Dragoness
(ALL Art contained within this post is by the very talented Yivie Schroder (aka Sashamya on Deviantart, I DID NOT DRAW THIS)
JLU Profiles -
Real Name - Siska Hosskar of Thrai
Species - Genetically Altered Draconian
Home-world - Draconian Colony of Thrai (Milky Way Galaxy, Green Lantern Sector 2821 , Aprox. 2100 Light-years from Earth)
Allegiance- The Justice League, The Draconic Colonial Matriarchy.
Status - Probationary Member; Justice League Unlimited. Inter-galactic Refugee
Eyes: Varies (Default Yellow w/ Reptilian Slit)
Hair : Varies (Default Brunett)
Scales: Varies (Default Human Caucasian Coloring w/ Deep Magenta Leggings and Arms. Yellow Scaled Underbelly)
Ht. 5’ 8”, (8’ 10” with Wing’s Flared)
Wt. Varies (Average around 400lb.)
Wingspan - 8’ 10” (Tip to Tip)
Quirks - Eyes become bio-luminescent when stressed. Enjoys varied fashion styles.
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JLU Official Profile Interview - Conducted by J’onn Jonzz (Martian Manhunter)
*The Image on the screen begins Playback, showing a stationary full body image of Dragoness leaning back in a chair on the Watchtower. Martian Manhunter remains off-screen throughout the interview*
“Is this really necessary, J’onn?” “I’m afraid so, Dragoness. Just as a formality. Although there are a few exceptions, most members of the League have a recorded interview put on file before their acceptance.” “A little redundant if you ask me, but if I must.” *runs her claws though her hair* “How do I look?” “Lovely as ever. Now then, let us get the basics out of the way. Remember that you may only answer what you feel comfortable with us knowing. To start, Would you state your name and species. If you prefer just to give your Code-Name…” “Nah, it’s not like I can hide what I am, Gotta say I feel like I’m being set up for a dating video here. Should I go get changed? I got this dress just for formal…annnddd you are already recording aren’t you., Right. “ *looks towards the camera* “Okay, Hi there. My name is Siska Hosskar, also refered to as Dragoness and I am a member of the Draconian Colonial Matriarchy. Home is about, oohhhhhHHhh, 20,000 Lightyears ‘that-a-way’ *points in a random direction*. Little out of the way colony called Thrai.” “How long have you been on Earth and what brought you here?” “You already know about….oh wait, this is for the record. Sorry. Right. Ummm, Not that long, really. it’s been about a planetary orbital rotation. Just under a Year, I guess, using the local calendar. Just enough time to get a feel for the local scene and appreciate the culture. And as for how I got here, I kinda…well… Umm, WHO exactly will be watching this?” “It’s recorded for posterity and future review by the Founders. It is meant to give them a voice and idea of the personality that cannot be related though figures and written statements.” “Okay… it’s a bit embarrassing to admit. But I guess the best term for it was ‘Stow-Away’. I managed to get myself onto one of the ships leaving back for Earth After the Justice League ’visited’ my people’s Home-World of Dracoria. Now, My people have some pretty good space-travel technology, but nothing that could have come out this far from home. Sorry for that, but I figured it was my best chance to get away from the aftermath of the War.” “You’re referring to the Civil War between your people’s home-world and it’s extra-solar colonies?” “Trust me, there is nothing ‘civil’ about it. Now adays, we call it the Gene-War. It’s been going on for over two generations and even with our species faced with the possibility of extinction, neither side would consider more than a temporary truce. When I told Flash about it, he likened it to Earth’s History, the Revolutionary War of America I think. Same concept, The Colonies wanted more autonomy from Dracoria’s Queens and the right to practice our self-improvement without their interference. You see, the areas of space we had explored were mostly uninhabited, harsh environment planets. In order to cope, colonists turned to self-improvement to survive and eventually thrive. When the Queens on Draconia discovered the extent of the changes, they were outraged, saying that we had crossed the line and disgraced the heritage of our people. Everything else just escalated from that.
Unfortunately, conflicts between my species don’t run the same course as the wars in Human History. “How so?” “Well, for starters: my people evolved to have a very low-birthrate augmented by our gender dynamics. Only one female draconian is hatched out of every thousand eggs. Our rarity and level heads tend to make us the Governing Class, while Males have a drive to compete for female attentions, an aggression that lends itself easily to war. But even IN war, killing an opponent outright was considered insulting and unnecessary. You can’t gloat over a corpse, and males live to rub each other‘s snouts in their defeat.
