Gorgons

These has been up in the wiki for abit without a discription SOOOO I'm gonna take a crack at it, I just have a rough idea so anyone feel free to add on


Gorgons are a uncommon breed of human sized nagas, they mostly live in deserts or in runes of somekinds.
Snakes for hair, not actual snakes but just tissue made to look like snakes, they do have fangs though and it is possible for a gorgon to bite with her hair, no venom though.
Gorgons are known as fortune tellers, having a skill in a type of magic that allows them to see things in the future, though it's not set in stone so they can see a multitude of futures for just one person, depending on what choices they take. They rarely do this service for free seeing how much energy it saps from them, they are often collectors of rare items and will gladly tell someones fortune in exchange for it.

So that's how they turn people to stone, they sap their "Life Force." I think they are the main competitors of Metroids then.

Sean Okotami wrote:

So that's how they turn people to stone, they sap their "Life Force." I think they are the main competitors of Metroids then.

Huh? no no no just when they use there magic it leaves the gorgon very tired and sapped of alot of her energy.

Oh, they don't turn people to stone then.

Leaving that space blank makes it hard to decide exactly what was intentioned to be there in the first place. Are these gorgons supposed to be a direct reference to the ugly monsters depicted in the illiad? Or just some form of naga that has a predisposition to casting magic or using heinous looks to immobilize their prey? Turning them to stone seems like a foolish idea because stone isn't especially edible, unless they have some way of returning their prey to its original state after it has already been swallowed. Either way I suppose you could pull another subspecies from this train of thought, but If you ask me at least there has to be more to it than that for it to really take off.

Mickilla wrote:

Leaving that space blank makes it hard to decide exactly what was intentioned to be there in the first place. Are these gorgons supposed to be a direct reference to the ugly monsters depicted in the illiad? Or just some form of naga that has a predisposition to casting magic or using heinous looks to immobilize their prey? Turning them to stone seems like a foolish idea because stone isn't especially edible, unless they have some way of returning their prey to its original state after it has already been swallowed. Either way I suppose you could pull another subspecies from this train of thought, but If you ask me at least there has to be more to it than that for it to really take off.

I agree that there could be more then one kinda Gorgon, it would make sense. and maybe one species turns there prey into stone but they have special acids that turn it back once it's being digested

Hehe nice idea, I admit I had kinda forgotten them XD

I had no real idea of a design when I added them so they are pretty open. And I like the idea of having them fortune tellers and human-sized for a change. A bit of variety can't hurt

Turning your prey into stone would play merry hell with your teeth! Not to mention your stomach lining!
Gorgons would be VERY tough customers!
However-I have faith in you Moony! Go for it!

Well, since I'd like to contribute, here's what I felt should be added on...
Snake hair
I think it would be interesting if their "snake" hair was actually a symbiote which attached itself early on in the naga's life-kind of like how a certain species of ant will establish itself in young acacias. In exchange for feeding off of the blood of the naga, they would serve as a kind of self defense if the gorgon, for some reason, got caught unawares (perhaps while drained after petrifying a victim) or serve as a hunting "accessory" to the naga; the naga might be able to petrify various small prey items, and once these were collected the snakes may be able to use a magic of their own to "unfreeze" the petrified prey items, either once they were in the stomach or one by one outside-say, one which just happens to be in the firm grasp of the gorgon's hand. Note that the snake hair being a symbiote would allow for the gorgon to also have regular hair-how much being entirely dependent on the naga in question, and how many it snakes it tolerated playing host to. Venom in the snake heads would also provide a nasty to surprise to anyone attacking from behind or above-say, an aggressive drider or other preds if the gorgon was still on the young side). The sybiotes could reproduce at the same time the gorgons do, and deposit their eggs among the gorgon eggs. Both hatch at the same time, and the just born gorgons would automatically get their snakey allies unless one was particularly unlucky. These symbiotes have no digestive track of their own, and cannot survive without a gorgon host-they cannot survive on other types of naga. They can be removed, but they are very firmly anchored and the main body of the symbiote must be removed and the stump left to die and weaken its grip. Incidentally, the symbiotes share some of their traits with the creations of Chlaenas Shapers...

