Gorgons (Serpentine Lapis Artifex)

**Place of Origin**

It is believed they are descendants of banished and disgraced Lapis Fabri from Vesix that were magically cursed and manipulated by the Precursor race that made the Nagas and Lamia, they have no one determined place of origin.

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**Rarity**

Gorgons were once merely uncommon, found as slaves and then in their own primitive towns of mud and stone.

However, when other beings found out the extravagant usefulness of Gorgon eyes, shedded skin and poison in Alchemy, Necromancy and healing magics they became hunted and, eventually, extremely rare. They are classed as an endangered species by the Osuhivia Tower with less than 200 documented individuals in the world of Aether thanks to the effort of the Oushivia Tower to track them.

It is believed 20 live in the tower in re-population and protection efforts, making them the largest congregation currently known. These Gorgons are not allowed to leave Oushivia and are highly controlled and restricted.

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**General Overview**

It is believed the Gorgons are cousins to Lamias and Nagas, being a link between humanoids and their cousin species thanks to their dominantly humanoid physicality.

They are counted as one of the rarest of the species in the world, in the tier with Hellions and phoenixes, most individuals can go their whole lives without ever crossing paths with one or knowing they existed.

This rarity is not helped by their awkward and slow mating cycles, with each Gorgon having a few narrow windows in their entire lifetime in which they can reproduce and, another side effect of such rarity, Gorgons can even go their whole lives without finding a partner.

If, however, Gorgons find a partner, they mate for life and pregnancy can last a year for one newborn. If a partner dies, the other Gorgon can never breed again, although they can find another love.

They can reproduce with other species well enough, but the other mortal parent is advised to avoid the baby if the child inherits their Gorgons more… sinister traits.

Gorgons once had primitive towns and villages, but now they are lone wanderers, widely feared and avoided if their presence is suspected, even by the most trained warriors. They prefer darkness, shrouded in the night or living in the depths of caves.

Occasionally they’ve been known to live in towns and cities that allow them, though this is exceptionally rare as, despite their terrifying reputation, Gorgons can be rather civil and adapt well to other species’ traditions and culture.

This is helped with how the Gorgons no longer have much of their original culture due to their solitary nature.

The Gorgons most obvious trait of turning people to stone is deeper than what most believe. They do not simply turn someone to stone but absorb the very life essence from them, the petrification is merely a side effect.

They cannot, in fact, feast and drink like any other humanoid, their ‘stomach’ is simple and yet complex, built for exceptionally slow conversion of life/souls to energy for their body. To drink and eat like another humanoid would cause heavy sickness for days if not quickly rejected.

They can last 1 month without eating a life force before feeling a hunger and suddenly everyone looks unbearably tasty, but this hunger is not for the flesh.

More than 1 life essence absorbed in this month will bloat them for days - if not quickly expelled - until the excess is dispelled through intense sweating, vomiting and fevers that can last a week.

As far as languages go, they speak a simplified version of their precursor language and the common tongue fluently, though a third language is not uncommon as, despite their isolated nature, Gorgons can be very intelligent, communicative and expressive, more so than other humanoids as their snake hair is used actively in communication and can give away what their faces hide and they take to languages faster and more easily than others.

Gorgons will often cover their eyes in wraps of cloth, goggles or specialised glasses should they take to mingling with other species. If the apparatus is not built for one way vision (which can be expensive) then sight can be difficult and the Gorgon will have to rely upon other means of sight or their snakes' predictive and 7th sense to see.

A common tradition that has been passed down and remained intact amongst Gorgons is their view on their hair.

The longer it is, the higher status, stronger and purer the blood of the Gorgon and as such they are to be the most respected.

Extremely short or missing hair is considered the lowest of society and a shame.

Gorgons tend to ignore the gods or know nothing of them, believing they’ve been long abandoned by their deities and/or do not consider them important to their survival. However, civilised Gorgons can and have subscribed to religions, such as the ones in Oushivia Tower following the Viothism Gods.

As far as magic is concerned, Gorgons have no proficiencies nor debilidations, they are very similar to humans. If they put effort into learning magic, then they can learn it.

