Sea Wasp
- But more wonderful than the lore of old men and the lore of books is the secret lore of ocean.
- —H. P. Lovecraft, The White Ship (1919)
Sea Wasp is came about because, during the introduction of the Bleak Harbinger event (before it became a Rampage), I'd gotten an ancient Lemurian helmet and looted a Lemurian tank, and wanted a character that would make sense with both. Sea Wasp doesn't precisely make sense with both, without a supporting backstory to do it-but this should do it.
Personality
Sea Wasp has a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. As a half-breed, she's always been somewhat looked down upon-even by those in her colony-and it got worse in Atlantis proper. As a result, she tends to be pretty defensive, taking perceived insults poorly. She's canny enough to know, though, when someone is trying to get a reaction out of her, and can act in the proper context. It's the people who truly believe what they're saying to her that tends to set her off.
That said, the surface world-while still seething with its assorted levels of intolerance-is still loads better than Atlantis, in her eyes. Here, she's "exotic", and the people respond more to her actions than her heritage. (Some might say she's gotten lucky so far.) This has had the side-effect of instilling within her a powerful loyalty to the Landers; she's half-human as much as half-Atlantean, and they are well worth fighting for. Villains into mass destruction for its own sake will find her an implacable foe.
Despite how she was treated as a half-breed, though, she still gets homesick on occasion. She hasn't returned to Atlantis or her home colony since coming to the surface, but still thinks often of returning-at least to let her mother know that she's all right, and to tell her that her father has prospered; Leirien knows that her mother still misses him, even as he still misses her.
Powers
As a half-Atlantean, Leirien can breathe comfortably in water as well as in air. Her body is adapted to the pressures of the deep oceans, and she can see in lightless depths as easily as broad daylight.
Abilities
Leirien is a skilled hand fighter with fighting claws. She is a fair pilot with Lemurian tanks, as well.
She is also fair at sculpture-something she was encouraged to learn and practice in an attempt to get her to "fit in" with Atlantean society. She much prefers, though, to tinker with vehicles. She had retooled and repurposed a Lemurian Tsunami tank in the past, and finds that tinkering with the various motor vehicles on the surface to be relaxing. She's especially happy to work on the really hi-tech vehicles; some of the Landers who know her like to call her a grease-monkey as a result. (They had to explain to her that this wasn't really an insult the first time, though.)
Weaknesses and Limitations
As a half-breed Atlantean, Leirien must immerse herself in water daily or she begins to dehydrate dramatically. This will weaken her to a debilitating state; it's uncertain if she could die from it, as she is not a full Atlantean, but nobody wants to take chances on experimenting. See below for one of her ways of dealing with that.
Equipment
Leirien has access to a captured Lemurian Tsunami tank; she had assisted in capturing it during a skirmish with a Lemurian renegade, and had spent a great deal of time retooling the machine so that an Atlantean could operate it. It was deemed best that she continue to be the sole operator of the tank-in part because her half-blood heritage might be the reason the anti-intrusion defense systems in the tank don't react to her; it is believed that a full-blooded Atlantean would be recognized by the internal defenses and...be dealt with.
Leirien fights with a pair of fighting claws; the close-quarters fighting encouraged by their use is more suitable than many other melee sort of weapons in a watery environment. Leirien will often use with these claws a neurotoxin that can be injected by the claws; while some heroes have problems with the idea of using poisons, she feels that if it's good enough for blowfish and jellyfish, it's good enough for her-but she does at least make sure that the poisons injected are not lethal doses. They just hurt. A lot.
On the surface-especially if she is out "doing the hero thing", Leirien wears a lightweight armored suit made from Atlantean alloys which keeps her immersed in water. The design recycles the water and re-oxygenates it so that she can breathe normally and not worry about dehydration or suffocation. Breaking the helmet does not cause her to start suffocating-although it might disorient her for a moment as her body shifts from extracting oxygen from water to extracting it from the air.
Leirien possesses a magic ring which can transform her body into water to travel faster than she can run-by directing the water to its destination. The ring has no power beyond that, and was a gift from her mother when Leirien declared her intent to spend time with her father's people.
Thanks to her father, she has access to a tropical cavern base which is humid enough-and has water enough-for her to rest and recuperate within. Access through it to the oceans was the biggest selling point, though.
Character History
Once upon a time, a barbarian woman with the bloodline of Atlantis fell in love with a Lander who had been lost at sea. They had both found each other exotic, and she did, in truth, save his life. The two were forced to part, however-he could not long live in her world, and she could not long live in his. What they didn't realize at the time, however, was that their love's consummation had an unexpected result, for months later, she would give birth to a child that she named Leirien.
The barbarian-and it must be noted that she could only be considered a barbarian by Atlantean standards-returned to her home, and became an advocate for signing a formal treaty with Atlantis. After all, she argued, was their heritage not that of Atlantis as well? The tribe's elders, after a number of passionate arguments, agreed-and after a number of more passionate debates, signed such a treaty, their home becoming a colony of Atlantis itself. It must be noted that the proximity of the colony to Lemuria likely influenced Queen Mara's decision to accept the barbarian overtures-it was considered helpful to have eyes near such dangerous neighbors.
That proximity-and the recognition of the colony-led to some clashes between it and Lemurian renegades. So the young people of the colony formed a militia to take the fight to the attackers. By this time, Leirien had grown into a young woman, and despite her mother's best efforts to convince her otherwise, she chose to join the militia. She served with some distinction, showing a knack for dealing with exotic mechanics-and a better knack for close-in fighting. Leirien's mother bowed to the inevitable-that her daughter could be a champion of her people despite her half-blooded nature. So she arranged for Leirien to be trained by warmasters in Atlantis proper.
Leirien found that she didn't like it much in Atlantis. Saying that she felt unwelcome was roughly like saying the ocean was wet. Despite this, she became skilled in close combat, preferring to use fighting claws tipped with venoms. After dealing with one too many insults to her bloodline, though, she decided that maybe it was time to see if the people from the other half of her heritage were any better than the Atlanteans. They could hardly be worse, she figured.
So it was that Leirien came to America, where her father had lived, and found that he had since gone to Millennium City to work for a tech firm that did work for a private military contractor. Her father was, understandably, shocked to see her-but accepted her immediately. After long talks with her, he urged her to use her skills to help the people of city-and the world. Leirien took the name "Sea Wasp" and registered with the local authorities-and has found that the surface world can be very accepting of those it considers heroes.
Affiliations
Leirien is a member of a small militia of an Atlantean colony, not far from Lemuria. This has brought her into contact with the transformed Lemurians, which harry the borders of the colony.
Nemeses
None At Present
Real Name: Unknown
Powers/Abilities: Unknown
Henchmen: Unknown
Details: Unknown
Current Status: Unknown