| Gypsy Moth |
 |
| Name: | Sybil Dorvak |
| Gender: | female |
| Place of Birth: | Focşani, Romania |
| Age: | 25 |
| Aliases: | Gypsy Moth |
| Origin: | Mutant |
| Origin Earth: | 616 |
| Present Location: | City |
| Occupation: | Cult leader |
| Team: | None |
| Alignment: | Alignment |
| Significant Other(s): | Unknown |
| Powers and Abilities: | Psychokinesis, Flight, Mesh |
| Portrayed by: | Catrinel Menghia |
Sybil was born in Foscani, Romania, to a young family just starting out in the world. Starting out, though, in Eastern Europe is not an easy thing. Both mother and father had to work and so they did not notice as their daughter developed mutant powers at a very young age. Sybil thought nothing of it and used her new found abilities to create prettier dolls to play with.
By the time Sybil was five, her mother was a woman old before her time from working in the sewing houses. Her father, disillusioned and bitter, joined a terrorist group dedicated to driving the Communists out of Romania. As you can imagine, the Soviets didn't take this very well. Sybil's father was found out and both parents were taken away, but not before they managed to smuggle their only daughter to a band of gypsies leaving town that day.
At the age of sixteen, the caravan stopped on the edge of a town that, in the spirit of Glasnost, was hosting an American film crew. When the director found out that a gypsy family was staying nearby, he insisted on trying to use them as extras to offer authentication to the Dracula remake. That's when Sybil met Jason Reed. He was dashing and rich and handsome. Sybil was easily seduced and eagerly accepted his offer to return to America, illegally, as his mistress.
It only took a year, though, for the glamour of her new lifestyle to wear off. She had no green card and a poor command of English. Due to these facts, and due to the increasing time Jason spent away from home, she felt a prisoner in their Beverly Hills estate. Soon Sybil began to suspect Jason was having affairs with Hollywood starlets. So, one night, she used her powers to weave wings and a costume and set out, spying on party after party in order to find her errant lover. It didn't take long for Sybil to become enraged at the wealth and fun she was missing, being stuck in the estate. As her search for Jason continued she began to prey on the socialites, stealing from them and humiliating them. Paying them back for her miserable life. These activities brought her into conflict with the first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. While she was defeated, Sybil Gypsy Moth now, decided to keep both the costume and the lifestyle. She used what she learned as Gypsy Moth to help her life as Sybil Dvorak, eventually gaining both a green card and a place in Jason Reed's will. Coincidentally, Jason died of complications related to an obstructed artery not too long after that. If anyone knew Gypsy Moth was Sybil Dvorak they might wonder about murder, since tissue and fat are just forms of fiber easily manipulated by someone with Gypsy Moth's powers.
At the age of sixteen, the caravan stopped on the edge of a town that, in the spirit of Glasnost, was hosting an American film crew. When the director found out that a gypsy family was staying nearby, he insisted on trying to use them as extras to offer authentication to the Dracula remake. That's when Sybil met Jason Reed. He was dashing and rich and handsome. Sybil was easily seduced and eagerly accepted his offer to return to America, illegally, as his mistress.
It only took a year, though, for the glamour of her new lifestyle to wear off. She had no green card and a poor command of English. Due to these facts, and due to the increasing time Jason spent away from home, she felt a prisoner in their Beverly Hills estate.
Soon Sybil began to suspect Jason was having affairs with Hollywood starlets. So, one night, she used her powers to weave wings and a costume and set out, spying on party after party in order to find her errant lover. It didn't take long for Sybil to become enraged at the wealth and fun she was missing, being stuck in the estate. As her search for Jason continued she began to prey on the socialites, stealing from them and humiliating them. Paying them back for her miserable life. These activities brought her into conflict with the first Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. While she was defeated, Sybil Gypsy Moth now, decided to keep both the costume and the lifestyle. She used what she learned as Gypsy Moth to help her life as Sybil Dvorak, eventually gaining both a green card and a place in Jason Reed's will. Coincidentally, Jason died of complications related to an obstructed artery not too long after that. If anyone knew Gypsy Moth was Sybil Dvorak they might wonder about murder, since tissue and fat are just forms of fiber easily manipulated by someone with Gypsy Moth's powers.
