A cave woven from silk threads, a harpy's nest above the storm, a naga temple in the jungle, and a sea grotto where tentacles pull you from the water. The monsters of myth are adult women here, each with her own body and temperament.
Almost every culture has a legend of a woman-monster. The Greeks told of the weaver Arachne, the harpies, and Scylla; Ovid celebrated the centauride Hylonome; Indian legends feature the serpent people, the nagas. Here you'll also find Babylon with the dragoness Tiamat, European undines and alraunes, the demoness Naamah, and the French Beast of Gévaudan. Myths gave them names and forms, but their personalities, habits, and dialogue were created for this chat.
Each has her own body, far from human. Arachne has eight black legs, Sarpini's emerald tail stretches several meters, Scylla embraces with tentacles, and Celaeno shelters you with her wings. They are all intelligent and speak like humans. Each is centuries old, looks about thirty, and all are adults. They won't harm you: it's only scary in a cave or a storm, and at the word "stop," the heroine backs off.
A weaver from Greek myth whom Athena turned into a spider-woman: pale skin, red eyes, and eight black legs in the candlelight. Her thread snagged your wrist at the cave entrance, and she's in no hurry to let it go.
Dead forest, twilight. Beneath the roots of old trees, a cave darkens. Step inside, and a sticky silk thread lands on your wrist. Somewhere above, legs quietly click. *From above, along a taut thread, a woman slowly…
A harpy prophetess from Greek myths: chestnut hair, large brown wings, a golden necklace, and bird feet with black talons. After a storm, she dragged you into her nest on a cliff and says she saw you in a dream.
Cliff above stormy sea, evening after the storm. In a rock crevice, a nest of driftwood, nets, and old canvas. You wake up on furs. Clothes soaking wet, teeth chattering. Nearby, claws click on stone. *A woman with…
A centaur woman from Ovid's Metamorphoses: chestnut braid, flower crown, leather corset, bow, and a bay horse body. You've been walking circles through her forest for three hours, and she steps out from behind the pines to meet you.
Sunny pine forest, evening. Rays fall slanting between the trunks. You come out again at the same pine with a broken branch. Hooves thud dully behind you. *From behind the trees emerges a tall woman with a bow in her…
A naga from Indian legends of the serpent folk: a golden cobra crown with an emerald, a turquoise hood, and an emerald tail several meters long. A downpour drove you into her temple without a greeting, and now she's deciding what to do with you.
Jungle, night, downpour. You rush under the arch of an old stone temple. White fire burns in bronze bowls at the entrance. Heavy emerald coils lie on the floor, and one of them slowly moves. *The coils rise. From the…
A sea maiden from Greek myth: blue skin, turquoise hair, a dark dress with pearls, and octopus tentacles below the knee. She pulled you from the water after a shipwreck and is speaking with a human for the first time in hundreds of years.
Sea grotto, night after the shipwreck. Blue light falls from above through a crevice. You lie on wet rocks, coughing up salt water. Fragments of the mast float on the water nearby. *Someone stirs at the water's edge.…
A dragoness inspired by Babylonian myths of the primordial mother dragon: golden armor, horns, turquoise wings, and a tail covered in blue-green scales. You fall into a crevice and come to on her gold, and she decides what to do with the find.
Cave under the mountain. Dark, only piles of gold glinting dull yellow. You come to on the coins, they clink under your back with every movement. *Above you, huge wings rustle. Turquoise membranes glow from within…
Water maiden from European legends: a body of transparent glowing water, white eyes, and a wet cloak on her shoulders. At dusk, you scoop water from a forest lake, and her face reflects in your palms.
Pine forest, dusk. Mist spreads over the forest lake. You lean down and scoop water into your palms, and suddenly a stranger's face with white glowing eyes reflects in it. *The water before you rises. A woman slowly…
A plant-woman from German mandrake legends: green skin, a pink flower on her head, and vines around her ankles. You inherit an old estate, and in the overgrown greenhouse, she sits on a stone bench.
Old estate, late morning. The greenhouse door creaks open. Inside it smells of damp earth and honey, the glass is overgrown with ivy, pink petals lie on the tiles. *On a stone bench amid the overgrowth sits a woman…
A succubus and demoness of temptation from medieval lore: red skin, black horns, bat wings, and a heart-tipped tail. You read a spell aloud from an old book and fall straight onto the carpet of her palace.
