The Medusa's Lover

The medusa was born with three names like any other elf, one for each goddess of the trinity, shared evenly between friends, family, and church. As a princess, her full title was Maeryllen Slyfenna Lunesh of the Sunlit Court. The other dungeon factions know her as Lady Marble. Her lover calls her Marianne.


Ramos Hansom has been courting the medusa for three months now. He’s a drifter from a distant land and an excellent liar. His smile is wide and earnest, and his beard is much too grey for his age. He carries a walking stick, a wicker basket, and a small pouch of coins. If you ask him how he lost his eyes, he’ll tell you a different story every time.

No one would notice if he went missing.

You might meet him in town panhandling, or buying cheese and eggs at the farmer’s market. Lady Marble has no difficulty feeding herself in the dungeon, but she craves variety, and Ramos likes feeling useful.

this but backwards
by Levi Hastings

Lady Marble controls the upper levels of the now-defunct elven temple, and demonstrates great disdain for the tunnel-dwellers below. She enjoys easy access to the outside world, including an open-air amphitheater full of petrified elves, still scrambling to escape their seats. When Ramos is out running errands, she can be found lounging in the amphitheater, napping in the sunlight or rearranging her collection, waiting for her lover to return.

Lady Marble hoards her fair share of treasure—mementos from her homeland as well as loot salvaged from previous adventurers—but most adventuring parties will want to seek her out for her blood. There’s a huge petrified wurm a few levels down blocking an entire wing with its girth, and some of Lady Marble’s statues may hold useful information in their petrified brains. Medusa blood only retains its depetrifying properties for a few hours post mortem, so acquiring a vial from Lady Marble herself is highly preferable unless you have time to visit the local alchemist.

[Sidenote: I want to get around to writing about some alternative medusa(e?). Things to consider: a water medusa who turns you into a puddle/ice sculpture; a gold medusa who turns you into cold hard cash; a sound medusa who petrifies you with her voice.]


Lady Marble’s specialty is tattoo magic, a long-held social taboo among the high elves. She can cast spells like any other wizard, but her tattoos allow her to cast as a reaction under certain conditions. Ramos has two spell-tattoos coiled around his arms, which emerge to defend him when he is in danger (stats as twin cobras).

it took a lot of time for the snakes to get used to him, but they're chill now
by Jonah Lobe

Their relationship is toxic to the core.

Ramos is not a fool, but he is forgiving to a fault. He knows Lady Marble has killed before, but he believes she can be changed. Ramos is unaware that Lady Marble can reverse the petrification; she always finds a reason to send him off to market when she needs to feed. If he has suspicions, he does not let it show. He’ll defend her to the death, though he isn’t beyond reason.


Lady Marble loves Ramos, just not enough to change her behavior. Perhaps she could stop killing if she really tried, but her compulsions always get the better of her. She is a collector by nature, with a certain disregard for living things, and she simply cannot resist the prospect of adding a brand new sculpture to her beloved amphitheater.

How to Run Her


Treat Lady Marble as any other medusa. They're the easiest monsters to telegraph early on in a dungeon, and most people know the story of Perseus well enough to figure out a basic strategy before they meet her.

If you want to beef her up, give her more spell tattoos. Charm Person and short range teleportation are ideal. Deafness can really fuck with the PC’s communication if they’re trying to keep their eyes averted, but you need to actually enforce this at the table.

Lady Marble can be a social encounter, a combat encounter, or a mix of the two depending on how the party wants to approach her. Don’t bother treating it like some complex moral dilemma; the inner workings of a toxic relationship are more than confusing enough.