The origins of this magical whip predate the ages of iron and bronze. As the legend goes a masterful huntsman once stole into the nest of a sleeping hydra and made off with one of its eggs. As the hydra grew, it came to be a guardian of the huntsman’s tribe, and for generations served its people. Under its watch the tribe saw prosperity, growing in size and power until it ruled vast swathes of land in all directions.
As the tribe-now-become-state grew it became embroiled in more and more conflicts with the civilizations at its borders, until this growth became unsustainable. In a great battle against several armies, the now ancient Hydra was slain, and the nation it was charged with protecting was largely divided up by the victors.
The remains of the hydra were brought back to the capitol city in the aftermath of the conflict, where its nine heads were crafted into nine magical whips, so that even in death the hydra might still protect its people.
It is said that those that remember the name of the hydra may bring out the whip’s true potential.
Details
Weapon (Whip), very rare (requires attunement)
Multiply. Much like the beast it was crafted from, this whip is capable of splitting, increasing the number of heads it has. Whenever you are hit by an attack from a hostile creature while wielding this weapon, it grows one additional head, up to a maximum of nine. When you successfully attack a creature with the whip while it has more than one head, you may choose to deal additional slashing damage to the creature equal to 1d4 times the number of additional heads currently on the whip. Once you use this feature, any additional heads shrivel up and disappear, returning the whip to its natural state.
Grappling Heads. While the whip possesses three or more heads you may use an action to attempt to grapple a target creature in range with it. The creature must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + the number of heads the whip currently has or be grappled by you. A creature grappled by this weapon may attempt a Strength saving throw against the same DC to break free of the effect. While grappling a target this way the whip may not be used to make normal attacks. You may release the grapple at any point without expending an action. If the whip ever falls below three heads while grappling a target, the grapple automatically ends.
Venomous Bite. While the whip possesses six or more heads and is grappling a target you may use an action to force the target to attempt a Constitution saving throw with a DC equal to 10 + the number of heads the whip currently has. The target takes Xd6 poison damage on a failure, where X is the number of heads the whip currently has. On a successful save the creature takes only half as much damage, and any additional heads on the whip disappear.
Fire Vulnerability. If the whip or its wielder take any amount of fire damage, the whip immediately has three of its additional heads burned away. This will never reduced the whip below one head.