Nymphlopedia
Entry 69: Glacier Nymphs
Beginning AN:
I will tell you right now that, sorry, Entry 69 isn't some epic sex meme entry or anything like that. In fact, this is arguably one of the more serious ones.
The idea of this came when I thought, "Hrm, I don't actually have that many 'cold' biomes." And that's especially a shame because I like the snow and ice and stuff.
Also holy FUCK, FINALLY, Bayonetta 3 footage! Oh my GOD that looks amazing! I'm just AAAARRGH YESSSSS!
Oh another thing I forgot, "rough status," yeah once again I just barely wrote out the beginning of the story for this chapter and worked a teeny bit more on the Dryad Entry last time.
"Look, Vince!" Tania seemed surprisingly excited for a naked (okay, okay, vine-wrappings aside) woman in a freaking blizzard. Yeah, yeah, 'temperature regulations' and whatnot, but still.
"I'll look when the snowstorm ends!" Vince shouted back.
Sonata had her arms crossed and was clearing her throat. Tania understood immediately what that meant.
"I mean- I could but... wouldn't it be better if we just let it clear out naturally?"
Sonata, Vince, and a light blue Nymph with them all just glared at her.
"...I guess you all make a good point." She said. "I can do the-"
"Oh I'll do them." The Glacier Nymph said, taking a few steps away.
She put her hands together and a force shot out, dispelling the blizzard in a dome around her. Also pushing the deep snow away.
It was large enough to give a clear shot of the sky, and the glowing lights that danced about along it. Also, a view of the massive ice spire in the distance, surrounded by a few other, smaller ice spikes.
"Oh." Said Vince. "Wow."
"Told you." Tania replied, almost smirking.
"Yeah okay it is nice-looking whatever." Said Sonata. "I still haven't ever really been to this biome for a lot of good reasons."
"I'm your guide. Proud to be of 'service.'" Said the Glacier Nymph.
"I think we're both the guides?" Said Tania.
Anyway, all three of those Nymphs looked over at Vince.
"'...Guides' are still not a sore subject, right?" Sonata asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"No! Of course not! I've moved on from Trent!"
That got a huge sigh of relief from Tania, an even bigger one from Sonata, while the Glacier Nymph just tilted her head in confusion.
"...What happened? You had someone from the Order of the Guide helping you?"
"Okay so you know how there's this huge surge of power of light and dark that came after the meat-monster Guardian of Hell was killed and only like one Nymph city and our Naked Empire actually witnessed that?" Sonata asked.
"Yes?"
"Well, we had to sacrifice our Guide, Trent, to make that meat-monster Guardian of Hell show up in the first place. And Trent was a close friend of Vince."
"...How come I didn't know about ANY of that?! You killed a GUARDIAN?!"
"We thought you already knew." Said Tania.
"Actually I thought I told my Naked Empire recruits..." said Sonata. "Oh NO! Who else didn't I tell?!"
Glacier Nymphs.
In among the harshest of the cold parts of the world, there is beauty to be seen. Both from the aurora that tends to be seen along with them, and the Nature Spirits that can command that aurora as a weapon.
Preferred Environment: Glacier.
Environment Threat Level: Severe.
Environment Stats: Under constant snowfall. Freezing. Mundane. "Rare," almost always limited to the poles of the world, but there are a few stray "ice spikes" with glacial properties in other locations. Gigantic spikes made of densely grouped ice. Even when not in the poles of the world and even when underground, they tend to attract aurora displays.
Other Names: Polar Nymphs, Ice Spike Nymphs, Aurora Nymphs, "Deep Snow Nymphs."
Affinity: Wind.
Color: Light Cerulean.
Traditional Costume Weapon: Giant "spikes" of multi-colored ice around their wrists, with two more "spikes" on each hip as a pseudo-loincloth. Useful for commanding the mystic aurora rays, helping with usual snow/ice/water powers, and generally punching thing.
Vince's Comment: AAAAHHHHH THE TRIP TO THE SOUTH POLE WAS AMAZING! I met one of my favorite Nymph companions yet, we had a really romantic journey up to the top of one of those ice spikes, the light show... I'm normally not a very emotional guy, but that trip drove me to tears. Usually when that happens, it's because of something bad. Bad things can still happen here; I just came here when I was almost geared up to beat the Moon Lord, so you probably won't survive the same way if all you have are some sticks and whatnot.
Sonata's Comment: Everything about this biome is too much for me, if you like the cold and chug a LOT of Warmth Potions I guess you could handle talking with the Nymphs here? A lot of the ones we spoke to were pretty nice, it seems like the harsher the place the nicer the Nymphs for some reason. But yeah, Humans, and even other Oreads, I honestly wouldn't bother going on a journey out to here unless you're insanely rich or something. If you really, REALLY want to see what dating or having a one night stand with a Glacier Nymph is like, well that's now available on the dating site, and even before that, you could have like a Tundra Nymph or Taiga Nymph that's a mutual friend with them or something.
Tania's Comment: Glacier Nymphs.
Nymphae Axis.
One of the most curious features related to these Nymphs is their connection with an "aurora." Normally, these light shows caused by solar winds are based on the planet's position, not on the surface or underground biome right below them. However, the Glacier Biome has some unnaturally high connections with magic. Research in to this is heavy and being conducted by several Glacier Nymphs themselves. Somehow, they are able to "sense" that if the conditions for aurora formation are not present, resulting in these lights - and the magic within - to be made from the spikes of ice themselves. The larger and colder the ice spikes, the stronger the aurora force is, to the point where if a Glacier large enough were to be made in the poles, it could even create a new aurora that "overpowers" the natural one. The Nymphs are normally fragile by Nymph standards (except for their extreme cold resistance), yet they make up for that several times over in their ability to channel these light shows as their unique magic source. The sheer power from even a weaker Glacier Nymph when an aurora is present can make bursts longer than the island we live on.
Closing AN:
Alright actually when I said Savanna or whatever it was might be the only Minecraft reference I wasn't thinking about this biome. Yep, ice spikes.
It's actually kind of hard thinking of extra "snow" biomes when, frankly, Terraria's own Tundra is... well, the fact that it's THE Snow Biome, with snow and ice completely replacing dirt and stone, complicates things a bit.
Also Aurora Borealis. (Okay in this case Australis but whatever.) At this time of year. At this time of day. In this part of the world. Localized entirely on your computer screen.
...
Alright only the "at this time of year" really works with that I'll shut up now. On a more serious note I was going to have Tania go on a big speech about how it's the Sun and the world coming together but I couldn't think of a place to put it. And... I instead just went with confirming what would have been one of the biggest "twists" of RTLD in an earlier writing stage, that the Guide does in fact die to summon WoF and he is in fact perma-dead, not even replaced with another Guide. Tania's kind of meant to take over the exposition role from him. Kind of. And the jist is that she's a bit harder to decipher than Trent.