Sybil inherited a great deal of Jason's money and his estate. She used both to form a hedonistic cult, dedicated to worshipping her as a goddess. As can be expected there was a great deal of sex and drugs. Also, as can be expected, her activities often brought her onto the wrong end of the law. Over time she dealt with Spider-Woman again as well as Captain America. As her villainous plots were thwarted her fortune dwindled due to her excessive taste for luxury. In order to sustain herself, she got help and accepted an invitation from the Shroud to form the (supposedly) criminal team known as the Night Shift.
From that point on, Gypsy Moth was mostly a second stringer. She did whatever the Night Shift did, including a run-in or two with the West Coast Avengers Hawkeye and Moon Knight, but her own life was practically on hold. For a woman like her, that could only go on for so long before a change was needed.
So, Gypsy Moth broke away from the Shroud and the Night Shift. She formed a plan to restart her cult in a new city: New York.
Upon arriving in New York Sybil bought a beautiful estate near Central Park and made her debut in the local social scene. To the socialites of New York she's Sybil Dvorak, beautiful and charming. To the small but growing members of her personal cult, she's Gypsy Moth, goddess and leader. As Gypsy she has set up a interact band including the grade A drug and club contacts. All Sybil wants is to have everything her way. She'll achieve it, she figures, in time.
Sybil believes in one thing and one thing only, now: pleasure. She's had a lot of pain in this world and she doesn't want anymore. In her mind, she believes that the time has come for her to get payback for all the suffering she's endured. Almost always, Sybil avoids anything that is unpleasant for her. From touching 'hard' substances with her mind to doing dishes she'll find some way around it or just run away from it if she can. Occasionally, when she's forced to endure unpleasantness or pain she'll over-indulge afterwards. A single bad battle that hasn't gone in her favor might bring a week of partying at her estate.
Deep down, Sybil wants desperately to be loved and accepted by those she feels are 'better' than her. In this case her need for acceptance focuses on what is commonly referred to as 'high society'. Sybil has spent a great deal of energy and time and money making her way into that peer group. On the surface, she thinks its because she wants to have everything they do. Down deep, though, Sybil wants them to accept her and provide her with the love she never received as a child.
She seeks thrills and pleasure whenever and wahereever she can.
She feels like an outsider. Though she was given over as a child for protection she felt aboned, then used by Richards. Her lack of education makes her feel awkward at times
- Establish herself in New York society as Sybil Dvorak
- Grow her cult membership as Gypsy Moth, Goddess
She had over come so much in her life. Small set backs and speedbumps rarely slow her down. Where there is will there is a way.
There is a reason she calls herself a Godesss. Outward image both as Sybil and Gypsy drive her.
Sybil's power works on what could be described as a textural level. She actually 'feels' objects with her mind as if she were touching them. Her mind, though, is extremely sensitive to these textures. Things that are soft, like cloth, she finds pleasant to touch and manipulate. Things that are hard, like metals, she finds distasteful and even painful.
On a basic level, Gypsy Moth can manipulate objects in any way a person might with their hands. She can push, pull, twist, lift, press, drop, jerk and perform every other physical object. These actions can be as gross as throwing bolts of cloth across a room or as fine tuned as threading a needle from twenty paces away.
There are limitations to her powers. In terms of weight Gypsy Moth can only move with her mind as much as she herself weighs: roughly 120 pounds. This also means she can only exert about 120 pounds of pressure on an object at anyone time. If, for example, she were attempting to jerk Captain America's mask off, Captain America would have to fight against a 120 pound weight pulling full force on the mask in order to hold it down.
Certain organic substances fall under the category of soft. These include skin, muscle tissue, blood vessels, plant tissue, organs and hair. It does not include bone or cartilidge. The ability to use these powers works just the same as with non-organic substances. Gypsy Moth can apply up to 120 pounds of pressure, which can allow her to snap blood vessels, cramp muscles, tear skin, rip out hair and crush organs. Its this aspect of her power that makes her so dangerous.
While the wings in her costume are non-functional, Gypsy Moth can fly. She does this by telekinetically lifting her costume (and her) with it. Her speed is slightly better than an average human running full out. She can fly at a rate of 20 miles per hour. Sybil can fly for half an hour before becoming so exhausted she must rest.
