Introduction: General Information
RULE #1: NYMPHS DO NOT WEAR CLOTHES. PERIOD.
Sorry about that. I've been seeing some smartasses draw art of me with clothes to be "wholesome," and uh yeah, the thought makes me sick to my stomach. There's a long-standing cultural history behind that that I'm sure someone else has explained already in history textbooks. But that's not important. Even if you don't know, you probably don't care. I'm sure you forked over those gold coins for this book to learn about the rumors of all these naked people running around below the surface and occasionally on the surface, yeah? Well a lot of them are true and some are not. There are, in fact, loads of naked people right under your nose.
So right, thank you for purchasing the Nymphlopedia, First Edition! I am Sonata, a type of Nymph that humans had finally renamed to "Oread" because there's so many other of us and "just Nymphs" was getting confusing! You might know me as the woman that slayed Cthulhu... well, of course, I can't take all the credit. I have this great friend that I tried to eat when we first met, Vince, an awesome Human (I don't know if you can call him that any more I mean he juiced pretty hard on Life Crystals and this weird fruit in the Jungle) that wants a Nymph Harem almost as bad as me, and Tania. You might have heard of Tania. She's almost definitely the last Dryad unless some soap opera twist happens that I probably shouldn't joke about. And a lot of others that I'll give Special Thanks to in the end, but Vince and Tania were the two that really stood by me as we all fought him together.
Anyway, when Cthulhu fell, I thought "Wow, my Naked Empire will be built higher!" Vince and Tania complained, "No no no that's a democracy at this point," I told them both "Shut up, empire sounds cooler." I went over to check the references of the other 900 plus biomes and stuff. Then trouble happened: There was no reference. To any Nymph type! Tania was pretty pissed off, she thought there was already one. I asked my ecological cousins or whatever you'd call the biology family tree in the Naked Empire, none of them had written either (this also pissed off Tania), but they'd love to help me write one out. So, that's what we're doing. It's a collaborative effort, a big one, Tania, Vince, and I write the most of it, and I ask the representatives from my "Naked Empire" to weigh in a little and jot some things about themselves. Right now we're just doing the one hundred (and two, counting me and Tania) that are in the Naked Empire. In the future, we'll probably cover all the other 900 and whatever Nymphs are hiding out too. I mean, several are hiding out, most Humans didn't know about the other Variants until Vince met me because usually Humans barely even make it out alive with Oreads, let alone getting roasted by Magma Nymphs or whathaveyou.
Here's the basics of us. For some reason before we really took off and got known to the public, some people got the idea of us being all-female? ...No? We mostly ARE all female, to the point where there isn't really one term used to describe just our women, "Nymph" is both the women and unisex, like how "gay" is unisex and use for just men. Speaking of gay we just tend to lean on being bi and all, I mean that's kind of what happens with an over 99% female gender ratio, like if we were all usually gay that's not many options for the men, if we were all straight well that's not many options for the women. And uh, before you ask, seeds. We plant seeds. How those seeds are made is where the sex comes in, we reproduce in this really complex bisexual process, but I'm not the person to trust with that sort of thing, that is something that's been written in other books. (Note from Tania: And I refuse to write about this.) You pull us out of the ground with these giant stems that grow from our heads. And the stems just shrivel and fall off. Oh almost forgot "Satyr" is what we currently call male Nymphs.
We hate "clothes" clothes but most of our types still have these things around their arms and legs that can double as our main weapons, although we still make lots of weapons on top of that because we love killing shit. Have you ever opened a chest and saw some nice weapon there? That was probably made by a Nymph Variant! And the bottled up parts of weather! And the chest itself! Also, if you hear one of us cursing out the name of "Pan," yeah, Pan's our nature god. Our deity.
I'll walk you through these. Let's start with my own kind!
Nymphlopedia
Prologue: Oreads/"Base" Nymphs
Beginning AN:
Hoo boy, this is... different. Something a lot different from anything else I've written, and that's saying a lot. Well, I mean, I did once have a daily bio thing going on with 361 Striking Degrees over on Tumblr, but that didn't include stories. I'm "only" doing 100 now (technically 102 but 100 sounds nicer), so it shouldn't be that bad?
