Nymphlopedia

Entry 81: Wax Nymphs

Oh boy... church.

Nymph church.

Technically it was a Torch God church. And there was a gigantic sign in big, bold, blood-red letters reading 'ALL RACES ALLOWED! HUMANS TOO! YES THAT INCLUDES HUMANS!' scrawled in, unlike the much more professional looking font posted on the top.

Vince was unarmored and had his hands in his pockets as he walked across the waxy, sticky floors below him. Yeah, if it wasn't for the temperature defaulting to being cool enough to keep it solid (most of the time), navigating there would be very difficult.

There were also specialized boots but whatever.

"You know we're not attending the full sermon, right?" Sonata told Vince.

"We're not?!" Both Tania and Vince replied at the same time.

Oh, and the building itself wasn't made out of wax, but hardened, reinforced wood. Two massive bowls shooting giant flames lined the even bigger main entrance, and sitting above it was a wooden statue of a buff man with fires coming from his eyes.

An atomically correct statue. And guess what hung over the entrance.

"I mean we're just making negotiations, right?" Sonata asked. "Doesn't that mean we don't have any reason to... adapt their whole lifestyle?"

"Well..." Tania looked down and began thinking.

"Plus, I mean, we don't actually want someone who praises the Torch God on our side. We know for a fact that that deity is an asshole." Sonata shrugged. "Unlike Pan who we don't really know about. Or Gaia who seems like a pretty chill and loving nature figure."

"This is the place of gathering for the Wax Nymphs around us," said Vince, "and it's also where they store their Waxnado books. Recruiting footsoldiers isn't the best way to go, I think we'll have to take our chances with this."

Sonata sighed. "Okay."

They entered, seeing a Nymph with faded orange skin and a thin build holding some kind of complex candle-and-torch sort of... it was actually for agricultural purposes. But all three of the Trio at the time assumed it was a religious thing.

"Oh." She said. "You're the people blessed by the Torch God!"

"'Blessed?!'" Sonata stomped a foot. "That fucker threw fireballs at us!"

"Oh, yes, the Torch God works in bizarre ways. We're not sure if he blesses or punishes, but you were the ones granted his Favor, so you must be special in his eyes."

"I don't like anybody who throws fireballs at me." Sonata said.

All Vince had to do was say "What ab-"

"Fair point." Because Sonata knew what would start a long list.

"We were looking for assistance and unity." Tania finally just went to the point. "And we thought that a community who has garnered the love of the Torch God could make for a powerful ally."

The Wax Nymph laughed. "No, no, no, we just worship the Torch God, we're not in contact with him like you are with Gaia."

"I'm not in contact with Gaia either... well, you still have weapons and accessory tools, right?"

"...I think you'll want my, um, 'assistant' slash rival on that. I'm too busy with managing the city to fight too."

"I do both." Sonata said. Everyone looked at her. "Okay not really."

Another Wax Nymph walked out, holding on to a paintbrush with one hand and a gun with the other, looking a teeny bit pudgier. She put a hand on the shoulder of the, well, she wasn't the preacher (that was a scary motherfucker as the Trio would later learn), but the preacher's assistant.

"Hello!" She said. "I just defaced another mural!"

"Thank you." The first one replied. "I think these three want to recruit you and your defacing community."

Sonata groaned. "What are you, like, someone who just draws dicks everywhere?"

"I am a philosophical graffiti artist." The dual-weilder said. "I add art on to that which controls others, to make them see the light. I also draw dicks some times. And vaginas."

The preacher's assistant shrugged. "She boosts publicity."

"And I get publicity as-is so this is a win-win!"

Sonata shrugged. "Well as long as your genital defacting is equal and you don't draw on my things, I guess we can have a hipster on our team if you want to check it out."

The assistant's 'assistant'/rival pointed at Tania. "One condition. I want to draw a mural over something of hers."

Tania looked like she was about to protest.

"I'll clean it off." Vince said.

"It's still not something to be taken seriously-"

"And she'll have to watch me slowly scrub it off. Deal? For all parties?"

Tania and the 'rival' looked at each other.

And shook hands.

Wax Nymphs.

Very close followers and worshippers of the Torch God. These Nymphs will melt your heart... before melting you.

Preferred Environment: Waxlands.

Environment Threat Level: Moderate.

Environment Stats: Dry. Usually cool, but can be warm should candles ignite. Fantastic. Uncommon. Large plains with few trees, plenty of natural waxes making up structures.

Other Names: Candle Nymphs, Torch Nymphs, Sculpture Nymphs.

Affinity: Wind.

Color: Dull Orange.

Traditional Costume Weapon: A candle on each shoulder when in serious combat, but otherwise in most situations just dripping wax over their arms and on occasion, legs, back, and stomach. This helps them to work with waxes, blow harder winds, or even use flames.

Vince's Comment: You should probably be familiar with chemical reactions, state of matter, and what not for these. Just do some research on wax. And how fire magic works through it. And, probably the hardest of all, art.
(Note from Sonata: Don't diss art, dammit! Stefano and I are friends and he'll destroy you for saying that!)

Sonata's Comment: I want to see melted wax dripped on Taina's ass if that happens I can finally die in peace oh Pan I'm so sorry I just needed to get that out of my system it's my fetish sorry sorry sorry why am I putting this in the Nymphlopedia.
(Note from Tania: You're in luck! I was planning to have that arranged.)
AAAAAAAHHHH!

Tania's Comment: Wax Nymphs.
Nymphae Cera.
One of the Nymph types that houses more artistic cultures on average. Yet they are often rather secretive and... elitist about their craft. They believe heavily in first making a wax creation, igniting it on fire, and then letting the winds carve and carry them as pleased. Their bodies have a surprising amount of diversity seeing as they, at a glance, appear to only carry a "narrow type" of what they embody and guard. Various oils, lipids, and organic compounds can make up them and the subjects of their magic. They are also more flammable than other Nymph types, yet while it is easy to light them on fire, they are very resillant to fire damage, even on par with those with the Fire affinity. (They like to brag about this.) Yet Wind is ultimately their suited Classical Element, as it is what truly guides the wax or... something along those lines. Look, there actually is a test with this type of special vine from the Jungle for the affinity, and theirs is wind, okay?
(Note from Sonata: You should probably know this already, but the vine burns up if it's fire, wettens if it's water, hardens if it's earth, starts moving around like it's dancing if it's wind, and if a Dryad touches it, flowers sprout from it. If an Oread touches it, it just fuckin' zombifies. So, that's the whole "affinity" thing. It's not just something we pull out of our asses like "Oh hey, this Nymph like to splash in water, boom, water, and lets name the Dryads and Oreads something special because we're a Dryad and some Oreads and we're arrogant.")

Closing AN:

Yeah I came up with the idea of this just from... originally, Tania's comment in Entry 80 had "waxing poetic" in it, I thought that was a real phrase because I've heard the term "waxing lyrical" on TV Tropes and for some reason thought- it doesn't really matter. The point is, a lot of the Nymphs in the dull section might be kind of "based on material," I'll go over the "general themes" in Entry 100's closing note (if I remember it), but yeah. Wasn't really sure where to go with this. "Oh, wax = candles, they're similar to torches... Torch God... so maybe this Nymph Variant in general has an association with religion?" and I wasn't that sure where to go with that.