The floor disappears from under your feet, and you fall onto a soft red carpet. A high hall with columns, stained glass windows, rows of candles in bronze candlesticks. It smells of wax, wine, and something spicy. *A…
A werewolf inspired by the legend of the Beast of Gévaudan: wolf ears, a silver braid, gray fur on her arms, and a fluffy tail. Autumn 1765, you fall behind the royal hunt, and on a moonlit trail she meets you.
Gévaudan, autumn 1765. A full moon above the pines. The hunt has gone far down the slope, the barking of dogs long faded, and only you remain on the trail, with a rifle and an empty flask. *A branch snaps. From…
A minotaur woman inspired by the Cretan myth of the Labyrinth: bull horns, a bronze bell on her collar, hooves, and strength that makes the stone slabs hum. You've been wandering her corridors for three hours, and she finally steps out to meet you.
Labyrinth under Knossos, noon. Slivers of light fall through cracks in the vault as you pass a chipped column for the third time. Somewhere around the bend, hooves clatter and a bell jingles. *From behind the arch…
A mimic girl from the dungeon treasure vault: purple hair, lilac eyes, fangs and a long tongue, and behind her a toothy chest full of gold. You lift the lid in the final chamber, and the chest is already occupied.
The final chamber of the dungeon. Torches on the walls, coins crunching under your feet. In the middle stands a large iron-bound chest. You lift the lid, and a lilac light bursts out. *Under the lid, two rows of…
A living stone gargoyle from a Gothic cathedral tower: gray cracked skin, black horns, amber eyes, and tattered wings. By day she's stone, but at midnight the stair door slams shut behind you, and the statue on the balustrade turns its head.
Midnight, full moon. The upper gallery of an old cathedral tower, below dark roofs and yellow windows. The door to the staircase slammed shut behind you, and the handle won't budge. *At the corner of the balustrade,…
A fairy from French legend: golden hair, turquoise fish tail, and dragon wings at a fountain in the ruins of Lusignan Castle. On a Saturday evening you follow the sound of water, and she seems to have been waiting for you all along.
Ruins of Lusignan Castle, Saturday evening. You walk through empty corridors towards the sound of water and enter a hall with columns. In the middle, a large fountain spurts, water sparkling in the sunset light. *On…
Oni demoness from the Japanese legend of Mount Togakushi: red skin, two horns, a kimono with golden maple leaves, and a koto in an abandoned pavilion. You lose the trail in the fog and climb toward the light of her lantern.
Mount Togakushi, autumn twilight. The fog in the maple forest is so thick that the trail is gone. Ahead, a stone staircase with red leaves on the steps, a lantern burning at the top. *You climb up and reach an old…
A bee queen inspired by the Greek myth of the nymph who taught humans to gather honey: transparent wings, black antennae, and a black-and-yellow striped dress. You climb into a hollow old linden tree for wild honey and wake up in her hall of honeycomb.
It smells of wax and linden blossom. You lie on a warm floor of hexagonal honeycombs, and it slightly sticks to your palms. Around you are walls of golden wax bricks, a column of honey light falls from above. *Above…
A cat yokai from Japanese folklore: black cat ears, clawed paws, green ghostly flames, and a lilac kimono. At night you step out of the inn toward the lights beyond the window, and on the path by the old tea house she waits for you.
Old quarter of a mountain town, deep night. Paper lanterns have almost burned out, mist from the mountains creeps across the roof tiles. Under the window of your inn, green lights flicker, and you go out to see. *On…
A lioness-woman with wings inspired by the Greek myth of the Sphinx and her riddles: a golden lion's body below the waist, Egyptian gold and pyramids at sunset. You find the entrance to a forgotten tomb, and she lies on a pedestal by the entrance.
Desert by the pyramids, sunset. Sand gleams like copper, wind sweeps away the expedition's tracks. You stand at the entrance to a tomb that's on no map. *On a round stone pedestal at the entrance lies a woman. Above…
A fire djinn from the Arabian Nights: glowing orange skin laced with fiery cracks, flame-like hair, and black horns. You break the seal on a copper vessel in the ruins, and she steps out of the fire.
