Eylthia

Monstrous humanoids that resemble humans with snakes instead of hair, medusas are best known for their petrifying gazes that—if lingered upon—can permanently transform mortals to stone. Medusas are shrewd and manipulative adversaries who collect and covet secrets, and who use threats and guile to exploit the fears of weaker creatures. A medusa may seek out powerful magic items, use divining magic to discover secret knowledge and unlock forbidden power, or infiltrate a society to beguile influential politicians. Their ability to worm their way into powerful organizations makes them natural leaders of criminal outfits and thieves' guilds, and their interest in magical phenomena leads some to pursue careers as oracles who offer to help adventurers find what they seek—for a price. Of course, if wit and deception prove insufficient, a medusa can always simply turn rivals into ornate stone decorations with little more than a glare. Many medusas build elaborate lairs to call home, often decorated with the statues of their foes turned into macabre trophies on prominent display.

Exceptionally agile and surprisingly hardy, a medusa rarely backs down from a conflict, even when cornered. Many adventurers who thought themselves readied to resist the effects of a medusa's gaze have nevertheless fallen to a medusa, as these creatures are also often deadly archers able to riddle their foes with venom-coated arrows from a distance. Still, a medusa may barter for their life if no alternatives remain, and the secrets carried by these powerful villains often make it more than worth sparing their lives.