My Whole Life Is Art: The Gorgons Of Algamathykos
Summary:
(Content warning: non-permanent petrification, exhibitionism, free use, monstroids, patronage, olive oil baths, people talking like Zsa Zsa Gabor despite the fact she never existed)
Chapter Text
It would make sense that a culture like Otdikh would be dominated and shaped by its slim non-human minority -- the vampires are in charge, and don't you know they can control mortal minds? How, then, to explain the intertwined relationship between the Algalmathykos archipelago, seat of culture and philosophy, and the rare, reclusive, hidden gorgons? I guess this kind of shit is what happens when you get too deep in a lie to admit it and everyone needs to keep up with the Ionses.
Algalmathykos History I
Algamathykos is an archipelago that lies between the continents of Symbi and Talai-Gurvik, in the calm waters of the Kathalassa sea. Its many rocky isles are poor in natural resources, but are perfect stops on trade routes, and city-states rose up on these isles to serve the needs (and get the coins) of the traveling traders, soon becoming a federation of sorcerer-kings with a fearsome navy.
Sorcerer-kings need trade routes to come to their islands, but they don't have much to offer in terms of resources that other nations need (although they do have olives and those are pretty cool). The goods they offered were artistic works: paintings, poems, sculpture. The competition for trade stops took the form of vying for prestige granted by those works of art. Indeed, Algamathykos became famous for its arts and intellectual pursuits, giving rise to aesthetic philosophers whose contemplation of the nature of being came from a desire to understand the Truth of Beauty.
One day, a sorcerer-king named Queen Kalliti wowed the entire Kathalassa by unveiling a work of art of heart-rending beauty and mind-boggling realism. A sculpture, the Aphrodes of Phyra, depicting a woman of stunning grace and eroticism who was so realistically modeled one expected the statue to breathe. Kalliti bragged of her sculptor, Euryale, who would provide her incredible art only to Kalliti's domain. She originally planned to only show the statue for a limited time, to maintain its mystique, but every trader in the sea was stopping by the state of Phyra to admire the statue. Her coffers were bursting with coin. She commissioned Euryale to craft more statuary to adorn the palace on Phyra, to bless its public spaces with visions of the Truth of Beauty. Yet as her wealth grew, she only grew more paranoid. She tried several times to have the Aphrodes taken down, only to have it replaced after public outcry. Olive oil was forbidden in the gallery, then forbidden within eyesight of the gallery, then forbidden outside of kitchens. Her journeys to see Euryale became more and more secretive, clandestine, circuitous to thwart any observers.
Phyra became famous and wealthy for its art. Then, other sorcerer-kings claimed to have found their own sculptors who knew this secret art, this secret Truth. Some of them were clearly lying, but some were able to produce heart-rendingly beautiful and heart-racingly erotic monuments as well. None of them ever spoke of how they found or contacted their sculptors -- it was some sort of secret order, and they could never breach its confidence. There were tales told, of course, tales of hidden monsters and gardens of imperfect art left in the sea winds, but those tales were told by sailors and everyone knows how drunk they are and nobody else really paid it any mind.
Decades passed, Kalliti grew old, Phyra grew wealthy. The statuary of Algamathykos became legendary.
Then the Aphrodes of Phyra actually did start breathing.
Gorgons of Algamathykos I
Okay, let's go back a few steps. Algamathykos is an archipelago of crummy little rocky islands without much good stuff on them. Some of them are big enough to hold city-states, but some are just like little caves out in the middle of the sea. Even before the Aphrodes of Phyra, sailors told tales about seeing the eerily lifelike statues out in the most remote islands, before the most foreboding caves, of men and women who appeared to be frozen in fear, fighting for their lives, or fleeing the hounds of Hades.
'Cause it turns out, that's where Gorgons live.
Gorgons are an ophidian humanoid species, with slitted eyes, skin that reveals glimmering scales when closely examined, and hair like thick scaled snakelike cords. Their slitted eyes have a special power, the innate magic of the Gorgon: their gaze can turn anything to stone. When living creatures are turned to stone, they experience time passing, experience the world around them, but in a hazy, dreamlike state that can flit forward or backward between events and sort of skims over the boring parts.
It takes effort, of course, draining the Gorgon's natural mana, and it isn't permanent, and different Gorgons have different strength to their petrifying gaze. The petrification will wear off over time, and slathering the statue in olive oil will return it to flesh immediately. The petrification is used to disable predators for long enough to escape, or disable prey for long enough to secure before they "thaw out". It's also handy for remodeling the ol' cave: build whatever furnishing you like, then turn it to stone so it all matches! Most saliently, though, it's used for mating.