And we have a low-birth rate because Draconians live A LOT longer than humans do. Most humans are shocked when I tell them I’m over Sixty by the way they count time, but to my people, I’m barely an adult. A Queen can live for more than a thousand human years, and even having two centuries on your scales by Earth’s Counting is considered being at the beginning of life.”“How does that account for the Gene-War?” “A ‘small’ skirmish for the Draconians can last more than twenty years. Males having to throw themselves at one another in the need to prove each other superior, but rarely fighting to the Death. And when it’s the same warriors fighting one another time and time again, Things get…Personal.
Both sides were already strapped for resources after pushing back and forth for centuries. Our Exploration of the stars was abandoned in favor of beating back the Home-World. They had greater numbers, better military commanders, and a self-righteous streak as long as a galactic arm, but the Colonial Matriarchy had off world resources and a willingness to accept more and more extreme levels of Self-Improvement. We were in a Complete Stalemate and have been since the time that humans were first sailing across their oceans if I have their calendar figured out right. “By self-improvement, you are referring to Genetic Engineering.” “Yeah. That seems to be a touchy issue here as well. So first off, YES I am genetically Engineered. Pretty heavily, actually, even for my species. I can…” “We don’t have to discuss your abilities in this record, Siska.”
“Oh, well Alright. Anyways, to say my people are stubborn would be an HUGE understatement. Even when our outermost colonies started going dark, the Colonial Queens refused to believe it could be any threat outside of Dracoria. We had been at war so long, that they couldn’t conceive that there was actually something worse. I was…wow, only Thirty when I first started to hear about it in the Bunker on Thrai. I don’t think we even sent anybody to investigate it. We just KNEW what had happened. Or thought we knew anyways.
There were fears that the Dracoria Queens had gone mad and begun an all out push, trying to box us in. That‘s what we were always told to expect, a final, desperate act before we broke the lines and ended the conflict once and for all. I was little more than a hatchling, I didn‘t know any better. Nobody considered to ask why the outposts and colonies FURTHEST away from Dracoria were the ones targeted. Nobody thought to go to those world in the course of thirty years and investigate first hand what happened.
And by the time that both sides realized the danger did not come from each other, it was too late.” “Brainiac?” *nods* “We had no idea what we were up against. I guess those early disappearances were part of a study because things got quiet for a couple of decades after that. After a time, out leaders lowered their guard and forgot about the colony disappearances except as propaganda, adding fuel to the fire in blaming the Dracoria Queens. I later found out that the Dracoria Queens claimed the colonies went overboard on the their genetics programs and the result was some abomination that destroyed the outer colonies completely.
Everybody was so sure of what the threat was, that we never saw it coming.
When The Brainiac came in force, we were completely unprepared. The ships and drones of the Artificial Intelligence were far beyond our experience. Thrai was lucky, we had enough warning to evacuate and run with our tails between our legs back to Dracoria.
I guess for me, that was when it sunk in, you know. I had spent my entire life learning to hate our home world and that it was to blame for our problems. Getting myself heavily augmented because, as a young female, I was a prime target for the enemy. There were rumors of females captured and forced into… ‘compromising’ situations…. for the betterment of the enemy. Pure fiction of course, but I didn’t learn that until later. Their leaders had been saying the same thing about us.
We had spent SO much time fighting one another, and for what? Now every defense that had been built up was being blown aside, our veteran soldiers and warriors, both pure-scaled and colonist were slaughtered. Our people were thrown into a last stand when we learned there was no ultimatum and no desire on the invader’s part for a surrender.
We were completely disposable. Meaningless to it. It wanted information on our culture, our Bio-technology, Records, and everything else we knew….” “And when he was done, Brainiac intended to destroy your civilization, home-world, and colonies.”
“Something he made no secret of. He had our communications at his whim and droned on over and over again. And then…” *trails off* “The Justice League.* ” (* -See note attached below interview) “It was like a miracle…. I mean, We knew there were other species beyond ours. It was common knowledge. The Colonies had a basic first contact with our neighbors and respected their boarders. We even traded some technology with the Kassarians. Nothing major, but that was how we developed the Language Filter my people use now. But they stayed out of our war and away from our systems and we paid them no mind. In turn, they didn’t see any reason to cross those boarders when we were threatened. Or perhaps they had already been destroyed… I don’t know. I don’t think I ‘want’ to know.
