Doc Williamson
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 Metaphysics 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, and then joined the staff of the Pandora Project as one of their senior research scientists.
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 escaped the burning building thanks to humanoid's fire-manipulating powers.
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.
Grace Acacemy
Because her 'relationship' with Enora resulted in frequent absences, Elaine left the Project and eventually found work as a teacher at Grace Academy, where she teaches classes on Artifacts and Meta-Physical Materials.
Elaine and Enora co-existed for over a decade until the school was attacked by combined forces of Crey and Arachnos, resulting in her being subjected to an artifact called "the Ascalon," which removed her connection to Enora.
After this traumatic experience, Elaine spent some time recuperating at the farm her sister and her husband owned, before returning to the school.
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, which contrasts with Enora's wanton mores. She prefers practical, mundane clothing but would often "wake up" (i.e., regain control) dressed in whatever extravagant or 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 among her favorite authors. She also 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; one application is 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).
Due to the years she was bonded to the succubus, Elaine had "inherited" the full extent of Enora's powers and abilities, including flight and fire manipulation. However, those abilities were lost due to the Ascalon.
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
After her connection to Enora was severed, she equipped herself with a force field generator and a modified Rune Soldier Beam Rifle, both powered by Oranbegan crystals.
She wears a specially-made environmental suit (fire-resistant and acid-resistant) and goggles in the field. 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. Even without access to her powers, Elaine still has access to several bank accounts and "caches" scattered throughout 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.
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