Arcana: Creatures

Slain of the Hydra's Tooth

A Once-Man Creature for Everway

by Erik Amundsen

"'One's worth a moon of service, no more.' That is what the lore tells us. Twenty-eight days and then they return to wherever it is they came from, but explain this: Rue has been among us for six years and he has not yet departed. I think we ought to examine more closely the origins and nature of these warriors that the Watchers can conjure out of the earth..." -Narrow Snakering, in report before the Council

As you all know, I am a scholar of the creatures who are like you Walkers: whether Goblin, Satyr, Warrior, Ogre, Troll, Giant, Lycanthrope, or Night-Fighter. My friend and comrade Gyve, however, sought out the aliens, the creatures from beyond the spheres we know, like the Harlequin Farmers and the Tailors. These last, I suspect, are those responsible for taking him from us. He also seemed quite interested in the creatures that do not fall into easy classification; creatures that are neither fish nor flesh, as it were. For example, his research into the creation and capabilities of Manslayers provided us with important and necessary intelligence when we intervened in Tales to protect that realm from the Seven Kings.

When I took up my late friend Gyve's research into the creatures that walk on two legs, I was unprepared for the amount of notes and unfinished studies and accounts I would uncover. This subject was of particular and personal importance to me, since I am Goblin myself. In the last two years I am pleased to report that I have made considerable headway into the subject.

My first account, detailing the strange magic of the monster-woman, Red, has won me not only respect among my own colleagues, but also among the Crookstaff, without whose patronage I would have been shoved into a gate by the Watchers within a day of my arrival in Everway.

I have assembled some of Gyve's incomplete notes and added some research of my own on these creatures, all of which wear the shape and, quite likely, the heritage of you Walkers. I have dubbed them "Once-men" though this should not imply that they are in any way related to or should be considered to be men. All look like Walkers; they are not natural, although they are not Undead, Created Beings, or Spirits either.

I hope that this account will prove a fitting memorial for a good friend and a brilliant scholar on the second anniversary of his death.

For you, Gyve.

Slain of the Hydra's Tooth

	Hydra's Tooth Warrior
	Fire 5 (Fearless) Earth 5 (Stoic) Air 3 (Tactics) Water 4 (Vigilant) Powers: Natural Warrior All Hydra's Tooth Warriors appear with weapons in hand. These are often unlikely or esoteric weapons such as punch daggers or iron whips. Whatever weapon they carry, they are well versed in its use, and have an advantage in combat when using that type of weapon. War's Eyes A Hydra's Tooth Warrior knows who planted his or her tooth, who the planter's allies and enemies are, and what his or her planter expects him/her to do. This knowledge is gained immediately at the start of any violent conflict.

Older texts call these creatures--these people, if you will--Slain of the Hydra's Tooth, believing they were either undead or a strange form of spirit being, like the Einherjar. Gyve's research, however, leads us away from that interpretation on several key points. There are a great number of things that we do not know for certain, and their exact nature remains a mystery, even to them.

What we do know is that, if a Hydra's tooth is planted in the soil of a battlefield and watered with the blood of an enemy, a warrior will spring out of the ground, weapons ready. Well, that is what we are told, in any case. Since no one has seen a (the?) hydra since the first days of the Emerald Dynasty and the Watcher family alone can call up to two hundred of these warriors at a time during a crisis, it may be a little difficult to grant that story credence. Even with a dozen heads, I doubt that a hydra has enough teeth to make such instant armies possible, let alone a viable standard response to crisis.

A Hydra's Tooth warrior, upon surviving the battle they are called into, will go on to live for about a month (though not necessarily the exact 28 days of legend), serving their planter. Around a month later, they almost always vanish, drop into dust, or wander off. The legends vary, but none of the Watchers Gyve interviewed had ever seen the end of one of these warriors, although one claimed that his grandfather had and, when asked what he saw, the old man had simply looked at the ground and shook his head.

These warriors many times come forth understanding more about a battle than their commanders, and often bring exotic weapons and fighting styles to a battle. What they all bear in common is their considerable courage and their uncanny sense of what to do in combat.

When asked, the warriors claim to be unaware of their origins and most are not at all curious. When not in battle, they seem to be very calm, albeit aloof, and perfectly civilized. In fact, it is this calm understanding that makes them the perfect "extra hands" for the Watchers. They can be called forth in great numbers, act without instruction, and then remain to oversee the aftermath of the situation.

These warriors also appear to be intensely spiritual, often stopping and bowing their heads, as if in prayer. Some are known to have practiced other small, personal rituals. According to Blue Sky Watcher (another of Gyve's sources), when interviewed on the significance or purpose of these genuflections the warriors never appeared to comprehend the question and could not answer.

"This is what I do," said the warrior Dandelion, after the Watcher had spent over an hour pressing her on the subject.

About ninety years ago, a Hydra's Tooth Warrior was called forth in defense of Wavebreak against the Cerulean Pirate Queen, Red Hull. Rue, as he was called, fought bravely against the pirates and, once order was restored, served in the rebuilding of the quarters of that city damaged in the fight. Three months passed, and the warrior did not vanish. He knew this was irregular and is said to have traveled to Everway to find the origins and nature of his kind. He spoke at length with Narrow Snakering, a member of the Library. Narrow wrote three copies of the interview for use in the Library. These texts, like many other sources that Gyve sought in his research, are conspicuously absent from the Library, and, as so often was the case for these documents, their disappearance happened around the same time as the death of the indexer responsible for their care. However, Gyve was able to find information on this event from one of the Snakering Geneology books.

According to this book, shortly after the interview, Rue set out to find the secret of his origins among the spheres. He returned six years later, claiming that a deity by the name of Liel told him the secret of his people. The Snakering claim that Rue gave a scroll containing this knowledge to Narrow, but neither of them survived the night of their reunion. Witnesses said that Rue was set upon by two magicians wielding supernatural fire. Narrow Snakering was found murdered the following morning. The Mudbank examiner noted that the wounds were inflicted with a rice flail, a weapon not widely used outside of Fivespirit.

In the interest of seeing my dear friend's life's work completed, I am prepared to offer 17 hefts of gold in addition to standard reward offered by the Chamber Platinum to anyone who can produce the original Rue Document for study, and 9 hefts to anyone who can produce one of the Rue/Narrow interview scrolls. In the meantime, I intend to continue Gyve's work on other subjects and at our next meeting, intend to submit Gyve's and my own findings regarding another of his subjects of interest: the Hell Brand.

Submitted for the convocation of the Chamber Platinum, year Emerald 1000 Libra, by Greenblack Turkeyvulture, member of same in good standing since Emerald 989.

Protest lodged by Graven Watcher, member of same in good standing since Emerald 993, duly noted by Bread Scratch, Secretary General and member of same in good standing since Emerald 966.

Slain of the Hydra's Tooth copyright © 2001 Erik Amundsen, used with permission.