"Holy crap did you write these three in one day on the deadline" no because I know I'm lazy and prone to falling behind a lot. I want to get this out now so that you don't think this is more impressive than it really is. I have this "queue," I'm writing a lot (I spent the last few days of August quickly going through and hashing out the roughs of about six a day, I've actually had one quarter of these done before posting this chapter, I'm up to Entry 025 aside from filling in just a few spots (which includes the bite-sized story... also probably the hardest part)) and on the day it's out I plan to just usually be writing some last touches... and drafting up hopefully around six more chapters. I really, really want to do this in a schedule and I'd like a "buffer" with these.
This is also really close to being its own thing and not a Terraria fanfic, and to be completely honest I'm kind of using this as "practice" for a possible future original project that will have some similar stuff but I wouldn't have to worry about finding a way to worm the Pumpkin and Frost Moons in to it... I'll try my hardest to keep it tied to Terraria. Since I'm not a big fan of fanworks losing all ties to the original canon to the point of being its own thing.
This was inspired mainly by gamagamer's Siren variation ideas, to a degree Ophise's Dryad biome variations, and BionicBandit's daily drawing series. I guess what really pushed me to do this was also the Shin Megami Tensei V daily demon trailers (I haven't played any game in that series but I browse the Nintendo Switch Subreddit where they're posted), I even considered having the beginning of those videos parodied here but I backed out of that idea since I wasn't really familiar with SMT and I'm trying to stop putting on a display of me being familiar with things I'm not. Also, perhaps the most important inspiration, the Piklopedia of Pikmin 2 and Pikmin 3 Deluxe. I hope this doesn't come off as spammy, as aside from "bookending" this with Teasers Chapter 2 and Romancing the Last Dryad Chapters 1-2, this will be just one story I update in the Terraria category for the month. And it's just through the month for now, I haven't planned what to do for any "bonus" chapters.
NSFW Note: This is probably my tamest M-rated story so far but it's still a bit raunchy, it mentions sex a bit more than my other T-rated recent works, including Teaser. Heck it already did, and it will even more below. I'd kind of consider this an "ecchi" series... maybe.
Please don't stop at this chapter just at the "format" and assume that it's nothing but a template. There is in fact an actual entry under it and the bite-sized story, and it's arguably the second-most important entry in the entire set. (You could probably guess what the most important one is.)
FYI if you're looking for the "horniest chapter," well that will likely be Entry #3. That's about as raunchy as this will probably get.
The Format (Section Written by Tania Unless Otherwise Stated)
The "most common" name of the Nymph is listed in bold. Below are a series of illustrations of what they look like. Nymphs from, sigh, Sonata's "Naked Empire" are used as the main source of reference; we had to ask Satyrs from across the biomes as other references. (Note from Tania: The illustrations are the main reason why people are buying this. Look at dem asses.)
A brief description is provided by our local Zoologist and Bestiary-filler, Mollie. This is her abridged summary for the people who want to understand the basics of them.
Preferred Environment: Where they live. This is usually their namesake biome.
Environment Threat Level: Their associated biomes, ranked on a scale ranging from Beneficial, to Peaceful, to Calm, to Moderate, to Dangerous, to Severe, to Extremely Severe. This is related to both the environment itself and the wildlife (for example, the Magma Lakes are "Severe" in spite of mostly having passive creatures, on account of the magma itself being very dangerous to traverse). "Beneficial" means that there is little to no hostile life (aside from the Nymphs, that is a given) and that the very environment itself could aide a person within, usually by having a strong amount of substance that heals them. Beneficial biomes are unfortunately very rare. "Peaceful" means that there is little to no hostile life (aside from the Nymphs, again) but without any naturally-helpful properties. The others are a more subjective scale that may be subject to revision. Note that "Extremely Severe" is a special case reserved for only exceptionally hostile biomes. I judge this section for all biomes, and my standard is that one is not Extremely Severe unless it is on par with the Corruption's depths.
