Nymphlopedia
Entry 90: Marble Nymphs
Vince kept himself blindfolded - and not as in the magic Blindfolds that (somehow) kept him unable to have his vision darkened... unless it's some 'advanced darkness' but whatever he stopped questioning the logic of his world a long time ago. But as in a regular, literal blindfold that just kept his eyesight completely covered. Sonata relied on just shutting her eyes real tight.
Tania was basically their eyes as they went through the rugged white caves. "You know that there's a special accessory that lets you handle Medusae while looking right at them, right? It's a special sort of mirror that, if held, nullifies their stare."
"Oh really?!" Sonata cheered. Her eyes opened up, making her shout and shut them again. "AH! But uh... yeah, where do you get it from?"
"Medusae themselves carry them around. One of them might have it with her upon death."
Vince sighed. "So in order to keep ourselves protected from Medusae, we have to have already killed some of them..."
"Key. Behind. Lock." Said Sonata.
"Um- it's... maybe... whatever manufactured them, we..." Tania thought about it for a moment, but was at a loss for words.
A few faded aqua Nymphs did jump flips through the air, scouting the area. One of them landed by the gang. Sonata was on high alert, taking her Star Wrath out and gripping it firmly.
"It's us!" The Marble Nymph that landed by them said. "Sonata, it's us! No need to be alarmed!"
Sonata sniffed the air a few times. "Okay. I trust that it's you."
We were here to tell you that we- or at least I- can un-petrify you if you get turned to stone. We can also petrify any snake-people around here."
"Okay but being petrified in the first place is fucking bad. You are completely helpless."
"You can be hurt from falling again, that's bad." Vince added. "After getting used to wings doing all that work for me, it's jarring."
"I mean..." said Tania. "Sonata, you can specifically turn yourself in to stone. As I could turn in to wood. Why is being petrified-"
"Because it's all a matter of CHOICE, DUH!" Sonata countered.
Everyone heard a low growl and was put on high alert. The eyes of the Marble Nymphs flashed. Tania turned her gaze away from the source of that growl and looked downward. Vince adjusted his blindfold.
Sonata opened her eyes for a moment thanks to being flipped around a little, but in a panic, she shut them tight even harder.
"Who DARES enter my lair?!" A Medusa was heard saying. Tania could make out a glimpse of her, mostly her feet and the bottom of her dress. The Marble Nymphs on the other hand were able to look right at her, suffering no consequences. "You don't know about the legends?! Anyone who crosses in to the Marble Lands will be hit with the Gaze and turned to pure stone!"
"No problems..." said the same Marble Nymph that spoke from before. Just a little bit of leg motions, some sweeps and spins and...
A chunk of marble rose from the ground right below the Medusa, sending her flying and putting her head through a wall. She wiggled her feet about harmlessly.
Vince lifted his blindfold to see the results, Sonata opened her eyes, and Tania turned to face her.
All three of them laughed.
"Serves you right, you fucking vile piece of shit." Said Sonata-
And, conveniently, a little Pocket Mirror dropped from her. Sonata ran up to it and grabbed it.
"Hey, Vince, Tania, I'll get you guys one of these too from fighting some other Medusae. You don't have to worry about them."
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" Shouted the Medusa. "You will become one with the statues around here!"
"Oh yeah, that reminds me." Said the same Marble Nymph that put her there in the first place. "Just gonna... undo some of these statues of weaker people that weren't able to break free from the Gaze..."
"Wait, there's a way you can't turn back?" Vince said. "That's fucking terrifying!"
"Yeah. Yeah, it is. There's a reason why the Medusae that stun anyone who goes near them are the worst."
"It's because it's too fucking easy for one of them to stun you in the first place." Sonata said. "But now you're the one trapped in stone, Medusa! Fuck yeah! Fuck yeah, how does THAT feel, HUH?!"
Marble Nymphs.
The old saying goes: When the cave walls turn white, avert your sight. These Nymphs tend to be lieutenants to Medusae, and hold as little mercy as they do.
