Queen Carrion (Liberty)
Contents
Affiliations
Queen Carrion is publicly known as Svana Lara, a professional model turned businesswoman who has forged an impressive fashion empire that involves magazines, clothing, perfumes, and a modeling agency. Svana is frequently seen in the company of scientists and genetic researchers from Aeon University and Crey Industries, and raises money for their biological engineering projects, but she is not a member of the university or an employee of Crey. Even though the virus that infects her is highly contagious and would be classified at a Biosafety Level 4, Svana has yet to be quarantined by anyone with the facilities to do so. It appears that the necrovirus within Svana is only contagious through a biological vector, namely through biting. With such a dangerous virus within her Svana continues her life as normally as possible in the Rogue Isles and must have come to an agreement with Lord Recluse to tolerate her condition as a walking contagion, but the exact nature of this alleged relationship is unclear.
Backstory
Svana Larasdottir is the most unlikely of villains to roam the Rogue Isles. Prior to her transformation Svana was a successful fashion model, the most famous woman to ever come from her native Iceland. In the late 1990's "Svana Lara" was among the world's most sought after models and earned a fortune on runways throughout Europe and North America. Svana leveraged her fame into becoming a business powerhouse within the global fashion industry. Within a decade Svana Lara Worldwide grew into a billion dollar corporate empire that encompassed a modeling agency, fashion magazines and other media, and several successful lines of clothing, lingerie, accessories, fragrances, jewelry, and housewares. Svana's life and success couldn't have become better - and tragically, it became worse.
While enjoying a yacht vacation with friends off the shore of Greece in August of 2008, Svana and several members of her entourage suffered a bizarre and unexplained attack by a school of fish. Unknown to Svana and her friends at the time, the fish were exposed to an unidentified biologically engineered virus that mutated them into monstrous creatures. The fish first began biting Svana's friends who were swimming in the sea, but they leapt on deck in an effort to continue their attack. Although most of the fish fell back into the sea one of the mutated creatures remained on deck, refusing to die until one of Svana's friends cut its head off. In a state of near panic, the passengers radioed for help and began looking after their wounds, but hope quickly abandoned them within a few hours.
The passengers began mutating quickly, violently convulsing as an unknown infection spread throughout their bodies. Svana was savagely bitten by her photographer and was the last to succumb to the transformation, watching in horror as her friends devolved into flesh eating zombies. Despite the fear Svana experienced, she could not deny the primal urges transforming within her. Svana tore into her friends, ripping them apart with an inhuman strength and devouring whoever she could. By the end of the bloodbath only Svana was left standing, forever transformed into a flesh-eating horror. Svana's mind and sense of self remained intact, fully aware of what she became and the murders she committed. Several hours passed before the Hellenic Coast Guard arrived, although Svana's yacht appeared abandoned. The six-man crew of the rescue lifeboat never expected to find a flesh-craving zombie on board the yacht, and none of them survived the encounter.
After killing the guardsmen, Svana knew she could not return to Greece without facing immediate arrest or execution - she was a monster now, and the world would either destroy her or pick her apart as a lab rat. Svana set course to Tunisia where she had some business connections. Upon arriving in port with no one any wiser, Svana worked with her attorneys to arrange a press release regarding her apparent disappearance in the Mediterranean, claiming that an unidentified band of pirates attacked her yacht and kidnapped her guests, leaving her to die. Although Svana looked completely pale, her decomposition had not fully settled in during her discourses with the media, but she did not wish to take any chances. Svana made one brief public statement and went into seclusion to recover from her ordeal. Seeking refuge aboard her yacht, Svana informed her staff in Reykjavik that she was temporarily relocating her office to Aeon City in the Rogue Isles. Although her staff voiced their concerns about this decision, Svana insisted that the new location would afford her the opportunity to reach into new markets and possibly discover the identity of those who kidnapped her friends. After a week in Tunis, Svana set sail to the Rogue Isles. Her timing was convenient, as Tunisian police and residents were growing fearful that someone or some persons were kidnapping unfortunate victims in the night since no one knew what happened in the disappearances of 15 men and women.
A year later Svana has established herself as a notable businesswoman in the Rogue Isles, managing a corporate office in Aeon City. Svana appointed a new CEO to manage the daily affairs of her business empire, but works alongside him from their Aeon City location. Svana also donates funding to Aeon University and has a fascination with biological engineering, genetics, and pharmaceutical research, areas of study no one who knew her ever realized she was interested in. Privately Svana is experimenting with her condition to better understand how to live with what she has become. Svana is highly contagious and can transmit the virus within her through her bite and saliva, but she has no desire to infect others. Svana will always kill anyone she bites, devouring their entire bodies or at least their brains to finish the job. Although this is partly out of compassion, the few who know of Svana's condition believe it is because she has come to enjoy the superhuman power the virus grants her and she does not seek to share it with anyone. If she has to resort to cannibalism to sustain her human appearance, so be it, for it no longer disturbs her.
The Necrogenic Virus
Svana's infection and resulting medical condition is a direct result of a bioengineered viral strain her research assistant calls a "Necrogenic Virus" or necrovirus. This horrific virus is highly contagious and under ideal circumstances those infected would be destroyed, if not quarantined for scientific study, but Svana has managed to avoid either fate while in the Rogue Isles. Due to the mutating effects of the necrovirus Svana is essentially a new species of human and can technically be classified as homo sapiens necrosis, also known as a necrosapien or "intelligent dead."
