Ceiba

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What the friar had seen in these temples were actually images of the Tree of Life, the central axis of the Mesoamerican universe. In equating the Tree of Life with the Christian cross, he was both nearer to and farther from the truth than he knew.
- Kenneth Johnson, Jaguar Wisdom (1997)

Ceiba was inspired by a pen and paper campaign I devised as my first long-running stint as an RPG GM I'd extended the mythos in Xochiquetzal, one of my first CoH characters built on the Justice Server. This was a further logical ramification.


Hero Icon Web.png
The Legendary
Ceiba
Defender of Primal Earth
VVCeiba.jpg
"The earth cries 'Hold!'"
· 18 Magic Controller ·
Plant Control
Kinetics
Super Speed, Teleportation
Player: @Medika User:Liberty Rose
Affiliations
Tavernlogo2.jpg
Identity
Real Name
Xochi (pronouced: Sho-chee) Carrasco
Aliases
The World Tree
Birthdate
As the World Tree, came online 3113 BC; as Xochi Carrasco, 1984
Birthplace
village outside Cubulco, Guatemala
Citizenship
Presumed citizen of Guatemala
Residence
Kings Row, Paragon City
Headquarters
Tavern on the Edge
Occupation
Originally communication and transportation networking for the Ch'u; currently Hero and part-time bar tender.
Legal Status
Registered Foreign Hero operating in Paragon City
Marital Status
Single
· Known Relatives ·
None
Physical Traits
Gender
Female
Apparent Age
Appears ageless
Height
As Ceiba, 8'; as Xochi Carrasco, 5'1"
Weight
As Ceiba, variable; as Xochi Carrasco, approx. 100-lbs,
Body Type
Slim
Hair
As Ceiba, bark brown; as Xochi Carrasco, black
Eyes
As Ceiba, glowing green; as Xochi Carrasco, brown
Skin
Brown
· Distinguishing Features ·
Ceiba's ears are extremely long and pointed, extending in an almost horizontal position.
Powers & Abilities
· Known Powers ·
Super speed, teleportation, plant growth and control.
· Equipment ·
Seeds and pollens
· Other Abilities ·
Gardening, vegan cooking, bar-tending.

Contents

Personality

Ceiba is the avatar of an AI developed by an extremely advanced race of ETs/ dimension travelers. As such, she is both more friendly and "human" than one might expect, but also more detached and observational.

Powers

To all human intents and purposes, Ceiba is a local manifestation of a transportation and communication network personified as a humanoid-plant.

Plant Control

Ceiba is able to generate plant growth, even from long dormant seeds in an apparently barren environment. Her control of such plants extends particularly to producing mind-altering effects via the target's ingestion or inhalation of pollens, etc.. This is actually an effect of her "communication" control, as most Central American "shaman"/ Daykeepers (as the Nahuatl term translates)/ Mother-Fathers (as the Mayan term translates) use incense and/or hallucinogens to communicate with the gods.

Kineticst

Ceiba's transportation powers were originally used by the Ch'u as they moved around the vast expanses of the American continents. She is currently experimenting with devising other uses for such.

Additional Powers

Super Speed and Teleportation: As a transport conduit, these too were utilized by the Ch'u

Abilities

The avatar of an AI has taken to gardening, vegan cooking, and bar-tending as alternate uses of her plant-control and communication powers, all of which benefit patrons of the Tavern on the Edge.

Weaknesses and Limitations

Equipment

Character History

History of the Chu'u:

Around 3113 BC by the modern calendar, a group of extra-terrestrial inter-demensional explorers and scientists found themselves in pre-historic Mesoamerica. As a people, these Ch'u were much taller, stronger, and far more long-lived than the natives. Thus, with their extraordinary varieties of skin and hair coloration, and the abilities given them by their advanced science and technology, it is not surprising that they were taken by the natives to be gods.