Environment Stats: In order, the wet/dryness of the biome (also takes in to account rainfall, mainly for the surface; if the biome itself is somehow dry below yet attracts rain, this will be noted). The average temperature. The "fantastic" element, on a scale from Mundane (easily understandable and "normal" to the Human world), to Moderate-Mundane (a "normal biome" with a few supernatural elements to it), to Middle-Fantastic (a biome in the middle), to Moderate-Fantastic (a biome with an overwhelming "magic sense" to it, yet it is still recognizably "natural" by Human standards), to Fantastic (overwhelmingly magical or "alien," some outright surreal); Vince ranks these to offer a Human perspective. How common the biome is, mainly on the surface. A brief description of what the biome is like.
Other Names: Other names they tend to give to themselves.
Affinity: Almost all of them have at least a loose connection with the classical elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. Oreads and Dryads are the only known exceptions, with their affinities being Undead and Life, respectively.
Color: For some reason, most Nymph Variants have a distinctive color scheme, which makes them easier to tell apart. (Note from Sonata: Be warned there are a lot of similar-looking colors. You gotta be able to tell apart red from red-orange. And green from... green-blue-green, that's just bullshit right there.) The common twenty-four hues use the same naming scheme as given with official brand dyes: Fuchsia, Pink, Blush, Red, Vermilion, Orange, Gold, Yellow, Chartreuse, Lime, Harlequin, Green, Sea Green, Teal, Aqua, Cyan, Azure, Sky Blue, Cerulean, Blue, Indigo, Purple, Magenta, and Violet.
Traditional Costume Weapon: What their warriors tend to "wear," always as a method of combat. With my kind being the only exception, who wears for both combat and for keeping appearances. (Note from Sonata: FUCK YOU.)
Vince's Comment: Hi! I'm Vince! I act as the "survival tour guide," if you're a lost person holding on to this book and you want a quick tip on how to avoid any Nymphs that aren't friendly with us, read here! I'll probably just tell you how dead you are, though.
Sonata's Comment: Helloooooo! For all you daring people that want to know some icebreakers to talk to these Nymphs, I'm your gal! Please note that I'm not a "pickup artist," I won't tell you how to lie to them or anything, just like... tips on how to get started being a decent person. I'm meant to be for the socially anxious. Or people who are (rightfully) scared of Nymphs, don't worry I understand, lots of them scare me too! I might just ramble about something if I can't think of a way to get them to like you, sorry. General rule: If one of them wants to eat you, just ignore what I have to say, okay? We've got some pretty unsatable apetites! By the way, if you're an adult (if you're not you shouldn't even be reading this! Where are your parents?!) and you wanna get with me, all you gotta do is find me and ask! I'm easier than fighting a hydra!
Tania's Comment: I provide a closer look at their biology and/or culture. I will also tell you the currently-accepted "scientific" name for them, which was mainly thought up by Mollie. For any potential non-Nymph entries, I will tell you their biological family as well.
"Heroic" Terrarian Vince cautiously approached the hill Sonata was seated on from behind. Especially considering that... yeah, the night. Doesn't she get stronger in the full moon? Blood Moon?
Sonata turned to him and smiled. She was still in her "human skin-toned" form. Not that green and dark red appearance. He still wasn't quite used to seeing her like that. Well, he met her yesterday, so he wasn't used to seeing much of her at all.
"Hiiii... you here to turn around and kill me after all?" She asked, lips curling. Her teeth were still as sharp as ever.
"I could ask you the same question."
"Well I mean I'm the one who walked to you so... why are you here?"
Sonata shuffled her legs around a bit. Vince sat next to her.
"Just wanted to get another good look at this, now that I'm up here. It's crazy, I spent five hundred years just... going in circles."
"Oh yeah, your 'Naked Empire.' You're been around for five hundred years and you've never even... well..." Vince was at a loss for words. She just grinned back at him.
