Wyllam Praussis

:"Don't come close ta me. I'll make ya sick." - Praussis' usual warning.
Wyllam Praussis is the foreman and head processman of Malik Viper's poison processing plant. Handling Viper's dirty work as part of a life debt, he has absorbed so much toxic material that he possesses a poisonous aura.
==Character==
===Appearance===
Tall and thin, Wyllam has wide shoulders and narrow hips. His skin is a mottled mid-grey and his hair is shorn short, patchy and white, having largely fallen out. His eyes are a bright toxic purple. Blue veins are visible on his neck and temples. He is often seen wearing a blue boilersuit under a leather jacket with leather boots, black rubber gloves, a black flat cap and a gas mask.
Beneath his clothing, his skin is patchy and sparsely covered in bandages to protect areas that have thinned or are beginning to slough away.
===Personality===
Stoic, stubborn and distrusting of people. He is, however, deeply selfless and has a keen eye for safety violations: although he does not believe in the inherent goodness or worthiness of people, he does believe in the worth of their lives and wellbeing. He holds a slow-burning grudge and is highly persistent. A staunch defender of the working class; resentful of authority figures and most 'heroes'.
===Skills & Abilities===
Although he's lost some of his strength and stamina to sickness, his mind remains sharp and his will remains strong. The main development from his years of handling dangerous materials is a poisonous proximity: existing near him causes sickness, rashes, burns and other poisoning symptoms. The symptoms are more rapid and acute the closer he is to his target, but he laments often that the poisoning is too fast to let him be close to loved ones, but too slow to be used as a kind of superpower.
==History==
Orphaned at 17, he worked trades while taking care of his younger sister. The two briefly parted ways when she, years later, went to study music at a nearby college, but shortly he recieved knews that she had been bitten by a rare spider and was expected to quickly die. Desperate, Wyllam searched for a cure, but the only one available - held by Malik Viper - was priced too exorbitantly for him to access. Literally bargaining for his sister's life, he offered to work off the price, and Viper agreed.
Working rough in the poison processing plant, Wyllam soon realised what he'd gotten himself into: long hours with poor protection around extremely hazardous material. Although Viper had given his sister the life-saving antivenom, the debt was still unpaid, and Viper was determined to keep Praussis under his thumb for as long as possible. The cruellest irony came when Wyllam's poisonous proximity developed and he realised that despite his sister being cured, he'd not be able to see her or be near her due to his literally toxic atmosphere.
Wyllam is now stubborn and jaded, still working for Viper both out of the debt (with Viper threatening to re-poison his sister should he try to go back on the deal), out of the good money (as he likely can't work anywhere else) and out of a plan to try and find a poison that Viper isn't immune to, so as to free himself (and any other of Viper's processmen) from the toxicologist's grasp.
==Trivia==
* He is callous regarding the lives of animals, seeing them largely as spreaders of illness.
* His surname, Praussis, is likely a play on 'process', due to his role as a processman.
Category:Males
Category:Passive Powers