Johanna Adell

Johanna Adell was a Spiderweiss living in Austria following the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth.

She was born to a military family outside Vienna in 2149. Her father was a high-ranking member of the Austrian division of UNISYC. When he was a Major, he was killed in a skirmish against invaders during the 2150s Dalek invasion of Earth. At the end of the invasion in 2169, Johanna was crippled by the Daleks, along with many other workers; her body was then modified with eight hydraulic legs. (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust) She had tarantula-like knee-joints; her forelegs tended to mimic the movement of her arms. (PROSE: A Star's View of Caroline)

She joined the Viennese bureau of Spiderweiss when it opened in 2173. As a Leutnant, she was assigned to work with a new recruit, Vaella, to investigate an immune system plague sweeping the lower classes. The disease was spread by the drugs sold by a man called the Doctor. Adell interviewed a number of witnesses: a boy named Theodor, hospitalised with the plague, who told clients where in the sewers they could buy the Doctor's "medicine"; a corrupt doctor who had first documented the sickness; a bartender who saw the Doctor and his beautiful companion, Cosette Wilberforce, euthanise a woman with a mysterious metallic sickness by overdosing her on the "medicine"; a hostile priest who'd taken the Doctor's confession; and a magician who hypnotised Adell and stole her last remaining clue. When Adell awoke, she found Vaella dead nearby, killed brutally.

At a café the next morning, a stranger left Adell with Cosette's journal. One entry explained how the Doctor knew a plague was going to devastate humanity, and he traced it back to its source, an invader spaceship which had been set as a trap for him. However, it had long fallen dormant. The Doctor left, determined to find a cure. Moments after Adell read this, Cosette approached her, explaining that she no longer thought the Doctor's goal justified the human suffering his experimentation had caused. Together they travelled to the Doctor's location in the sewers.

However, upon their arrival, the Doctor explained that his intentions were pure, but someone had altered his formula so that the vaccination would itself become the virus. The Doctor invited Cosette to help him to track down the bad actor, but as she approached, he wrapped the chain of his pocketwatch around her neck. Sobbing, he strangled her to death. In fact, the spaceship originated the plague by exerting a subliminal influence on Cosette, commanding her to create the virus. Desperate to stop the plague before it reached his granddaughter's family, the Doctor had used multiple disguises to direct Adell's investigation so she would lead Cosette to him. He then left in the TARDIS. Adell still didn't know if he was telling the truth, and she didn't understand who had killed Vaella, but sure enough, the plague stopped.

Over the following years Adell rose through the ranks of the organisation (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust) until she reached the rank of Beauftragter. In this role she commissioned Izzy Ring to investigate Caroline. After the investigation, the Beauftragter brought her team of assistants and lackeys, including Kessler, on the train to clean up Caroline's body. She asked Izzy to join der spinne, but Izzy declined, stating she was no longer an Intermediant. (PROSE: A Star's View of Caroline)

Adell's favourite food was hot buttered toast, and she had a girlfriend. (NC: Man of Smoke and Dust)