Preferred Environment: Marble Caves.
Environment Threat Level: Moderate not taking in to account Medusae; Extremely Severe when taking in to account them.
Environment Stats: Dry. Cold. Moderate-mundane. Semicommon. Cavern sections made of marble. Tends to have magic cursed towards it related to Ancient Greece.
Other Names: Whitestone Nymphs, Limestone Nymphs, "Greek Nymphs" (PLEASE do not use this one. It's highly insensitive. This is only listed here for historical purposes).
Affinity: Earth.
Color: Dull Aqua.
Traditional Costume Weapon: A single anklet made of marble. Helps them with limited control over marble and stones in general. Also allows them to petrify people. And, more rarely, de-petrify or even create new organic life from stone.
Vince's Comment: FUCK MEDUSAE.
FUCK MEDUSAE.
FUCK MEDUSAE.
FUCK MEDUSAE.
FUCK MEDUSAE.
...The Nymphs here? Eh, they're actually kind of harmless, but if you SEE a Medusa, you're FUCKED! BRING A POCKET MIRROR WITH YOU AT ALL COSTS!
Sonata's Comment: I tried to hit it up with one and got caught off guard by a Medusa. (Isn't Medusa a proper name or something? Eh, fuck it, Tania says it's singular "Medusa" and plural "Medusae" so whatever.) I like looking right at something so you could tell it was annoying having to be looking away or something the whole time.
Fuck Medusae.
Tania's Comment: Marble Nymphs.
Nymphae Marmor.
These Nature Spirits have a fairly strong connection with the stones around them, not just the immediate pockets of marble but the stone abound them in the rest of the world. They can convert flesh or steel in to stone, or stone in to flesh or steal. Yes, this even goes for being able to create organic, meaty life out of nothing. This has wrongly been compared to the Crimson, and I will explain the difference as such: the Crimson only makes things "meatier" to make them part of itself, while Marble Nymphs bring agency to rocky objects, giving them more of a sense of independence.
...
Yes I agree by the way. Fuck Medusae.
Closing AN:
Why yes, I hatehatehatehatehate the Medusa enemy in Terraria. Did this chapter per chance have any clues about that? On a serious note it genuinely baffles me how bullshit this enemy is.
"Why are you trying to make up a plural for 'Medusa?'" Okay so another rule about this, all enemies are "plural," they're their whole species. Sonata is obviously not "the Lost Girl"/"the Nymph," there's a big species of them (however, Sonata is the only Nymph/Oread that looks like the ones in-game, the rest look slightly different). The Pirates might be the one exception to this but I don't know. So, "Medusa" doesn't just refer to the one single Greek Mythology figure, there's a species of them... that's still called "Medusa" even though I think that's a proper name? Anyway, bosses are singular. There's only one Skeletron, one Eye of Cthulhu in the sense of how it's fightable in-game, etc. Queen Bee might be an exception. The Slimes... that too? A definite exception would be bosses that are a part of a greater species, obviously there are other members of the species around and alive. For the most part.
"Why not Gorgon?" Eh... maybe I will.
"Doesn't the Terrarian just use the Pocket Mirror by looking at Medusa(e)'s reflection with it?" Well maybe in-game but I think this take makes way more sense. Otherwise, how is the Terrarian not using the Magic Mirror or any reflective item to counteract with the Medusa glare?
Also, ten more to go and then it's up to the DRYAD CHAPTER! DRYAD HYPE! We're in the final ten! One more vanilla biome, one more "Pikmin-inspired Nymph" thingy, and... frankly for the final ten I was really just running dry of ideas and trying to pound out whatever to get them out of the way, so I think there'll be the worst of them, unfortunately. But still, it's almost over and we're almost at the big finish! And from there, I'll start the actual story, so if you want to see adventures of Vince, Sonata, and (a few chapters down the line) Tania that are not disjointed and split across tiny chapters in anachronic order and spending more time talking about OCs, well you'll be in luck in just two days!