All Gorgons appear female, though some are futas. Gorgons can (and do) have sex the normal way, but that's not how they make more Gorgons. Gorgons mate with each other through petrification: they attempt to stone each other, and the one who succumbs to the other's power first will become a statue that will ever so slowly grow larger with pregnancy, gestating for decades or even in some cases a bit over a century, and returning to flesh when they are ready to deliver their eggs containing their baby Gorgons. The stronger a Gorgon's petrification power, the longer their victims will be turned to stone, the faster they transform, and the more durable they will be as stone -- take a sledgehammer to a powerful Gorgon's statue and the hammerhead will shatter. Since a gorgon will be turned to stone to reproduce, it's in their best interests to find a partner who is really, really powerful so they will be safe. Hopefully one who is interesting so you see some neat stuff in their cave.
Since Gorgons are very solitary creatures, only seeking each other out to mate and only doing that rarely, Gorgons adorn the outsides of their lairs with petrified victims to show off the power of their gaze: humans who flee in terror or raise to strike them show that they were petrified quickly, and the Gorgon who did it is quite powerful and fearsome and a good mate.
Algamathykos History II: Euryale and Eratia
So Eratia was a warrior woman, a mercenary, serving various sorcerer-kings and their interests until she was exiled for her exhibitionism and promiscuity, cast into a raft in the great sea to fend for herself. For days she drifted, until one morning, half-delirious from seawater, she landed on the shore of a tiny rocky island with several statues of terrified people. She knew something had to be up, statues don't occur naturally, so she took her sailor's knife and waited in ambush. Euryale, the Gorgon who lived there, soon arose to see what had washed up, and Eratia jumped her the moment she left the cave, badly wounding her eye. Euryale could not turn Eratia to stone with only one eye, but she could and did smash Eratia's leg with a stone club. Eratia fell, Euryale moved to finish her off, Eratia nailed the Gorgon in the chest hard enough to crack some ribs, and both women were rolling on the ground in pain declaring "Ow ow ow fuck god damn it ow okay time out TIME OUT FOR FUCK'S SAKE!"
Neither could stand, and with nothing to do but talk, Eratia asked what was up with the statues. Euryale explained her people's abilities and reproduction, that these terrified humans were proof of the power of her gaze, that she might attract a mate.
And Eratia, a passionate exhibitionist who loved to display the artistic beauty of her body, saw the opportunity of a lifetime.
The hostility passed, as even when the immediate pain subsided both of them clearly needed the other to survive. They began to cooperate. Eratia pushed herself on a litter to the beach to go fish, and Euryale prepared water for them (her gaze was still strong enough for this, thankfully: salt petrifies easily, so use the petrifying gaze on seawater and the salt turns to stone well before the water will, the stone sinks to the bottom, and then the rest is fresh water.) And the whole time they spoke of the Gorgon's ways. Though neither remembered the exact words they used, Aechus's play "Euryale and Eratia" depicted it as such:
Eratia: Oh, what tragedy! That my host has such gifts to offer yet knows not their value. Were my people to know, they would shower you with riches, fair Euryale.
Euryale: The fuck are you talking about, riches? Half the humans who discover us immediately try to kill us.
Eratia: One could hardly lay blame, to see the galleria upon your home! What woman, man or child would wish to be frozen in terror, to be trapped in dim, dreaming nightmare? And ho, what do the Gorgon do with humans once their stone has passed?
Euryale: I mean, when they're about to turn back, I mostly drop them in the ocean so they drown. Less hassle.
Eratia: A fate all would rather avoid! But, fair Euryale, what woman, man or child would not wish to become a work of art? A model of beauty admired by all, spoken of in far away lands? To be seen so completely, to be so helpless against the lustful gaze, yet to be so impervious to its harms? To know one is exemplar of the Truth of Beauty?
Euryale: … Could you repeat that? I think I had something crazy trapped in my ear.
Eratia: And what Gorgon-wife would spurn the Gorgon who created such art, to know her mate would be so powerful and brilliant that humanity asks to be turned to stone by her gaze? Who of anyone would doubt the quality of one such as this, one who commands such loyalty and respect?