Social life
I think these would be pretty solitary creatures, probably living alone most of the time except when they are looking for a mate. Given the petrifying nature of their hunt, the chance to befriend one would be very, very slim indeed-the only way would be in the time between being unpetrified in her hand and entering her mouth. If the prey was moved to another location-say, a home cave or some other lair-then they would also be disoriented by the sudden change in surroundings-further reducing their chances. It probably would not help that the only time a medusa would see reason to unpetrify a prey item would be when it was hungry. It would be possible, however, to befriend a magically drained gorgon (ie, one tired right after turning a very large quantity of people into stone or a particularly large target). Their home would be rather obviously recognizable, surrounded by statues of yet to be devoured prey items. In fact, this arrangement could be considered their hobby, with the aesthetic senses of each causing them to seek out certain types of races or body builds in order to "collect" them, much like we might collect cards or figurines. A gorgon might even barter one (petrified) prey item in exchange for a one which better suited their tastes.

Distinguishing Traits
Eyes; the eyes of a gorgon often are more snakelike than human like; all have a slit pupil to some extent at least, and it actually very common for their eyes to be completely slit pupiled. The most distinguishing feature of a gorgon are of course its symbiotes. They are also immune to petrification magic, or whether this is due to their symbiotes or an innate resistance to transmutation spells is unknown. They also tend to grow slightly smaller on average due to the drain of nutrients by the symbiots;as the gorgon grows, so does the length (and width) of its symbiotes. They also like to "hoard" prey which has been petrified, besides those they keep as statues. These prey are the first to go if the gorgon has unsuccessful hunts, and typically are lacking in aesthetic appeal in the eyes of the gorgon. Hunting is preferably done by traps or ambush, to allow for petrification to occur at the gorgon's leisure. Being smaller on average than other nagas, some also make themselves bows or spears tipped with the venom of the forgon in order to give themselves an edge in fights with other predators. Some also may keep moss basilisks around as pets or plant "gardens" of forgons in the area around their den, away from their stash, in order to dissuade other predators from bothering them-the later is especially common for young gorgons.

Location
These nagas can be found anywhere it isn't too cold. However, they are very rare outside of the mycoria forest, where they will often steal meals form forgons. It is rumored that populations may exist in deeper Felarya or on the continent across the sea, but these are only rumors.

Related Rumors
There are actually three distinct types of gorgon-the one that has been observed so far is the only one found in most areas.
The gorgon may be a chlaenas Shaper creation. Or refugees from another reality/world who took advantage of a portal.
Gorgons are have only recently arrived on Felarya.

Well, I tried to help out...ANY thoughts on the gorgons?

Ohh I missed this.. These are great traits I think, thank you !

Well I have read the wiki on gorgons and read this particular thread a few times to boot. The reason for the necro/bump/call-it-what-you-will, is that as I mentioned in my introduction post, I am interested in perhaps playing a Gorgon in an RP or writing various stories concerning her. I was wanting to confirm whether the supplied information on gorgons was canon so I have some idea on how to proceed.

I know the wiki is confirmed as canon, but sadly it gives few clues on specific locations in which to locate gorgons (perhaps partially due to their uncommonness). So far, I know they mostly live in rocky deserts or in ruins, where they can keep a proximity with mineral surfaces. Those are without a doubt interesting places to set up shop, but seeing as they are human-sized I am unsure as to how edible they might be considered, especially as most ruins in Felarya (well rather all of Felarya) can be a bit dangerous for smaller folk. XD

Malhavoc Shade wrote:

Well I have read the wiki on gorgons and read this particular thread a few times to boot. The reason for the necro/bump/call-it-what-you-will, is that as I mentioned in my introduction post, I am interested in perhaps playing a Gorgon in an RP or writing various stories concerning her. I was wanting to confirm whether the supplied information on gorgons was canon so I have some idea on how to proceed.

I know the wiki is confirmed as canon, but sadly it gives few clues on specific locations in which to locate gorgons (perhaps partially due to their uncommonness). So far, I know they mostly live in rocky deserts or in ruins, where they can keep a proximity with mineral surfaces. Those are without a doubt interesting places to set up shop, but seeing as they are human-sized I am unsure as to how edible they might be considered, especially as most ruins in Felarya (well rather all of Felarya) can be a bit dangerous for smaller folk. XD

