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Revision as of 15:31, 6 December 2022
Clarke's Third Law: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
Character Information
History
Early life and studies
Elaine Williamson was born in Burlington, Vermont, the son of Mirna (b. LeFebvre) and Raymond Williamson, a local restaurateur.
She studied exobiology in college but majored in Applied Meta-Physics at the University of Vermont (U.V.M.), where she received her bachelor's degree in 1992. She received an Sc.D. from Columbia University in 1998, worked as a research assistant for the J.M. Rutherford College of Meta-Physical Sciences for three years, then joined the staff of the Pandora Project as one of their senior research scientists.
The Pandora Project and Enora
As a research scientist for the Pandora Project, Elaine's area of expertise was 'the physics of metaphysical manifestations' (i.e. magic).
When the Project's headquarters was attacked in 2005 during Paragon City's "Power Crash", she was fatally wounded by an explosion in the lab where she was hiding. Bleeding profusely and trying to get to safety, her hand brushed against the spilled content of a yet-to-be-cataloged crate she had just received from M.A.G.I. Then, she heard a voice asking if she wanted to live, to which she answered "yes." "Very well, then," the voice said, and she was transformed into a white-skinned, red-eyed, winged female humanoid. Her wounds were gone, and she was able to escape the burning building thanks to the fire-manipulating powers that humanoid possessed.
At first, Elaine believed that her body had been transformed into another form, but she soon discovered that 'Enora' was the name of a separate entity that had somehow merged with her dying body. Only one of them could exist in the Material Plane at a time. When Enora was in control, Elaine's psyche receded into a fugue-like state where she could exert minimal influence on what Enora did or said while inhabiting her body.
Fennec Enterprises
While the time that each of them spent on the Material Plane was at first more or less equal, as time went by, Elaine had to exert more and more willpower to effect the change. Finally, fearing that Enora might succeed in taking complete control of her body, she sought the help of Kiera Ovelia Devros, a member of Fennec Enterprises.
Fearful of harming her newfound allies after a series of violent outbreaks on Enora's part, Elaine left Paragon City for an undisclosed location. There, she tricked Enora into believing she was committing suicide (going so far as having a recovery team resuscitate her after she was considered clinically dead). Unwilling to be saddled with a corpse, Enora severed her bond with Elaine and left her for dead.
The Return of Enora
After this traumatic experience, Elaine tried to rebuild her life with her new allies: she accompanied the rest of Fennec Enterprises on a few missions and participated in their social activities. But she was soon plagued by nightmares where she was still Enora, bounded and taunted by the succubus' Netherworld rivals.
According to Sahael al-Tanim (an ally of Fennec Enterprises), Enora "has disincorporated from this plane of existence. Demonic energy cannot be destroyed. It can be scattered, it can be banished. But it cannot be destroyed". It means there's a possibility that Enora will return - but it could take centuries.
Personality
Elaine Williamson is a tall (6'0') woman of slender build who looks to be in her mid-30s even if she's in her early 50s. She is reasonably easygoing despite the years of being joined to a demoness.
Elaine is quick-witted but not acerbic and tends to ramble on when the conversation turns to her specialty (metaphysics). Nevertheless, she is willing to give almost everyone the benefit of the doubt - except Enora: she had a rather dim view of the succubus, calling her a "monster" and expressing the opinion that she was "past redemption".
She sees herself as a prude, contrasting with Enora's wanton mores. She prefers practical, mundane clothing but would often "wake up" (i.e. regain control) dressed in whatever extravagant or even indecent attire Enora had chosen.
During the years she was joined to Enora, she developed self-taught expertise in self-hypnosis and relaxation techniques. She tried the 'primal scream' technique once... and burned down the low-rent hotel she was staying at the time. She stuck to meditation after that.
She lists Asimov, Heinlein, Zelazny, Byrne, Waid, and Robinson amongst her favourite authors, and she likes red wine (especially Vermont's "Big Barn" and "Riverbend") and Sam Adams beer.
She learned French during the summers she spent as a teenager at her parents' summer home near Lake Champlain.
Abilities
Her main area of expertise is discovering the physical foundation of magical effects and phenomena; among others, applications would be the interfacing of technological components and magical artifacts. For example, she adapted Oranbegan power crystals to power a Rune Soldier Rifle (with a red crystal) and a Force Field projector (with a green crystal).
Elaine has "inherited" the full extent of Enora's powers and abilities, including flight and fire manipulation, due to the years she was bonded to the succubus. However, she has demonstrated a more significant control over them than Enora, possibly due to Elaine's more rational, less emotional character.
She can channel superheated quasi-plasma from an other-dimensional source. It appears as red-orange "flames" but is, in fact, more heat than fire. She can use those "flames" in various offensive and defensive manners and unconsciously control whom they affect, causing them to target opponents while leaving allies unharmed. She can also use her "flames" to heal herself. In theory, any intense heat source would do as well.
Her body and mind have been altered to accommodate those new abilities: she can sense magical beings or objects with metaphysical properties (for example, protective incantation on books). Moreover, she did not seem to physically age between the incident at the Pandora Project and the day she severed her bond with Enora (possibly as a side-effect of her peculiar relationship with the succubus).
She has little skills in hand-to-hand combat but is a crack shot (1st place in U.V.M.'s Sharpshooting Tournament 3 years running).
Equipment
In the field, she wears a specially-made environmental suit (fire-resistant and acid-resistant and helps regulate the wearer's body temperature) and goggles (which help tone down the glare from her flames). In addition, her suit's belt has pouches that house various tools and equipment she may need during a mission.
Her field uniform and several other outfits are stored within the "Carvalo's Bracelet of Many Things" she wears on her right wrist. It is an artifact using a minor translocation spell to store items (in this case, pieces of clothing). All she needs to change her outfit is to concentrate and touch one of the many charms on the bracelet. Elaine mentioned she acquired this artifact as part of her training.
One of the "perks" of being joined to Enora was that the succubus had to sign over most of her fortune to Elaine to access it herself. After centuries of hoarding valuables, Enora's fortune was considerable. Elaine has bank accounts and "caches" scattered all over Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. This wealth has enabled her to afford a suite at the Republican, one of Paragon City's swankiest hotels ((headcanon)).
While not in uniform, she wears reading glasses.
Lexicon
Main article: Doc Williamson's Lexicon
Dr. Williamson is prone to ramble about some obscure but possibly related study or item during missions ((these are all made-up)):
- Adaptive knowledge
- Aetheric pulse wave
- Baddeley Scale
- Bio-Aetheral Scanner
- Carvalo's Bracelet of Many Things
- Daemonicus Yarva
- Esotericus Yabbanis
- Exo-Metamorphs
- Fantosi's Lecture
- Freeling's theorem
- Herschel's drawings
- Ignis Arcanum
- Kanigher's research on sundered spirits
- Kreskin charts
- Landaumer's Probability Index
- Lansing's database of demon classification
- Local Tale of Mahir El-Sabah, 1572
- Locario's Third (or Fourth, at least) paradigm
- Maclean's hypothesis
- Morgenstein's papers on ectoplasmic entities
- Morlay's paradox
- Polymorphic re-agents and aetheric level meters
- Prague Gestaltz Incident of 1896
- Renfeld's Attunement
- Rotger's Celestial Entreaties
- Transformative possession
- Yarva Demonicus Enora