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Description

Hydras are already pretty good at deception, seeing that they are cephalopods that have fooled many into thinking they are multi-headed reptiles. However, their efforts in disguise and trickery only grow as you delve deeper into this family, as it seems their bag of tricks are bottomless! For example, let us look at the painted hydra. From the name alone, I bet you folks think this member lives in the rainbow mountains. Good guess, but they do not! Honestly, they tend to live where other hydras roam, pretty normal forests, marshes and whatnot. Even then, the name "painted hydra" still causes confusion because most times people see them they are actually pretty drab. Just boring ol' greens and browns! What do you mean "painted?" Painted like dirt? Most people think this because they only see these hydras when they are hiding or resting, pretty much in a dormant state. You will only truly see their painted moniker when it is time to hunt! Unfortunately, though, if you do see this you don't really live to remember it...

First, let us discuss the painted hydra itself. Compared to your regular hydras, they tend to be about the same size or a little smaller. The real difference you will see is the number of knobs, bumps and frills that run down its mantle. A pretty cluttered and gaudy looking beast! However, these actually have a purpose. You see, painted hydras are ambush hunters, who use their incredible color changing abilities to blend right into their surroundings. The browns, greens and other natural colors they use are to match the vegetation around them, so they melt right into the scenery. These various growths and frills help break up their silhouette, and can independently change color to further disguise themselves as rotten logs, dead leaves or moss covered rocks. These structures can even stretch and shrink to further this effect! When given the time to settle into a hiding place, a painted hydra can vanish right before your eyes! That is a pretty nifty trick! But it turns out that isn't the best one they got!

Painted hydras lie in wait along game trails, near water bodies and other places that attract wildlife. They want something big and tasty to walk on by. They don't bother with the small fry, as they tend to target larger creatures, be it herbivore or predator. They can sit there for hours, if not days, on end, waiting for the right victim and right moment. When that opportunity finally arrives, their four upper tendrils will rise up and...start changing colors. Indeed, the painted hydra does not attack when the victim is in front of them, it instead deploys its tentacles and has them drop their disguise. Instead of blending in, they turn to bizarre bright colors and shifting hues. Rings of coloration pulsing down their lengths, flowing in psychedelic fashion. The rest of the body will remain perfectly disguised, as these four brightly colored serpents dance and weave through the air. The prey will see these limbs and....just stand there. All they do is stand there and stare, and that is because they fell victim to the painted hydra's trap! These flowing colors aren't just for show, as they seem to have a hypnotic effect on those who look at them. The pulsing swirling display captivates victims, leaving them motionless and dumbfounded. They can't do anything but stare blankly at the tendrils, too entranced to run or realize that another set of hidden tentacles are slowly reaching for them. The upper two pair of tentacles have swollen heads and reduced "beaks" to help put on this show, but the lower two pair are more designed for grabbing and holding. They have larger claws, sometimes hooked, to snare their captivated audience and drag them to the hydra's mouth. Enamored by the colors, prey doesn't realize they are being constricted and brought before a vicious drooling beak. Thankfully, death should come quickly, as the painted hydra sinks its razor beak into the neck or head to finish prey quickly. This whole show is to make the hunt as easy and hassle-free as possible. Why bother wrestling with an enraged bear when you can render it harmless and finish it off with a single blow?

Most of their lives, the painted hydra will remain in this camouflaged state, finding it easy to hide from predator and prey. However, this disguise may change under specific circumstances. If a foe sees through their ruse and attacks, the hydra may not have time to unleash its hypnotic display. If overwhelmed by a dangerous predator, it may flush out its camouflage colors and instead burst its whole body with a blinding flash of colors. This instant switch tends to startle opponents, as the brightness overwhelms the senses and hurts the eyes. Folk theorize that this defensive flashing also contains traces of their entrancing hunting method, as the vivid panicked display scrambles the brain long enough for the hydra to flee. The other time they drop this act is when trying to win over a mate. When males come across a wandering female, all their beautiful colors are instead put into making the most extravagant display possible. Pull out all the stops and unleash every trick you know! Frills out and tentacles dancing! These displays last for minutes, switching between different phases that each have their own colors and patterns. What the female is looking for, we don't know, and we might never find out. It turns out viewing these dances is also not safe for other species, as the frantic flashing of colors and swirling hues can cause seizures in those who stare for too long. Which is funny to think of when female painted hydras watch this blinding show and just slither away unimpressed.

