:: Medusa and the Serpentine Gallery ::

I consider traditional fantasy an apt love letter to the fertile legends and folklore of our ancestors, but with the unfortunate side effect that they rarely explain the origins of the strange inherent forms and magical origins found in the source material. Is every minotaur in a role-playing game the love child of a lusty queen and a bull as the traditional myths recount? Why do werewolves transform into wolves at the full moon? Why do sirens sing so beautifully that ships wreck themselves upon the rocks?

In the spirit of explaining where medusas come from in my world, I present to you Medusa and the Serpentine Gallery.

Medusa and the Serpentine Gallery
by Wm Jay Carter III

Once there was a family of artisans who came to the city of Wellstan. They were all exceptional painters, potters, and carvers, but one daughter, Medusa, was a sculptor of surpassing skill. It was said that her work was so life-like that—once it was painted—it could hardly be distinguished from the subject.

Medusa was as beautiful as she was talented, and when the family came to the city, she was sought after by many suitors, who continuously crowded her with their pleas of devotion. “Come to the gallery,” she would tell them. “If you truly wish to know me, come and see my work, for there is my true soul for all to see.”