Aranel: Warrior from the sea
In an alternate, Steampunk universe, there is a race of Ocean & shore dwelling aliens known as Scyphozoanians, a kingdom of reclusive creatures who find themselves trapped in the middle of a terrible civil war between the surface dwellers and their rebelling automaton creations! To save their own people, and because they are generally extreamly fearful, the Scyphozoanian King decides to try to escape to deeper waters, hoping that will protect his people and they may remain neutral in the fight! Yellow bellied barnacle suckers!
But there is a few braver souls, who realize that running away can only postpone their demise.
Among these who see the need to take action is Aranel.
Although she doesn't yet realize it, Aranel is the secret daughter of the King, and therefore, as royal blood, she possesses a certain ability to use the stored electricity in her tentacled "hair" as a weapon against assailants. She learns she is able to funnel the power through her hands into special devices that can be used to aim and amplify the energy to overcome and destroy the rampaging automatons. The two devices she uses are a palm concentrator that funnels the energy in a thin stream, like a ray gun, and can be easily aimed by facing the palm of the hand out towards the target and pushing a button on the side of the device with the thumb. The other device is a staff that is lethal at both ends, one end being a very sharp spear, the other another a spear-like point with wires that come from the handle of the staff to transfer Aranel's energy through to the point.
Aranel, who grew up as an orphan, was very curious about the land dwellers that her kind seemed so afraid of, and studied them a great deal before the war. She felt some sort of kinship to them that she lacked towards her own people and when she saw their need in what seemed a loosing battle against the rebelling technology, she saw an opportunity to not only escape her lonely life, but to help both the land dwellers and her own people as well.
The small resistance group she joins herself to train her in combat and are very impressed by her quick learning and amazing dexterity. She is surprised that they are not taken aback by her very alien appearance, until they take her to meet an old Scyphozoanian man, who says he used to work in the army of the former King, who was a good deal braver than the current one. It was the new king who sent him away when he felt fleeing was a better plan than fighting. He is the one who realizes by watching Aranel during training, that she is of royal blood, and gives her the devices that will help her take the lead in the battle against the terrifying automatons who are intent on converting the entire planet into steam & spring powered sentient machines! The horror!!!!