Sybil can also interweave two completely foreign substances to go naturally together. For example, her silk wings are often interwoven with the skin and muscles of her back to make them appear natural. This process is a great deal more delicate than normal sewing and takes several minutes if not up to an hour to perform.
Sybil is on the moderate side of wealthy. Between the will (largely squandered) and stolen money, she's a millionaire. She has money in off shore accounts, invested in both short and long trm. ALong with a cash of jewlery and gold.
Sybil has purchased a lovely brownstone near Central Park.. It is a three story tall building with five bedrooms and three and a half bedrooms, a full, open kitchen, a breakfast nook, a fenced in back yard, screened in back porch and a sunroof. It is tastefully decorated with a gorgeous motif of royal purple and sunset red silks and velvets draping everywhere. The dwelling is fully owned by Sybil at the moment and has the following amenities: a state of the art security system (the system features an intercom that allows communication between any two rooms in the house as well as the front door, back door and rooftop. It also features a full alarm system for all windows and doors connected to a 24-hour monitoring station for potential break-in and fire.), a T1 internet connection, a state of the art kitchen with all the modern conveniences and a small elevator for those with disabilities that might not allow them to use the stairs.
- Hollywood: Sybil is on positive terms with a number of people in the Beverly Hills and Hollywood community, but they aren't really enough to call in favors greater than some information.
- Drugs: In New York, she has already made contact with a small group of upscale drug dealers, as Gypsy Moth. She buys from them, regularly, trusting in their fear of her (and she can be incredibly frightening if she puts her mind to it) to keep them in line.
- Legal: Team Sybil has both accountants and lawyers on retained who are able to respond at a moment's notice. They are the best she could find and afford, which means they have a fair amount of skill.
- Night Shift and the Shroud: While the Shroud probably wouldn't do anything overt to help her in criminal activities he would provide information or small gestures in order to keep a powerful contact in the criminal community. The rest of Night Shift is on very good terms with GM and would most likely come help her if she requested it.
As Gypsy Moth, Sybil leads a cult dedicated to worshipping herself. The cult is, basically, an orgiastic mystery cult with a Neo-pagan structure. The members worship Gypsy Moth as a divine manifestation of the Goddess on Earth and do whatever they can to earn her good favor and give her pleasure. There is a great deal of drug use going on as well. From all points of view the cult is dedicated to sensation. They adorn themselves in clothes that feel pleasant on the skin; They eat and drink rich and delicious foods; They listen to music that brings delight to the soul and gaze at art that makes the eyes dance in delight. The people who join the cult are generally either have screwed up values and are looking for a good time or have such a low self esteem that they believe the empty physical pleasure the cult brings actually gives their life meaning. At the moment, the cult consists of ten members, all above the age of eighteen. It is strictly matriarchal, with one of the members serving as High Priestess. The others serve in various roles that have a tendancy to change from time to time depending on how the cult decides to organize that week. For the most part, Sybil is content to let the High Priestess do all the dirty work. Sybil just reaps the benefits of being worshipped. She's made sure three of the cult ar large men, skilled in fighting. The serve as pseudo bodygaurds. And one girl is a skilled techno gamer chic nerd.
Sybil has learned a great deal about high society life since she became involved with Jason Reed. At first she was practically forced to in his estate by her inability to properly speak English. However she eventually moved past that obstacle and forced herself onto the scene. She learned quickly and became adept at knowing proper etticate, table manners, what to say, what not to say, who to talk to, who to shun and more. In short, this woman has class and isn't afraid to use it.
In order to better use her powers Sybil has done some shallow study of plant and animal physiology. She understands, basically, how the body works, but only as far as how she can affect it. Most of it is pretty basic. She knows where the vital organs are, the organization of layers of skin, muscle tissue and the circulatory system. Just enough so she can grab and squeeze.
While she is no accountant, Sybil controls a fair amount of money. Once again, she has educated herself to understand what her 'people' are doing with the wealth she has accumulated. She just knows enough to make sure no one's stealing from her accounts, but not much more than that.
If there's one thing Sybil keeps up with in the world, its fashion. She avidly reads both the mainstream periodicals dealing with fashion and the trade magazines. Sybil understands what the current trend is and can make a fair guess at what future trends will be. She knows past fashion highlights, the names and vital stats of prominent designers and the best shops in the world to pick up any item.
