Gorgons

Those With a Piercing Gaze

Gorgons are a species of humanoid that number in the hundreds, isolated to a small island or set of islands near Alzirgos. They carry a strange power that is the only known recorded account of inherited Balor.

The Original Gorgons

It is said a trio of Nereid sisters found an uninhabited island and, to fulfill the Nereid dream of settling on land, claimed it for their own.
But the Gods cursed them for this, as it was the fate of the Nereids to remain beneath the water. Constantly, the Gods tried many tricks to try and send them back into the ocean, but the sisters remained strong. The names of these sisters has been lost to time, and it is possible they did not exist at all. However, no other known explanation for Gorgons has ever come to light.
Instead, the Gods decided to curse them more for remaining there, incentivizing them to leave. First, Papatūānuku began by turning the hair of the sisters into living animals, snakes to be precise. This way, they would terrify anyone else away from the island. But the sisters didn't mind the solitude.
Then, they cursed them so that the longer they remained out of the water, the more difficult it became to breathe. For this, the sisters created a communal pool that they could enter when they found it difficult to breathe. Remaining in it for only a few minutes was enough to last them a week at least, and longer when they trained themselves to hold their breath for longer periods.
Finally, one of the sisters, the youngest, was cursed with something else. The God Hadur arrived to their island, and bestowed them with a gift. The divine eye of the Gods, known as the Balor, granted only through the blood of a God. He gave the youngest sister one, then turned and left. She was ecstatic, excited to show her sisters.

Hadur by Jarhed

But when she greeted them, she was met with a horrid realization. As her two sisters both turned to stone before her, she realized what her Balor did. It turned anyone that met her gaze to stone.
The Gods had decided to grant their wish. They would remain on this island forever, but they would not be alive to experience it. None of them except for the youngest and most inexperienced sister, who knew not how to survive alone. At least, that was what the Gods believed.
But the sister decided to strike against them by proving that she could not only survive, but thrive.
She covered her eyes and hair and lured Nereid men to the island. Here, she seduced them, then turning them all to stone. The legend says that she had fifty children, and that her children that went on to do the same. Thus, their island is said to be littered with the stone statues of hundreds of suitors who were unfortunate enough to stumble upon the Gorgons.
This was the name given to them, from a word in the tongue of Alzirgos that spoke of "grim or fierce" eyes.
Something strange happened to the children. No one is quite sure why, perhaps a mutation or the power of Hadur's pure blood allowed it. Whatever the case, every child the woman had was born with the snake hair, and about 85% of them were born with the power of the Balor, albeit dulled down a bit.
Ever since, Gorgons have been known to rarely leave their island, as traversing the world is difficult. Either they set out looking to connect and end up petrifying those they meet, or they are met by a threat they cannot handle in the world and are killed/arrested before they can travel any further.

Biological Traits

Gorgons are born with the blue skin of their Nereid ancestors, and the snake hair that the three sisters were cursed with. Aside from that, Gorgons appear otherwise like all other Humanoids. They have two legs, two arms, and the same smooth, albeit semi-viscous skin that Nereids have. They have gills that allow them to breathe under water, and yet they can also breathe outside of the water. They require a few minutes under water every week, but this just means submerging their gills in water. This is what a Gorgon is, plain and simple.
At the very least, that is how one can broadly describe all Gorgons. But a majority of them also have a particular inherited trait.

Petrifying Gaze

Those that lock eyes with a Gorgon will find themselves meeting a terrible fate. Gorgons have inherited the powers of a Balor, the divine eyes, which turns anyone whose eyes meet theirs to turn to stone.
For all Gorgons, this power manifests differently. Some have the power to slowly turn people to stone. Some can do so willingly, choosing who they turn and who they do not. Others turn anyone to stone rapidly if their eyes meet. There is no known reason for this difference between Gorgons, other than simple genetic difference and how they inherited the power of the Balor.
Some Gorgons can't use it at all, though this is incredibly rare.

Hair of Snakes

Gorgons are the only known humanoid species in Totania, and one of few species in existence, to house multiple living beings in one body. Their hair does not just resemble snakes, it is made of actual, living snakes, which move and act on their own. Generally, their will is connected to the Gorgon themselves, but this is not always the case.
It is believed to be possible only through the curse, and that some form of divine energy is what sustains the snakes so that they are not constantly sapping all energy and life from the Gorgon they live atop.

Ophidian or Nereid?

Some have taken to calling Gorgons, in some strange way, Ophidians, the snakelike humanoids that hail from Eastern Elone. After all, the snakefolk of Totania share the most basic of physical traits with Gorgons, being their connection with snakes as well as other humanoid beings.
Due to this, in some definitions of what counts as an Ophidian, the Gorgons are counted, due to their shared snake traits. In these definitions, they are an ethnicity of Ophidian, despite not being descended from Ophidians at all.
Otherwise, they are often considered an offshoot of Nereids, who they descended from and still share a majority of traits with.