SNEAK PEEK - VADHA THE GORGON - PATREON EXCLUSIVE (Patreon)

Athena looked down upon Medusa's sad state and took pity on her. She stroked the woman's hair between her fingers, and behold, it became a nest of serpents wriggling against one another! They spat venom from their mouths and attacked any man who would dare lay hands upon her. She gave Medusa the island of Sarpedon to protect herself and her sisters and keept them away from the prying eyes of men. But the fates were not kind to Medusa. Decades later, a warrior named Perseus beheaded Medusa, having sworn an oath to return her head to a king. However, while distracted by the sight of the glorious pegasus that sprang from her decapitated form, he lost site of the dozens of tiny serpents that slithered off into the ruins.   
 
At night, when her sisters returned, they found their beloved Medusa's corpse and mourned her, shrieking and wailing. This brought out the snakes who had hidden after her murder, and the sisters saw that each one of them had the potential to become as they were, a gorgon. They scooped up the mass of scaled children, and swore to protect them in honor of their sister.
 
Every gorgon who lives today is to some extent a descendant of Medusa's murder. Once matured, they can if they wish select a human to mate with and continue to breed as most species do. These progeny stand a chance of being relatively human in appearance, but all of them seem to retain some trace of gorgonic ability. They might be capable of speaking the snakes language, or they may simply have a unique affinity for the creatures and able to 'control' them to some extent. Some have been known to be capable of 'ensnaring' a human, making them feel helpless or unable to act. Others are capable of effectively paralyzing them if need be. Rarely do any half human descendants retain the unique ability to turn a human to stone. However, when a gorgon dies, she sheds her hair, and each of the serpents can become a full gorgon once they reach adulthood. They will be imbued with all the abilities of their forbearers, including the frightful ability to turn others into stone.   
 
Gorgons are almost always females. It is not impossible for a male to occur, simply so rare that it has only been known to happen a handfull of times in history.