The necrovirus caused horrific mutations in Svana's DNA, initiating a continuous decomposition process that eventually rots and putrefies her flesh. This decomposition process can be halted and temporarily reversed by the consumption of human flesh. Svana experimented with several varieties of animal flesh, but the decomposition can only be halted or reversed by consuming and absorbing human DNA into her body. When Svana has fully restored her appearance she is as flush and warm as a recently killed corpse, but her body temperature quickly fades just as a corpse's does; even the blood pumping through her veins does not sustain her body temperature for long. Even when Svana appears to be normal in every way she is always slightly cool and a little clammy to touch, and eventually her skin will adopt the cold pallor of a corpse as the autolysis stage of decomposition begins.
Svana can maintain an otherwise normal apearance by consuming several pounds of human flesh and organs each day. By her calculations (obtained by quite a few unfortunate victims) Svana estimates that an average sized 200-lb male can sustain her for a week, and approximately 20 to 30 pounds of flesh per day is sufficient for her to avoid the more grotesque stages of decomposition. Svana's experiments revealed that even should she decompose and putrefy beyond recognition and rot away to a dried out husk she could still consume enough human flesh to restore her appearance in its entirety. This experiment nearly drove Svana insane as she intentionally starved herself for a month, allowing her body to decompose under controlled conditions that involved heat, moisture, and exposure to insects. One of Svana's assistants, a former Aeon Corporation scientist who was fired by Dr. Aeon for not being committed enough to "extreme science," lured an unsuspecting victim to her. Svana quickly consumed the poor soul within the span of an hour, rejoicing as her flesh was fully restored once again. Svana estimated from this experiment that even when her decomposition reached advanced stages she could gorge herself on a single person who provided enough flesh and organs to restore those that were lost through decomposition.
To help conceal her condition from the public Svana takes several precautionary measures. She always wears heavy perfumes over formaldehyde rubs to help mask the scent of death and decay that eventually oozes from her decomposing body. She always wears long-sleeved suits and slacks, only doning less clothing in the privacy of her home, office, or when posing for a fashion shoot. Svana also wears specially designed latex undergarments that safely contain any bodily fluids that may leak from her body unexpectedly. Within her office and home Svana ensures there are plenty of strong incense and odor fighting devices, and should insects such as flies be drawn to her there are conveniently placed electrical traps and insect eating plants to catch them. Svana prefers to remain in cool and dry temperatures with climate controlled environments, as this helps to slow the rate of decomposition; she sleeps in a refrigerated room comparable to a meat locker. Svana was vain during her previous life, but her reason for relying heavily on mirrors to decorate her home and office now goes far beyond aesthetics and self-admiration; when Svana's skin appears too pale she knows its time to eat again.
Current Activities
There is currently no cure for the necrovirus that infected Svana, and it does not appear she is interested in finding one at this point. Svana's primary concern is providing herself with enough human flesh to maintain her appearance indefinitely. People disappear all the time in the Rogue Isles and it is one thing to snatch up members of street gangs like the Skulls and Hellions; when they go missing no one files a report with the Rogue Isles Police or Arachnos. Svana is enjoying the use of her abilities the necrovirus grants her to survive, but she has no desire to actively lurk in the shadows, dig up graveyards, and hunt people in the night; she'd rather host a charity benefit, organize a fashion show, work on new product lines and endorsements, or attend a movie premier. Svana is currently looking to acquire the "services" of a superhuman being who possesses a regenerative ability, one who could provide her with a single renewable source of food and afford her the luxury of more leisurely pursuits. Svana does not expect anyone to volunteer willingly, of course, but she already has a way to contain this most unfortunate superhuman.
Powers
Superhuman Strength
Svana's condition grants her superhuman strength that belies her otherwise normal frame. Before Svana transformed into a necrosapien she was considered fit and athletic, but her strength and endurance increased a hundredfold due to the changes in her physiology. Svana can literally rip a human being into shreds with her bare hands and claws, and her jaw can extend wide enough to allow her to crush a human skull with a single bite. Svana is strong enough to punch and claw her way through reinforced steel and concrete barriers, and she can make extraordinary leaps into the air that allow her to reach victims who try to escape her.
Willpower
Another side effect of the necrogenetic virus that transformed Svana is the superhuman levels of stamina and endurance she now posseses. Svana is not invulnerable to harm and her corporeal body can still be damaged by conventional, unconventional, and superhuman means, but she feels little pain and can absorb, dissipate, or otherwise quickly heal any damage she sustains. Bullets and shrapnel may bury deep into Svana's rotting and dead flesh, but they will quickly expel from her body as the virus rapidly repairs any damage that has occurs. Svana's flesh isn't as flammable as ordinary flesh and she is significantly resistant to extreme levels of cold, and her "living dead" state removes her need to actually breathe to sustain her necrotic bodily tissues and organs. Like the zombies found in horror films and cinema, Svana can continue taking damage as she claws and tears through anything that gets in her way.
Contact Information
Queen Carrion may be contacted on Liberty by e-mail using her name, Queen Carrion. Her global channel that is valid across all servers is @Major Paragon.
