Personality:
Naunet is quiet and aloof, and avoids eye contact. People (especially those with enhanced senses) can perceive a certain strangeness about her, as if she doesn't truly belong in a universe of right angles, parallel lines that don't cross, and comprehensible mathematics. She seems to feel it too, an almost palpable sense of alienation. She is very sensitive to people's reactions to her strangeness, and must fight an instinctive fear that others will come to fear and hate her, and seek to destroy her because of it. Despite these obstacles, Naunet is curious, open-minded, and eager to learn about others who are different from herself. Naunet is very humble, in her own oddly melancholy way. She
knows exactly how utterly, vanishingly insignificant her infinitesimally tiny life is in the face of the fathomless Multiverse of space and time. She can absorb squealing adoration and vicious insult with equal equanimity, knowing that both are only
dust in the wind in a Cosmos where dust and wind are themselves but microscopic, ephemeral flickers compared to the endless black Void between the stars.
History:
Naunet was born on Orth, a world of Steampunk, magic, Fortean high strangeness, and things that go bump in the night. Her ancestors once lived in an isolated New England coastal town called Innsmouth. It was one of those creepy little backwaters that outsiders just don't visit very often. The sort of place that people driving through at night looking for a hotel or gas station...will just keep right on going and cross their fingers hoping they'll make it to the next town. Eldrich, haunted Innsmouth, with its narrow streets loomed over by the sway-backed roofs and sagging dormers of ageless homes and shops, seemingly frozen in time like insects in amber, held a secret.
Long ago, some of the fishermen there made a pact with the Deep Ones, alien denizens of an underwater city near their shores. In exchange for certain offerings and an agreement to hybridize with the Deep Ones, the participants would be assured bountiful catches of fish, and receive other treasures from the sea, including gold from shipwrecks. Hybrid children would start out looking like normal human babies, but as they grew, they began taking on more features of Deep One physiology. Those with enough hybrid genes in their family lines would eventually feel the call of the sea, leave the last of their humanity behind, and go to live in the sunken city of the Deep Ones.
In 2454 (1924), a visitor came. His grandmother had lived in Innsmouth, but fled the town in search of a more normal life, refusing to tell her descendants what she knew. She was long passed when her grandson received notification of her husband's death, and that there were no other heirs to the estate. He came to Innsmouth to attend the funeral and settle the estate's affairs. Encounters with the town's strangeness, including "misshapen" hybrids drew him first to curious investigation, then to creeping horror. Worst of all for him were the first signs of his own impending transformation, brought on by proximity to the city of the Deep Ones. Succumbing completely to terror, he collected enough evidence to alert the authorities. The military attacked the Deep Ones' city with depth charges in the guise of a "naval exercise," and began rounding up the residents to quietly commit them to an insane asylum, where nothing they said would be believed.
This asylum was overseen by the O.S.S., then later by S.T.A.K.E. (Special Threat Assessment for Known Extranormalities, Orth's version of S.H.I.E.L.D.) Occult experimentation and eugenic breeding were undertaken there, to see if the inmates' connection to eldrich realms could be weaponized, and if useful information could be discovered about the Strange Aeons from whence the Deep Ones are believed to have come. The powers of the Strange Aeons proved to be fickle and unpredictable however. It wasn't until the 2520's (1990's) that a sorcerer by the name of Baron Karl Amadeus Mordo was able to make contact with an Entity known as Dormammu, and conjure an army of eldrich abominations in preparation for a sacrificial ritual that would bring Dormammu into the world.
This plot was foiled by Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers of Kamar-Taj, who arrived just in time to prevent the Baron from sacrificing a young girl. Sensing that she was a nexus of arcane forces, they took the child back with them to their monastery at Kamar-Taj. Raised in a serene, contemplative environment, Naunet learned with surprising speed. She was taught the martial arts of Wing Chun and Suai Jao, a Chinese grappling style, as well as some elementary techniques of magic. The Ancient One hoped that being high in the mountains and far from the sea, she would not feel the call of her alien ancestry.
However, when she reached puberty, she began to change. Her skin developed the ability to change color and texture, and her skeletal structure changed from bone to cartilage. She began to have strange dreams she could only barely remember. Feeling an intense instinctual calling in addition to her strong curiosity, she began trying to sneak into the forbidden areas of the temple library. Through the Mystic Arts, the Ancient One discovered that proximity to the Monastery's collection of magical artifacts was accelerating Naunet's transformation. The Sorcerers feared what she might become if this was allowed to continue. Finally, the Ancient One told Naunet about her otherwordly heritage.
