Tahquitz (Triumph)
| |
| Tahquitz | |
| Player: @Tahquitz | |
| Origin: |
Magic |
| Archetype: |
Blaster |
| Level: |
50 |
| Super Group: |
Heads of Cerberus |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: |
Timothy Verne |
| Known Aliases: |
Tahq |
| Species: |
Human/Trickster Demon |
| Height: |
5' 11" |
| Weight: |
Human -- 150 lb. |
| Eye Color: |
Blue |
| Hair Color: |
Human -- Blond. |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: |
Native American/Irish |
| Occupation: |
Full-Time Hero |
| Place of Birth: |
Agua Caliente, California |
| Base of Operations: |
Paragon City, Rhode Island, USA |
| Marital Status: |
Single |
| Known Relatives: |
Elena Verne-Terriquez, Grandmother |
| Additional Data | |
| Known Powers: |
Fire Blast, Ice Manipulation, Flame Mastery |
| Known Abilities: |
Limited shapeshifting |
| Known Equipment: |
None |
| Footnotes: |
• Alpha unlocked • Interface unlocked  • Judgement unlocked  |
| [ Source ] | |
Tahquitz is a vigilante level 50 Fire Blast/Ice Manipulation Blaster on the Triumph Server, played by @Tahquitz.
Contents
Overview
Timothy Verne, an otherwise normal teenager, is the current host of a Trickster Demon, Tahquitz, who has been imprisoned in a fetish necklace by the Cauhilla People for committing crimes against their hero, Konvaxmal. After 500 years of slumber, the spirit of Tahquitz was greatly diminshed upon Verne's discovery. They have a symbiotic relationship; in return for the powers of the Altar of Storms, Tahquitz is learning through Verne's eyes about the future and his place in it when someday, his power can return to a point where he no longer needs another being to live.
In-Game Description
From Agua Caliente, CA, Timothy Verne was a young boy who ran away from home and discovered an ancient altar in a cave. After a collapse blocking his only way out, he disturbed the altar to find a talisman that reformed him into Tahquitz, the Raven God of Storms.
With the powers of Ice and Fire at his command, Tahquitz travelled to Paragon City to combat the menace of the Circle of Thorns. They removed artifacts from the residents of Agua Caliente that hold enormous power, which should not be wielded by anyone alive or dead.
Present Day
Tim Verne as Tahquitz was reluctant to share with others that he had superpowers, training in secret at first and avoiding the Registration Acts until he could stand by no longer. While awaiting his fate in a group home, a sect of the Circle of Thorns raided his hometown in the night as Tahquitz took to the night skies to stop them. His 'outing' as a superhero was met with mixed reviews, as his powers were too out of control, costing as much damage to property and infrastructure as the lives and artifacts saved. The residents regarded him initially as a villain since he destroyed more than he saved.
Consequently, this caught the attention of the FBSA, who took temporary custody of him. Tim was taken to Paragon City, RI to serve in the Young Heroes program to develop his powers as well as finish his education. This was done with or without his cooperation, as many wards of the state who develop powers are sent to "training cities" like Paragon City, but Tahquitz went there willingly when he read up on a single topic: Oranbega. If he were to recover his people's artifacts, Paragon City was his best shot.
The Praetorian Incident
After visiting a parallel dimension of Earth under Portal Corp's guidance, Tahquitz, along with teammates PulseFire, Stephanie Miroux, and Lumos were taking the offensive on the Clockwork King, who easily overwhelmed the team with their Psionic attacks, including Tim Verne. This was the one moment he was as close to death as he was back on Tahquitz Peak, with PulseFire trying to protect him from additional attacks.
After PulseFire was knocked out and Lumos died, the clockwork centered their efforts on Tim, who got a curious message from his symbiote. Tahquitz the Demon was promising him to take care of the threat if Tim would surrender control. Reluctantly and weakly, Tim agreed.
Summoning twin cyclones of an ice hurricane and a volcanic lava fire, Tahquitz the Demon destroyed virtually everything in the zone. But the bloodlust wasn't enough as the vortexes continued to grow in magnitude in pursuit of the Clockwork King. The King resisted the hurricane with only minor slowdown and freezing, but was fearful of the molten lava that awaited his gears. Tahquitz the Demon was ruthless in finishing the job... so much so that when retreating Clockwork tried to flee, he defeated them before they could run. It was bad enough so that when the Clockwork King did fall, Longbow Agents were called to the area through the portal. They, along with Stephanie Miroux and PulseFire, had to try in their compromised state to subdue Tahquitz the Demon. PulseFire nearly lost her life in finally succeeding to knock Tim out.
Since that day, Tim Verne is careful to watch over his health, as the next time he is close to death he may not be able to stop Tahquitz from taking full control again.
Life After The Fall of Akarist
Tahquitz left from Heads of Cerberus to pursue Akarist in the American Southwest in 2011. This pursuit was a cat and mouse game until the penultimate encounter in 2018 as he finally subdued him and brought him to justice for stealing and destroying one of his people's most valued artifacts.