But you…. No questions asked, no desire for compensation, no stake in our survival at all. But you helped us. It would have been easier to have attacked the Brainiac after he had finished with us and you didn’t have to concern yourself with our people. But you drove right in … fought so hard.” *Dragoness looks down, obviously slightly overwhelmed at the recollection and takes a moment to collect herself.* “You stopped it where we could barely fight back. For all of our bio-technology. For all of our natural strength and resilience, for our strongest genetic advancements. You saved us… ‘He’ saved us. I was there, in the crowd at the Crystal Palace when he met our leaders, both the Colonial and Dracoria Queens. They practically offered him the planet.
And he refused… told them that the only thing they had to do in return was make sure it wasn’t in vain. To end the fighting and rebuild.
As he flew off, I realized that I had all of the best things that my people could have given me. Advanced, unstable Genetic Adaptation, Top-Tier strength augmentations, everything. And what had I done with it? I had waited for a war to come to me from the safety of bunkers built to protect me because one day I would be able to ‘perpetuate’ the species.
That was when I realized I couldn’t stay still and do nothing anymore.
That I had to follow him.” “Superman tends to have that effect on people.” *laughs slightly* “So I’ve learned. Although, now that I look back on it, I must have seemed pretty silly. Sneaking onto Your Javelin and trying to hide in the cargo hold. You made a scene when you found me after we arrived here at the Watchtower. But you knew I was there the whole time, didn’t you?” “Yes.” “And you let me come along anyways.” “Yes.” “Why?” *several moments of hesitation* “Because everyone deserves the chance to choose their own path. Just one last question, Dragoness: Do you ever regret leaving?” “Completely cut off from my home, Thousands of light-years from the nearest member of my race, stranded in an insanely complicated and sometimes primitive alien culture that has almost nothing in common with my own. And following in the footsteps of an organization that throws itself into harms way on a near daily basis for the protection of a not-always appreciative people for no reason except that it’s the right thing to do.” *Dragoness leans back in her seat, looking out the window in which Earth can be seen far below for a moment before turning back to the camera* “Do I regret it? Not on your life.” *End Interview Record* (* J’onn’s Note - The Justice League responded to a Distress Call intended for Green Lantern (John Steward) from his fellow Lantern, Urra Kall of Sector 2821, which included Dracoria and it’s colonies. Although the League was too late to rescue Green Lantern Kall, it managed to track the Brainiac Collector Ship to Dracoria itself and destroyed it before it could complete it’s ‘Acquisition’ of Draconian Culture) ------------------------------------------
Appearance -
Draconians are an Amino-Peptide / Carbon-Based Life form, and while Siska’s heritage is clearly reptilian , Draconians have been discovered to be naturally warm blooded.
However, this is where the similarities between Homo-Sapiens and Draconis-Sapiens ends. In her current ‘default’ appearance, Siska is actually not a good representation of her species, having adapted her body to have far more humanoid features in order to more easily interact with the human race and members of the Justice League. These attributes Including her brown hair (natural Draconians have no body hair), flattening her snout to a human-esque face, alteration of her ‘upper-body’ to more closely reflect female humans, and a change in coloration for large portions of her torso away from it’s natural magenta to more human tones.
While Draconians have no taboo against Modesty and Dragoness would have no issue entering melee in her scales alone, Siska has taken a liking to human fashions and unlike most members of the Justice League, is eager to change up her outfit with different styles and colors rather than sticking with a single uniform or costume. (Is this symbolic of her constantly shifting abilities, who knows?)
Also, given the nature of her abilities, Siska’s superficial appearance can change in a matter of moments when she alters her genetic structure, although only the most extreme changes alter her basic design.
Character Sheet: (Mutants & Masterminds 2e)
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Player : NoLifeQueen Universe: DCAU- We Could Be Heroes
Power Level: 10; Power Points Spent: 150/150
STR: +7 (10/25),
DEX: +0 (10),
CON: +0 (10),
INT: +1 (12),
WIS: +0 (10),
CHA: +1 (12)
Tough: +10, Fort: +10, Ref: +5, Will: +5Skills: Diplomacy 4 (
+5), Knowledge (life sciences) 9 (
+10), Notice 5 (
+5), Sense Motive 6 (
+6)
Feats: Aggressive Counter, Ambidexterity, Attack Focus (melee) 7, Damaging Escape, Diehard, Fearless, Improved Grapple, Improved Sunder, Interpose, Iron Stomach, Last Stand, Power Attack, Takedown Attack 2, Ultimate Effort (Strength Check), Withstand Damage
Powers:Dragon Scales (Protection 10) (+10 Toughness; Impervious [5 ranks only]; Noticeable (Fine, but visible scales))
Dragon-Claws (Strike 3) (DC 25; Mighty, Split Attack 2 (3 targets))
Flight 4 (Speed: 100 mph, 880 ft./rnd; Power Loss (Wings are Bound or injured), Reduced Load (Medium Load))
Gene-Enhancement (Enhanced Strength 15) (+15 STR)
Gene-Tech Evolution (Adaptation 5) (Distracting, Noticeable)
Grants 25pp distribution power-sets for adaptation.