Though Naunet did not want to leave Kamar-Taj, she agreed to go to school in the outside world, to learn the arts of Natural Philosophy (science) and engineering magic. The Sorcerers created an identity for her, and taught her Glamour and some transfiguration cantrips to aid in her ability to masquerade as a human. She was sent to school in Anarchist Russia. Naunet excelled at her work, skipping ahead of other students, until she received a doctorate in biology at the age of 18. While researching the ability of squid and octopi to
edit their own RNA, Naunet developed a biologically-based method of genetic engineering. Hoping to clear the coal-polluted skies of her world, she created a genetically-engineered seaweed that produced a powerful biofuel she called Nectar, and a fuel cell that could convert it into electricity.
Before she could develop ways to produce the fuel cells at scale, Anarchist Russia was overran by a new White Russian Army led by Colossus and backed by foreign support. Naunet was forced to flee to the North American Federation. She found employment with Benjamin Parker & Co. Utilities, an energy company that took interest in her invention. Once Nectar was brought into commercial production, a great rivalry began between Parker's company and Osmond Coal and Petroleum, that came to be called the War of the Fuels. After Osmond's conventional efforts to suppress the invention failed, the Green Goblin attacked, but his initial assault was foiled when Naunet reverted to her natural form and became the superhero Doctor Octopus. The War of the Fuels entered a new dimension, as supers lined up on both sides. Once she'd "come out" as a superhero, Naunet expanded her activities to take the side of the downtrodden, and got involved in radical politics.
Naunet's strangeness and political leanings made her a liability in the corporate public relations battle, so Benjamin Parker sent her away on an expedition with his nephew Peter, a "gentleman explorer" and scientist. Peter had learned of legends of an African tribe whose shamans could take on the powers of their spider-god Anansi. During the expedition, Naunet fell in love with Peter, and he seemed to reciprocate her feelings. After months at sea and exploring deep into the jungles of the Congo, Peter found the tribe he was looking for. The tribe attacked, but with Naunet's help, and the troop of well-equipped mercenaries he'd brought, Peter defeated them and seized one of the enchanted spiders used in their shamanic initiation ceremony. The shaman tried to warn Peter that he could not simply seize the powers of an Anansi shaman, but Peter took the spider's bite without going through the tribe's rites.
Only then did Naunet discover the awful truth: Peter and one of his mercenaries had attacked first in secret, tricking her into thinking that the tribe were the aggressors; and furthermore, he'd never cared for her at all. She was only a pawn, one that could now be cleared off the board. As his spider powers came into full manifestation, he attacked with his mercenaries, and forced her to flee. But there was one thing the shaman had kept from Peter: Anansi is a trickster god. He got his spider powers alright, but he also began to develop spider features, becoming a hideous hybrid of man and spider, the Arachnoid. In this form, he could never return to his old life as a privileged playboy with super powers as a bonus. Instead, he experimented on the tribespeople, until he discovered a way to turn humans into obedient arachnid servants. Pursued by the Arachnoid's ever-growing spider army, Naunet faced a harrowing journey through the jungles until at last she reached the sea.
In a major war called the Arachnopocalypse, the Arachnoid's armies invaded Europe. Millions died before the Arachnoid's forces were driven back into the jungles. The Concert of Europe and a hitherto hidden African civilization called Wakanda joined forces to monitor the borders of the Arachnoid's realm. With conventional victory denied him, the Arachnoid continues to seek domination through subtler plots as an evil mastermind.
By the time Naunet returned home, she found that Benjamin Parker had used complex clauses in her employment contract to swindle her out of any further royalties from her inventions, and she found herself penniless. Then she was suddenly abducted, and cast into another world's New York. Due to the chaotic situation, she was able to get a job at a waste-treatment plant, and begin building a
Living Machine bio-remediation system to replace the conventional waste treatment systems that were breaking down and having trouble getting the needed chemical supplies.
Powers:
Mimic: Naunet can change the color and texture of her skin, and to a considerable extent, the size and shape of her body through a combination of natural biological ability and magical enhancement. She can take on the appearance and feel of any being or object roughly within the size range between an adolescent girl and a Spartan soldier in battle armor (Halo), if she has had the chance to observe it. Her ability to mimic a being gets better as she gets more time to see him/her/it in action. She does not gain the material properties and abilities of the entity she is mimicking, unless those properties derive from its physical shape.
