Zebra Malzahar Shi'ad (Ready)

[LordMorrowind]

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria

Name: Malzahar Shi'ad, of the Golden Sand.

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Zebra

Eye colour: Emerald Green

Coat: A mixture of black and white stripes, with permanent gold-ink markings on his torso and face.

Mane/Tail: A golden-dyed mane that is stylized in the form of multiple braids, and his tail similarly dyed and braided. Also has a short golden beard shaped into a fine point at the tip.

Physique: Average height and evenly muscled with a slim, dextrous body, it was shaped by the countless years spent in Saddle Arabia's many sand dunes.

Residence: No permanent settlement at the moment; travels across Equestria gathering powerful herbs and plants for his products and potions, as well as searching out leads on mythical alchemic artifacts.

Occupation: Alchemy in trade, Smithing in practice. Often uses a blend of both skills to sell high-quality metallic goods or the occasional alchemically-infused trinkets. Prefers to call himself a 'creature of science'. He sends most of money he earns back to his family in Saddle Arabia.

Cutie Mark: A black-coloured flask on his flank that symbolizes his love of alchemical sciences.

History: Born deep within the deserts of Saddle Arabia, Malzahar Shi'ad was raised amongst a family of merchants who traveled in caravans across the dunes. He led a relatively easy life, learning the skills of bartering and commercialism. Schooled by his elder siblings in trading and metal-working, he began to aid his father (a successful textile merchant) in running the family's numerous trades. Even though his life was relatively simple and quiet, there was always some danger hidden amongst the many dunes of Saddle Arabia, ranging from sand-pits to skirmishes between merchant guards and giant scorpions or vipers.

Malzahar had a relatively normal relationship with his parents, considering that he was a middle sibling. He was never the most influential part of his family, but he was content with that. One day, while his family was passing through a small border-town, he came across an aged zebra by the name of Haladin. The elder zebra called himself an 'alchemist', and showed Malzahar a few tricks of his trade. Watching the alchemist work amazed him, the science and art behind it all mesmerizing. Right before his family was about to move on toward their next stop, Haladin offered him an apprenticeship. Unable to refuse such an opportunity, Haladin rushed back to his parents for their blessing. At first they were hesitant, but before their departure they agreed and sent him towards his new life. For several years, Malzahar served as Haladin's young apprentice and aide at work and on several journeys. Learning the fine elements of chemistry, mathematics, and several other required sciences, he grew more and more skilled at the alchemic trade with each passing year. Finally, just short of adulthood, his apprenticeship came to an end, his mentor giving him a large book on Alchemy as a gift. Thanking Haladin for his teachings and his wisdom, Malzahar left to find his family after so many years.

After following many rumors and witnesses, he found his family once more deep within the Saddle Arabian desert. At first he was nervous; after all, he had been gone for several years, how would they react? His fears melted away though once he was with them once more and welcomed back with open hooves. As it happened, his family had been having a bit of a rough time due to the plummeting trade market, but they still led comfortable and normal lives. With his return and the addition of his alchemic items to their collection of goods, they once again returned to their status as a prosperous merchant caravan. One night while browsing through the tome his mentor gave him, Malzahar found a chapter concentrated on many different kinds of special artifacts which could perform all kinds of amazing alchemical feats. Intrigued by the possibilities, he bought more books associated with these artifacts, all of which after careful study pointed to the land he identified as Equestria. If so many sources from different cultures spoke of the same thing, there must be some semblance of truth, right? Bringing the evidence forward to his family, he proposed that he should seek the artifacts out and bring them back so that they and their descendants could live in the lap of luxury. His parents and grandfather spoke against such a risky and possibly dangerous adventure; after all, it was supposed to be only a legend. However, at the end of the meeting, his grandfather took him aside and handed him a few maps of Equestria and the paths to it. "Find them if you can, Malzahar." He said with a warm smile. "Every zebra has his dream...his legacy. I think this might be yours." Taking those words to heart, Malzahar left a note behind for his family, took his belongings, and departed for his new journey. He knew that if he could find answers anywhere, it'd be in Equestria, but most of all...at the Canterlot Royal Library.

Character Summary: Malzahar is a scientist at heart, and the science of Alchemy is his greatest specialty. He thinks himself a prodigy in his own field, due to his understanding of metals and the uses that can be applied with them. Very ambitious, Malzahar hopes to one day find such a collection of alchemic artifacts that he could open up a Museum of Alchemy. Even though this search takes up most of his time, he often finds some spare hours to seek out great pieces of art and architecture, and loves musical talent of all kinds. Some of Malzahar's greatest pet-peeves involve incompetence, ignorance, and most of all; arrogance.

While on the road during his travels, Malzahar loves to create trinkets and alchemically-enhanced clothing/armor to sell and present to towns and cities he passes through. Although he is skilled with a forge, hammer, and flask, he tends to fail in pursuits of true artwork, such as sculpting or painting, and even some of the more simple crafts such as woodworking and tailoring. His biggest weakness, however, is his ability to dance...which he possesses no skill in, although he desperately wants to. When around most other creatures, Malzahar is surprisingly friendly and even charismatic, although sometimes his views are often quite bizarre to most Equestrians. Although he prefers the company of fellow scientists and artists, he will socialize with almost anyone. Malzahar's greatest fear is whether his quest for the lost alchemic tools will ever prove fruitful, and if it doesn't, whether his life had been a waste of effort. Dwelling on this can sometimes lead him to sulk and shut himself away from outside contact.

[Bellosh]

Hello, and thank you for your interest in the RPs we provide at Canterlot. Just to give you a heads up, here's a summary of what we offer on this website:

World of Equestria - Character application required!

