Alpinist
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
| |
| aka Frostybuns | |
| Alpinist | |
| Player: @sadronmeldir | |
| Origin: | Science |
|---|---|
| Archetype: | Blaster |
| Security Level: | 50 |
| Personal Data | |
| Real Name: | Thomas Jon Surace |
| Known Aliases: | None |
| Species: | Human |
| Age: | 34, but technically 77 (He went missing in 1963) |
| Height: | 6'2" |
| Weight: | 180lbs |
| Eye Color: | Blue |
| Hair Color: | Blonde |
| Biographical Data | |
| Nationality: | American |
| Occupation: | CEO |
| Place of Birth: | Philadelphia, PA |
| Base of Operations: | Paragon City, RI |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Known Relatives: | Tom Surace(future-self) SubGlacial and Sub-Glacial(granddaughters) |
| Known Powers | |
| Ice Manipulation and Immortality | |
| Known Abilities | |
| Ice Control | |
| Equipment | |
| n/a | |
| Footnotes | |
| None | |
Alpinist was my first character on Virtue. He was a longtime member of the RP super group The Silver Guard and the RP coalition The Shield of Paragon. Afterward, he became the founder of Surace Enterprises. Currently, he's rejoined some old friends in the Codex.
Contents |
Personality
Though Tom's had a rough time recently, he's still a pretty easy-going guy. He jokes constantly and is never too tired to crack an ice pun. He usually avoids being the one in charge, and would rather focus on the fighting rather than the leading. In spite of that, anyone familiar with Tom's work with the Longbow or Surace Enterprises can vouch that he can aptly lead when the need arises.
Powers
Tom may not be the most powerful hero in Paragon, but he can handle himself well enough in a fight.
Ice Manipulation
Thanks to a genetic mutation which seems to run in the Surace family, Tom has the ability to cool the air around him and to manipulate ice as it forms. For crime fighting, it's his bread and butter. He uses the ice to hold enemies and hurl chunks at them like many heroes do, but also has somewhat rarer control which allows him to slick the ground to increase his speed and to coverhimself in ice for added protection.
Immortality
Thanks to a magical creature the Tom discovered in the Alps, he has been blessed (some might say cursed) with long life. He will never, ever die of old age and his ability to heal is above the norm. He can be killed like any other man, but baring that he'll be everlasting.
Abilities
Since he'd been frozen from 1963 to 2007, Tom doesn't have many abilities to offer up asside from his natural talents. Still, he's made a few connections since awakening that come in handy.
The Longbow
Tom's heavily invested in the Longbow and is on their payroll. He spends a good deal of time teaching the new recruits and has begun to befriend some of the mid-level employees of the organization. As such, he can occasionally get some information about a person or file that may otherwise have been closed to him.
Surace Industries
Though Tom himself knows next to nothing about technology, he was the CEO and public figurehead of Surace Industries. Though he sold the company, he keeps the secret facilities and has no shortage of finances. He still keeps in touch with many of his old teammates from those days.
Character History
His Mutation
Unbeknownst to Tom, his ice powers laid dormant most of his life. Almost half of the Surace family line all have the ability to control ice, though most never realize it. The powers only become active once the person is exposed to extreme heat or cold. As such, Tom would have most likely never discovered his powers, had it not been for one fateful trip into the Alps.
Stuck in Ice
Back in 1963, Tom was a photographer for the National Geographic. He was part of a team of four who set out to take pictures of the Mont Blanc, a mountain in the French Alps. During the expedition, they found an old temple and were trapped inside when the entrance caved in. Just when they thought they'd freeze to death, a spirit of the mountain known as the White Lady appeared. Though powerless to free them from their imprisonment, she granted the four immortality so that they live long enough to be freed. Rescue, however, never came.
Thawed
In January of 2007, Crey got wind of a spirit on Mont Blanc that was rumored to have the ability to grant eternal life. They scoured the mountain looking for her, but in the end found nothing but a temple devoted to the spirit, as well as the four travellers inside. The Crey saw that despite being trapped in the ice, the people were still alive. They brought them back to paragon for further study.
Tom would have been trapped there for study, but fortunately fate intervened. A hero by the name of Mr. Attitude attacked the lab where Tom was held, and the two escaped. It was during the getaway that Tom first realized his powers had emerged.
Unfortunatly, Tom was the only one of his photography team that was rescued. He vowed revenge on Crey Industries and everything it represented. With his former life lost and his friends imprisoned, he had nothing to lose. Doning the alias "Alpinist", he began hunting for his friends.
Silver Guard
It quickly became clear to Tom that he had neither the contacts or resources to find his friends. He needed allies, so he joined The Silver Guard. With their help, he was able to track down his lost friends. Though they weren't able to save them, the Guard helped Tom fight for something more than just revenge. He decided to continue fighting crime as a full-time member of the Silver Guard.
Longbow Service
In an attempt to save a hero's (Maggie Blossom's) life, Tom murdered a villain in cold blood. For a time, it seemed as though he'd be arrested for the crime. It was eventually decreed that he would pay for the crime by working part-time for the Longbow. Eventually, Tom and the Longbow began to work together willingly. He now teaches seminars for them on a semi-regular basis in return for the occasional odd favor.
Family Ties
A few months after Tom had joined the Guard, a set of young women approached him, claiming to be his granddaughters. Apparently, Tom's former wife from the 1960's had been with child when he was lost. The two 19 year-olds, Aurora and Sierra Surace, have the same ability to control ice that he has. Sierra has her grandfather's more powerful, direct control over ice while Aurora's powers are more more refined and subtle.
Message from the Future
Recently, Tom received quite a shock when his future-self traveled back through time with a warning: the world ends in 2030. The future Tom Surace comes from a time after the Rikti wars when a new galactic threat emerges that threatens man, Rikti, Nictus and Kheldian alike. To stop this threat, the future Tom believes events need to be altered in the past.
Surace Enterprises
Together, Tom and his future self formed an organization known as Surace Enterprises. On the surface, the company used some of the lesser techonolgy Tom had brought back from the future to improve the lives of Paragon's citizens. This helps finance the organization's real purpose: to stop the threat from the future.
With the new Rikti war already having begun, the Alpinist dropped from the Silver Guard to fully devote his time to stopping the impending destruction of mankind. He assembled a small group of heroes as a personal task force to train for the events to come.
Unfortunately, his meddling made him some formidable enemies. In a series of coordinated attacks, nearly half the team was killed, including his niece and his future self.
Reborn
Devastated, Tom retired. He vowed to live his life normally with his wife, Ice Tomb. Unfortunately, fate had other plans.
His old teammates, Julie Burton, Tipscout and Phaize called on him. Phaize had been assembling a new team which had been attacked by what appeared to be the same group that had destroyed his own. Vowing revenge, Tom joined the fight. However, he paid a terrible price. Unable to stand idly by while he he went off to battle, Ice Tomb left him. To this day, he doesn't know where she is, but hopes she can forgive him.
OOC Notes
- Alpinist was my first main. I had originally created the character and played CoH as part of a school project. He was my first-ever attempt at RP and I liked it enough that I keep playing the game years later.
- I did not roll a single alt until Alp was 50.
- His latest build soft-caps his ranged defense. Blasting has never been so fun.
