Soul Merger

Monsterpedia

Lamia

Monster Level - V

Soul Type - Composite

Intelligence - Humanoid

Strength - Very Strong

Magic - Strong

Rarity - Uncommon

Appearing as a human woman above the hips and a snake below, lamia are frequently mistaken for snakemen or medusa. However they're a unique species that use both direct violence and trickery to defeat their foes. While they spurn clothing, they usually have swords or spears along with a shield to fight with. While they have only slightly above average strength in their arms, their core muscles and tail are exceptional, meaning a tail slap or grab from a lamia is almost impossible to escape.

Lamia bites are not poisonous, but like most humanoid bites can easily become infected if not cleaned.

Most terrifying however is their hypnosis affect. By locking eyes, hissing, and moving in intricate patterns, a lamia can hypnotize a victim into motionlessness. It only works if the person is paying attention to the lamia, and it takes their full attention, but no one has developed a good defense against the technique. The rage seems to be limited to less then ten feet, so long ranged attacks are preferred. As is forcing the lamia to defend themselves from aggressive attacks.

Lamia are one of the most and least dangerous level V monsters, in that there's few, if any, defenses against their ability, but it's not as dangerous as most instant defeat techniques. They're also one of the more common, being able to slip through the fourth layer through trickery and hypnosis. They do tend to be solitary creatures, only gathering to rest. Dropping in on a nest of lamia however is almost certain death.

A lamia's hypnosis attacks all the senses. Blocking sound and sight alone won't cut it. You'd need to be both blind and deaf to avoid the attack. In which case your ability to fight is probably seriously impacted. Rumors have circled that being deaf and unable to smell work, but it's hard to remove the ability to smell without impacting breathing.

Merge

Benefits : Mesmerizing, core strength, flexibility

Weaknesses : Cold blood, shedding

For those few that are lucky enough to get a lamia merge, there's a few physical changes. They tend to get scales along their sides in a variety of interesting patterns and colors. Their eyes also get the snake slit pupil. Forked tongues are not uncommon, For those concerned with belly fat, the merge transferal will almost certainly remove it all, revealing toned muscle, but it won't stay without effort. The merge only cares about the strength beneath, not the surface layer.

Lamia merges have core strength rivaling giant merges. However like lamia, this only works for the stomach and hips area. Legs and arms are unaffected. More important to mergers is the mesmerizing ability that they gain. By chattering and staring into their target's eyes, they can induce a very low grade hypnosis. This mostly just makes the person very distracted and blurs their memory, but any number of quick tricks can be pulled on someone in this time. Or you could just force the annoying gossip at the party to listen to your stories for once.

Downsides include the standard issue with cold blood merges, meaning usually lamia merges have to invest in good winter clothing and heating. They also suffer from bi monthly shedding of their scales. However, given the cost usually required to get such a merge, most people can easily handle those small details.

Contracts signed while mesmerized aren't binding. Of course proving you were mesmerized is hard, and most merchant guilds are loathe to break contract over mere rumors. But anyone accused of that will rapidly lose customers. Lamia merged merchants usually work with a partner to avoid that.