Withered Vine
- Nature too unkind;
- That made no medicine for a troubled mind!
- —Beaumont and Fletcher, Philaster, or Love Lies a-Bleeding (Act III, scene 1) (c. 1609)
Withered Vine is my primary Praetorian Loyalist character on the Homecoming servers. While she started out self-serving, thanks to her origin story and the early arcs in Praetoria, she had a change of heart and became a more heroic figure. That said, she doesn't feel heroic as that is an aspect of her lost humanity....
Thorny Assault
Personality
Before her transformation, Paige was a happy young woman, eager to volunteer if it helped Cole's regime thrive. After the transformation, she felt somewhat betrayed, and would look out for herself-helping the regime, because of what it had given her, but looking more to make herself famous and wealthy in the process. It wasn't until a pivotal decision to save members of the Powers Division who were under her command that she snapped out of this, and began seeing the people of Praetoria as worth saving again.
Despite this, however, she is very aware that she's no longer human, and feels that something was lost. She tends to prefer the expedient methods of dealing with opposition; accordingly, she was initially confused as to the "proper" way of handling things in Paragon City. She's trying to relearn morality again, and hoping that maybe she can rediscover her humanity.
Perhaps this is why she continues to use the name "Withered Vine", as she feels her humanity bloomed once, and withered away for good. Time will tell if she's correct.
Powers
Thanks to the experiments done on her, Withered Vine isn't fully human anymore-but that is possibly "compensated" by the abilities those experiments have given her.
Plant Control
Withered Vine has control over the plant life in her immediate vicinity. Nature is stronger than one might suppose-she can bring about roots from the ground to entangle and strangle her enemies. From herself, she can generate pollens that can confuse and befuddle. She can even generate small trees whose spores promote rapid healing.
Thorny Assault
Also from her body, Withered Vine can extrude thorns of substantial size. These thorns can be launched from her body to harm her enemies with plant-based toxins.
Additional Powers
Withered Vine has additional abilities that have accompanied her changes.
Speed
The serum that gave Withered Vine her powers also changed her body, so it's not entirely human anymore. It is, in fact, partially plant fiber. This means that some of the limitations of the human body are alleviated: she can move her muscles faster than an ordinary human, allowing her to outrace vehicles on the ground.
Weaknesses and Limitations
Withered Vine is no longer completely human. She's partially plant herself, and is unusually vulnerable to defoliants and the like.
Character History
Paige Samuels was a loyal citizen of Praetoria-she grew up there, knew that Emperor Cole helped keep what was left of humanity alive, and wanted to do anything she could to help. She didn't show the best judgment: she volunteered for an experiment to see the effects of a substance known as the "Essence of Earth", something associated with the Hamidon, upon the human body. In return, her family would be moved to far better living quarters and financially set up for life.
The experiment...went poorly. Paige was physically transformed into a part-human, part-plant hybrid. She was imbued with a portion of power, channeled directly to the mystical spirit of the Earth. Fortunately, she wasn't transformed into Praetoria's equivalent of the Devouring Earth, but the shock to her system was profound-it put her into a two year coma.
The greater effect was shown on her mind after she got out of the coma. Still, despite her feelings that she was owed a lot more for giving up her humanity, she was willing to serve in the Powers Division. She was only marginally interested in helping people at this point, and felt that she was broken. She took up the name "Withered Vine", and was out for herself, until she was put in command of a situation where people were going to die if she continued on her path-people who had trusted her.
This reawakened her humanity-at least emotionally-and she became more of a hero to the people of Praetoria, becoming in truth what she had been relying on good press to imply before. Eventually, she was sent to Primal Earth to try to find a way to avert a coming war between that world and Praetoria-even though Emperor Cole felt it was inevitable. Now, she shows the people of Primal Earth that her world is more than a simple "mirror universe".
Withered Vine suspects that somewhere on this Earth, she has a counterpart. This was confused by her running into two other doppelgangers, neither of whom were native to Primal Earth. She is both interested in and dreads a meeting with her true counterpart here-for it will bring her face to face with someone who is still fully human.
Affiliations
|
Organizations
|
Friends
|
Opponents
|