HGd10PHB - Nymph (Body)

Nymph (Body)
Nymphs are beautiful Fey connected to the Life spectrum of Body. They are entertainers and diplomats as well as dangerous foes to those who hunt them or seek to exploit them.

Description
Nymphs are beautiful beyond all human norms for physical beauty. They appear, at first, to be lithesome human women. Shorter than the average female human due to their Fey genetics, Nymphs nonetheless can pass through normal society as a human if wearing concealing clothing such as a cloak and hood.

In their natural habitat out in the wilds, nymphs tend to wear clothing made from plants with flowers in their hair and woven throughout their clothing. Nymphs are aware of their natural attraction to other kinds. They accentuate this in what they wear to lure those who hunt them in their natural habitats into traps to kill them. In civilized lands, their clothing depends on what profession they are in. Entertainers will accentuate their natural beauty without being lewd so as not to distract to the point of losing their income. Diplomats will overdress to hide most of that beauty beneath cloth leaving only the face and hair out as social weapons against their opponents.

Nymphs have the ability to manipulate their coloring to fit whatever situation arises. Their original skin and hair color tend toward human natural colors.

When born, nymphlings are like any other human baby, chunky and kind of cute. During the first 7 years of life, a nymphling is indistinguishable from a female child of their father's kind. At seven, a nymphling will seek a place to hide and begin to secrete mucus from their body until they are completely cocooned within. After one week, the cocoon melts and the nymph emerges as a nymadel. The nymadel has the natural coloring of nymphs, but none of the beauty. They tend to be clumsy, homely looking, covered in acne, and generally suffering from all of the beauty flaws a kind can undergo all at once. Furthermore, their skin, hair, and eye colors The nymadel form lasts for ten years in which the nymadel will do her best to stay out of the public eye. During this time, she focuses on mental skills such as scholarship, crafts, and mysticism. On their 17th birthday, a nymadel will begin to secrete mucus again, but this time she is able to weave the mucus into a beautiful crystalline canopied room complete with a silken bed made of the soft fibers the mucus dries into. Once the room is completed, the nymadel will lay down on the bed and go to sleep still secreting the mucus. This encases her in the bed so that she is indistinguishable from it. During this time, her body is slowly transforming into an adult nymph. The process takes one whole year. During this time, the nymadel is often guarded by other nymadel and a few nymphs. When the year ends, the crystalline fibers evaporate leaving behind a fully grown, flawless nymph.

When a nymph reaches the moment of her 1000 birthday, she will spin one last cocoon from her body, a substance that is embued with raw Body Spectrum power. Once complete, the surrounding crystal will melt into the ground and diffuse into the area over the next seven days. Once the diffusion is complete, the area will become rich in Body Shards of many sizes and flawless quality. What remains is a perfect crystalline statue of the nymph which will remain for 1 year while friends and family remember the nymph's life, conquests, and contributions. After exactly 1 year, the statue will melt as the outer cocoon did and replenish the Body Shard deposit in the area with ten times the shards as before. If the statue is harmed before this happens, the whole thing will evaporate and the spectrum power is lost.

Nymph's killed before this point in time will have a body that condenses into a single, large but flawed Body Shard. This process takes seven days.

Full Lifespan: 1000 years

Society
Nymphs are only females and require a male of another kind to reproduce. They will do this once per century. While nymphs are often stereotyped as wild seductresses, there is actually a strict moral compass for these beautiful creatures. First, they will spend time, often years, researching a likely candidate. Like any humanoid, there are rituals of courtship that a nymph will follow, likely whatever the rituals are for the kind she has chosen for that century. If a nymph decides to procreate, she will attach herself in whatever way is acceptable to the kind (e.g. marriage) and remain attached for the life of her mate. However, she will tell them beforehand that there will only be one child every century. For humans, orcs, and other short-lived creatures this is often disappointing. For long-lived kinds, this is often the norm anyway. During the attachment time, before and after the birth of her child, the nymph will happily and eagerly mate as often as her male wishes, but no other offspring will be made until her century has passed. Once the mate dies, if he dies first, she will repeat the process regardless of how close she was to her former mate in order to reproduce every century until her death.

Nymphs are by nature social creatures. They love to entertain, to party, and even to be shown off by their mate. Nymphs are loyal to one another, but there is also a kind of silent competition between them to find the best mate to produce the most beautiful offspring. This competition is friendly, and never devolves into destructive behavior towards each other. Their personalities and loyalty simply don't allow it. For those who would seek to exploit, harm, or otherwise do evil to any nymph, not only do they face the full wrath of all nymph society, they also face the wrath of all those who aspire to be their mate or just generally adore them. Needless to say, in most cases, this kind of fool is few and far between.

The most likely source of the stereotype for nymphs are stories of men who 'wander in' to a nymph's domain and disappear. There is some truth to the story in these cases. A man who seeks a nymph to force her to be his, or for her remnant crystal, will find himself quickly under the charms of the very nymph he hunts. Willing to do most anything for her after a long, drawn-out game of seduction, the man will fall into whatever trap the nymph has set for him. His death is long, slow, painful, and utter failure of his original plan. Only the strongest of wills have realized what is happening before it is too late and given up the chase.

Because of their beauty, their personalities, and their study of societies, nymphs make excellent diplomats, politicians, and entertainers.

Character Creation
 Key Characteristic:  Beauty

 Base Characteristics:  +2 AGL; + 10 BEA; +5 CON; +1 INT; +2 PRC; +8 PRS; +2 STR; +1 WIS

 Skill Bonuses : 

Nymph gain 1 free BP in five of the following skills at creation:  Traits & Foibles: 
 * Conversation
 * Dance
 * Diplomacy
 * Education
 * Etiquette
 * Government
 * Improvisation
 * Linguist
 * Oratory
 * Perform
 * Persuade
 * Romance
 * Sense Motive
 * Sing
 * Surveillance
 * Track
 * Sense of Duty to Fey - all Fey feel a sense of family and duty to help other Fey. This sense of duty tends to cause them to hesitate or make different choices than others might make if they know a fellow Fey, especially another Asteriae is in trouble.  Attempts to take actions contrary to this Sense of Duty suffer a -5 to their roll.  Attempts to harm another Fey suffer a -10. (+2)
 * Opposing Spectrum - Chaos: Nymph take double effect from all magical Chaos sources and cannot learn chaos-based magic. (+6)
 * Spectrum Affinity - Body (1)

As Heroes
Nymphs are always happy to travel and learn new things. Often they will join themselves (with ease) to traveling parties as bards, scholars, or diplomats. Nymphs can fight well, though their lithe bodies tend toward the more agile combat forms. However, there are many who prefer their natural affinity for the Body Spectrum and will serve as healers and enhancers to support the group as well. Most of the friction within a party will come from non-nymph females, especially those who are in a relationship with a male in the party*.

*Note, this is not always the case, but happens more often than with other female party members.

Navigation

 * Hero's Guild Players Handbook Home
 * Chapter 1 - Creature Kinds
 * Chapter 2 - Primary Characteristics
 * Chapter 3 - Skills
 * Chapter 4 - Traits and Foibles
 * Chapter 5 - Physical Combat Skills 
 * Chapter 6 - Mystical Skills
 * Chapter 7 - Equipment
 * Chapter 8 - Crafting
 * Chapter 9 - Knowledge Social and Movement Skills
 * Chapter 10 - Optional Classes
 * Chapter 11 - Rules of Engagement