Of the three known species of Gorgon, Gorgos stheno, colloquially known as "Pliny's gorgon," is the most interested in intellectual pursuits, while also being the most likely to set up a small off-road community in an abandoned trailer park. To provide a suspiciously specific example. Pliny's gorgons are generally gregarious people, but they've had plenty of time to learn that sometimes, avoiding humanity is the only good option. Pliny's gorgons do not co-habitate well with greater gorgons, although they have been seen existing quite comfortably with lesser gorgons.
The Pliny's gorgon originated in Europe, evolving somewhere in the area of what is now known as Spain. They are not technically considered mammals, as they do not have hair, and exist, instead, in that strange quasi-mammalian place occupied by the members of order therapsida. As they are fully sapient and reasonably friendly, the fact that they aren't mammals should not matter to anyone who is not severely anti-cryptid, or severely herpiphobic.
Like all gorgons, the Pliny's gorgon possesses multiple brains, although only the central brain housed in the primary skull is capable of rational thought. The individual snakes which make up the gorgon's hair are independent and sometimes willful. Pliny's gorgons are generally regarded as having the most intelligent hair of any of the gorgon species; the snakes which live atop their heads can be tamed, and even trained to a certain degree, which makes it easier for them to interact with the local non-gorgon population. Pliny's gorgons are immune to their own venom, and become intoxicated from most naturally occurring poisons.
As members of order therapsida, Pliny's gorgons are classed as "mammal-like reptiles." This is, quite frankly, as close as we can get. They're warm-blooded but oviparous; female gorgons lay large, soft-shelled eggs very similar to the eggs of alligators or large snakes. These eggs are incubated in large nests, traditionally made up of rotting vegetation (and often, in the modern world, made of wool and electric blankets). The gender of the offspring will be determined by the ambient temperature during incubation. Eggs are laid after three months gestation in the mother's body, and normally come in clutches of two. They will incubate for six months before hatching. Gorgons are extremely protective of their nests, and will become irrational if their young are threatened.
The snakes on a Pliny's gorgon's head are venomous, as is the Pliny's gorgon. The snakes deliver hemotoxic bite which is fatal if untreated. They possess a secondary esophagus, which runs down the back of the skull before joining with the primary esophagus. This allows the snakes to strike and consume prey, thus stimulating venom consumption.
The venom of the Pliny's gorgon's primary head is a natural petrifying agent, and will cause those bitten to transmute into a stone-like substance. We do not know how this works. We are not going to volunteer to be bitten just to find out.
Pliny's gorgons cannot turn you to stone by looking at you. Seriously. We swear. They can, however, cause temporary paralysis, which can be fatal in anything smaller than an adult human. Specially treated lenses prevents this; most Pliny's gorgons wear glasses or contact lenses when dealing with non-gorgons.
Pliny's gorgons have a roughly human lifespan, and are susceptible to both human and reptilian infections.
DESCRIPTION
Pliny's gorgons demonstrate an unusual degree of sexual dimorphism. Both sexes have snakes in place of hair on the tops of their heads (and no hair elsewhere on their bodies), and patches of scales on their backs and shoulders, which spread when the female is fertile, or when a male is near nursing or gravid females. Many female Pliny's gorgons draw eyebrows on with eyeliner.
The female Pliny's gorgon is approximately human-sized, standing between five and six feet tall. The male Pliny's gorgon appears human, but stands between seven and eight feet tall. This can be difficult to explain, unless they live in an area with a lot of basketball players, and hence males tend to stay at home.
The snakes which crown a Pliny's gorgon's head are similar to the American rattlesnake in coloration, and have wedge-shaped viper heads. There is some speculation that this implies a North American origin, followed by migration to Europe, but we can't figure out why that would have happened, so it's probably wrong.
SOCIETY
Thanks to bitter persecution by the Covenant of St. George, the Pliny's gorgon has adopted an extremely tight-knit, somewhat xenophobic social model. They live in nests, often in remote or rural areas, and shun outsiders. Those who do choose to live outside the group are both revered as explorers, and treated as somehow contaminated when they return to see their families. It is not uncommon for these "outsider" gorgons to send their children back to the nest where they were raised, to be brought up among their own kind.
Pliny's gorgons often marry in groups of three or four, although two-person marriages are not unheard of. They are extremely careful with their genealogical records, and know who is related to who going back hundreds of years. They are cross-fertile with both greater and lesser gorgons, but the offspring will be sterile. These matings are hence frowned upon.
Artwork by Kory Bing.