090: Otta Tvash

ENTRY 090: Otta Tvash

Genetic engineering and after-market modification of neo-avian morphs has caused them to diverge so far from the standard phenotypes that their origin species can become ambiguous; the distinctive outlines that marked them out become blurred as they too become a trans-species, as far removed from what their primal genestock as a Barsoomian is from Australopithecus. Whatever Otta Tvash once was, today she is a slick-scaled amphibious horror, skin grown over her useless eyes, body cadaverous and reptilian, the plumage between her scaly plates smooth and rippled black and white like a penguin’s. Otta’s anatomy has been adapted to allow her to slide into the strange waters of alien worlds and using her bat-like wings to “fly” through the lakes, rivers, and seas of other planets.

As a gatecrasher, Otta brings adaptability to potential expeditions, able to survey from land, air, and in the sea; she has studied other neo-avian morphs and developed aerial deep-dive and skimming techniques which have proven quite effective combinations on worlds where gravity and local conditions permit both flight and swimming. More than this, her lack of sight brings a unique perspective—where other gatecrashers may be overwhelmed by the sights of the strange worlds they visit, Otta focuses on the more subtle things, such as air pressure, viscosity, density, and gravity, mapping her surroundings with tiny intermittent chirps.

COG	COO	INT	REF	SAV	SOM	WIL	MOX
10	18	19	20	12	17	13	-
INIT	SPD	LUC	TT	IR	DUR	WT	DR
8	1	26	5	52	20	4	30

Morph: Neo-Avian

Skills: Academics: Botany 50, Academics: Chemistry 55, Academics: Oceanography 50, Climbing 35, Flight 60, Free Fall 55, Freerunning 70, Infiltration 55, Interests: Gatecrashing 60, Interests: Neo-Avians 45, Investigation 35, Kinesics 30, Kinetic Weapons 40, Language: Native Czech 89, Language: English 40, Medicine: Paramedic 40, Navigation 60, Networking: Autonomists 55, Networking: Scientists 55, Perception 50, Pilot: Watercraft 40, Profession: Diver 75, Scrounging 60, Swimming 80

Implants: Basic Biomods, Basic Mesh Inserts, Carapace Armor, Clean Metabolism, Cortical Stack, Endocrine Control, Enhanced Senses (Direction Sense, Echolocation, Enhanced Smell), Medichines, Oxygen Reserve, Radiation Sense, Respirocytes, Temperature Tolerance, Toxin Filters, Vacuum Sealing

Traits: Neural Damage (Blind), Striking Appearance (1)

Using Otta Tvash

Birds are weird, people are weird, and neo-avians are very weird indeed. When the PCs run into Otta Tvash, feel free to indulge in more than a bit of descriptive text—she’s a sight even hardened transhumans might pause at, a streamlined bipedal bird-reptile thing, built for air and water, as strange a chimera as any Medieval bestiary ever produced—but she’s not an animal. Whether as antagonist, ally, hireling, or contact Otta is a gatecrasher, a blind explorer that discovers the world through her sense of hearing and smell, and gamemasters might use her to teach the PCs a few things about using their own enhanced senses—the ones they write on their character sheet and then forget about. For herself, Otta is content exploring new worlds, focusing not on what she was or is but what she will be.