Like other hydras, the painted ones aren't too well liked by the public. Their ambush style of hunting and hypnotic colors have probably claimed quite a few hikers, wanderers and hunters. I think another reason they are disliked is because their fantastic colors are impossible to harvest! Folks really love colorful feathers, scales and hide, thus a painted hydra's skin would be perfect for decoration or clothing! However, when they perish, the things controlling their colors pretty much turn off and their bodies turn a murky mess of browns and blacks. So your efforts in hunting one just gives you a nasty looking pile of rubbery tentacles and hide. At least artists can try to mimic their colors in paintings and murals, and I have seen some costumes and garbs that try to capture this look as well! I will admit, it is a pretty hard one to pull off! Go too far and you look like a rainbowy explosion of dye and cloth! I think this style is best left to the Furceros! Painted hydras are even frustrating to practitioners of Thericorium, as no one has figured out the ingredients and patterns necessary to gain their glorious skin. If one could actually gain the hide of a painted hydra, it would be a powerful tool! However, the process is quite complicated and not a single soul has pulled it off yet. It is pretty fitting, I think! A dazzling show of colors that is forbidden to see or gain!

Obviously I find the painted hydra a fascinating critter, as I do for most creatures, and its mesmerizing color shifting has always left me intrigued. What must one of these displays look like? What a show of color and rainbows it must be! To read about it is one thing, or seeing a camouflaged specimen, but I really want to know what its entrancing ability looks like! It feels like a hole in one's research if one doesn't witness their most iconic part! Now I know what you are all thinking! I can sense it! People be going "ooooh, Chlora, ya fool! You are going to tell us you walked right up to a painted hydra and got hypnotized by it!" NO! Of course not! Goodness, how little you people think of me! That I would do something so foolish and dangerous! And besides, if I got mesmerized by its colorful display I wouldn't remember what it looked like! Kind of defeats the purpose! As a well trained and ingenious researcher of nature, I knew ways I could see this forbidden show for myself!

During one of my research trips, I found evidence of a painted hydra nearby and thought that it would be the perfect time to spy this display. Now of course, I needed to catch it while it was hunting, so I could see it using its colors on its prey. At first, I thought it would be best that I hide in some bushes or behind a tree, spying from afar. My thought was that the hypnotic effects only worked on those the hydra was focusing on, pretty much requiring a full front view of the display to be caught by it. If I was a distance away and at a bit of an angle, I figured the combination of the two would prevent the effects from taking hold, like watching an enchanting play from the worst seats imaginable. However, it was still risky in my mind. If I somehow was still affected, I was still kind of exposed, and who knows what other critters may take a bite out of a conked out dryad. So I figured the answer was my ever useful pit blinds! If I was concealed in a hole, it once again would change the angle of the viewing but also keep me safe if things went wrong! So I located a probable spot where the painted hydra would hide and hunt, then dug out my watching nest a good distance away. The ground was pretty rocky and tough, so it was a bit harder then I expected. Then I got the branches and leaves to cover it up, making it invisible to all outsiders! My tiring efforts were paid off, as it was one of my finer pit blinds! As I sat for a rest, though, I got thinking more of the scenario. If I did succumb to the painted hydra's display, I would not remember it and thus come out of this empty handed. In that case, it was better to get a tinted view of it rather then none at all, if you know what I mean. Tinted goggles was what came to mind! Such tools were used around basilisks and gorgons, surely it would work here. Yes, it would mute the scene, but it would give me peace of mind and maybe I could take them off for a brief second to sneak a peak of the full show. There was a town not far from my location, it would be easy to go there and pick up a pair!

Getting to the town was easy! Getting my goggles was torture! I went to the local shops to see where I could get some, and they directed me to the glassblower. They made such eye wear, so I figured I would just stroll in and out with ease. Naive little me didn't remember that humans have a bizarre sense of humor and love pulling one over on dryads every chance they get! I asked for him to whip me up a pair, and he just stood there dumbfounded! I asked what was the issue and he said he didn't know how to make goggles for me! Easy, just get some tinted lenses and some leather and make it into something that covers my eyes! Seems straightforward to me! Not to mention he had plenty of ones for humans just lying all over the place, so clearly he had the talent! But he swore he didn't know how to fashion them for dryads, and that is when the joke dawned on me. He was acting like he didn't know where my eyes were! Ugh! This wretched joke again! I told him he was looking at them, but he still played dumb! "I don't see them," he said, over and over! At last I gave up on the fool and just purchased the lenses and some spare leather to cobble together my own. Honestly, folks pull these lame pranks out at the weirdest times! So that was an exhausting argument, but I at least could finally hike back to camp. I figured I would stop by my pit blind before I retreated to my tent so I could make sure it was still sturdy and so I could stash my makeshift goggles there. Best leave them where I need them! I was so tired during my visit to the blind that I almost didn't notice the hiding hydra in its hunting spot! It was here! Right where I predicted! I dove into my blind the second I spotted it, and got myself into position. This was the moment I was waiting for!

