Nymphlopedia
Entry 38: Seamonster Nymphs
They were running - as they seemingly were since the downfall of that damn Wall - down, deeper and deeper to a particular undersea cavern.
"Why why WHY did you have to smash the Altars?!" Sonata shouted. Under water, thanks to Gills and Flipper Potions of course.
Vince was still in his Necro Armor. It used to feel like he could slay anything with that, but with the 'Dark and Light' spirits out... yeah, it became made of paper. Speaking of paper, Sonata's Night's Edge went from 'Fucking Cool(TM) sword forged from pure evil, Dungeon craftsmanship, and magic from the Jungle (Fuck the Jungle) and HELL ITSELF' - that's actually what Sonata loved calling it back then - to being a legendary piece of shit. Tania, well... she was making her own tools. But still, they weren't that good.
"Tania told me that's what I should do! She translated the Pwnhammer!"
"The fuck did you call it that for?!" Sonata literally cringed. "That's an ancient name! Leetspeak was old when I was a teenager!"
"...You're exaggerating."
"Okay I am but still. I'm hundreds of years old, I've heard language recycle itself over and over again. I know what's stale, trust me."
"GUYS!" Tania told them.
That at least served as a warning before she pulled them behind a particularly large rock, overlooking a pitch-black abyss in the sea. She put her back to the wall and hugged it tightly, also wrapping Sonata and Vince in a good hold.
"We're looking for what the Blessings gave to our world! Cobalt!"
"Cobalt?" Asked Sonata. "Isn't that just blue metal? How is that more powerful than the magic from Hell and the Dungeon and... you know..."
"It's blessed cobalt!"
"Why not call it 'Blessed Cobalt' then?"
"Because... I don't know! It's just how it is!"
And then they saw a light.
A greenish Nymph with an angler lure sticking from her head swam about, eating on fish that were already sharp-toothed and hostile-looking as-is.
"Oh mannnnn... dudeeeee..." She said. A short while after, she plopped herself on the bottom of the ledge the trio had gone down to. "Hey. I'd normally try to eat you guys. But. There's lately been a lot of really powerful fish. I also, like, feel stronger man? This is great!"
"...You..." Tania said in disbelief. "Like Hardmode?"
"Also a stupid name." Sonata chimed in. "By the way, I think we're the reasons for all of that."
"RADACLES MAN! Maybe I won't eat you when I'm hungry anyway!" After biting one more fish, she had the angler lure retract in to her forehead. "When I'm hungry though, I mean holy shit Pan above, I'm packed like I'm gonna explode."
She rubbed her stomach - no, she didn't look fat or anything. And the trio just exchanged glances.
"The cost is..." said Vince. "There might be a stream of the Corruption out there now... just one, though."
"No, your altar-smashing added some other patches of Corruption elsewhere." Tania corrected. "And Hallow. Each smash had a few more, I felt the disruptions."
"Oh yeah, speaking of that, we have this new fairytale place called the Hallow now." Sonata said. "The Pixies there are already forming their own goverment. It sounds fucking tyranical. Fascist, almost."
Tania just sighed at that. "No, the Hallow is... more complicated than that."
"Bra I don't like the Corruption either - or bras, for that matter, I wish I could say 'Corruption I don't like bras either' but I can't that doesn't make sense - but I think it's worth it. You're boosting nature a lot, giving it that JUICE it needs. I thank you for that, you're cool."
Vince looked away and blushed.
"So what'sit you want? Blessed Cobalt? I could give ya' some if ya' want!"
"Awesome!" Shouted Vince. "What's the cost?"
"Hmmmm... you know what I think is cool? Mythril, this new jade-colored stuff that showed up in the deeper caves. You trade me some of that, I'll give you all this useless Blessed Cobalt I found!"
The trio exchanged looks.
"We'll think about it." Said Tania.
"Take you time, sisters and brother of nature!"
Seamonster Nymphs.
They may not be the size of what's classed as "leviathans," but they sure bite like the ones that do.
Preferred Environment: Seamonster Trench.
Environment Threat Level: Severe.
Environment Stats: Underwater. Usually warm. Moderate-Fantastic. Rare. A collection of sea caverns holding powerful "meaty" fruit that strengthens and aides fish, ranging from fish familiar to humans, to massive seamonsters.
Other Names: Leviathan Nymphs, Trench Nymphs (this is very innaccurate), Shark Nymphs.
Affinity: Fire.
Color: Dark Sea Green.
Traditional Costume Weapon: A "sash" of what looks like scales, usually around their midsection and one arm. This assists them in controlling surrounding waters and communing with sealife, particularly sharks. Also have heat-related powers that can be enhanced with their scales, and they can make lures and the like akin to Angler Fish.
Vince's Comment: They're pretty susceptible to changes in oxygen levels. Make sure, if for whatever reason you're going to an unfamiliar beach or any body of water really, to always carry around an air-related spellbook or weapon. An Air Blaster is really helpful with distracting them.
Sonata's Comment: Step 1: Gill Potions. Step 2: Underwater sex. Lots and lots of underwater sex. Yeah, they're pretty neat. You'll just have to overlook all the teeth, and they're really cool Nymphs to have as your friends and everything.
Tania's Comment: Seamonster Nymph.
Nymphae Pristis.
The first Nymph Variant covered here since Beast Nymphs that have a theme around a type of animal; in this case, sealife. Usually but not always deep sea life. They are able to survive extreme pressures and, as with all aquatic Variations and most types in general, the ability to breathe under water. A few of them have angler lures. They themselves are not sure what their purpose is, since most people of any race would not fall for them, and the local sealife that fall for it provide insufficient nourishment for them.
...Then again Sonata has been distracted by a lure of one of them. Maybe it's not as vestigial as I had thought it was...
Closing AN:
Oh. Interesting. If you Google "Legendary piece of shit," the first result - for me at least - is exactly what that line was a reference to.
For a while this was originally going to be "Leviathan Nymphs." I changed the name around at the last second.
"Is this an Expert world or not because of the Nymphs getting a boost in power in Hardmode but also Vince apparently enjoyed late Pre-Hardmode and felt almost invincible which is just bullshit on Expert?" Well the answer to that is... maybe? Or, neither? It has some Expert-exclusive things, like enemies getting stronger, but that's because I'd find it cool. Um... it's definitely not a Master world though. Fuck Master Mode.
"Why is their affinity Fire when they're literally underwater?" They have mild light/fire/etc powers too. I wanted to put it in the mini-story but I couldn't find a way to. Maybe later.