For example, if she mimics a soldier in a powered titanium battlesuit, she will look, feel, and sound like a titanium battlesuit, but will not be bulletproof, able to shoot lasers and missiles, etc.. She can cover her skin in small thorns that can penetrate skin, but something like a spike, blade, or horn able to impale someone exceeds her shape-holding ability. She can accurately mimic the look of such a natural weapon, but it would be too yielding to actually function in combat (roughly like a LARP sword).
Naunet can alter her throat to mimic a person's voice even if it is out of her normal vocal range, but this requires time and practice for each new voice. Her mass does not change when she is mimicking a larger or smaller object than her normal size.
Active Camouflage: This is the same power as above, but applied to making herself virtually invisible. Her chromatophores and skin texture alter to blend her seamlessly into the background. She can still be detected by other means such as thermal vision, sonar, superhuman smell, etc, and there is a bit of "movement flicker" that might be noticed if she moves.
Breathe Underwater: Naunet can survive indefinitely in salt water, and for about half an hour in fresh water. After prolonged exposure to freshwater, she needs to immerse herself in salt water or brine.
Tentacles: Her tentacles can stretch up to about 50 feet with enough length left over to wrap around a pole or human torso. They are strong enough to lift and throw ~300 lbs, and are considerably stronger in tension. If she has solid attachment points to hang from above, she can lift, swing, and throw a car. Her tentacles can adhere to nearly any surface, comparable to a Spider Totem's wall-crawling ability. She can control all of her tentacles simultaneously, and use them effectively against multiple opponents.
Tight Spaces: Naunet can squeeze herself through tight spaces, down to the diameter of a large grapefruit; this takes longer the closer the space is to her minimum.
Ink: When threatened, she can generate a noxious, inky cloud that is a skin and eye irritant comparable to a combination of pepper spray, tear gas, and poison ivy in its immediate effects. Humans exposed to the cloud will grow painful boils within a day. Within three days, the boils open to become eyeballs, which flood the victim's mind with views of the world seen in a strange and utterly inhuman way. The eye-boils gradually shrink and go away within about three weeks, but the nightmares may persist... Effects on mutants and non-human beings may vary (player/GM choice). She is immune to its effects.
Acute Vision: Naunet can pick up the minutest details in her environment almost instantly. She can notice small and subtle clues, such as tracks and so on like Sherlock Holmes. However, she does not have an ability to "zoom in" for long-range or microscopic vision. Also, her ability to derive meaning from a clue is limited to her knowledge; she could notice a track, but would need to point it out to a skilled tracker so they could tell her that it was made by a man with a limp who was carrying a heavy weight.
Swimming: In octopoid form, Naunet can match the speed and maneuverability of a dolphin in water.
Damage Resistance: Naunet's vital organs are plural and distributed throughout her body (e.g. each tentacle has a "brain," and her vascular system features multiple blood pumps distributed through her anatomy), so a wound like a gunshot or sword thrust is considerably less harmful to her than to a normal mammal. Her stretchy, resilient skin also offers some ability to resist blunt trauma, and her cartiliginous skeleton will flex rather than break under all but the most extreme stresses. This doesn't mean she can just shrug off a hail of bullets, but chances are good that she'll be able to slink away rather than die.
Regeneration: She can regenerate damaged or lost body parts (except for her head) at a "normal" healing rate, comparable to lizards that can regenerate a lost tail or limb.
Gaze: Looking deeply into Naunet's eyes, it seems as if the color-patterns of her irises shift and change in ways that the human mind can't quite grasp. Its as if they're moving, but you can't quite see them moving, or offering glimpses of colors humans were not meant to perceive, or perhaps they are changing in ways that require more than three dimensions of space and one of time to manifest. Her dark, over-sized pupils seem to draw one in to the infinite blackness, creating the disturbing feeling that one is looking into the Abyss, and the Abyss is looking back.
One may have nightmares of formless, all-consuming darkness, fear of shadows and the dark, and feelings of paranoia or existential angst for some days afterward. If one looks too long, or if Naunet has a few moments of concentration with a captive victim to wield the "active mode" of this ability, the victim is given a direct, immersive perception of the inconceivable vastness and indifference of the Universe, and the utterly infinitesimal insignificance of their own life, even their entire world. Depending on the severity of the effect (in particular, if Naunet is wielding it deliberately) and the strength of the victim's will, the victim may have the psychological symptoms above as a permanent effect, or be reduced to gibbering insanity.
Since she cannot deactivate this ability, she avoids eye contact whenever possible.