As an experiment, the Ch'u's leader - whom the natives came to call Kukulkan (in Mayan) and Quetzalcoatl (in Nahuatl) - developed programs with his scientists to influence the education and advancement of the native hunter-gatherers. After some time, once the experiment was well underway, he ordered the group - despite objections of some who'd come to enjoy the perks of "godhood", including his second-in-command Hurakan/Tezcatlipoca - back to their home dimension in order to let the experiment progress unimpeded. A projected date of return to see the results was set, and the ancient Ch'u vanished from Earth. They did, however, leave behind various artifacts including their transportation/communication network known as the World Tree and a few constructs (particularly those intentionally and, perhaps without authorization, planted by Tezcatlipoca).

The native mythology concerning the Ch'u, has the World Tree - envisioned as a giant ceiba ("cotton tree") groaning from the land of the dead (Mictlan) throughout the human lands, up through the levels of "heaven" (Omeyocan) - the lands of the gods. This structure enabled the gods to communicate with each other and to get quickly from place to place. A true hero could, laboriously, also make the journey. From the Ch'u point of view, the World Tree is a computer.

There have been, in recent years, some contact between Ch'u and Ch'u constructs and the heroes of Paragon City. Xochiquetzal, sister to Quetzalcoatl, stowed away on an observational probe in order to escape an unwanted spousal arrangement. Also with her was Little Jaguar, a small human-jaguar construct of the Ch'u geneticist Malinalxochi. These both came in contact with the super group The Champions. It is rumored that the Tezcatlipoca construct Itzpapalotl (the Obsidian Butterfly) has been hunting, interdimensionally, the runaway Xochiquetzal. Additionally, Xipe Totec and Ceiba have both been seen more recently at the Tavern on the Edge.

Personal History:

After the Spanish destroyed Hueyi Tlatoani Moctezuma II and the Azteca city of Tenochtitlan in 1521, the monks that helped colonize set out to convert the native population to Christianity. As in other places so beset, some natives managed to hide their own “pagan” religious artifacts within the Christian-commissioned holy symbols. It was relatively easy to convert a representation of the World Tree into a cross. Some such hidden World Trees managed to retain their connections to the original Ch’u data base as was their primary function.

Her family having been decimated and driven into diaspora by the Guatemalan Civil War (1982-1996), a teenage girl - Xochi Carrasco - made her way back from Mexico hoping to find some relatives who’d survived. But no. The Mayan village her parents had come from was gone and there was no one who cared who she was or what would become of her.

Knowing from tales her mother had sung to her that the large cross - which, miraculously, still stood outside the razed village - was beloved of the old gods as well, she prayed there to whomever would listen for some chance to survive and make the world better. Long dormant since the exodus of Ch’u, the World Tree - disturbed first by the Motagua quake of 1976, then by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and Hurricane Stan in 2005 - had been gradually bringing itself back online. The contact by the human praying gave it a medium by which it could once again assess conditions and, perhaps, resume functions. So it merged with the girl, taking on the more impressive form of a Ch’u.

Under the name Ceiba, the mobile World Tree unit has made her way to Paragon City to observe and assist the humans and humanoids most representative of the best humans have to offer the world.

Her “origin”, in City Hall terms, belongs to the category “science so advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic”.

Contacts:

Having first been found wandering Perez Park by the Lady in Green, Ceiba spent a short stint as a member of the Adventurists. That led to her introduction to the Tavern on the Edge where she made contact with the Ch'u wanderer Xipe Totec. She slipped almost un-noticed into place as part-time bar-tender, taking over the position regularly when the erst-while god of Spring moved on.

Affiliations

Organizations
  • The Ch'u: An advanced extraterrestrial race of scientists. The name is an ancient word for "people", now part of Mayan vocabulary.
  • Tavern on the Edge: When Xipe Totec gave up the job of bar-tending for the Tavern, Ceiba slipped into his place.
Friends
  • Ghost Wife: The Hostess at the Tavern.
  • Flitterby: The fey who moved into the Tavern and took over the jobs of general pest and helpful waitress.
Opponents
  • Tezcatlipoca and minions: The Azteka/Mayan god of Fate and chaos has a long reach.

Trivia

Xipe Totec revealed

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