Nymphlopedia
Entry 65: Skyland Nymphs
Beginning AN:
Alright, another vanilla biome! Again, those are really rare on account of... well, there aren't even close to 100 vanilla biomes.
And yeah I... ran out of time for the next chapter of Run: .GIFocalypse so I just threw on a meme ending to that and slapped together whatever I had written. Kind of like just going "fuck it" and throwing out some school project you had set up with what you had, only obviously minus the meme stuff. I promise I'll get to that and touch it up later. But it's going to wait until after this because, well shoot, this is just... huge.
Oh, very minor thing, but I changed the Soul Nymphs' Affinity from Wind to Fire. To better fit with the whole "each Part for a hue has a different Affinity" thing. Also it... actually just kinda fits more in general, considering... well, like speaking of RG, the sort of changes I'm giving it.
Vince took a deep breath in, and a deep breath out, as he seated on a cloud. One of many solid clouds, in a particularly large Floating Island.
"Yeah." He said. "This is pretty nice. And nostalgic."
Sonata was seated next to him on his left, and Tania was standing on his right. Scouting for something.
"I remember when I first flew...fell all the way up here." He said. "I was playing around with a Gravitation Potion. It felt majestic finally being up in the clouds I read about and saw every time I looked up."
"Your parents never took you up here when you were a lil' guy?" Sonata asked.
"No, I... my parents were poor and they... aren't the sort of people I'd like to talk about."
"Yeah, I could tell. I've known you for two years now, you still barely bring them up. Or try to change the subject-"
"So how about your parents!" Vince said, springing up.
Sonata sighed. "See? Just like that. Anyway, yeah, you're really sloppy with that. I told you the first week we met. I was an orphan. If it wasn't for Nymphs developing hunting instincts at infancy, I might have been dead- or my parents would have taken a lot more pitty on me. That tiny cave lake was all I- again I've told you this."
She stood up. "Sorry, I'm not a big fan of dwelling in the past. Let's just get our clouds to reinforce some stuff and go."
Speaking of the past, specifically a less-pleasant experience...
"SCREE!"
A swarm of Harpies flew over to the trio and they perched on the clouds. One of which had a Skyland Nymph on it, holding up - a weapon that was an upgrade to the Starfury, but not a Star Wrath.
"Hi there." The Nymph of the Floating Islands said.
"HARPIES HARPIES LET ME KILL THEM I NEED TO KILL THEM!" Sonata immediately got on the defensive.
"Hi to you too, cavewoman asshole." One of them replied. Both Tania and the Skyland Nymph held a hand up, as if to shoosh them.
"You're the one who stole my Starfury a few years ago, right?" The Nymph of the skies asked.
"...That was yours? I thought you were just playing a usual Nymph game of 'leave shit in the chests and see how far adventurers go before they get too cocky and fall on their faces and die.'" She nudged a thumb at Vince. "This player's doing the best at that game by the way. He's our current champ."
"That I am!" Vince said, proudly lifting up his Tsunami.
"The Harpies are my friends..." Tania said, but she glared at them. All of them glared back. "Sort of. I thought we could-"
"I have to say congratulations on being able to get something done with that piece of junk." The Skyland Nymph scratched her head. "And no, Dryad. You're best not to try reasoning with these Harpies. They only trust me."
"We do." One of the Harpies said. "None of you three belong to the sky. Get out."
"Actually, I thought I saw a Wyvern from the corner of my eye, so I might." Said Sonata. "Come on, Vince, Tania, let's leave."
"Wait!" Said Tania. "Do you know we have wings now?"
"Most Nymphs can grow wings since the Spirits of Light and Dark were released. Doesn't make you a true flier."
"Oh, it's on!" Sonata shouted. "We allied with Winged Nymphs, Gust Nymphs, Tornado Nymphs... lots of Nymphs that have flying things! We'll take you on in a flying challenge!"
She reached in to the hair of one of the Harpies and took out a large, stapled collection of papers, looking in to it. Then she put it back in. "Mmmm... okay."
"We'll give you back your Starfury if you win!" Sonata added.
"One I don't want that. Two, let's just have a completely no-stakes, friendly flying competition?"
"What about the Harpies?" Vince asked.
They looked like they already had an answer for that. "You might impress her if you show her up, but we'll still think you're idiots trying to steal our territory."
"Is there any way we can get you and those fucking Wyverns to stop attacking us just from being around here?" Sonata asked.
"If you can think of one, we'll tell you." Another Harpy told her.
"So!" The Skyland Nymph clapped. "When will this contest happen? I like a good game!"
"...Meh, maybe in a week?" Said Sonata. Vince nodded his head in agreement.
Tania just shrugged and said "I would say now and make it short as we have business to attent to, but I have been outvoted."
Skyland Nymphs.
One might have seen clouds that look like people in the skies. These are people who can shape themselves to look like clouds if they desire. They may also make it rainier or sunnier than the population below might plan for...
Preferred Environment: "Skyland"/Floating Islands/Sky Islands.
Environment Threat Level: Moderate; Severe if Wyverns are in the area. (Note from Sonata: You can blame me for that, I woke them all up by killing the Wall of Flesh, that got them all active.)
Environment Stats: Moist. Cool (depends on elevation, cool on average). Moderate-fantastic. Nearly omnipresent at a certain level. Floating islands made of "solid"/"walkable" clouds. Often has regular forests on them. Can be created, with careful planning and planting, at a surface level, or even below ground, and tends to make a small "atmosphere" to go with it.
Other Names: Sky Nymphs, Cloud Nymphs, Skyware Nymphs.
Affinity: Wind.
Color: Light Aqua.
Traditional Costume Weapon: "Puffs of cloud" usually around their legs. Helps them with cloud manipulation and general air control, especially in higher altitudes. Stronger ones can also tap in to this to manipulate the weather and/or atmosphere, making certain clouds rain/snow/strike lightning or cease or even change their activity.
Vince's Comment: I had a good time practicing a sparring match with the Skyland Nymph in the Naked Empire's main army. Until she shot lightning really close to me and now I'm a little nervous even being near her at all. I was NOT expecting lightning. Add this to another Nymph type where that goes...
Sonata's Comment: Their clouds can either be like just steam, or kinda solid-ish, which is really cool. They make awesome beds made of clouds. I swear I fell asleep on one and was out for 24 hours. I wasn't, that's just what it felt like. "How can you feel how long you were asleep" shut up that's how hahahaha.
Tania's Comment: Skyland Nymphs.
Nymphae Caelum.
There aren't "Space Nymphs" per-say, Nymphs almost by definition have a tie to the planet they were first spawned in relation to, but the Skyland Nymphs are among the closest to fitting that title. In fact, many of their groups have been split in to two parts: Those that "stay" at the level of the clouds and harness "ordinary" sky magic, and those that look to the stars and attempt to form bonds with space, a few of them even succeeding. Unfortunately, and predictably, the latter are rarer, and we have made little contact with any of them so far. Skyland Nymphs are on average among the weaker of them physically, having lighter and "softer" bodies, but they make up for it in terms of having far more magic potential on average. They are something of a wildcard in the world of Nymphs.
(Note from Sonata: Though THE wildcards are the Oreads. Again. Don't fuck with us.)
Closing AN:
So... just a head's up, I'm not sure if I want to actually skip with this specific timeline of there being two years from the start to Post-Duke Fishron. (I mean it's accurate to how long it would take to get a good build and kill him IRL but whatever I digress.)
And yes the Harpies being Tania's friends is another Dungeon Defenders 2 reference.