Of course, the painted hydra is an ambush hunter, so it is more waiting for prey than anything else. I got cozy in my blind because I knew it would be a minute before the action started, and there was no point in being uncomfortable. I held off on donning the goggles until prey showed up, as it was pointless wearing them until then. It was a little chilly out, so I pulled a spare blanket from my pack to bundle up in. I just had to wait! I was pretty tired from all the day's work, but I couldn't miss out on this display! Excitement ran through me from cap to root when I saw a deer come strolling by! It was lazily grazing while making its daily migration as the sun began to set. With the painted hydra fully cloaked in camouflage colors, the deer was oblivious and heading right its way. This was it! I tossed on the goggles and got myself ready! Soon the deer would get close enough and the painted hydra would begin its colorful show! It would happen any minute! Any second! The deer was sure taking its sweet time, though, pausing nearly every step to scan the surroundings and nibble some vegetation. But it would happen soon, I could feel it! It was moving so slow, but it had to be inevitable! I just needed to sit and wait. So I waited and waited and waited and then suddenly snapped to! I was startled by my own movements, nearly breaking my own blind in the process. I gathered myself quickly and checked to make sure I didn't interrupt the show. I pulled the goggles off and found that the deer and hydra were GONE! Nowhere to be seen! And that was when my knotbrain realized I FELL ASLEEP! Tired, wrapped in my blanket and wearing tinted glasses resulted in my dozing off as I waited for the action! So I snoozed through all of it! Oh I was so angry at myself! What a stupid way to foil my own efforts!

So there, I didn't fall victim to a painted hydra, I just did something even more embarrassing! Wait, why am I telling you this? You know what, Eucella, I think we can cut this part...

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

---------------------------------------------

Not going to lie, the tendril colors didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. Less mesmerizingly psychedelic and more circus tent looking. Oh well, ya get the gist.

Description

Hydras are already pretty good at deception, seeing that they are cephalopods that have fooled many into thinking they are multi-headed reptiles. However, their efforts in disguise and trickery only grow as you delve deeper into this family, as it seems their bag of tricks are bottomless! For example, let us look at the painted hydra. From the name alone, I bet you folks think this member lives in the rainbow mountains. Good guess, but they do not! Honestly, they tend to live where other hydras roam, pretty normal forests, marshes and whatnot. Even then, the name "painted hydra" still causes confusion because most times people see them they are actually pretty drab. Just boring ol' greens and browns! What do you mean "painted?" Painted like dirt? Most people think this because they only see these hydras when they are hiding or resting, pretty much in a dormant state. You will only truly see their painted moniker when it is time to hunt! Unfortunately, though, if you do see this you don't really live to remember it...

First, let us discuss the painted hydra itself. Compared to your regular hydras, they tend to be about the same size or a little smaller. The real difference you will see is the number of knobs, bumps and frills that run down its mantle. A pretty cluttered and gaudy looking beast! However, these actually have a purpose. You see, painted hydras are ambush hunters, who use their incredible color changing abilities to blend right into their surroundings. The browns, greens and other natural colors they use are to match the vegetation around them, so they melt right into the scenery. These various growths and frills help break up their silhouette, and can independently change color to further disguise themselves as rotten logs, dead leaves or moss covered rocks. These structures can even stretch and shrink to further this effect! When given the time to settle into a hiding place, a painted hydra can vanish right before your eyes! That is a pretty nifty trick! But it turns out that isn't the best one they got!