Euryale: ...Huh. If my statues weren't of the unwilling… it would still show off my power… but then the other Gorgons might also think "ooh, she needs them to stand still to petrify them, maybe I could get the better of her and turn her to stone," and they'd be way more likely to try their luck…
Eratia: Indeed! It truly was providence of the Gods that led me to injure your eye, fair Euryale. I offer this to you: When your eye has healed, and my leg mended, turn me to stone as your willing art. Then take me to my destination, city of Phyra. Show me to the wealthiest you can find, nay, show me to the Queen, and offer her right to display your work so long as she credits you as its creator. You will find wealth and mates beyond your dreams. And I will find adoration and lust beyond mine.
Euryale: Well, I mean, I'd turn you to stone after we went to Phyra so you wouldn't sink the boat, but this is actually seeming like a good plan.
It was, in fact, a pretty good plan. And when Eratia returned to flesh, she spilled the ouzo on the whole thing.
Gorgons Of Algamathykos II
Euryale had found wealth beyond imagining, and even ways to spend it. Her home was an opulent den, with plush carpeting and pillows everywhere, adorned with art from far-off lands, regularly supplied by dead drops of exotic meats and spices. Her galleria was now filled with statuary of beautiful people posing for her, those who discovered her secret and wished to join outside of Kalliti's patronage. More importantly, her home held not one, not two, but THREE petrified Gorgons carrying Euryale's children. One of them hadn't even TRIED to petrify her back, and instead struck an erotic pose herself, becoming the centerpiece of Euryale's home. Yes, word of Euryale's prowess had spread even to other Gorgons, and they indeed came to see and make a mate of the famous artist.
(Her existing, terrified statues were quietly smeared in olive oil and reverted to flesh, and told "Okay here's a little sack of gold for your trouble. Tell anyone about what happened and I'll break your fucking knees and petrify them that way.")
The other Gorgons who had been sought out by other patrons were surely in similar situations, though none quite as rich as Euryale. But Euryale was growing older, and her gaze was weakening; she had begun bribing other Gorgons who clearly overpowered her to buzz off so she could stay in this situation. She had a nice cozy life she wanted to hang on to.
Once Eratia had returned to flesh, she regaled her observers with the whole tale, beaming with pride at how revered and lusted after she had been, weaving honeyed tales of the pleasures of being unyielding stone. Kallita had once agreed to reveal the secret of her sculptor in due time, but she was making so much money, she had so much prestige, how could she let it slip? And once other city-states started getting their own Gorgon sculptors, well, they were all lying too, but if she admitted the statues were once living people then SHE would look like a fraud in front of everyone! She'd be ruined, and Euryale's wealth would dry up! They had to keep the lie going, they were in too deep!
Kallita was denounced as a liar, cast from her throne, though obviously the assessment of her rule has become positive in the view of history. Then the people of Phyra began to seek the Gorgons, to seek Euryale, and hold her responsible for this grand deception. Was the jig up?
Hell no, they loved that shit.
Algamathykos History III: Up To About Nowish
Rather than be consigned to ignominy, the popularity of Gorgon sculptures EXPLODED. They were still beautiful, weren't they? Timeless and erotic and awe-inspiring and even more interesting now that you knew a human mind was in there, seeing you look upon her, drinking in your gaze while unable to move? And now people know where to get them! The islands were swept, special teams of sailors commissioned to hunt down every single Gorgon wherever they may lurk and shove a patronage contract in their faces. Gorgons became celebrities, for they did indeed pass on part of their artistic signature to their subjects: their choice of of model, of pose, the material they became, the sheen, the cast of the eyes, whether they left the clothing intact or stoned, what manner of illusion of life they may want to evoke or to deny… Sorcerer-kings gave way to wealthy merchant-princes whose fortunes were made by the prestige and quality of their art. The petrified became symbols of status, not just wealth but respectability, majesty, to display the number of beautiful people who willingly became their decorations.
Public squares were adorned with the petrified. The homes of the powerful and wealthy were adorned with petrified beauties, some serving as furnishings as well as decoration. Statues were traded back and forth between owners. The petrified models themselves basked in the admiration and lust of their onlookers, and became prestigious in their own right. So beautiful, so poised, she was chosen to become a statue! Oh, I hear her next project is going to be with Stheno, I can't wait to see what they will create! Oh, but have you heard, Phanketo is letting herself be stoned with child so that her time in flesh will sync up with Aglaia, and they can continue collaborating! They have such a unique perspective, they work so perfectly together! And of course let's not neglect to mention that up-and-comer Medusa, who really seems poised to shake up the world of statuary!