Sybil grew up with gypsies and learned all of their folk dances. She has a remarkable natural grace about her, one that probably could have been developed into a career if the right opportunities had arisen early in life. Still, she has mastered the art of making her body move in ways pleasing to most men's eyes. In addition, Sybil has learned most of the formal dances used in modern day high society.
Sybil grew up with gypsies and learned all of their folk dances. She has a remarkable natural grace about her, one that probably could have been developed into a career if the right opportunities had arisen early in life. Still, she has mastered the art of making her body move in ways pleasing to most men's eyes. In addition, Sybil has learned most of the formal dances used in modern day high society.
Growing up in Romania, Sybil became multilingual very quickly. She speaks both Romanian and Romani (the language of the gypsy people) with the fluency of a native born speaker. She has also learned Russian and English and speaks both languages with a heavy accent but at a conversational level. She can also read all four languages, Romani and Romanian at a tenth grade level, Russian and English at a fifth grade level.
Sybil runs a lovely little cult that worships her and is dedicated to principles of hedonism. Of course, drug use comes into play here and Sybil understands the culture. She knows the names and effects of most street drugs, where to buy them, how much to pay for them and the best way to take them. While she avoids drugs that have a tendancy to kill or addict after only one dose, she has made sure to understand everything she can about these drugs, too.
If nothing else, Sybil's powers make her one of the best seamstresses in the world. There is little about the art of sewing that Sybil does not understand. This includes both hand and machine sewing as well as material/fabric identification, braiding and embroidering. With the use of her powers added to her knowledge of this art she is capable of creating outfits that the world's best designers would envy.
Sybil runs a cult dedicated to worshipping her. Through trial and error she has learned something akin to the skill of leadership, though her application of the skill comes more through emotional manipulation than inspiration. When it comes to those with weak wills or emotional problems such as co-dependency or self-esteem issues, Sybil is able to tweak their psyches into something that is devoted to her. Disgusting? Oh, yes. It is. Sybil is like any good cult leader, capable of brainwashing, ego control and fine manipulation. In addition, Sybil has developed a fair sense of organization. She knows when to assign tasks to others and who to dictate them to.
Sybil is a selfish, hedonistic creature who cares only for herself. Unfortunately, a hedonistic lifestyle is a hard on to maintain. It is very much like a drug, with a constant need for bigger and better kicks as old thrills become mundane and boring. The jist of this is, Sybil is a sensation junkie. Any new, interesting thrill or pleasure that she comes into contact with will seriously tempt her, requiring an act of willpower to turn away. This makes Sybil a bit unreliable, as she might easily decide shed rather try on a new perfume or make love to an interesting man than finish stealing electronic components from a neighborhood warehouse like she promised she would.
As Gypsy Moth, Sybil has made a few enemies. She is a known (although minor) super-criminal in the Avengers database from accounts given both by Hawkeye (whom she fought as a member of the Night Shift) and Captain America (whom she fought as an independent operator). If Sybil can be said to have a specific arch-enemy it would be the original Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew. Jessica was Sybils first superhero enemy and is the one she has most frequently come into contact with in the past. While none of these people are actively seeking Sybil out in order to imprison or kill her, they are familiar with her abilities and methods of operation.
Sybil is a legal alien whos wealth has earned her a more or less permanent green card. While she doesnt have to worry about being deported if she doesnt get her work visa updated every year, this does pose some problems. For example, it is much easier for the government to blackmail her, criminally, since she can easily be deported back to Romania with just a bit of lost and updated paperwork. So far, this hasnt been a problem, but youll never know when the someone powerful with government connections might want a favor.
Growing up, Sybil didnt have much in the way of a classic education. While she knows how to read, write and do basic math shes never read the classics or studied history or science, beyond what she has taught herself. Sybil does not have a high school diploma and would fail a G.E.D. test is she attempted to take one (specifically, she would fail the history, science, literature, language and higher math sections). Sybil does a pretty good job of hiding this when shes moving through high society, but the truth is a great deal of the time she doesnt understand what people are talking about.
Hard things, well, they give her a hard time. She hates to 'touch' the with her powers, to een do so requires focus, and drains her, gives her a headache. Metal, wood, stone are a solid no. So guess Iron is safe in the suit.
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