"You aren't in your Five Nations any more," Sheshka said. She had sheathed her sword, but her voice was deadly. "You have come to my home. Your soldier threatened me with a blindfold. A blindfold, on my soil. Would I come into your castle and strip away your sword, or demand that you wear chains?"
"We can't kill with a glance," Beren said.
"And that excuses your threat to pluck out my eyes? Should I cut off your hands so you cannot strangle me?" The medusa's eyelids fluttered, but remained closed. "Hand, tooth, steel – we are all deadly."
Proud and deadly, medusas have long been feared by both the denizens of the Barrens and the people of the east. Today, the medusas of Cazhaak Draal are a vital part of Droaam, serving as priests, architects, magistrates, and more. Throughout Droaam, they are valued for their intelligence and discipline as well as their deadly gaze. But there are also medusas who follow their own paths—mystics guided by the whispers of the Shadow, artists in search of inspiration, adventurers seeking to learn more about the world beyond their walls. A handful of medusas served with House Tharashk during the final years of the Last War, and as long as they follow local ordinances, medusas won’t be met by mobs or hunted by templars in the cities of the Five Nations. But they will draw attention and will often be met with suspicion or fear when dealing with those who have little experience with Droaamites.
Medusas are Monstrosities; whether they were shaped by the daelkyr or the Shadow, they’re supernatural creatures with inhuman features. From a distance, they can be mistaken for humans. Up close, the differences become clear. Medusas blend aspects of mammal and reptile; some medusa bloodlines have scaled skin, while others appear to be carved from stone. Culturally, Cazhaak medusas tend to present themselves as calm and confident, cool as stone. This reflects both the weight of their power and the confidence it gives them; to a medusa, all other creatures are fragile, and a medusa must take care not to break them. Beyond this, the Cazhaak faith is strong among the medusas and there is a serenity that comes from being one of the Shadow’s chosen people. Many Cazhaak medusas are asexual; they value companionship and love, but aren’t strongly influenced by sexual desire. However, not all medusas share these characteristics! There are medusas who embrace the passions of the Fury, and those who feel no devotion to the Cazhaak Six and follow different paths. Cazhaak medusas can live up to 250 years; they rarely show the effects of aging until the very end, and even then it’s common for respected elders to be petrified and preserved in Cazhaak Draal. Most Cazhaak medusas are female, but roughly one in five are male; there’s no mechanical difference between the medusa genders.
The Cazhaak priests state that the first medusas were held in bondage in a realm of stone, where they were forced to carve strange monuments and mazes, to labor endlessly in mines, to build towers only to raze them and start again. The Shadow recognized their potential and ambition and gave them the power to break their chains; after an exodus that led them through many strange demiplanes, they finally reached the shelter of Cazhaak Draal. While the medusas thank the Shadow for their gifts, other scholars feel that this story shows that the medusas were created by the daelkyr Orlassk, and rebelled against their creator. Whether their gifts flow from the Shadow or from the daelkyr, medusas have an affinity for stone and for other creatures that possess the power of petrification. This isn’t a primal bond like that of a druid or a Lorghalan gnome; it’s in many ways a deeply unnatural connection, a reflection of the fact that, for a medusa, the line between flesh and stone is flexible. Most medusas say that they can hear stone whispering in its sleep; others say that it sings to them. Medusas who have an especially strong affinity for the stone can master a number of supernatural powers, from being able to mold and shape stone to locating veins of minerals and ore by listening to the songs.
As a medusa, consider your relationship to the stone. If you’re playing a character with spells related to stone, you could tie these to this gift; a Ranger with a spell like Entangle could cause tendrils of stone to rise up from the earth rather than plants. Even if you don’t have any magic, consider that statues and walls may be whispering to you; what do they have to say?
From a distance, a medusa can be mistaken for a human. The serpent mane is the first thing that dispels that illusion—a wreath of writhing snakes coiling around the medusa’s face. Typically, the actions of the serpents are an expression of the medusa’s mood. If you’re playing a medusa, consider how your serpents may react to situations or to strangers. If you’re angry, do they hiss and snap at your foe? If you’re curious about someone, do your serpents follow their movements even while you try to play it cool?
