Coral Snake
Yvonne Orphis
Yvonne Orphis’ grandparents Reginald and Sophia Orphis brought the infant girl home from the psychiatric hospital where she was born. Her mother, Regina Orphis, was committed even before anyone learned she was pregnant. Regina left home during her senior year in high school, turning up months later in the hands of the Emerald City authorities, alternating between periods of catatonia and violent behavior, clearly the victim of some terrible trauma.
The Orphises did their best to raise and care for their granddaughter. As the family owned the successful Orphis Imports shipping business, Yvonne’s material needs were more than covered, but her childhood was always shadowed by the specter of what happened to her mother, which was never spoken of at home. Yvonne grew up bright and imaginative, but also lonely and sometimes cruel towards would-be playmates or her grandparents’ domestic staff. She tried to put the past aside, but her attempts to be a part of polite society were dogged by whispers and gossip. Worse still, as a teen Yvonne developed severe eczema, her skin condition further limiting her social circle.
When Yvonne was 17, about the age her mother was when she left home, she arranged to go and see her mother without her grandparents knowledge. During the visit, Regina raved about dark chambers, robed figures, profane rites, and snakes... serpents that walked like men, and their cold, dead eyes. When she realized who Yvonne was, she attacked her own daughter in a rage, trying to strangle her. It took three orderlies to drag her away. Later, Yvonne examined where her mother had clawed at her arm, and saw brightly colored scales through the tears in the skin!
Yvonne’s grandfather was furious at what she had done. They argued in Mr. Orphis’ private study and something snapped in Yvonne as she huddled and scratched at her dry, flaking skin. She lunged at Reginald Orphis and bit him! He stood in shock, looking at the two small puncture wounds on his arm, as pale whiteness spread out from them across his whole body. In moments, he was transformed into an immobile statue of stone, face frozen in horror. Sophia Orphis chose that moment to enter the study to see what was wrong. She was committed the next day to the same hospital as her daughter.
Although a cloud hung over Yvonne, no case could be proven against her. On her eighteenth birthday, she inherited controlling share in Orphis Imports, which she promptly sold before the board had the opportunity to force her out. She needed the money to fuel her search for answers to the mysteries in her life. So she spent years traveling, collecting arcane lore, and learning about the legends of the Serpent People, their ancient civilization, and their rise and fall. In particular, she learned of the sunken ruins of Lost Lemuria and of certain prophecies concerning an Ophidian messianic figure who would arise and unite the scattered children of the Great Serpent Empire.
Eventually, the money began running out. So Yvonne was forced to use what she knew of shipping and her grandfather’s old company to get in touch with the infamous salvage operator Lianna Macklin. They hatched the idea of the Trident to fund the search for intact ruins of Lemuria and an eventual expedition. There, Yvonne—or “Coral Snake” as she is known to her confederates—expects to uncover her past and her destiny.
Physical Description
Special abilities
Coral Snake can transform, with a shredding of her outer layers of skin, from a human-looking woman to a snakelike humanoid with brightly banded red, yellow, white, and black scales. In her ophidian form, Coral Snake is stronger, tougher, and faster than a human, and amphibious, capable of breathing underwater and swimming at fair speed (aided by her lashing tail).
Her snake-shape is equipped with sharp fangs and her bite carries a potent mystic venom capable of petrifying her victims. Coral Snake has even learned how to inject herself with small quantities of her venom, transforming into a stone-like material, but retaining most of her mobility, further enhancing her strength and resistance to injury.
A long-time student of the occult, Coral Snake has learned to work some magical rituals in the style of the Serpent People, although she seeks even greater mystic power. Should she ever become a full-fledged sorceress, she would be truly formidable.
Mental characteristics
Intellectual Characteristics
Coral Snake is as cold-blooded as her namesake, a sociopath obsessed with her own ascension. She now sees the unfortunate circumstances of her birth as signs of a great destiny, and the taint of her heritage as the potential for greatness. She’s capable of considerable deviousness, and manipulates others to further her goals, caring nothing about their fates. She tends to behave like the exiled royalty she believes herself to be, forced amongst commoners and scum until she achieves her rightful due.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Coral Snake’s partners in the Trident are merely useful tools to her. She has a grudging respect for Trawler, but won’t hesitate to eliminate her. She’s somewhat jealous of Steelhead's obvious attraction to Lianna and the way Trawler flirts back, although she would never admit it.
Having kept a low profile, Coral Snake has few (living) enemies, save perhaps for some she has robbed of their arcane lore or artifacts. She still hates her human family, and takes a certain delight in targeting Orphis Imports, which may prove her undoing.
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