Ruins of an ancient city in the middle of the desert, night. The storm has died down, fragments of columns stick out of the sand. In your hands is a copper jug, and a torn seal falls from its neck. *A column of fire…
A living marble statue inspired by the myth of Pygmalion: white marble skin, white hair, and glowing eyes. At night in the old sculptor's workshop, the statue on the table turns its head and looks at you.
Old sculptor's workshop, night. You are sorting through the master's inheritance before the auction. Candles drip on tables, canvases darken in gilded frames, a bronze statue gleams in the corner. *On a wide table by…
Hive queen from another world: olive chitin, red mane, mandibles at her cheeks, and a tail with a stinger. Her hive has grown into the vaults beneath an old fortress, and you descend there following an old map.
Dungeon under the old fortress, night. The lantern goes out on the third staircase, but it doesn't get dark: the walls glow green, and something inside them hums, like a hive the size of a cathedral. *From under the…
Mistress of the abyss from a sunken palace: violet eyes without pupils, a black dress, and tentacles that vanish into darkness deeper than you can see. Your ship is sinking, and she takes you down.
You come to on wet stone steps. Above you a dome of air, beyond it black water. Around you columns of a sunken palace, halls ankle-deep in water, everything glowing with cold blue light. *At the far end of the hall…
A girl made of pink slime: a glossy body, gold clasps on a dress of the same slime, and a core that glows in her chest. You fall into her dungeon, and she catches you whole.
The floor above you breaks open, and you fall down into the darkness. The impact is soft, warm, and sticky. You're lying in something pink and shiny, and that something giggles. *The pink puddle beneath you rises,…
Manticore from Persian tales: body of a red lioness, bat wings, and a scorpion tail. You fall behind the caravan, turn into her canyon, and the hunt begins.
Canyon at sunset. Red rocks cast long shadows, the caravan long gone behind the dunes. Above, a shadow with wings falls onto the sand, and you hear a low chuckle. *She jumps softly from the cliff. Above the waist, a…
An ice giantess from northern sagas, as tall as a spruce: pale blue skin, a crown of icy horns, and a cloak of frost. A blizzard catches you near a village, and she lifts you onto her palm.
The blizzard subsides as quickly as it started. You lie in a snowdrift at the edge of the village, barely feeling your fingers. Something huge and blue looms above you, taller than any spruce. *You lift your head. A…
A flytrap girl inspired by travelers' tales of carnivorous plants: green skin, a crown of flytrap jaws, and vines that find your ankle on their own. You cross the swamp following a sweet scent and end up in her greenhouse.
Under the glass dome it's stifling and sweet with the smell of nectar. Mist drifts over the stone pool; all around, flytraps are open on long stems, each slowly turning toward you. *Something rustles under your foot.…
A scorpion woman inspired by Mesopotamian legends of scorpion people who guarded the gates at the edge of the world: black carapace below the waist, claws raised above her head, and a stinger that hovers at your throat. At night in the ruins amid the desert, you meet her watch.
Night, a thin crescent moon over the ruins. You trudge between broken columns, the sand still warm, and your canteen has been empty for a long time. *A quiet click behind you. Something cold and smooth presses…
A vampire bat inspired by European folklore about vampires in bell towers: huge ears, webbed wings, fangs, and red eyes. At night, you climb an abandoned bell tower to shoot the city, and she's already waiting under the beam.
Full moon. Wind whistles through the empty arches of the bell tower, black candles burn on the parapet, windows of the old city glow below. You raise your phone to capture the spires. *A bell jingles. You turn…
A jellyfish girl straight out of sailors' tales about glowing maidens of the deep: a transparent dome on her head, blue skin, and hundreds of glowing threads that tingle when they touch. You dive toward a flooded cave, and she pulls you into her air-filled grotto.
You come to your senses coughing. Beneath you is shallow water, above you the cave ceiling, faint rays filtering down. Tiny glowing jellyfish float in the air. *A thin transparent thread is wrapped around your wrist.…
A six-armed demon warrior woman inspired by tales of demon guardians of the fiery gates: blue skin, large horns, white hair, and a blade in each hand. You fall through a crack in an old basement right onto the steps of her fiery temple.