Petrified models were exalted, praised, desired both for their beauty and prestige. The Gorgons who made them were all given patronage and admiration and prestige and as a result many of them became fucking insufferable artiste-types. Their work grew more sophisticated and elaborate: in addition to single beautiful figures, what about pairs, trios, frozen in moments of joy or ecstasy? What about entire scenes frozen in timeless stone, telling the story of a tragic play by the meticulously supervised positioning and body language? Sculpting magic was developed and refined, allowing human artists to shape the stone flesh of statues into ever more beautiful and alluring forms. Could you turn my lips and nethers into something a little more pliable, maybe something that looks like rose gold, so any observer can fuck my frozen body if they please? Many possibilities were open, many frontiers explored.
As time passed, philosophy and science developed, the world opened up, and many things changed. Algamathykos went from a scattered collection of city-states to a single Republic; its people lost faith in their gods as science gave them new understanding. Arts of all kinds -- novels, drama, painting, music -- were refined to better seek the Truth of Beauty and speak to the heart. But Algamathykos's love and lust for statues never went away. The public forum may now be gone, and a shopping mall stand in its place, but at every intersection there's a beautiful woman turned to stone for the shoppers to awe at. Television shows profile the homes and collections of prodigious statue-collectors, gossip tabloids and entertainment periodicals hungrily lap up news of Gorgon artist's plans. Most people in Algamathykos have never been a statue, but they see them every day, suffusing every moment of public life. Everyone has a few they love aesthetically, or lust for carnally. Even after the introduction of television, statuary is still by far the most popular form of entertainment in Alagmathykos, whether chaste all-ages displays or lurid adult-only fare where interaction is highly encouraged. Every time a model's unmoving stone breasts are glazed with semen, her open mouth stuffed with turgid flesh, she can feel it, and she will love it.
Gorgons of Algamathykos III: The "And The Rest" Crowd
Gorgons were of course much more able to contact each other to reproduce once they were "outed", and much better able to work out who was going to carry whose children and how they would be watched over, so their numbers grew. They are still rare, but most people have at least met one. They became "common" enough that some, weak-gazed, were passed over for artistic patronage, and just had to live like normal schlubs, maybe petrifying friends and neighbors for a little bit to enjoy what it feels like. But this created another frontier in which Algamathykos could expand: With Gorgons who could be contacted without schlepping over to a little rocky artist nest island, ones with short-lived weak gazes, humanity soon figured out they were an incredible boon to medical treatment. A human who has been turned to stone is a problem that you have a lot more time to solve than a human who is gushing blood, and a human mage-sculptor can take plenty of time to get surgical removal juuuust right without the patient's organs wiggling around and squirting fluids all over. Algamathykos has, without a doubt, the best trauma medicine in the world.
Weak-gazed Gorgons have commercial use as well. A long-running ha-ha-only-serious joke in Algamathykos was that petrification was a make-work program for rich harem owners: when you have too many girls to ever use, you turn four to stone and tell the fifth to dust them, and you've just made five new jobs. This actually happened more than one might think outside of Algamathykos, but now with weak Gorgons around for casual use, everyone can get in on the fun! From brothels to massage therapists to maid cafes, businesses that depend on individual service will offer a galleria of petrified servants in lovely poses, on pedestals engraved with their vital information, for customers to browse and choose their favorite servant. Slather her in olive oil, then take her to the bath to help her clean, and enjoy your statuesque beauty waiting on you, laying her hands on you, or just taking you on a chaste but enjoyable date -- anything you desire. When your time is up, take her back to the galleria and help her strike a pose, and know that she will be waiting, eagerly petrified, for your return.
With such a degree of integration and prestige, Gorgons were bound to have other effects on humanity beyond those they chose. Nowadays, more and more Algamathykans are being born as the "Serpent-kissed", both a blessing and a curse of Gorgon-touched heritage. It is formally known as "Catalytic Petrified Catalepsy Syndrome" and is introduced into a bloodline by a Gorgon bearing a human child or a human being petrified while pregnant, but does not manifest in every generation. The Serpent-kissed have an affinity for turning their flesh to stone -- they can and will petrify for short periods without being subject to a Gorgon's gaze. Those who practice and master their condition can turn to stone willingly, some can even partially petrify only certain parts of their bodies. Those who hone their magical talents can even petrify others, by touching them with their own stone bodies. But the condition also tends to cause sudden petrification when startled or overcome with strong emotion, capturing them in moments of triumph or emotional vulnerability.
