEH!  h-h-i'm s-sure you'll understand if we're not quite comfortable telling you that information there.... heh...