Before his return to Paragon City a few months later, his supergroup leadership disbanded forcing his former teammates to find other groups. Tim returned to the City with no place left to go. After learning of the fate of his friends, he found a supergroup in the want ads who had a vacancy... after his first radio mission with them he met Korbian, who became the reason to stay. They're still in the city, finding one adventure after another together.
Costumes
Default
Human
Fire
Ice
Incarnate Costume
Female Demon
Female Human
Powers & Weapons
Fire Blast/Ice Manipulation
Fire and Ice is Tahquitz's forte. While he's not a master of either power, the dual damage types allow him to exploit vulnerabilities in others with fire, while slowing the progress of high power villains using Ice. Tim does not need to be in demon form to use these powers, although he chooses to anyways. Inconsequential burn marks and frostbite forms on his arms and hands if he uses them for too long, which rapidly heal at rest and are much easier to hide as Tahquitz.
Flame Mastery
A frequent tactic of Tim's is to drop in on a group of villains, attack the minions at will, then allow the boss to knock him out. Using the techniques of the Phoenix, Tahquitz returns to battle to deliver justice in a very surprising way, turning the tables on the most elite of bosses.
Flight
As a raven demon, Tahquitz has developed his flight prowess to rival the top heroes in Paragon City at his young age. His Afterburner technique affords a 10 second boost of raw speed while flying.
Fitness
Tahquitz has a slim build and athletic physique. His physical prowess is that of an average teenager. He can run a mile, but is no cross country racer. He can stay in a fight for a while, but he's no Tank or Scrapper. One good hit and he's out cold.
Speed
While on the ground, Tahquitz is as fast as any other hero. His attack speeds can be temporarily boosted, but the duration is temporary.
Other Weapons
Tahquitz works with the Midnight Squad irregularly, and is often carrying an ancient or cursed weapon for certain missions. When in his demon form, most cursed weapons have no effect on him.
Misc. Abilities
Tahquitz has the ability to change his form at will in a simple form of shapeshifting. He has been known to change his appearance when necessary, sometimes for espionage and recon missions. Other times, it's to buy alcohol for his friends, or gain entry into clubs he's too young to enter. His voice also changes tonality when he does this, staying in a baritone range but able to flex or contract to deceive others about his age. He does have a female form, and it does come in very useful as subterfuge, but he's reluctant to use it as his voice and mannerisms need a lot of practice that he's not eager to pursue.
Concerning this trick, Tahquitz is limited to his own body mass to do so. While his appearance can vary his weight can never change. More muscular and powerful means becoming smaller, more speed means growing taller and thinner. Female means trading muscle for shape. Because of this, his physical prowess when shapeshifted depends on the form he takes. Except for his demon forms, shapeshifting also means bringing the necessary clothes to pull it off, so he doesn't do it often.
Associates and Acquaintances
- City of Heroes/Paragon Chat
- Paige Pirillo - adopted sister
- Seneca Thompson - the same, apparently.
- Rebecca MacAllister
Old RP
Old Roleplaying story from the Paragon Regulators website before the Wayback Machine lost most of the contents after GuildPortal closed up shop.
Meta
Tahquitz was the third hero that the player behind him made when he started out, with the first two being experiments stumbling into City of Heroes and making less than enjoyable choices on his initial MMO playstyle. After Tahquitz took off, he changed his global name to @Tahquitz from the more embarrasing prior global he used. (And more embarrasing than his Storium global, uninventiveheart.)
Initially Tahquitz was in Paragon Regulators, but later moved to Heads of Cerberus after the "dark ages" (2008 recession.)
Notes
- Tim Verne is known for having a irreverent sense of humor, which sometimes crosses paths with more by-the-book heroes.
- Tahquitz is technically a Construct, as he isn't human anymore. (Which makes him an excellent Circle of Thorns hunter, since they can't use a Spirit Thorn on him to eject his soul.) He began development as an Incarnate, but is still wet-behind-the-ears in that area.
- As a co-leader of Heads of Cerberus, Tahquitz's is partnered often with fellow co-leader as well as legal guardian, Ventus vis Vires.
- "The Praetorian Incident" above is based on a team wipe that actually occured. Tahquitz 'survived' by consuming all of his yellow blue and red inspirations, Hasten, and a Level-Up that rezzed him from death (this was all before he was able to get Rise of the Phoenix). The names were changed, the team was larger, and PulseFire was added, but it was the first time he defeated an Elite Boss Clockwork King unassisted from 100% to zero.
- In RP, Tahquitz is often written as an Ice/Fire Blaster, ignoring the Manipulation Secondaries. In doing this, as a way to balance such a preference, he is incapable of the Inferno or Blizzard Alpha Strikes when Tim Verne is in control. (See The Praetorian Incident above.) In game, there are two Tahquitz characters: one Ice/Fire, the other Fire/Ice.