Painted hydras lie in wait along game trails, near water bodies and other places that attract wildlife. They want something big and tasty to walk on by. They don't bother with the small fry, as they tend to target larger creatures, be it herbivore or predator. They can sit there for hours, if not days, on end, waiting for the right victim and right moment. When that opportunity finally arrives, their four upper tendrils will rise up and...start changing colors. Indeed, the painted hydra does not attack when the victim is in front of them, it instead deploys its tentacles and has them drop their disguise. Instead of blending in, they turn to bizarre bright colors and shifting hues. Rings of coloration pulsing down their lengths, flowing in psychedelic fashion. The rest of the body will remain perfectly disguised, as these four brightly colored serpents dance and weave through the air. The prey will see these limbs and....just stand there. All they do is stand there and stare, and that is because they fell victim to the painted hydra's trap! These flowing colors aren't just for show, as they seem to have a hypnotic effect on those who look at them. The pulsing swirling display captivates victims, leaving them motionless and dumbfounded. They can't do anything but stare blankly at the tendrils, too entranced to run or realize that another set of hidden tentacles are slowly reaching for them. The upper two pair of tentacles have swollen heads and reduced "beaks" to help put on this show, but the lower two pair are more designed for grabbing and holding. They have larger claws, sometimes hooked, to snare their captivated audience and drag them to the hydra's mouth. Enamored by the colors, prey doesn't realize they are being constricted and brought before a vicious drooling beak. Thankfully, death should come quickly, as the painted hydra sinks its razor beak into the neck or head to finish prey quickly. This whole show is to make the hunt as easy and hassle-free as possible. Why bother wrestling with an enraged bear when you can render it harmless and finish it off with a single blow?

Most of their lives, the painted hydra will remain in this camouflaged state, finding it easy to hide from predator and prey. However, this disguise may change under specific circumstances. If a foe sees through their ruse and attacks, the hydra may not have time to unleash its hypnotic display. If overwhelmed by a dangerous predator, it may flush out its camouflage colors and instead burst its whole body with a blinding flash of colors. This instant switch tends to startle opponents, as the brightness overwhelms the senses and hurts the eyes. Folk theorize that this defensive flashing also contains traces of their entrancing hunting method, as the vivid panicked display scrambles the brain long enough for the hydra to flee. The other time they drop this act is when trying to win over a mate. When males come across a wandering female, all their beautiful colors are instead put into making the most extravagant display possible. Pull out all the stops and unleash every trick you know! Frills out and tentacles dancing! These displays last for minutes, switching between different phases that each have their own colors and patterns. What the female is looking for, we don't know, and we might never find out. It turns out viewing these dances is also not safe for other species, as the frantic flashing of colors and swirling hues can cause seizures in those who stare for too long. Which is funny to think of when female painted hydras watch this blinding show and just slither away unimpressed.

Like other hydras, the painted ones aren't too well liked by the public. Their ambush style of hunting and hypnotic colors have probably claimed quite a few hikers, wanderers and hunters. I think another reason they are disliked is because their fantastic colors are impossible to harvest! Folks really love colorful feathers, scales and hide, thus a painted hydra's skin would be perfect for decoration or clothing! However, when they perish, the things controlling their colors pretty much turn off and their bodies turn a murky mess of browns and blacks. So your efforts in hunting one just gives you a nasty looking pile of rubbery tentacles and hide. At least artists can try to mimic their colors in paintings and murals, and I have seen some costumes and garbs that try to capture this look as well! I will admit, it is a pretty hard one to pull off! Go too far and you look like a rainbowy explosion of dye and cloth! I think this style is best left to the Furceros! Painted hydras are even frustrating to practitioners of Thericorium, as no one has figured out the ingredients and patterns necessary to gain their glorious skin. If one could actually gain the hide of a painted hydra, it would be a powerful tool! However, the process is quite complicated and not a single soul has pulled it off yet. It is pretty fitting, I think! A dazzling show of colors that is forbidden to see or gain!

Obviously I find the painted hydra a fascinating critter, as I do for most creatures, and its mesmerizing color shifting has always left me intrigued. What must one of these displays look like? What a show of color and rainbows it must be! To read about it is one thing, or seeing a camouflaged specimen, but I really want to know what its entrancing ability looks like! It feels like a hole in one's research if one doesn't witness their most iconic part! Now I know what you are all thinking! I can sense it! People be going "ooooh, Chlora, ya fool! You are going to tell us you walked right up to a painted hydra and got hypnotized by it!" NO! Of course not! Goodness, how little you people think of me! That I would do something so foolish and dangerous! And besides, if I got mesmerized by its colorful display I wouldn't remember what it looked like! Kind of defeats the purpose! As a well trained and ingenious researcher of nature, I knew ways I could see this forbidden show for myself!