Requires full round to alter her genetic sequence in the proper fashion.
Drawback- Distracting (has to focus in order to properly attune, losing her dodge bonus)
Drawback- Noticeable (Altering her gene-sequence always shows on the outside. Sometimes practical reasons (Bio-thermal sacs forming under scales to ward off extreme cold, causing them to glow, gills forming on her jawline to breath underwater, ect.) And sometimes completely random side-effects from messing with her genetic stability (Scales/hair/eyes change color, growth of unneeded spines, horns, or fins, ) )
Language Filter (Comprehend 2) (languages - understand all, languages - you're understood)
Long-Lived (Immunity 1) (aging)
Tail (Additional Limbs 1) (1 extra limb; +1 to Grapple when not using Imp. Grapple, Feats: Improved Grapple)
Tightly Packed Muscle (Super-Strength 7) (+35 STR carry capacity, heavy load: 51.2 tons; +7 STR to some checks)
Attack Bonus: +3 (Ranged: +3, Melee: +10, Grapple: +17/+24)
Attacks: Dragon-Claws (Strike 3), +10 (DC 25), Unarmed Attack, +10 (DC 22)
Defense: +5 (Flat-footed: +3), Knockback: -7
Initiative: +0Complications : Cultural Alien - Siska has had a year to learn about the culture and history of earth, but there is still a great deal of subtle nuances and even larger chunks of humanity that she doesn't understand. Due to the complexity of human society and the fundamental difference between Classic Draconian and Human mindsets.
Om-nom-nom - Siska has quite an appetite and loves to try new things. She enjoys Earth's myriad of cuisine and can sometimes become overzealous when she finds something new, which can be distracting and quite costly.
Amazonian mentality-Like the Amazons of Themiscara, Draconian females tend to be considered 'dominant' in their society. Although Siska is certainly far more open minded than most of her species, in spite of her best efforts to over come it, this can rear it's head from time to time when dealing with human males that she is not familiar with and she has trouble accepting the automatically assumed authority often taken for granted in human culture, showing far more respect for those that earn it (Such as the Justice League Founders and those she has worked with)
Drawbacks:
Power Loss (All Powers), common, minor, Extreme Metabolism - One of the reasons that such high levels of Genetic Engineering is limited to VIP’s of the Colonial Matriarchy, such as young females, is because of the demand on the draconian body to maintain it. The cellular regeneration and alteration processes consume large amounts of salts, proteins, and carbohydrates on a scale that is impossible to maintain on a large distribution.
In short, Dragoness can eat as much as double her weight in food in a day and could easily keep pace with famed appetite of the Scarlett Speedster.
((OOC: I should NOT be imagining an eating contest between those two…and yet I am.))
If she is unable to maintain this hightened level of nutrition by whatever means, she risks exhaustion and her body reflexively shuts down her abilities, making her incredibly lethargic and hampering her genetic alterations.
Vulnerable, uncommon, major, Mutenagenic Radiations - While She can usually shrug off various forms of infection, toxin, and radiation poisoning. Certain types of radiation that degrade the basic building blocks of cells can play havok with Dragoness unstable structure, making them a far more dangerous hazard to her than to other unmodified life-forms. The GM can state when a particular brand of radiation is impossible for Dragoness to adapt immunity to.
Languages: Draconic
Totals: Abilities 4 + Skills 6 (24 ranks) + Feats 21 + Powers 88 + Combat 16 + Saves 20 - Drawbacks 5 = 150
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Justice League Power Assessment: Dragoness Skills -
Knowledge: Life Sciences : - While the Draconian Colonies had little in the way of an organized education system, Siska’s people have a natural grasp for life science and bio-technology that is quite different from Earth’s reliance on metals and chemicals. From Organically grown modified starships to a knack for genetic manipulation that nearly rivals Mars at the height of it‘s glory. While she was not a member of their scientific castes, Siska’s offhand knowledge of genetics easily rivals that of a human doctorate of the same subject. This however, does not translate into medical knowledge due to the differences between Earth Based and Dracoria based life forms.