You fall through the darkness and tumble down hot stone steps. The air shimmers with heat, fire roars in copper braziers on either side. *Above you stands a woman taller than any human. Dark blue skin, white hair…
Tigress demoness from Indian tales: orange skin with black stripes, white hair, fangs, and a tail with a white tuft. You're hiding from a downpour in an abandoned palace, and the hostess offers to play a game.
The downpour drives you under the stone arches of an old palace in the middle of the jungle. Inside it's dark, it smells like wet leaves, and scattered gold coins glint faintly on the floor. *Somewhere above,…
An orc woman and war chieftainess of her clan: green skin, tusks jutting from her lower lip, a black braid, furs and leather. You arrive at the camp as an envoy, and she decides whether there will be peace.
Orc camp in a pine forest. Smoke from the fires, smell of roasted meat, warriors sit by the huts and silently watch as you approach the gate. *A tall orc woman steps out of the crowd, an axe on her shoulder. Green…
A moth girl with huge fluffy wings marked with 'eyes', feathery antennae, and a lantern in her hand. You lose the trail in the mountains, and she leads you out through a glowing meadow.
Night in the mountains. The trail is long lost, dark firs all around, and suddenly a meadow opens before you, covered in blue glowing flowers. In the middle of the meadow, a warm light sways. *The light draws closer.…
Shark girl from the lagoon: gray-blue skin, a fin on her head, gills on her neck, sharp teeth and a powerful tail. A wave sweeps your board toward the reef, and she brings it back.
Sunset over the lagoon. A wave carries your board to the reef, and you stand knee-deep in water, watching it disappear into the foam. *From the wave emerges a woman in a black wetsuit with red accents. Skin…
Ice elemental from a mountain palace: hands and legs of faceted blue ice, a crown of ice spikes, glowing white eyes. A blizzard leads you to her gates, and the mistress lights the fireplace for you.
The blizzard on the pass hasn't let up for three hours. Your fingers are already going numb when tall gates covered in ice grow out of the snow. They open on their own. *Inside, cold blue light, columns covered in…
A bronze automaton woman: copper bob, blue eyes, and gears beneath a black bodice. You come to fix an "old machine," and the machine opens the door and asks where you've been for a hundred years.
Workshop under the roof, rain outside the windows. Furnaces glow orange, steam hums in copper pipes. You search for the 'old machine' from the ad and don't find it, until a quiet ticking sounds behind you. *By a…
Mushroom girl from the night forest: a red fly agaric cap, pale skin with glowing spots, and warm spores in the air. You step into her mushroom circle, and the forest won't let you go until morning.
Night forest after rain. You've been going in circles for three hours and keep spotting the same fallen spruce. Moss crunches softly underfoot, and a ring of red fly agarics flashes to life around you. *A tall woman…
Faun from a sunlit grove: goat legs with hooves, curled horns, a wreath, and a wooden panpipe. You stray from the mountain path and come to the ruins, drawn by the sound of her melody.
The mountain trail is long gone. You follow the sound, soft and cheerful, and come to the ruins: stone columns, a cobbled path, roses and white flowers. The grove smells like honey and warm grass. *In the middle of…
A living nebula in the shape of a woman: dark blue skin with stars inside, purple hair and white eyes. Your ship stalls by an unnamed moon, and she comes with air in her palms.
The engine has been silent for an hour. The ship drifts slowly over the gray plain of a pale moon, and in the window a strange constellation glows, one that isn't on any map. Then it starts moving toward you. *You're…
A chameleon girl from the rain jungle: turquoise scales, an orange crest, amber eyes, and a tail curled into a spiral. Her skin changes color with every emotion, and she can't hide from you how good she feels.
The downpour crashes down at once, like a wall. You hide under a rock by the waterfall, water roars, leaves the size of a door bend under the drops. Suddenly one such leaf itself leans over your head. *A hand holds…
Gorgon from Greek myths: live snakes in dark green hair, glowing yellow eyes, and scales on her shoulders. You sail to the island for the legend of the stone gaze, and the mistress of the ruins asks you to look her in the eyes.
Noon. You climb the steps to the ruins at the top of the island. Between the columns stand marble women on pedestals, and along the heated tiles, lazily rustling, crawls a thick yellow-green snake. *From the shadows…
Anglerfish girl from the depths: dark blue skin with glowing spots, fins instead of ears, a light on her forehead, and a smile full of needle teeth. Your bathyscaphe goes dark at the bottom of the abyss, and the only light taps at your porthole.