During one of my research trips, I found evidence of a painted hydra nearby and thought that it would be the perfect time to spy this display. Now of course, I needed to catch it while it was hunting, so I could see it using its colors on its prey. At first, I thought it would be best that I hide in some bushes or behind a tree, spying from afar. My thought was that the hypnotic effects only worked on those the hydra was focusing on, pretty much requiring a full front view of the display to be caught by it. If I was a distance away and at a bit of an angle, I figured the combination of the two would prevent the effects from taking hold, like watching an enchanting play from the worst seats imaginable. However, it was still risky in my mind. If I somehow was still affected, I was still kind of exposed, and who knows what other critters may take a bite out of a conked out dryad. So I figured the answer was my ever useful pit blinds! If I was concealed in a hole, it once again would change the angle of the viewing but also keep me safe if things went wrong! So I located a probable spot where the painted hydra would hide and hunt, then dug out my watching nest a good distance away. The ground was pretty rocky and tough, so it was a bit harder then I expected. Then I got the branches and leaves to cover it up, making it invisible to all outsiders! My tiring efforts were paid off, as it was one of my finer pit blinds! As I sat for a rest, though, I got thinking more of the scenario. If I did succumb to the painted hydra's display, I would not remember it and thus come out of this empty handed. In that case, it was better to get a tinted view of it rather then none at all, if you know what I mean. Tinted goggles was what came to mind! Such tools were used around basilisks and gorgons, surely it would work here. Yes, it would mute the scene, but it would give me peace of mind and maybe I could take them off for a brief second to sneak a peak of the full show. There was a town not far from my location, it would be easy to go there and pick up a pair!

Getting to the town was easy! Getting my goggles was torture! I went to the local shops to see where I could get some, and they directed me to the glassblower. They made such eye wear, so I figured I would just stroll in and out with ease. Naive little me didn't remember that humans have a bizarre sense of humor and love pulling one over on dryads every chance they get! I asked for him to whip me up a pair, and he just stood there dumbfounded! I asked what was the issue and he said he didn't know how to make goggles for me! Easy, just get some tinted lenses and some leather and make it into something that covers my eyes! Seems straightforward to me! Not to mention he had plenty of ones for humans just lying all over the place, so clearly he had the talent! But he swore he didn't know how to fashion them for dryads, and that is when the joke dawned on me. He was acting like he didn't know where my eyes were! Ugh! This wretched joke again! I told him he was looking at them, but he still played dumb! "I don't see them," he said, over and over! At last I gave up on the fool and just purchased the lenses and some spare leather to cobble together my own. Honestly, folks pull these lame pranks out at the weirdest times! So that was an exhausting argument, but I at least could finally hike back to camp. I figured I would stop by my pit blind before I retreated to my tent so I could make sure it was still sturdy and so I could stash my makeshift goggles there. Best leave them where I need them! I was so tired during my visit to the blind that I almost didn't notice the hiding hydra in its hunting spot! It was here! Right where I predicted! I dove into my blind the second I spotted it, and got myself into position. This was the moment I was waiting for!

Of course, the painted hydra is an ambush hunter, so it is more waiting for prey than anything else. I got cozy in my blind because I knew it would be a minute before the action started, and there was no point in being uncomfortable. I held off on donning the goggles until prey showed up, as it was pointless wearing them until then. It was a little chilly out, so I pulled a spare blanket from my pack to bundle up in. I just had to wait! I was pretty tired from all the day's work, but I couldn't miss out on this display! Excitement ran through me from cap to root when I saw a deer come strolling by! It was lazily grazing while making its daily migration as the sun began to set. With the painted hydra fully cloaked in camouflage colors, the deer was oblivious and heading right its way. This was it! I tossed on the goggles and got myself ready! Soon the deer would get close enough and the painted hydra would begin its colorful show! It would happen any minute! Any second! The deer was sure taking its sweet time, though, pausing nearly every step to scan the surroundings and nibble some vegetation. But it would happen soon, I could feel it! It was moving so slow, but it had to be inevitable! I just needed to sit and wait. So I waited and waited and waited and then suddenly snapped to! I was startled by my own movements, nearly breaking my own blind in the process. I gathered myself quickly and checked to make sure I didn't interrupt the show. I pulled the goggles off and found that the deer and hydra were GONE! Nowhere to be seen! And that was when my knotbrain realized I FELL ASLEEP! Tired, wrapped in my blanket and wearing tinted glasses resulted in my dozing off as I waited for the action! So I snoozed through all of it! Oh I was so angry at myself! What a stupid way to foil my own efforts!

So there, I didn't fall victim to a painted hydra, I just did something even more embarrassing! Wait, why am I telling you this? You know what, Eucella, I think we can cut this part...

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

---------------------------------------------

Not going to lie, the tendril colors didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. Less mesmerizingly psychedelic and more circus tent looking. Oh well, ya get the gist.