Though they also can turn to stone at the height of orgasm, that's not really considered a bad thing there.
A sunset is nice, nice enough to share. That is why she is here. A fair woman, alabaster, on this unassuming bench at the shore, arm extended to welcome someone to sit next to her. The sun sets in front of her every evening. She never moves from the seat, she never speaks or breathes, but her warmth is palpable. Admire the view with her. Take a picnic, rest your lunch in her lap. Lay your head upon the smooth alabaster surface of her neck and just rest your eyes a moment. Talk. She's always listening. She's a great listener.
Stretch… finger at the mark there… hold it, she's looking… she's looking… she's looking and looking and it feels nice it's like a tingle no it's the opposite of a tingle an antingle sliding outward and it's cool it's smooth I'm the underside of a pillow and it doesn't feel like I'm stretching because I can't move but don't want to so cool and crisp in the air and in me and up goes the sheet and down comes the sheet and the crowd and the applause and they are all looking at me looking at me look at me
"Begging Cockslut. Model: Sofia Giorgaina." The statue kneels, gilded mouth open and sucking. Her hands outward as if offering.
Desma unbuttons her pants, frees her cock, stuffs it between those inviting golden lips. So tight, her mouth is made of stone, so's the throat behind it, but the gold yields just enough, coaxing her further and deeper and faster. Desma facefucks her stone Sophia, filling her then painting her with hot cum.
Semen drools from Sofia's face into her cupped hands, gathering a pool. Desma stuffs a tip and a love note into the bulging box at the statue's base.
Algamathykan Characters
Algamathykan humans have modern Greek names and surnames; Gorgons have names of Greek mythological figures and their surnames are derived from who patronized their ancestors.
Gorgons have an obvious reason to go out abroad: inspiration. For they are ahhhhhhhtists, daaaaahhhhhhhling. For a long time it was considered tasteless to photograph a Gorgon's sculpture, it doesn't capture the essence of being there in person, but it is certainly allowed as a dispatch from a Gorgon in the field to provide a tantalizing preview of what they are working on. Still probably a good idea to have some kind of cargo service on call, to pick up any statues you make that you plan to bring home -- of course, maybe you want to leave some behind to enrich the locals.
Most Gorgons who go adventuring, however, are probably not well-funded and don't have patronage contracts. Because if you did, you'd be at home in the lap of luxury. So you probably have a comparatively weak gaze, or a lack of respect, or both; maybe you are trying to prove your artistic merit to someone who turned you down or scoffed at your work.
Gorgons don't need to just leave their subjects turned to stone, petrified with pleasure, for others to see and long for (but that sure is great too!). The old joke really is true: if a Gorgon or her friends are accumulating a large harem, she will often keep most of them petrified and "on reserve" until needed… and have her own fun with them, of course.
Or, maybe you just thought "adventuring types get into situations where turning things to stone, even for a shorter time, is very useful; I bet I can make some money that way." People have had worse reasons to go adventuring into impossible jungle temples.
Algamathykan humans may have similar motives: they may be "talent scouts", or some form of non-sculpting artist themselves (statuary is by far the most popular form of art but it's not like other arts are neglected) out for inspiration. If you're Serpent-Kissed, maybe it's just a medical condition you have learned to deal with, but you may have gone adventuring for the same reasons as a "tactical Gorgon": not only can you also turn things to stone temporarily, though for a shorter time than even a weak-gazed Gorgon, but your ability to turn your own flesh to stone allows you to endure damage much better than most ordinary beings. If you turn a limb to stone and it gets hit too hard and breaks off, the broken-off part will remain petrified even after the part attached to you returns to flesh. You can jam the petrified limb back on and it will heal and re-attach, but I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna hurt like a motherfucker and you might get scars or divots from tiny stone shards you weren't able to find and put back in. Still better than getting your limb maimed the old-fashioned way.
Even for those who go out for purely monetary reasons or employ their talents strictly for utility, you're at least a little bit of an artist. You take pride in your craft, whatever form it manifests in. Maybe you are dominant, maybe submissive, but in either case that's how you prefer to work. You have something to say, something to express to the world. If you're going to petrify a ravening beast before it tears an explorer limb from limb, or turn your flesh to stone to avoid poisonous gas, then by the gods those statues you make are going to express something about fear and the ephemeral nature of being! Art is where the Truth of Beauty lies, your whole life must be art!