They do, however, have a natural knack for alchemy.

It is very common for names to come in threes with the adoption of surnames after gaining freedom. These names have at least one hyphen or apostrophe. These names can become complicated, hard for others to pronounce and complicated, but they are very personal to the Gorgon.

Example names: Fel’endri Hydim Horid’horus, Gen-gen-gri Hfri Kol’krim, Deldir Gunn’arr Sam’ri etc.

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**Race Alignment**

Almost always Neutral, other variables vary based on personality. True Neutrals are the most common.

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**Natural Race Affinities/Abilities**

*~ Solid Stone*

Looking directly into a Gorgon's eyes will cause your life essence to be absorbed from your body and eaten metaphysically by the Gorgon within 4 minutes / 4 posts / 2 turns, this does not affect the Gorgons mobility and is simply a maximum of how long it takes to turn to stone.

Looking at the Gorgon is harmless, even looking at the Gorgons face is harmless, it is only when your pupils meet their eyes that your body will be overcome with stiffness and petrification, the very life being stripped from you. Gorgons that wish to live in civilization tend to wear eye masks or wraps.

The soul of the person is then left to limbo and the Gorgon is given a sudden rush of adrenaline from the new food. This does not enhance the Gorgon, but can give them a new ‘get up and go’ attitude or resistance to pain temporarily.

This absorption can be reversed and countered through various potent, even dangerous, magics and alchemical mixtures, otherwise, the individual will become and remain a relic for eternity until restored, their soul finding its way to the Crusix eventually.

This petrification can happen to any living creature, big or small and can even affect the Grogon should they stare into their own eyes via reflection, however, it does not affect other Gorgons.

This petrification can happen to anyone even if you look at the Gorgons reflection, it matters not, just that you have seen their eyes.

Due to the Gorgons eating habits, they will find it important to avoid excess petriciation or else they can become bloated, sick and feverish. Taking in more than 3 souls in 1 month can knock them out instantly, sending them into a coma that can last a week, during which they will encounter extreme and sometimes life-threatening reactions where the body will try to expel the excess through any means necessary. This excess life essence is considered a rare and extremely valuable commodity if captured in its unique glowing liquid state.

Staring directly into the eyes of one of the snakes of a Gorgon’s hair will grant a great sense of unease and instability, causing one to feel as though they are being petrified and turning to stone. This can cause the effect of the person falling stiff and rigid, truly believing they cannot move when in fact they can and no real petrification has occurred, it will take coaxing and/or decent willpower to break free from this.

This sensation can last up to 5 turns depending on the person's mental fortitude.

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*~ Longevity*

Along with Vampires and elves, Gorgons are considered one of the everlasting races, being able to live for as long as dragons in many cases (300 years) should they feed appropriately. In times of old, a Gorgon's life expectancy used to be thought of as infinite, though whether this was true or not is disputed.

*~ Youth*

If a Gorgon eats as and when they should then they will generally remain somewhat youthful and attractive in their physical appearance, even into their twilight years. However, if they grow hungry for too long they can become morphed into bulging and aberrant creatures straight from fables and nightmare stories, growing in size and their flesh becoming bloated and boiled, their legs turn to that of a snake's tail over time and their entire demeanour changes to ravenously hungry, losing who they once were.

Once a Gorgon reaches this corrupt state, their minds have become so warped that even if they were to have the chance to turn back into beautiful humanoid once again they would be forever mentally changed, becoming more sinister and malicious, no longer the person they once were at all.

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*~ Snake Hair*

Gorgons always have snakes for hair, the number, size and length can vary from Gorgon to Gorgon, however, these snakes have 1 of 2 traits. Poisonous and non-poisonous.

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*Poisonous* - the hair of these Gorgon can be spotted due to their vivid colours and wild patterns. The rarest of the Gorgons, the venom from these snakes causes a burning irritation in the skin of creatures 5ft and up, requiring urgent medical care for those under 5ft who are bitten and not affect anyone at all over 10ft.

This burning sensation can last for 2 turns but does little else.