Feats -
Ambidexterity : Siska has a natural ability to co-ordinate both of her claws and her tail with no trouble, which also allows her to sweep out in attack at three separate targets at once in melee (Both claws and her tail)
Iron-Stomach : Due to her heightened metabolism, Dragoness cannot always afford to be picky with what she eats (See Drawbacks above) So, in order to ease her difficulties should she find herself with ‘less than plentiful’ amounts of food, her digestive system is incredibly robust, able to garner the needed nutrients from edibles that would be otherwise intolerable by most life forms.
Powers:
Long Lived - Draconians have a much longer life-span than humans, with Queens (The ruling, all female caste of Draconian society) being more than a thousand earth years old. Males tend to live between six and eight hundred years. This makes Draconian Society stable as this longevity is balanced with a very low birth-rate.
Tail - All Draconians have a fully functional, prehensile tail. However the tail ending tends to vary from to simple clubs to spiked balls to spines to rattles. Siska’s particular tail-ending is a ‘switch-claw’ style which is capable of closing to a blunt edge for storage or snapping open to expose sharpened internal blades. This appears to be something she has little ability to manipulate as the tail ending is solid, hardened bone and would have to be completely shed and removed before a new one could be grown.
Dragon Scales: Draconians are almost completely covered in scales. Although quite small, these colored, interlocking scales are a near perfect biological armor. At any close distance, these scales are easily noticeable.
Dragon Claws: Like all Draconians, Siska has the ability to perfectly co-ordinate her tail and claws to lash out with vicious accuracy. Although unlike much of her race, Siska can put a great deal more force behind her strikes.
Flight : One well crafted bit of draconic evolution is the development of Siska’s retractable wings. Able to compact and tuck her wings under a thin-hood of scales along the length of her back, Dragoness can unfurl the nearly eight foot long wingspan in a matter of seconds are not just for show, but are fully functional With her immense strength evenly proportioned in her wing and shoulder-blade muscles, Siska can not only defy expectations and lift her densely muscled body off the ground, but she can obtain speeds upward of a hundred miles an hour in sustained horizontal flight. However, due to the weight of her densely packed muscle, she is unable to lift more than a ‘Medium’ Load into the air at a time and even this strains her wings as she fights to keep herself and her ‘cargo‘ aloft. She is unable to fly at all if her wings are retracted, bound, or in any way hampered.
Language Filter : One of a very few non-draconian technologies traded between the Colonial Matriarchy and a neighboring species known as the Kassarians (Possibly destroyed by Brainiac, their current wereabouts are unknown). Although intended to allow instant communication with alien species, it found a far more practical use as various Colonies developed their own sub-languages and dialects of Draconic. This non-intrusive subcutaneous implant was able to assess and break down a syntax and translate it for the draconian brain while simultaneously reversing the received/distributed signals in the language center allowing Siska to speak and understand any spoken language. However, it has no effect on the visual centers of the brain, therefore she may only be literate in the languages she has taken the time to learn.
She is capable of speaking her native Draconian and has learned Earth English in her time on Earth.
Gene-Enhancement & Tightly Packed Muscle : Genetic Enhancement at a level barely conceivable by the standards of human science produces a physical durability and tensile strength that is nothing short of ‘Super’. According to Siska, this level of augmentation was not widely available among her people due to the required resources and expertise to precisely create this effect without a genetic breakdown causing complications. Her explanation of this rare and high quality genetic splice is simple; the Colonial Matriarchy saw the protection of the few young females among their hatchlings as a top priority. Of course the downside to this is that while she is incredibly strong, her muscle mass is so dense that she is MUCH heavier than her size would have one believe.
Gene-Tech Evolution: The peak of Draconic Bio-Technology, Siska is one of only a few members of the Colonial Matriarchy (all female) that was equipped with a truly versitle ability that stems from a modification that creates an unstable core for Draconian DNA, allowing the subject with this ability to modify their body’s functions at will. Introduced shortly after hatching, Siska and the other subjects with this modification have had their entire lives to perfect this ability to literally change their genetic blueprint to create specific effects. In order to survive in ANY environment and deal with any possible hardship should the need arise.
This ability requires full concentration to prevent what could be a dangerous slip of the genetic structure that could cause any number of complications, a lesson hard learned during Siska’s childhood from multiple, painful failed adaptations. As she has mastered this ability and she is unlikely to suffer from such troubles, it still forces her to shut out all things around her in order to re-align her DNA to the desired specification.
Also, while Dragoness can accurately realign her basic genetic code with great accuracy, she cannot always compensate for physical alterations that are not absolutely needed for the effects. This often creates a physical sign of the alteration on her body.
by hero4hire » Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:42 pm 
