Akiva's character is a brilliant blend of scientific ambition and personal pettiness. Her work on the "Never Setting Sun" (NSS) prophecy ties directly into the grander scheme of the [family:6884341|Sisters of Opportunity], providing a tangible, horrifying reason for their actions. Her creation of hybrid humans, sets her as a morally devoid but highly ingenious figure.

Her resentment towards her sisters – Uloo's "power bought and honor sold" through psychic consumption, and Margosa's leadership – provides a critical layer of internal conflict. This friction can be exploited by the party, or by Akiva herself, as her vanity and desire for recognition constantly clash with her arduous, messy work.

The Brass Koi and the Glockenspiel Safe

The Brass Koi is an excellent setting for Akiva. Its deep-sea environment reinforces the NSS threat and her hybrid creations. The idea of her clicking around in high heels aboard a submarine perfectly captures her vanity and her detached, almost theatrical approach to her gruesome work.

The Glockenspiel safe is a fantastic plot device. It's a mundane problem that a brilliant, but vain, scientist would find infuriating and beneath her. It offers the party an immediate, non-combat objective that forces them into a stealth and deception scenario, playing directly into Akiva's personality.

Akiva's Demeanor: When the party arrives, she's not surprised, just exasperated. Her opening line, "Took you long enough to arrive," immediately establishes her as aware of their mission and her own perceived importance. This blends seamlessly with her vanity.
The Glockenspiel Challenge: She'll present the safe as a trivial annoyance, a problem fit for "lesser" minds, but one that is consuming her valuable time. Her complaints about "Glockenspiel products" reinforce her disdain for anything that isn't perfectly engineered or aesthetically pleasing. She might even imply that her sisters would never understand such "mundane" technical issues.
The Flirtation: This is where her vanity comes to the forefront. She'll actively flirt with a party member, seeing them as a potential admirer and a distraction from her tedious work. This isn't necessarily genuine attraction, but a means to exert control, gain attention, and perhaps even extract information. It also serves as a distraction from the true horrors of her submarine.
The Trap: While the party is busy with the safe, they are in her domain. The entire submarine is a potential trap. Perhaps the safe contains a critical component for her hybrids, or data that implicates her more deeply. The threat of the submarine's implosion adds immense tension and makes direct confrontation extremely risky, forcing the party to rely on their wits.

Akiva's Role at Ekersfeld

Her collaboration with Uloo at Ekersfeld for the "extraction of souls" (now psychic energy) and black onyx is the culmination of her arc. This is where her scientific, Frankenstein-esque approach meets Uloo's insidious psychic consumption.

The Connection: Akiva's hybrids might be the "containers" or "conduits" for the vast amounts of psychic energy Uloo is extracting. Perhaps Akiva is studying how to integrate this raw energy into new forms, or how to "stabilize" the consumed souls into something tangible for the NSS plan.
Her Potential Death: This makes for a dramatic conclusion to her personal arc. Her death at Ekersfeld, likely after a hard-fought battle where the party witnesses the true horror of her creations, signifies the end of her "scientific" threat, but leaves the more subtle, pervasive threats of Uloo and Margosa alive. It also shows the party the true power of the sisters when united.

Dr. Akiva genuinely believes her work is for a grander purpose, even as her personal flaws make her both vulnerable and utterly terrifying.

LOREDB

Akiva

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