Nymphlopedia

Entry 30: Broil Nymphs

So it turned out that Gill Potions could also work well with breathing through smoky forests. Very convenient, Vince didn't have to memorize or write down an additional alchemy crafting rule.

Tania could just use her "universal biome magic" or something like that to stay put there too. Sonata didn't know that yet, so she had to settle for potions along with Vince.

Anyway, walking through the fiery forest was a bit of a rough one, so of course the trio was flying through it since they could do that by that point.

Then a fireball was tossed over them, specifically towards Tania and Sonata, making them dodge out of the way and land. Vince followed after them.

The source of the fireball, unfortunately (or conveniently depending on how one looks at that), was closeby.

"Heyyyyy!" A dark orange-ish Nymph with hair that looked like it was singed at the tips, and with smoke generally coming out from her at the moment, said. She was atop some burnt-looking trees, which in the place of leaves, had tiny flames at the tips of only some of their branches. "What brings you here?"

"We're just scouting." Said Vince. "I'm looking for the last bits of adamantite I need."

"Ya' want adamantite? Yeah, we got adamantite!"

"Oh, fuck, of course, yeah, you absoltuely do." Sonata scoffed. "Because of course we should trust you! I mean, a Nymph?! Lying?! Everyone knows that Nymphs are the pinnacle of honesty! They've NEVER tricked anybody! EVER! Why would I-"

With some hand motions, she made a nice, crisp-looking ash-gray treasure chest burst from the ground, with flaming marks on it. And she popped it open - it was filled to the brim with that shiny, shiny tyrian pink metal.

"AAHHHHHH!" Vince screamed, rushing over towards it. But Tania and Sonata both held his shoulders. "FINALLY! FINALLY, I CAN-"

"Hold on! I still don't think it's not a trap!" Sonata said.

"Oh wait." She actually stopped, and that let Vince break free from their hold. "Don't... not... okay, that was just two negatives, yeah! I'm good- oh fuck you, Vince!"

He was already near the chest, but the Broil Nymph stomped her foot on the lid, closing it.

"HA! You're right, there is a catch! I want to tag along with you! Share the treasure you get, if I have to give you my own! Fight what you fight, solve puzzles you solve, the works! And give me credit unless I don't do anything! I'll even pay rent and taxes so you can't call me a freeloader!"

"But that's..." Said Tania. "Exactly what Sonata was going to-"

"Ah tatatatatata!" Sonata held a hand up to her. "Remember our talk about never telling Nymphs what they're doing until you know it's safe? Come on... play along."

"I just want my fucking adamantite already!" Vince shouted. "I have been looking for that for MONTHS!"

Tania sighed. "Ohhhh no... we have an organization set up at our homes... I guess if we want that metal, you will have be made in to a member..."

"You're right! And I promise to be a hard-worker, or you could just fire me and keep the adamantite!"

"...Okay now I really don't trust you. Is there a catch?"

"I don't care if there is a catch I'm willing to lose an arm to finally finish my set!" Vince said.

Broil Nymphs.

If you can't take the heat, get out of the forest that's always making its own fire. These Nymphs will gladly tell you that.

Preferred Environment: Broil Pits/Burnt Pits.

Environment Threat Level: Severe.

Environment Stats: Dry. Hot. Moderate-Mundane. Semicommon. "Burning" or "burnt" stretches of forest and/or rock; on closer inspection, these are simply natural fiery areas with wood and rock that can withstand or even generate heat.

Other Names: Furnace Nymphs, Ashpit Nymphs, Smoke Nymphs, "Ashwood Nymphs" (not to be confused with the plant ashwood, which has nothing to do with fire. I, Tania, dislike the name for this reason).

Affinity: Fire.

Color: Dark Vermilion.

Traditional Costume Weapon: What looks like branches of "burnt" wood around their legs, with the occasional glowing red-orange line from it. Helps them with control over fire and ash, and the "fire plants" usually native to their biome.

Vince's Comment: I didn't actually think that using water magic would be that effective on them. I thought, "No, that's too obvious to work," but from my sparring match with the Naked Empire members of this Nymph kind, yeah! Just throwing a bucket on one worked pretty well and I won that match! ...When I tried that when I was ambushed by hostile Broil Nymphs, they just evaporated it with their swords instead. Shoot, I really can't catch a break when fighting them one-on-one, can I?

Sonata's Comment: I fucking love the "burning statue" look these Nymphs can take on when they focus and want you to take them seriously. Looks really cool.

Tania's Comment: Broil Nymphs.
Nymphae Cineres.
Forest fires are obviously bad (I'll cover the complex situation with Flares later on a different book). Yet forests that also ARE the fire are the exception. A curiously hostile terrain for both its above ground and below ground, and proof by itself that life can thrive even around death. These Nymphs follow that as their own philosophy; while especially destructive towards intruders or those they seek to fight, most of them make sure to leave behind signs of new life in their wake. Hostile members claim that if they were to kill me, they would even find a way to replace me with multiple Dryads, usually they say it's at least three.
I do not believe them.

Closing AN:

Day 10! Wow this is already a third of the way done... in terms of day count.

Forest fires are terrible things but the look of them post-burnt is kind of cool. That, Ashwood Forest of Epic Battle Fantasy 4, and the Mines/Ashpit of Binding of Isaac inspired this one.

Hopefully by the 12th I'll have all the roughs done, with the Dryad Entry/finale being the biggest exception, and with those out of the way I'll be able to set aside some time for tweaks and improvements and whatnot.

I probably should move this to last chapter's notes, but Vince was startled because he was caught off guard, that's why he fell in to the lake. I'm not quite sure if I want all of Part 3 to be set after Part 2, Part 4 to be set after Part 3, etc, but Part 2 is definitely all after Part 1, and I want the story to give an idea that as it goes on, Vince, Sonata, and Tania all become bigger and bigger badasses with better and better tools. (Of course, the Nymph Variants are also boosting themselves. Not in the sense of "the ones that the gang find later coincidentally happen to be more powerful," I mean they're also getting stronger, think somewhat like a cross between NPCs getting tougher after every fight and the Expert enemy stat boost, except in-universe the reason why is... yeah, they're not stagnant. Of course they adapt to Hardmode and make cooler shit just like the Naked Empire does.) I'm trying to keep an eye out for myself that I don't make him the wimp that, frankly, he starts out as at the very beginning of Romancing the Last Dryad. I like it when characters get more powerful throughout the story in a way that makes sense and isn't just "Oh, you had this Bullshit Main Character Power within you the whole time, and just now I'm Unlocking it," and without the character conveniently being weaker than they were five seconds ago for no in-story reason just because it suits the story.

Oh, and remember that mention of "Flares" for later.