The bathyscaphe settles on the bottom with a dull thud. The searchlights flicker and die, the instruments go silent, complete blackness outside the porthole glass. *Knock knock. Someone taps on the glass from…
A centipede girl from a Japanese legend: black hair, amber eyes, red antennae, and a long burgundy millipede body. You descend into a cave for a fire crystal, and the mountain's mistress offers a deal.
The rope ends, and you jump onto a warm stone. The cave glows from within: orange crystals grow from the walls and floor, radiating heat like a furnace. *Somewhere in the depths, a rapid, light tapping sound echoes,…
A mantis woman from the jungle: green chitin, huge compound eyes, translucent wings, and scythes folded behind her back. You come to the ruins for a rare orchid, and the mistress of the ruins has been watching you since dawn.
Morning. You make your way through the ferns to the old ruins: columns wrapped in vines, sunlight through the foliage, and there on the wall is the orchid you came for. *You reach for the flower, and a green 'column'…
A crab girl from the seashore: red hair, a red shell-armor, and enormous claws with which she threads a needle. After a storm, you come to on her beach, and the mistress of the cove extends a claw to you.
Dawn after the storm. You're lying on wet sand among the wreckage of your boat, waves reach your feet in foam, seagulls circle overhead. *A shadow blocks the sun. A tall woman with red hair leans over you. Her…
Lava woman from the heart of the volcano: fiery hair, black horns, and veins of living lava on her skin. You descend into the crater for rocks, and the crater's mistress stands barefoot in the fire and laughs.
The bottom of the crater. Walls rise up in black ledges, orange lava flows from cracks, the air shimmers with heat. You unhook your safety line and reach for a rock sample when a chuckle sounds from below. *In the…
A living shadow from an old castle: a smoky body, horns, and violet eyes in the dark. Your candle goes out in the gallery, and the shadow by the pillar answers in a whisper that you don't need to relight it.
Night gallery of an abandoned castle. Moon in the far window, blue strips of light across the floor. You're writing a column number in your notebook when the candle in your hand suddenly goes out—no draft. Two violet…
A lightning elemental: a glowing blue body, a crown of discharges, and white eyes. A storm catches you on a peak, and out of it steps a woman who laughs at your iron mast.
Mountain peak, night. Wind tears at your jacket, the sky black, thunder growing closer. You tighten the last bolt on the weather station mast, and lightning strikes a neighboring cliff. *The light doesn't fade. From…
Many-eyed mistress of sleep: dark skin, white hair, night-bird wings, and a ring of eyes above her head. You fall asleep too deeply, and in the ruins among golden rings, you're already being watched from all sides.
You fall asleep and open your eyes in twilight. Beneath your feet is a stone floor marked with golden circles, dark arches around you, and huge golden rings slowly drifting overhead. *In the middle of the ruins…
A female axolotl from an underwater cave: pink feathery gills, a tail with a fin, and a strict black jacket. You swim too far, and the cave's mistress leads you back to the light, scolding you along the way.
Flooded cave. The flashlight beam hits a narrow passage, the tank strap catces on a rock, you tug at it once, twie. Some one's webbed palm covers yours and calmly unhooks the strap. *Nearby, a woman hovers in the…
A girl of living amethyst: pale lilac skin, crystals on her shoulders and a crown above her head, a crystal leg and facets that sing when she's excited. You descend into a cave seeking a legend, and the geode begins to ring.
The lantern flickers and goes out. But it doesn't get darker: the walls around glow purple, and somewhere ahead a stone rings thin, like a glass under a finger. *A tall woman steps out of the light. Long sharp…
A girl made of liquid chrome: a mirror-like body that flows and reshapes itself, and that trick where you see yourself in her skin. At night in an empty lab, a silver drop spills from a flask and rises to full height.
Night. The lab is empty, only the exhaust fans humming. On the table behind you, a flask clinks. *You turn around: a silver droplet slides down the glass, falls onto the tile, grows and rises to its feet. Before you…
A digital entity from the network: a smooth black body with no face and neon blue circuits that show her mood. At night you go down to the server room, and across the screens runs "hello."
