Girls of Eberron, II

"Tesla girls, Tesla girls
Testing out theories
Electric chairs and dynamos
Dressed to kill, they're killing me
And heaven knows their recipe..."

Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark; 'Tesla Girls'


The second 'Laydeez of Eberron' picture. Meet Professor Roswyn O'Malley and Lady-Paladin Rune Westlake. The former is a Tinker Artificer, the latter an Ardent Paladin.

Roz isn't like most leprechauns. She was not born in the faery realm, but in the mortal world - her parents were wanderers who crossed into the material world and stayed there. They didn't provide their daughter with the traditional Pot of Gold, but did give her a college fund for a nice university. Young Roz grew up at the 'Young Ladies Institute For Higher Learning and Advanced Technologies', where they assumed she was an especially small human.

Leprechauns are inclined to subtle, tricky sorceries, but Roz embraced the magick of Science. She was never happier than when knee-deep in experiments, calibrating dyno-rods and oxygenating her steam engines. Above all, she loved the little clockwork creatures she built, imbuing them with a spark of life, with pure elemental electricity.

One day, shortly after her graduation, Roz received an anonymous tip from a reporter friend. There was a secret laboratory in the mountains, just north of the Institute. The note said there was something there, something big, but she had to go NOW. Roz kit-bashed a portable hang-glider and set off into the hidden valley.

She found the test labs in ruins, full of dead guards and smashed machinery. Working her way through the corridors, she realised it was a secret development for building Warforged, near-sentient golems who served mankind primarily as soldiers. Deep in the ruined labs, however, she came upon something shocking and unique.

Sealed in a compression chamber was a mechanical woman. But she was not a crude wooden doll plated with metal like the warforged. She was made of a strong, light alloy of mithril, a metal natural only to the faey realms. She was almost perfect in every way, although she was clearly artificial. She read through some nearby scrolls, deducing the golem had her own metal skeleton and delicate clockworks that simulated a brain and internal organs. She had braided hair, fingernails and teeth, and her skin was a stretchy dermal covering that felt like a sheath of warm semi-liquid mercury.

She was able to unseal the canister and the artificial woman slowly awoke, having no idea of who or where she was. Her voice, though slightly tinny, was feminine and melodious. Her amber eyes were sophisticated lenses that missed few details. The woman knew only one thing - that a 'Goddess' had breathed life into her, awakening her with a soul.

Roz knew the House Cannith clean-up squad would not take long to arrive. And it was obvious someone saw this woman as their property. Though the scrolls she had read hinted at all manner of other creations - a steam-driven dragon of all things! - she knew they had to get out swiftly.

The pair ran off into the night. Roz quietly resigned from her post-graduate course, and decided she would help her new friend discover her identity and purpose.

She swiftly found the metal woman could reason and think like a human, and her memory-banks held much knowledge of history and learning. She could form opinions and express sophisticated viewpoints, holding a discourse on myriad subjects. And she was strong and resiliant, her data files containing many forms of knightly combat. Somewhat reluctantly, she allowed Roz to perform a thorough examination, and discovered that her skin had... apertures to simulate those of a human female. As she could not digest food or drink, Roz surmised they were crafted for... other purposes. Essentially, someone created her to be both a bodyguard and consort. And yet, while she was designed to be intelligent, she had been created to be perfectly loyal and obedient. Nobody could have forseen she would possess a soul, and independent thought.

Roz took a name off an old gravestone, so her new friend would have an identity. Covered in a heavy cape, she might pass as a human at a distance. Knowing everyone would be looking for her now, the pair crossed the borders at night, and took a ship to a far coastline, to discover a new life away from House Cannith.

A year or two later, the pair are still partners in crime, adventurers on the run. Rune turned out to be rather prim and formal, a warrior-priestess of Dol Dorn, the 'goddess' who infused her with real life. But her naive manner and inexperience still amuse Roz, who tries to be her guide to the real world. The chance to work on a real, living clockwork person has proved even more exciting than her post-graduate course, and Roz is constantly working on modular 'improvements' to her friend. Thus far, she has created several sets of arms, including one with an internalised blade and another housing a mini bolt launcher.

Together, they take on quests, and hunt for treasures and artefacts both magickal and scientifick. Rune has the brawn and the honourable nature - Roz has the wits and the chutzpah. They make an effective combination.

Rune has began to feel self-concious about her female body, aware that she was wired to feel exactly the same sense of pleasure as any living woman. However, her shy, virginal nature has thus far prevented her from exploring this aspect of her being any further. For now, the pair travel and adventure, staying one step ahead of their pursuers, seeking both fortune and glory.

Notes - Roz is supposed to look 'Oirish' with her freckles, snub nose and copper locks. I tried not to make her too 'glamorous' as she's more concerned with her experiments than cosmetics. That said, she has a nice figure, I think.

Rune was inspired by Jocasta, a fem-bot character from the old Marvel comics when I was a girl. She too was created to be a consort by an evil robot, but she eventually found her own personality. Rune is pretty hot, as she was supposed to be a kind of 'hookerbot'-come-bodyguard. However, I also like the contrast of her prissy personality and the fact she is 'fully functional'. She is also inspired by the fantastic 'gynoids' created by master artist Hajime Sorayama. Hopefully before I'm too old, I'll have my own fembot when they get around to inventing one. Or I'll just download my personality into a much younger body.