30 Days of Biographies:
Gladia
The far-travelled Amazon heroine Gladia’s most famous deed was her slaying of the Acciarian Hydra, in which she was aided by Zardax, one of the Three Great Sages of Ancient Realmgard.
For almost as long as the Amazons have existed as a distinct culture in Realmgard, young Amazons have marked their coming-of-age by travelling outside the Decapolis to perform heroic deeds and win names for themselves. Gladia’s travels took her to Natalis.
The story of Gladia’s slaying of the Hydra have been retold in countless forms throughout Realmgard’s history, though the truth of the events remains unclear and obscure.
The accounts of Gladia’s time in Natalis are marred by anachronistic details that are the result of the later literary tradition growing. That Gladia existed is not disputed, as her name is attested to in Amazon records before she was a noteworthy figure. That she slew a monster or beast dwelling in the lake outside of Acciaieria is usually accepted as well, though the Hyrda’s traditional description as a multi-headed, poison-spewing dragon-like creature have been met with skepticism. Notably, bones purported to belong to the Hydra are held in several locations across Realmgard, though their origin and provenance cannot be conclusively established — that they are multiple skulls said to have belonged to the Hydra is not usually taken as definitive proof that they are forgeries, as the Hydra is held to have had multiple heads to begin with.
According to the most common version of the story, Gladia volunteered to slay the Hydra, which had devoured many of the inhabitants of Acciarian, along with the previous adventurers who had attempted to slay it. Before venturing to the lake, Gladia conferred with the Sage Zardax, who was set to be visiting Acciaria at the time for unclear reasons. He provided the young Amazon with a potion intended to lull the Hydra to sleep to allow Gladia to slay it.
Gladia is said to have baited the Hydra by filling a sheepskin with the potion, floating it into the middle of the lake, and waiting until the Hydra mistook the bait for real prey. Once the Hydra was overcome by the effects of Zardax’s potion, Gladia slew it with a signal spear thrust, then returned to Acciaria carrying several of its heads as proof, which were mounted as trophies in the city’s forum.
Although Gladia was offered rule of Acciaria as a reward to deliver the city from the Hydra, she refused and continued on her way. It is said that her original goal during her travels was to write the finest cookbook Realmgard had yet seen to the point, leading to travel Realmgard in pursuit of foreign recipes to bring back to the Decapolis — Amazonian cuisine being notably nourishing but infamously bland.
Zardax is said to have continued aiding the Amazon heroine in the collection and compilation of the finest recipes in Realmgard at the time. Gladia’s original cookbook does not survive in its entirety, though a number of recipes have come down after being copied in later cookbooks.
Now, the inspiration of the story of Heracles and the Lernaean Hydra, is obvious, but my main inspiration for how Gladia actually defeated the Hydra owes more to the Japanese myth of Susanoo and Yamata no Orochi — the story goes that Susanoo fed Orochi sake until it passed out in a drunken stupor and chopped off its nine heads at his leisure.
Technically, that picture is a Valkyrie, but I couldn’t really find more suitable images — inevitably, most non-Fantasy images of warrior women (at least European ones) end up being Joan of Arc. And, again, this is another one that should be an Elf, but I didn’t trust myself to do the ears right.
And, hey, look at that — I did it: 30 days of biographies done and dusted.
I should probably catch my breath pretty quickly, because I’m planning on doing something for the duration of November.
Incidentally, check out the rest of my writing exercises here.
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