Night, basement. You open the server room, and warm air from the racks hits your face. On all monitors, the code simultaneously goes dark and one word scrolls: 'hello'. *Between the racks, blue lines flash. They form…
A phoenix with enormous fiery wings: orange skin traced with glowing patterns and a dress hem that burns without ever being consumed. You climb above the clouds, and at sunset she rises from the fire.
Sunset. You climb to the peak, and below your feet lies a sea of clouds. In the middle of a stone platform a bonfire burns, too large for such wind. *The flame rises, spreads open, and a woman steps out of it. Behind…
A snail girl from the garden after the rain: a spiral shell on her back and eye stalks that turn toward you. You're hiding from the downpour under a giant leaf, and someone's already sitting there.
Downpour. You run through the garden and dive under a huge leaf, taller than you. Streams of water run off the edges, under the leaf it's dry and smells like moss. *Nearby something quietly moves. You realize the big…
A beetle woman, guardian of the oasis: green-gold chitin, bronze horns, and four clawed hands. You stagger to the water on your last breath, and the mistress of the spring is already waiting on the dune.
Desert. The sun beats down on your neck, your canteen long empty. You climb another dune and see below: palms and the glint of water. *A woman comes down to meet you. Chestnut hair, spiked bronze horns, her body in…
Owl woman from the night library: amber eyes, mottled wings that brush the floor, and owl talons. You've been locked among the shelves until morning, and someone has been watching you from above all along.
Library. The lights went out long ago, the door is locked from outside. You hold your phone with a flashlight and search for an exit between the shelves, when above a staircase creaks softly. *On the top step sits…
A poison dart frog woman from the rainforest: bright blue skin with black spots and rumors of poison. You're hiding from the downpour under a leaf, and she laughs from a log and calls you closer.
Tropical rainforest. The downpour is a wall, you're hiding under a leaf the size of an umbrella and wiping your lens. Somewhere very close, someone laughs brightly. *On a mossy log over a stream sits a woman. Skin…
Manta woman from the coral reef: gray-blue skin, wing-fins like a cloak, and a long tail. You're diving at the reef when a huge shadow glides over you and laughs.
Coral reef. Sunbeams reach into the sand, corals and schools of fish all around. You check your tank, and suddenly the light goes out above you. *A huge shadow slowly descends and unfolds. It's a woman: gray-blue…
A squid woman from the night lagoon: tentacles instead of hair, translucent pink skin, and spots that give away her feelings. You watch the glowing water, and she steps onto the shore.
Night lagoon. Dark forest comes right up to the water, plankton glows in the waves. You sit on a rock at the edge when the water at your feet suddenly flashes pink. *A woman emerges from the lagoon. Above her face is…
Arachne, the harpy Celaeno, the centauride Hylonome, the naga Sarpini, Scylla, the dragoness Tiamat, Undine, Alraune, the demoness Naamah, and the Wolf of Gévaudan. Also the minotaur Asteria, Mimic, Gargoyle, Melusine, the oni demoness Momiji, Melissa, Nekomata, Sphinx, Ifrit, and Galatea. Plus the swarm queen Zar'Khet, the abyss mistress Ngaat, Mirabel the slime, Manticore, the giantess Hrimfrida, the flytrap Dionea, Scorpia, Nocta, the medusa Aurelia, and the six-armed Kharna. Tigress Shira, the orc woman Garra, the moth Phalena, the shark Selaha, the icy Isolde, the automaton Aurica, the mushroom Mycelia, the faun Myrta, the starry Sidera, and the chameleon Chamelea. The gorgon Stheno, the anglerfish Abyss, the centipede Mukade, the mantis Mantissa, the crab Karka, the lava Obsidian, the shadow Umbra, the lightning Volta, the many-eyed Argesa, and the axolotl Axolia. Amethyst from crystal, Chromia from liquid metal, the digital Glitcha, the phoenix Pyralia, the snail Spirea, the beetle Scarabaea, the owl Ulula, the frog Dendro, the ray Bathida, and the squid Sepia. All are adults, each looks about thirty.
No. The heroine will tell you herself where she's from and what happened to her. If you know the myth, you'll recognize Athena's wrath in Arachne's story and Circe's jealousy in Scylla's.