If the affected person is under 5ft they may experience vomiting, diarrhoea, feverish symptoms that can cause death if not treated within 1 week. Fortunately, anti-venom and alchemical remedies are not hard to come by.

With giant, long teeth, they are aggressive and can be uncontrollable even by the Gorgon, striking out at anyone at will.

This venom is highly sought after for alchemy and can also be used in healing magics for extra potency.

This poison effect does not stack from multiple bites.

2 turn cooldown minimum, even if one snake head tries to attack or multiple.

Getting poison in the eye, straight ingestion, applied into the ear or up the nose can cause permanent side effects such as stuffy noses, scarring, blindness, difficulty hearing and nerve damage.

*Non-Poisonous* - the hair of these Gorgon tend to be plainer or simpler in colour, while the bites of these snakes are still painful and strong, they do not cause the irritated burning beyond that of what any bite can cause.

Non poisonous snake hair is almost always under the total control of the Gorgon.

Biting has a minimum of 1 turn cooldown, even if only one snake head tries to attack.

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The snake hair can be used to grapple and get a strangling hold on an opponent if long enough, but length is based on luck of genetics. This can cause headaches if someone is being held tightly for 2 turns or more or if pulled too hard.

Removing a snake hair can cause immeasurable pain and migraines that can last a week.

The snake hair will not grow back.

The snakes do not have minds of their own, but act out depending on the emotions of the Gorgon and can be affected by their inner thoughts, giving them the appearance of having minds of their own.

Gorgons cannot see out of the eyes of their snakes, per say, but it gives them a sense of instinct and heightened reaction, as if they know what a snake can see but without them actually seeing it.

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*~ Dark Vision*

Gorgons are capable of seeing in pitch black darkness in grainy black and white up to 30ft ahead of them. Sudden lights can cause temporary blindness.

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*~ Skin Shedding*

Gorgon's skin does not work exactly like other humanoids, needing to shed the excess skin instead in one mass. This happens once every 6 months and can be a slow process, taking a couple of days to be fully free.

This shedded skin can be sold by the Gorgon for alchemy and magic rituals.

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~ Super

They can survive up 20ft drops with ease, run at a max of 27mph and can jump 5ft further and higher than humans, any other traits match that of a humans but can be built upon with training.

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**Appearance**

Gorgons are very humanoid in their appearance, the most obvious trait is their snake hair.

Their skin can come in a variety of natural and muted colours, smooth or scaled (scales are purely aesthetic), with sharp facial features, potential of glowing eyes (glowing is considered more potent for alchemy) and slender bodies, unless of course they haven’t fed in a while and have become corrupted and bulging masses of flesh.

They usually have ectomorph body shapes.

~ *Well fed Gorgon*

~ *Starving Gorgon*

**History**

Gorgons are believed to be Aetherian descendants of Lapis Fabri from Vesix that were magically cursed over 1000 years ago by the precursors to Nagas, Gorgons and Lamias as their work force and slave labour.

After the precursors disappeared the need for the Gorgons as slaves dropped drastically with many taking up their own residences and making their own civilisations, however these rough towns now lay in ruins if they still exist due to the Gorgons being hunted to near extinction over the next 300 years post-freedom that they lived in freedom, their primitive townships being no match for trained hunters and raiders, unable to fend for themselves quickly enough.

Now Gorgons live isolated lives and are very distrustful of outsiders, there are no known towns or collectives of Gorgons in existence outside of the Oushivia Towers efforts as many can go a long time, or even their whole life, without seeing another of their kind.

Noteable Gorgons include the mythical Me’dusa Gri-gori of Aether, her bloodline still exists today in the A’erelian, Mere’thrisa and Gri-gori bloodlines, Gri-gori can be found in the Oushivia Tower. She was well known for leading the brunt of the war against raiders and other kingdoms that sought them out and trying to protect a group of settlements with a small following. She did so very successfully and shocked many who came up against her, she is well known even amongst other races for her inspiring voice and deadly strategies. Ultimately she is believed to have fallen in battle when the Valir came for their eyes and decimated her settlements and forces.

Her body was never recovered.

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**Created by Impy**

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