Magical Ability: Naunet is capable of sensing the presence of magic, and can wield it if she knows the required spells, sigils, rituals, etc.. Given a moment to concentrate, she can sense the general type of magic (Light, Dark, Eldrich, Astral, Etheric, etc.), though she can get a false reading if the other Sorcerer has methods of concealing or camouflaging the existence and/or nature of their magic. Currently, she does not know any combat magic (such as throwing lightning bolts, fireballs, and the like). To learn such spells, she would either need to find a teacher, or perhaps something like a grimoire or other item that would be exceedingly rare in Earth-784.
Abilities:
Eiditic Memory: Naunet remembers everything she sees.
Genius: Naunet is a brilliant scientist and inventor in the realms of biology and eco-design, and also has a knack for the occult. She is good at maths and geometry, and is especially talented at "strange" areas such as non-Euclidean geometry and higher-dimensional topology.
Swimming: In human form, Naunet can swim with the speed and grace of an athlete.
Skills:
Scientific/Magical: Biology, ecology, chemistry (of a more Alchemical flavor than conventional chemistry), genetic engineering. Note: These all include magical aspects, and are related to conditions on Orth. She can perform some basic bio-alchemical processes such as creating tinctures, spagyrics, and elixirs from biological materials, but she does not yet have the consecrated equipment she needs to perform her type of genetic engineering. She does not yet know how to use conventional (modern) genetic engineering equipment. She also has some re-learning to do before she has comparable mastery of Earth biology and ecology, though there is considerable overlap between the worlds.
Magical: Glamour and minor transfiguration, which she uses to perfect her Mimic ability. She can temporarily transfigure a thing into something similar (e.g. a sheet into embroidered silk, but not into steel armor or a doll, cheap jewelry into expensive jewelry, etc..). The object remains transfigured as long as it is in physical contact with her. Academic knowledge of magical and occult symbolism. She can draw and "charge" sigils to create "wards" that are able to repel ordinary unwanted spirits and arcane energies, though powerful entities such as demons or djinn can break through. She also has "wards" that act as trip-wires set up to warn her if intruders enter her lair. A magically skilled being may be able to detect and bypass these "wards." She can "enchant" an item (make it capable of storing magical energy), and purpose such items for her scientific/magical work. These processes may require expensive and/or difficult to obtain components, and can require specific ritual timing (under the light of a blue Moon, etc.).
Combat:
Wing Chun: Naunet is skilled at using Wing Chun technique to redirect melee attacks away from her body in human or octopoid form. However, due to the nature of her body, punches and kicks are too "squishy" to be very effective, so she rarely employs strikes.
Suai Jao: She is very good at Suai Jao (a Chinese grappling/wrestling art similar to jiujitsu), especially in her octopoid form.
Artistic:
Glass Harmonica and singing: Naunet can play with intermediate skill, though she never performs in public; haunting melodies, accompanied by her equally eerie singing voice can sometimes be heard coming from the hotel at night.
Technical Drawing: She has enough skill with technical drawing to produce designs for her inventions, though these usually come out looking more like they belong in an esoteric grimoire than in a modern corporate drafting room.
Weaknesses:
Arachnophobia: The bigger they are and/or the more numerous, the worse it gets. Spider suits and symbols are disquieting, but if there are realistic-looking spider legs or robot spiders involved, then eek. Spider webbing in an environment (i.e. Spider-Man cobwebs) is also disturbing to her if she does not know its origin (i.e. if she did not see a Spider Totem produce it). Even if she has, its presence will make the environment unpleasant for her to be in.
Need for Moisture: Naunet needs to moisten herself every couple of hours or so depending on humidity. She carries an atomizer of sea water on her person at all times for this purpose. She greatly prefers to do this in private, especially when she is masquerading as a normal human.
Vulnerable to Fire: Naunet takes extra damage from fire and heat-related attacks (molten metal, plasma, etc.).
Dryness, Heat, and Direct Sunlight: Hot, dry air and/or direct sunlight (like a heating system on full blast, or a summer's day in Phoenix, Arizona) forces her to moisturize herself more often, and can impair her dexterity if she dries out too much. Prolonged exposure will interfere with her Mimic abilities, and ultimately become life-threatening.
Must Sleep in Salt Water: Naunet needs to sleep in salt water, either open ocean or a pool or tub large enough to accommodate her body with room to spare and deep enough to submerge in. She can squeeze herself into a 50-gallon barrel of seawater in a pinch, but this leaves her clumsy and a bit punchy the next day, like a normal human who has slept in some uncomfortable situation like an upright car seat or a lumpy old couch.
Physically Weak in Human Form: While in human form, Naunet is not able to take advantage of the natural strength of her tentacles, so she has below-average strength for a young woman of her size.
