HOME | DD
SylxeriaGuardian — Emperor Hydra RefSheet
Published: 2014-04-03 18:30:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 3749; Favourites: 58; Downloads: 27
Redirect to original
Description
had this absolutely lovely paper crafted hydra bust for sale, and I quickly fell in love with the design ^^We talked about it over Notes for a while, and eventually this project was born - a full reference sheet for the lovely beast <3
It was a long time coming, but the end result was more than worth it~
Heheh, the bit about what the hatchlings eat? I guess I coulda just saved time by saying they'll eat anything smaller than themselves
Aaah. I was just thinking about some real life reptiles that will eat insects and other things you wouldn't really expect them to in their first months of life. All the text on the side was taken from some notes where I was jotting down the descriptions of some breeds of hydra in the fictional world I've been developing on and off for the past... Uhm... Well since the 8th grade I think. Maybe 9th. These hydras were the offspring of an ordinary Grey Hydra and the elemental dragon that ruled over the region of their origin, giving rise to their name. Also because they look so regal and handsome
Been thinking about upping their lifespan to 500 or even 600 years, but *shrugs* bit late for that now
If you like the art style, you should definitely go watch ^^
Her creature busts are sooo cool. If I had enough space in my room I would pick up another or two xP
Related content
Comments: 16
Final price was $160 ~ $200 if I recall.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
how much in points?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
She doesn't do Point Commissions - PayPal only.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Can i make an emperor hydra oc?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
You'd have to ask StrayaObscura too. If she says yes then I don't see why not
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
making an oc, she didn't really care if as long as i gave creature credit.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
I like the color combinations 
The brown and steel blue is a neat combo
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Might I give you some advice on the future development of this character ref? Consider adding or thinking about the following:
1. Ecosystem/habitat of the creature
2. Orientation in the food chain of the ecosystem
3. General and specific behaviors (throughout the life cycle)
4. Interactions with other organisms, prey and predator alike
5. Interactions with humans (if they exist in your world)
6. Anatomy/ mechanics of the organism (if you understand what I mean)
7. A full and detailed life cycle
8. A few fun facts or random details for show
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
1. Still designing it. It's a valley though, with coniferous forests in the hills.
2. Apex predator
3. Early years they're fairly aggressive towards anything that moves (As their Common Grey Hydra ancestors were), as they age they become more intelligent, patient, and thoughtful (As the dragon-half of their ancestry was.)
4. Hmm?
5. EmpHydras and humans have a fairly positive relationship in their valley, though outsiders tend to be a bit trigger-happy when dealing with them. Conflicts ensue.
6. Already pointed out some. Their feeding is a bit dragon/snake like. Will swallow prey whole whenever possible, and it can take on pretty large prey before needing to resort to chewing. Digestion is very snake-like as well. They're endothermic (From their dragon-lineage) so they don't have worry about that, but their digestive anatomy leans closer to their snake half - sans the jaws and mouth which took after the dragon lineage more.
Reproduction I didn't think much into, but the hydras mate for life and are protective over their young. Once they get all three heads they typically are left to fend for themselves, but won't stray far from their family until they're 90 years or so of age.
7. Still working on this. I don't see it as too complex though.
8. They descended from a species of hydra known as the 'Common Grey' - basically very very very large pythons with three heads. They were very aggressive, territorial, and were the main reasons the human villages in the valley never grew beyond villages. A powerful elemental dragon known as Marduk came to the valley one day, and attempted to reach out to the village leaders and offering them protection in return for their loyalty. Together they founded a kingdom and the population flourished. Somewhere through the years, Marduk had mated with a hydra from the valley, and that brought forth the first line of what eventually came to be known as the Emperor Hydras. How, when and why I'm leaving as "lost to history". I don't need to write every single tiny detail if I don't wanna
Today, most of the Common Grey hydras live in the outskirts of the valley and are dwindling in number, while the Emperor Hydras are maintaining a fairly healthy population (Not devouring humans on-sight and in large numbers tends to help with that 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wow! Glad to know you've put a lot of thought into this (I suspected you had, but I mostly wanted to know what you had come up with).
Firstly:
4. I meant like how they hunt/ catch/ kill prey, how they kind of fit in with the rest of the creatures in the valley, how they defend themselves from predators or adversarial humans, etc.
Secondly:
I like the back story and am interested to find out more about the world in which the creatures live.
Thirdly:
I hope you don't feel pressured to come up with any of this stuff for me,I am merely curious. (ie: I am only suggesting, not demanding) Furthermore, it is perfectly fine to leave things open-ended.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Marduk finding a hydra to have a family with was probably due to his longing for a real family, since he'd been separated from the one he was born into for almost a century, and has outlived his parents and most of his siblings by this point. Rewinding a bit, Marduk was born into a small clan of blue dragons, and was the only male in the clutch of seven he hatched from. Sometime in his drakehood his youngest sister 'Tiamat' had undergone elemental changes and was subsequently cast out from her home (dragons that have become elementals are not permitted by dragon law to remain with their flights and are exiled from their homes. The temptation for their elders to abuse the elemental's budding powers would be too great - among other reasons, but that's the only one I've written down so far)
Marduk never saw her again, and he himself underwent the same changes years later, and he too had to leave. Elemental induction in dragonkin often causes a change in their physical appearance, in Tiamat's and Marduk's cases, it caused them to sprout additional heads - along with some other minor alterations to their form.
Now Marduk's main two reasons for wishing to protect the humans of this valley was because of his natural desire to safeguard others, and his longing to no longer be alone. He'd solve to problems in one action. Eventually he mated with one of the hydras in the valley (Being a dragon and somewhat hydra-like, he was less "target worthy" of aggression than other creatures I guess) and soon had a family he could truly call his own. Because these new hydras are of his blood, they're every bit as revered as Marduk himself - they are his children after all.
One note of interest that doesn't have anything to do with the hydras themselves is what I had planned for Tiamat and Marduk as characters. I wanted them to be true opposites.
Tiamat despaired over the loss of her family, and this despair quickly turned to anger, and she began to lash out at those around her. In a particularly bad fit of rage she leveled an entire village with the destructive magics she inherited. She's since voluntarily exiled herself to the freezing mountainranges in the south, isolating herslef in complete solitude. She's completely alone, with no one to comfort her or love her, while her brother has an entire kingdom to watch over.
Marduk sought to find a new family to watch over, having lost his original one. That's what kept him going. Tiamat lost herself in her grief and anger, and that's all she knows now.
The elements they inherited are also opposites, with each sibling being imbued with the counterelements that oppose the other.
Tiamat: Ice, Wind, Water
Marduk: Lightning, Earth, Fire
In its elemental form, Ice is the absence of energy - still and unmoving, while Lightning is a perpetually moving and dynamic catalyst of it.
The other four should be obvious
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Very! 
I had an Anaconda Hydra I was working on, but it never got past the sketch phase D:
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Awwwww. Well, if you ever finish it, be sure to let me know. Two of my favorite creatures combined would be awesome!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0