"Oh, I've dated and bedded some Nymphs! Pan, I'm not some kind of hopeless 500 year-old virgin, that would be depressing! It's... keeping that I have a problem with. Heck, three hundred years ago I even got myself this nice castle. Couldn't keep it. Six years later, poof, gone, fell to a goblin invasion. I feel like I'm always just sucked back in the status quo, never meeting any permanent friends, and I end up looking around the caves."
"Hm. I can't relate, I just started my first-ever real journey."
"You'll relate if you spend time doing a lot only to end up back where you started years ago, haha! But yeah, I have one little ray of hope to keep me from dying of boredom: The Zenith. I think, if I could just make that, I could have something a lot more stable in life. I mean someone could just steal it, but... you know.
"I think my life really, actually changed when we got away from Lindsey. I had been kissing up to her all my life. Now, I'm not. And... maybe I can see things differently now?"
She went back to looking off over the cliff and to the forest, tilting her head.
"...Nah. The same ol' sheet of trees as always."
Sighing, Sonata stood up. She stepped forward, (purposefully) giving Vince a view of her ass. She smirked at him, tracing a finger around the perfect round shape, meeting with his eyes to confirm that she knew he was looking. Eventually, he turned away and blushed. Also shuffling around to cover himself.
"Whelp, I'm bored. Wanna come along with me on a journey to meet and romance all the Nymphs out there?"
"Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow." Vince replied.
"That's fair. Tonight, you can have a special little goodbye party with your hand! If we both woo the right ways, that may very well be the last time you'll never need to use it!"
Vince and Sonata both looked one-another in the eyes, staring.
He stood up and faced her.
"Why not... we just..."
Sonata shrugged. "Oh, what the fuck, sure! The last time you made use of your Master Bait can be the last time."
Oreads.
Naked but not afraid, these women stand deep in the world, waiting to masterfully deceive explorers. Oreads are the keepers of the undead, and with the fall of the Dryads, the imbalance in their favor lead to the rotting and the skeletal roaming through the caves and even breaching the surface.
Preferred Environment: Anywhere. Formerly the Underworld. Usually underground, more have been going to the surface as of late.
Environment Threat Level: Caverns: Moderate.
Underworld: Extremely Severe.
Environment Stats: Caverns: Average. Mundane.
Underworld: Dry. Boiling. Fantastic.
Other Names: Nymphs, Plain Nymphs, Base Nymphs, Underground Nymphs, Cavern Nymphs, Hell Nymphs, Underworld Nymphs, Moon Nymphs, Star Nymphs, Cosmic Nymphs, Night Nymphs.
Affinity: Undead.
Color (of their true form; usually their hair matches, but Oreads are a major exception): Varies, most commonly green. Hair and eye color varies, but is typically a pale shade.
Traditional Costume Weapon: None. They typically only use direct tools and bare fists rather than magic-charged limb/neck accessories.
Vince's Comment: (Sigh.) It always feels like it was just yesterday that I first met her and my life turned around... Oreads, like Dryads, have the potential to be among the most powerful of the Nymph types, but fortunately for me, Sonata had not trained those magic abilities yet, so she was at... what some action fans would call "base power?" She still almost killed me though.
Tania's a fully-powered Dryad now, I would imagine a fully-powered Oread would give her a run for her money. And that someone would be... a Nymph whose name I'd rather not say. Even after beating Cthulhu, she's still around, and she gives me nightmares. The same nightmare since we left her giant underground fortress when I met Sonata...
Sonata's Comment: Heyyyy that's what I am! All I have to say is this: We're total bitches. Don't fuck with us. Oreads, represent! ;)
Tania's Comment: Oread.
Nymphae Profundis.
Nymph Family. (For the sake of avoiding redundancy, all of these are Nymph Family until the exceptions.)
