Nymphlopedia
Entry 91: Harm Nymphs
Ick.
Sonata knew from experience. Seeing those parts of the caves with cyan and those odd yellow spots gave her the immediate 'Don't go there' vibe.
But, Vince and Tania were behind her. It wasn't really a joyride for her... or anyone else.
No, putting on clothes would not just prevent the spikes from doing anything - well doding them was fair enough, just don't touch any walls or go around (literally) hugging trees. But... the Nymphs...
The Nymphs had a really annoying habit of pushing people in to them. And Sonata wasn't friends with much of any of them. Hell, it was pretty much one of the last sub-types of Nymph that they had to go before their Big 100.
"Sonata." Said Tania. "We're celebrities. It won't be that bad. And this isn't one of the Harm Pits you have been to when you were younger."
"Okay..." Sonata replied reluctantly.
They walked in, and for a place themed around hurt, the semi-cramped caverns of the Harm Pits - with the occasional breach leading up to (eventual, it was a long distance) sunlight - sure felt... almost relaxing.
"TRIO! TRIO! TRIO!" The gang heard some chanting.
"Wait, are they like frat boys?" Asked Vince.
"Uh..." Sonata sighed. "Vince that's not a very good question, it's not an easy one to answer. For a lot of reasons."
Wind blew past them. And from that wind... a weird stingy feeling.
Both sides of the tunnel they happened to be in were completely blocked off by cyan Nymphs, all of whom were armed with at least three weapons, and they had arms decorated with a pale cyan dust.
"Welcome to the PITS, hero trio!" One of them said. "Wanna get through some extra training PAIN?!"
"No." Tania said. "We were about to venture to a Digital Space and discuss getting everything ready for our final trip before we start fighting Lindsey's Key Holders.
"...Fighting Lindsey, huh?"
All the Harm Nymphs laughed.
"Oh man, that sounds awesome! We've been waiting to pull that bandaid - metaphorically of course - for CENTURIES!"
Sonata lit up. "Oh, really?!" She asked. "Holy FUCK thank you! For the longest time every time we bring up Lindsey at all, every Nymph or Goblin or Lihzahrd or Human we talk to just freezes up and tells us it's impossible or we'll die!"
They laughed again, and the one that was talking to them pounded a fist on one of the walls, sending a shockwave through it. Vince jumped a little bit. "I mean, yeah, we know we're not strong enough, and that no matter what it's going to be painful!"
"Painful but you still have faith that we can win, right?" Sonata asked.
"I mean..." the Harm Nymph shrugged, but otherwise kept up her cheery attitude. "I guess? You have a chance."
"...That's more positive than what anybody said about us!" Sonata cheered. "Come on, lemme get in for a hug, you guys are great!"
She went and hugged her-
...Well, Sonata wasn't hurt.
"You're aware of the Naked Empire I assume?" Vince asked.
"Heck yeah! If you want PAIN, we'll be happy to provide! Sonata, you're melee, right?"
Sonata shrugged. "I wanted to make the best weapon, which is a sword, which is melee, so yes. it helps that according to Tania, it has the biggest numbers."
"So you chug a lot of Healing Potions?"
"Guilty." Said Vince. "As in, I do. Probably more than Sonata."
"Well! I've got a deal! What about instead of using those ol' Healing Potions, you toughen up and take HARM POTIONS?! We're selling them! At ASTONISHING PRICES!" She pumped her fists in the air.
"...Unless those prices are negative, no thanks."
Harm Nymphs.
Just like how there are magics that have the pure essence of health itself, there are also forces of pure harm and pain. These Nymphs do not need to harness magic from there to hurt, but it helps them a lot.
Preferred Environment: Harm Pits/Pain Forests.
Environment Threat Level: Peaceful. (Surprisingly; they lack natural hostile creatures, but undead has a strong attachment to them. The spikes are also easy enough to avoid.)
Environment Stats: Dry. Cold. Fantastic. Uncommon (Harm Pits, the caverns)/Rare (Pain Forests, the surface). Dried "hollowed" areas with spikes. Lined with strong energy that cause harm. On the surface, there are far more trees, but even then the trees are sparce and are covered with thorns.
Other Names: Hurt Nymphs, Damage Nymphs, Antiregen(eration) Nymphs, "Negative Healing Nymphs."
Affinity: Wind.
Color: Dull Cyan.
Traditional Costume Weapon: Dry "dust wisps" around their arms. Aides making their weapons and physical attacks hurt harder, and activating pain-receptors.
Vince's Comment: Yeah, unsurprisingly, they're focused on making sure you feel pain. So... actually, numbing yourself works well, just make sure you keep track of your injuries while you can't feel pain.
Sonata's Comment: Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow. Yep. They're the Hurty Nymphs, and they Hurt. Capital H. Surpisingly, not with sex! Or just any friend stuff if they're your friends! But they, uh... I can't tell if they're masochists or just super meathead jocks, especially not our main ol' Naked Empire warrior with the sword and stuff. They're um... odd. Even odder than the Disarray Nymphs. Well, again, those Nymphs are usually pretty serious, it's the settings that are weird. This setting though is also weird, like, Pan... why? Why are there spots of nature specifically dedicated to Hurty Magic?
Our first meeting with the ones that would eventually join the Naked Empire, surprisingly, went a lot better than I thought it would though!
Tania's Comment: Harm Nymphs.
Nymphae Malum.
Plenty of Nymphs that have been covered seem complex on the surface, but have simple explanations to them. These... are the opposite of that. Their magic involves a complex process of stimulating negative sensations on a person... but at the same time, it heightens things that would cause those sensations... after "sensing" them. In effect, they stimulate pain, but then make it "real" and amplified.
Closing AN:
Holy crap I almost made this "Soap Nymphs" again because I had the idea of "splitting" the "themes" of the "cyan" area from Run: .GIFocalypse, one bath-themed area and one healing-themed area, and kinda forgot that I already did the bath one... and then I forgot that I already did healing, in the form of the Spring Nymphs... yeah this one was a huge mess and I seriously considered changing the type entirely, if mostly because I also still didn't quite have "pure healing" Nymphs? I don't know. I also couldn't really think of too much to put in the mini-story.
Also hurr hurr "Harm Pits" and "Pain Forests," dumb names I know. Hell "Pain Forest" was inspired by this ancient joke thing on the Minecraft forums.
And Gravity Falls joke, this was just very loosely inspired by that "Pain Hole" thing mentioned once in an early episode that from my understanding a lot of people, even Hirsch, didn't like?