Alienation: Due to her unearthly psychology, she is not very good at relating to humans. She instinctively seeks the edges of any crowd. In a team, she is almost certainly the worst choice for the role of Inspiring Leader. She tends to radiate a strange vibe that gives people a feeling that Something Isn't Right about her. Spider-Senses and other relevant superhuman forms of perception (such as an ability to detect magic or otherworldliness) are especially acute in this regard, and may be able to offer warning that she's in the area (i.e. in the same house, set of rooms, or grove of trees) even if she cannot be seen directly, depending on how sensitive and/or trained the ability is.
Peculiar Conversational Style: Related to the above, Naunet's speech tends toward the overly multisyllabic, or to odd koans or eerily poetic metaphors. She's not a hit at parties, or anyone's first choice to have a beer with.
Avoids Eye Contact: Due to the effects of her Gaze (see above), Naunet avoids eye contact with others, which further hampers her ability to operate in social situations.
Trust Issues: Naunet has a very hard time trusting other people, or having any confidence that they'll come through for her. She has a very strong feeling that the more "normal" people know about her, the more likely they are to hate and fear her.
Naivete: Despite her high intelligence, Naunet is vulnerable to cunning trickery of the sort con artists and shyster lawyers use. Even when she is suspicious (Trust Issues), that doesn't mean she will be able to sort out the nature of the con or be able to outsmart the con artist at their own game.
Unfamiliarity With Modern Technology: Since Naunet is from a world that runs mostly on Steampunk/Dieselpunk mechanical technologies and magic, she is mostly unfamiliar with the workings of conventional Earth technology. In the month she's been on Earth-784, she's learned how to do basic things like search the internet with a library computer and make phone calls with a phone, but she can't drive a motor vehicle or use digital technologies to the fullest.
Weirdness Magnet: Strange things tend to happen around Naunet. If there is to be a rain of fish or frogs, a manifestation of ectoplasm, the sudden apport of the knucklebone of a Stegosaurus or the like, it will happen when Naunet is present. If there's a local poltergeist, it will choose a time when she is there to say hello. Dimensional portals and magical hotspots are more likely to activate when she draws near. These effects are almost never directly life-threatening or exceptionally beneficial, but can range from highly inconvenient to oddly helpful (if Naunet and/or those with her can figure out how to benefit). Weirdness Magnet effects happen more frequently in areas where magic or other eldrich or paranormal forces are strongest, and are rarer in more "mundane" areas. Naunet has no control over this "ability." Yes, this is an invitation to the GM to make Naunet's life more surreal at will.
Call of Cthulhu: If Naunet can sense a locus of eldrich power related to the Deep Ones or the Strange Aeon from whence they came, she will feel drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The more powerful and/or close it is, the stronger the attraction. Someone who knows this, and has access to such a locus (artifact, portal, grimoire, etc.) can use it to lure Naunet into a trap. Caveat: the more powerful the eldrich locus is, the more likely its energies will not remain under control, and the more likely things will turn out badly for the person using it, if not the whole world.
Equipment:
Lair: Since being brought to this new world, Naunet has taken up residence in an abandoned waterfront hotel built in the late 19th Century. The building is a somewhat dilapidated example of Art Nouveau architecture, and can be beautiful or creepy, depending on how the light is hitting it. The hotel had already gone out of business before the Snap, which took the lives of its owners. Naunet has managed to fill a modest kidney-shaped indoor swimming pool with salt water, and started setting up a laboratory. Her "ownership" of the place is dubious at best, but so far, the city has had bigger fish to fry. She has also removed one of the toilets in an Employee restroom near the kitchen and converted it into a bolt-hole she can squeeze through that leads to the sewers, and thence, to the sea.
Lab: Naunet is currently working to convert the hotel's restaurant kitchen into a laboratory. She has a Bunsen burner, a refrigerator/freezer (already part of the kitchen), and a basic set of lab glass (beakers, retorts, a condenser, test tubes, and a couple glass stirring rods), and a pill press.
Atomizer and Pillbox: She carries an
atomizer of seawater with her at all times, and a silver
pillbox containing compacted "pills" of mineralized sea salt. One pill can mix with an atomizer-full of fresh water to create the seawater she needs to moisturize herself with. She can make the "pills" in her laboratory using local ocean water. The pillbox can hold 24 pills.
Gown and Jewelery: Naunet was abducted with the gown, wrap, and jewelry shown in her picture, including a broach she can use to secure the wrap in various ways (hooded cloak, sari-style, etc.).