The other side of my coin, so to speak. With the near-extinction of our kind, these have been the most populous of Nymphs, leaving their home of Hell to branch out to other parts of the world's depths. By far, they are the most sensitive to clothing of all Nymph types, ingrained within their psychology as having a complete aversion to even the standard limb wraps that the other types use as their combatant tools. Instead, Oreads typically fight with their bodies, or by using simplistic tools that they do not have to command from a passive state. Such as swords. They have the greatest shapeshifting capabilities out of all of us, as well as the greatest visual and physiological diversity. This may sound like poor-taste bias on my part, but I am not sure why this is the case, as they had grown and been tied with nature in the depths, far away from sunlight. We Dryads, considerably more homogenous in our hair pigmentation and transformative skills, are the kind closest to the Sun. Oreads appear to take extra heat from magma as their source of energy, and the innate magic from gemstones, which might explain their extra color - our heat source is hotter, but farther away, so our "flowers" do not "bloom" as colorfully so to speak. For the majority of history, especially after the genocide of my kind, I had considered the Oreads an enemy on par with the Evil Biomes or the Dungeon, and in fact they act as a worldly power source to the Dungeon so to speak, my domain's inverse. Yet as of late I had teamed up with one Oread, leading me to understand them more and branch what had been two different worlds. I never wished to be at war with the Nymphs. I wish to see things from their side.
It has been rumored that all of the other Nymph variants were not formed individually as parts of this planet's nature, but rather birthed by the taboo unity of Oread and Dryad. This has virtually no evidence proving it and I find this belief to be highly offensive.
Closing AN:
"But in-game Nymphs don't spawn in Hell!" They don't now! That's the takeaway from that.
"Who would want to buy a guide with gold coins that's just a lot of really short descriptions?" Well, pretend that this fanfic right here is just snippets of the full book, which is a lot bigger, and has more thorough information, including sex stuff. Lots and lots of sex stuff. It already mentions "pictures" that, let me tell you right now, even when (probably not an "if" unless something bad happens to me and/or AO3) I mirror this on Archive of Our Own, there won't be images because I'm a shit artist. But going back to "sex stuff," if you're expecting this to be like that "Monster Girl Encyclopedia" thingy... don't.
Also, just letting you know, the bite-sized stories are not a part of the "in-universe book." The book itself might have different stories written in them that you're not reading, but I'll say right now that there's no way in hell Vince, Sonata, or Tania would actually put some of these adventures down in a guide like this. Especially the one on Entry #3.
You can see this as a successor to this "361 Bios" thing I did over on Tumblr (RIP) in the leadup to 361 Striking Degrees (also close to being RIP, I might turn that one in to a meme). And by the way, not all of the bite-sized stories are going to be this long, of course being one of the two "main" types the Oreads get one of the longest stories. And these stories are canon to Romancing the Last Dryad, they just happen in-between moments that will be in the fic once it's out. When exactly will vary. This bite-sized story is really, really on in the fic's life, since Vince will meet Sonata almost right away in that continuity. (Chapter 1. RTLD is a "slow burn" in a few ways - even including the Dryad's introduction - but I will not put off meeting the Nymph at the beginning.)
I want to say right now, before even getting to the variants, that there will be a Mushroom Nymph type, but it will be a long while before we get to that one. So don't worry once we start hitting "the blues," I didn't skip that.
I'm also pretty sure I'm overhyping the hell out of Romancing the Last Dryad, when so far all I have is just two very mediocre opening chapters that are more like a corny pilot to a show.
"Easier than fighting a hydra" will make a lot more sense early on in Romancing the Last Dryad. Trust me.
Here's the planned schedule:
9/1: Teasers updates, Introduction/Oread, Entries 1-3. (Similar to Joy Roy my dumb way of organizing things means that I don't want to "number" the "outliers," so that's why the Oreads aren't numbered 1.)
9/2 through 9/20: Three entries at a time. 4-6, 7-9, 10-12, etc, up to 60 on the 20th.
9/21 through 9/29: Four entries at a time. 61-64, 65-68, etc, up to 96 on the 29th.
9/30: 97-100, Dryad/Conclusion (yes like how this chapter doubles as an "introduction" before the bio, the Dryad's will have a "conclusion" after the bio), Romancing the Last Dryad Chapters 1 and 2.
October onwards: Possible "extras" here?
Why 9/30? It's the anniversary of 1.2. And guess what specific enemy that update added.