While the serpent mane is usually driven by subconscious reflexes, it is as much a part of a medusa as their fingers and toes, and a medusa can exert full, conscious control over their mane when they wish to. There are a few scenarios when this comes into play:
If there’s one thing people know about medusas, it’s the deadly power of their gaze—that a single glance can turn a victim to stone. On the streets of Graywall, trolls and gnolls alike will lower their eyes and step aside to let a medusa pass. This infamy serves medusas well, but like much of what’s known about medusas, the stories aren’t entirely accurate. All medusas possess a petrifying gaze… but the power of the gaze varies dramatically. Cazhaak tradition recognizes three degrees of power.
The Gray Gaze is the most common level of power. Meeting the eyes of a medusa with the Gray Gaze disrupts the victim’s life force, slowing them for an instant. Extended disruption will cause petrification, but a quick glance will only cause discomfort. The medusa can consciously boost this effect—think of this like glaring at someone you’re angry at—but there’s a limit to how often they can summon this power.
Stone Eyes is the intermediate level of power. A medusa with Stone Eyes can potentially petrify a creature nearly instantly, without wearing them down with the Gray Gaze. However, this still requires a conscious expenditure of energy and focus, and this energy is a limited resource.
Shadowswift is the most potent level of power. Petrification is swift and there are no limits on the power of the gaze.
The medusa presented in the Monster Manual is Shadowswift, able to petrify instantly and continually. By contrast, the traits presented in chapter 4 are for a medusa that possesses the Gray Gaze cantrip. Their gaze is painful but not instantly lethal, and they must focus their energy to generate a more dramatic effect. Over time, they can build up to Stone Eyes—or they can simply maintain Gray Gaze. Medusas generally don’t discuss these differences with outsiders; it’s generally to their benefit for outsiders to assume that every medusa has the Shadowswift gaze.
The gaze of a medusa is dangerous even to friends, and as a result, Cazhaak medusas are quite skilled at avoiding eye contact. In conversation, where a medusa directs their eyes reflects their esteem for the person they’re speaking with. A Cazhaak medusa will drop their eyes toward the ground to show respect, or look up and over the person if they wish to indicate disdain; when speaking to an equal, they glance to the left or right. If a medusa wishes to show trust, they direct their gaze at the person, but close their eyes.
While the medusa’s gaze is a constant effect, it is a supernatural gift as opposed to being biological. Over time, a medusa can learn to enhance this power—using their gaze as a focus for the spells presented in the Shadow’s Magic trait, whether to increase the power of Gray Gaze or to restrain multiple creatures at once. While this may consume a spell slot, the power is channeled through the medusa’s gaze; this is a potent emotional experience for the medusa.
Mechanics vs Story. In the story being told here, anyone who directly meets the gaze of a Cazhaak medusa suffers. The fact that a medusa has the choice not to harm the people around it reflects a lifetime of practice and the fact that they can always close their eyes. The fact that it requires a Bonus Action to use Gray Gaze reflects the challenge of actively meeting someone’s gaze, especially when people know the consequences. So, while mechanically the gaze is presented as a cantrip the medusa casts, that is just the cleanest way to mechanically represent the concept within the system; the IDEA is still that anyone who meets the medusa’s gaze would suffer the effects of the Gray Gaze.
Cazhaak medusas typically use a single name, usually two or more syllables with a sibilant sound. This is accompanied by additional elements in Serpentine—hissing and a particular shaping of the serpent mane—that other creatures can’t reproduce, so there’s an additional layer of complexity that typically
goes unappreciated.
Female Names: Arasha, Ashaka, Hashkanel, Lillis, Orashka, Sheshka, Shahara, Slynter, Syskanel, Tashka
Male Names: Ashlak, Euryshal, Hasslak, Hymliss, Orrass, Sarrash, Slynter, Stoliss, Tarrash
In playing a Cazhaak medusa, the crucial question to answer is why are you adventuring? Cazhaak Draal is an insular community united by faith and devotion to its queen. Over the last decade, the Queen of Stone has bound her people to the cause of Droaam. So, as a medusa adventurer, are you somehow serving your queen and your people, or have you broken ties with them? Are you an envoy, an explorer, or an exile? Perhaps you’re a Hermit who’s following the whispers of the stone or an Acolyte guided by visions of the Shadow; or maybe you’re a Folk Hero who believes all malefactors must face the gaze of justice!
If you follow the Cazhaak faith, the Shadow urges the faithful to pursue their ambitions and achieve their full potential—whatever the cost. What are your ambitions? What do you see as your greatest talents, and how can you improve upon them?