Nymphlopedia

Entry 7: Desert Nymphs

"Harsahne!" Mollie cried.

The gold-colored Nymph with long, dusty hair was back in her original home for some reason, looking through the catacombs dug out by the creepy crawlies and shaped and fastened by that kind.

"Hm... what is it? Are you still mad at us for capturing your brother?" She asked. Her back was turned to Mollie, she was examining the hardened sand walls around at the edge of one of the underground towns.

"I mean... YES!"

Harsahne turned around. Of course, flanking Mollie's sides were Vince and Sonata. Vince looked like he was barely paying attention to anything.

"Wait wait wait, Mollie? What happened to your hair? And your tail's gone."

She chuckled. "Funny story, I got this cured by Madeline, it turns out just a bath in silver coins and some medicine was all I really needed to undo my curse, but I'm still looking for a way to use claws again because that was totally helpful, you know apparently there were guards working a cure from the orders of Princess- WAIT! Can we not talk about my hair? I'm here to sue someone! Might be you, might be somebody else."

Sonata waved at the Desert Nymph. "I'm here because she thinks I'd make the best lawyer. I'm not qualified to be one, but I am a Nymph and I know more about Desert Nymphs than the other Naked Empire members so far. Even Tania, since she hates this place so she didn't do much looking up."

"Oh I'm not actually with them." Vince added without any eye contact. "I just wanted to do a little more plundering before we check out that cursed man in the Dungeon.

Harsahne sighed. "Again, I apologize for being the leader of the gang that kept your brother imprisoned, but there is nothing you can do about it except for fighting me in revenge or something. I can't change the Desert culture here overnight. I'm more of someone who defected from them, not someone representing their 'new changed ways.' That's why I joined the Naked Empire. I'm really just back here to meet some friends."

"...So you're not the leader I should talk to?" Mollie asked.

"No - Vince watch out there's a sand trap over there!"

Vince backed away and narrowly did not get crushed by sand.

"...What about the mayor? Or whatever leader you have?" Mollie asked.

"Yeah, look there." Harsahne pointed at the largest building in the desert chamber, a luxurious sandstone castle with pouring fountains of... rather dirty-looking, sandy yellow water.

"Can I punch them?"

"Oh, absolutely! I was thinking of doing that myself!"

Desert Nymphs.

In the deepest pits of the storming sands, these soldiers of the Sand Elementals pretend to be lost wanders, only to capture the actual lost wanderers and imprison them in the dryland's secrets.

Preferred Environment: Desert.

Environment Threat Level: Moderate.

Environment Stats: Dry. Hot. Mundane. Semicommon. Vast stretches of sand with the occasional oasis break, tend to be home to giant anthropods.

Other Names: Sand Nymphs, "Dryland" Nymphs, Sandstorm Nymphs, Pyramid Nymphs, Pyramid Keepers (Note: Not actually the creators of the pyramids, but they have a hand involved with the loot that can be found there).

Affinity: Earth.

Color: Bright Gold.

Traditional Costume Weapon: Swirling patterns of sand beads, usually focused around the stomach area. Enables them to control sand, especially useful for "sails" they have created to navigate both Surface and Underground Deserts.

Vince's Comment: No, they didn't build the pyramids. They sure know how to use them, though. These Nymphs like electrical weapons (not as much as the Voltage ones, though) and blasting through with tools made from sandstone. ARGH! Why didn't I think of making sandstone tools! I should get started on that... maybe it's too late, I don't think anything from Terraria can compare to this fancy gun I got from the Moon Lord...

Sonata's Comment: I might unwillingly be contributing to the rise of Mummies from the Deserts, but I'm happy both these Nymphs and I see that Mummies are terrible! We like fighting them off together! Also, Free the Nipple, and the Deserts are a pretty popular place for lots of people to chill around topless. Lamias, these people, me, some desert-bandits...

Tania's Comment: Desert Nymphs.
Nymphae Arena.
Deserts house a strict and rigid lifestyle if those wish to survive within the sands, and its patron Warriors are no exception. On an abstract magic level, "the Desert Biome" is perhaps the closest in connection with the infecting force that is the Drought, yet they are firm enemies against it. The ties with drought, salt, and loose grains of sand lead to unique forms of magic. Desert Nymphs also enjoy cursing loot found in ancient tombs to swap their content with an artificial pharoah costume. I find this practice highly offensive. I wish I could do similar techniques, but as the Desert is close to my opposite in alignment, I have poor luck and would take more effort in doing so. Not that I have been doing that much research on that region in the first place, to confess. I get thirsty easily. So I have been procrastinating.
I'm sorry.

Closing AN:

Here's another bone for Zoologist fans. Enjoy them while they last, because once the Dryad enters the stories, the Zoologist will probably appear less often.

Also this is pretty much a nod to... the original plans of Chapter 4 (yeah, this was going to be the second Nymph Variant to appear in RTLD, not counting Oreads) of Romancing the Last Dryad, it was "Mollie the Zoologist is introduced by coming to the town at the end of the last chapter and pleading with them to save her brother in the Desert," I scrapped that and the original Chapter 3 (which involved Tundra Nymphs, who we'll be seeing in a few days) because I couldn't find a way to make that interesting. I might still do some stories involving that, but for now I'm having at least some Forest shenanigans first. Focusing more on the "Naked Empire" aspect of that story.