Nymphs

Nymphs are quasi-immortal nature spirits connected with the fabric of Gaia. Taking the form of beautiful young women, nymphs have a personality and appearance that reflects their origin and allegiance - mountain nymphs are strong, slow and serious, river nymphs are lithe and talkative, ocean nymphs are cold and treacherous, forest nymphs are playful and fecund.
Although not truly immortal - their lives are bound to their element and they live as long as it endures - they are ageless and very long-lived. Some nymphs seem to be bound to a single entity - a wood, or even an individual tree - while others are connected to the element or concept as a whole. Some nymphs seem able move away from the thing they are connected to, while others seem closely bounded to it. Adding to the confusion, there are a number of other alluring female spirits which are erroneously sometimes called nymphs.
It is not clear if all nymphs are the same species, or if each element's spirits are a different race. Certainly, they differ as described above and different names are given to particular types of nymph. Wood- and forest-nymphs are called Dryads (with nymphs of individual trees being called Hamadryads), sea-nymphs are called Nereids (with ocean-nymphs being called Oceanids), river- and water-nymphs Naiads and mountain-nymphs Oreads. There are many more different types than listed here.
Nymphs have a reputation for being promiscuous and lascivious, and are commonly depicted in legends and stories as the lovers (or mothers) of heroes and gods. How much of this is accurate and how much is wishful-thinking by lustful humans is debatable.