For ruins being dangerous to smaller folk, I'm not sure about that.
I know that there are predators who frequent ur-sagol to catch the adventurers and treasure seekers who loot the treasure there, but that doesn't mean that's teh case with all ruins. Ruins can't be that friendly to predators, especially if they're human size ruins, since predators can't exactly fit down human sized streets that easily. Therefore, it's reasonable to assume that the ruins of such towns and would also be hard for a predator to get around in.
Ur-Sagol (from what I've seen) must be a bit of an exception to this, probably due to the complacency of the inhabitants. The Sagolians never thought that they could be overrun by giants so they didn't bother to design their city to make it difficult for giants to navigate it. I imagine negav would be hard for a giant to get around in. From what I've seen of Karbo's drawings it certainly seems to be the case.


tl;dr Humans, nekos, etc are going to design their towns, cities and villages to make it difficult for preds to get around in. Ur-Sagol is an exception because they were complacent. Therefore the ruins of such are also going to be difficult for a pred to navigate.

I think that sounds about right. I was making my assumptions based on the known ruins listed in the wiki (ergo, the more famous and thus dangerous ones).

From what I know the only gorgan to turn people to stone, was medusa, she was cursed by the god Athena (I think).

I won't go into details about the curse, but medusa was very much the victim.

I believe gorgans would be a tad closer to water sources, swamps etc. I think what mr nobody wrote, in his strange friends story to be a good enough start point.

I read that too, and am familiar with the mythology of Medusa. I think for now though, I'll stick with the details the wiki provides. I might send a PM to melancholy-melody13 as well, but I'd rather not bother him/her if I don't need to. Thanks for all the information though. I'll see what I can cook up with what I have on hand. I'd like to make her a bit art obsessed as well. Something entertaining about an artistic Gorgon. XD

I did have one last question though. It says "A Gorgon can indeed turn a human-sized creature into a statue, but this is rarely a permanent effect and not lethal, unless the statue is broken." By 'broken' does it mean shattered, or can an artistic gorgon indulge in a little improvement on those she petrifies? >:3

I can imagine a great number of scary things. a gorgon who is into statue carving? xP that'd have to be a special kind of magic used to morph the frozen victim though (i feel sorry for the poor bastard). Though is gorgon magic something you're developing?

I am sorely considering it. I simply feel that an artistic gorgon would be more prone to 'beautifying' her collection as it were. It's far more aesthetically pleasing to have a statue of a girl posing in a fine dress or toga holding a harp versus a grizzled war veteran in heavy power armor wielding a gauss rifle. XD

Also one has to consider the materials that they would turn into when petrified. Marble or granite? Perhaps clay of some sort? Stuff like that. Also would clothing petrify as well or merely the flesh? And in that case is it possible to mold additions to the statue? For instance adding wings if you wanted to make an angel of sorts. Also when the individual comes out of the petrification do the changes stick, or do they simply become a gruesome, bloody mess? If they do change would their minds change as well, or would it be like emerging from a deep sleep?

A lot to think about, but all fun to ponder! :3

that could be done based on the level of sculpting magic (assuming its an innate spell that comes with being a gorgon), and the material used, or how much the gorgon cares about their specimen, meaning if they were incredibly malicious, they could petrify their target and turn them into a bloody mess, and make them a new level of FUBAR on a felaryan scale. >_<

Yikes! Well, yes in that case it would. I think it would also depend on the gorgon in question, whether they were intending to let the prey loose, and how they prefer their meals (intact and live, bloody and live, messy smear). O_o

yeah, though like I said that would probably be malicious gorgans, based on medusa they would probably be closer to narcissists or people who love pretty things in general, so turning a sculptured victim into a bloody mess would be something they would try to avoid. I can imagine a gorgan who's kind to use her ability medically, or for body conditioning. XD

It would be amusing to be hired for 'makeovers'! XD

I can see it being a lucrative investment though, much like the fortune-telling.

It would be interesting if the Gorgon did not consider herself malicious - she honestly wants to "beautify" the world and the people in it, even if it means an unwanted makeover.

Jætte_Troll wrote:

It would be interesting if the Gorgon did not consider herself malicious - she honestly wants to "beautify" the world and the people in it, even if it means an unwanted makeover.

because someone has to do the dirty work?

Jætte_Troll wrote:

It would be interesting if the Gorgon did not consider herself malicious - she honestly wants to "beautify" the world and the people in it, even if it means an unwanted makeover.

Ironically that is EXACTLY what my last character who was a gorgon did. Sometimes it was appreciated, most times it was not. Didn't help that she had spent the last couple centuries frozen as a statue and as such was a little bit crazy.