Canterlot's premiere roleplay, World of Equestria (or WoE/Mane RP) is a strict, structured game that mirrors the basic principles, rules, and continuity (canon) of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Characters here must pass a review process by our volunteer staff to be deemed acceptable for play in this area. This game also features players that play Cast from FiM.

Free for All - No application required.

Free for All is an area designated for any character, and anything you can dream. This is a good place to test new character concepts, story ideas, and to meet new and interesting players. Mature content must go in the 18+ sub-section.

​

From what I see of your WiP so far, substantial edits will have to be made before it can be accepted into World of Equestria. If you change your OC's RP Type to Free for All however, no changes will be required and you'll be able to use your character as you envision without being constrained by WoE's strict standards.

[LordMorrowind]

I understand. However, I'd like to make an attempt to make this character WoE-Acceptable. I am willing to make any edits required in order to make this application work. I am thankful, however, that you took the time to advise a new member such as myself.

[Bellosh]

In that case, the most glaring issue with your app revolves around how much of your OC's history is dominated by the death of someone else and the effects of it. WoE aims to emulate the slice-of-life mood of Friendship is Magic as closely as possible, so we can't allow characters with excessively-tragic backstories. The illness and death of your OC's mentor shouldn't play such a large role in his history at all; instead, explain his wanderings as a necessity of his occupation or something to that effect.

Another thing I have to mention is that you can't create any original lore concerning locations and groups that have not been introduced into WoE yet. You are free to mention that your OC's homeland is Saddle Arabia, but you shouldn't go in-length to describe the traditions of its inhabitants when such things haven't been officially decided upon at this time. Therefore, I ask that you amend your backstory to only describe things like how he got along with his family and local community, and other things of that general nature.

Lastly, WoE is not a RP where magic artifacts and spells run rampant, so I have to ask that you remove all references to your OC creating a Philosopher's Stone. No characters in WoE should have the ability to make such a powerful device, least they become overpowered, and thus such stones should remain the province of myths and legends. And just to let you know beforehand, your OC shouldn't be in possession of one anyway; again because of OP concerns. If you want your character to seek a Philosopher's Stone, RP for it. ^_^

I wish you the best of luck with this app, and if you follow my advice, we can get it stamped in no time! I'll be awaiting what you add in your character summary.

[LordMorrowind]

Excellent. Thank you for pointing out those flaws. I'll have them fixed ASAP.

[LordMorrowind]

Finished. Sorry for the delay .

[Bellosh]

I see, hehe! This app is very much an improvement from what you've had before. However, there are new things I need to address:

You see, we really can't have your OC's family become all destitute and blame him for it. Part of making sure that characters fit in WoE is ensuring that just like with FiM, they don't possess backstories that cast them as victims. Your OC's family doesn't have to be the most well-off one ever, but it shouldn't be used as an excuse to provide angst for your character. Instead of trying to think of how hard your OC had it, try setting him apart by thinking more about his unique personality attributes and amusing quirks.

As for your OC's quest for the Philosopher's Stone, I have to ask just what makes him so dead-set on finding one when he's not sure of its existence? Why doesn't he simply send some money back to his family if they need financial assistance? I'm just saying that if your OC cannot be assured of finding the Stone, then the logical thing for him to do IMO is to not waste excessive time finding the relic.

Finally, what sort of ponies does Malzahar like to be around with? What ponies annoy him? Why are his views odd to other ponies? Since the bulk of RPs in WoE is spent in slice-of-life interactions with other ponies, it's important that personality details are fleshed out as much as possible.

At any rate, I can say that you're making good progress so far. ^_^

[LordMorrowind]

Hmm...I see your points there. I'll try to address everything, but I'm currently doing all of this from a mobile phone; thus, there is only a certain amount of information I can put on there because of a unmentioned script-limit , but as I said, I'll certainly try.

[LordMorrowind]

Edits done. I hope this works better, all happy, motivational, and other stuff that's warm and cozy

[starswirlthebearded]

Hey there! There seems to be some confusion regarding the status of the Philosopher's Stone. And as the site's very own Hohenheim of Light, I feel like I'm probably the best person to tackle this issue.

Though we know magical items exist, we don't know what they are, how they function, or if they can or might match our real world legendary items (like the Philosopher's Stone). Due to this, the mere mention of the stone is not suitable for our RP. We aren't ready to allow the creation of lore through apps either. Any mystic item would be RPed for, and chances are, doesn't exist. This is especially so for an extremely powerful item like the Philosopher's Stone. It is an OP item. So suggesting it is real, and thus creating the lore would not be allowed.

Now! You do have an option! Which would be to remove all references to the actual name of the stone, and make it vague. Perhaps state that his goal is to find a mythical alchemic item, of some fabled power. Again this would all be MYTHICAL AND FABLED. No where in your app should you suggest any item like that actually exists. (Again this goes back to reservations of lore creation within apps) It is fine if your character wishes to pursue items of legend, but always keep it in reason.

Your app is about your character, not the World of Equestria. That is where your focus should lie. Adding things about the world around him is never a good idea. Keep everything simple, and if it hasn't been in the show, keep it vague, or play it safe and try to tell your character's story without it. Now, in this case, I realize that isn't possible to remove that entirely. However keeping it vague should work nicely!

I hope this helps, and good luck!

[LordMorrowind]

Edited once more, Mr. Starswirl.

[RarityDash]

I'm still seeing one direct mention of the Philosopher's Stone in the character summary, and as Starswirl explained that's probably best not named in the text of the app.

The rest of it looks good though, so remove that and I should be able to award this a stamp.

[LordMorrowind]

I found and fixed that last piece of information. Woot! Also, nice FMA reference, Starswirl :3 brohoof /)

[RarityDash]

Excellent. I think it checks out now. Pretty cool character.

[LordMorrowind]

Thank you all very much for your insight and aid. Never would have done it without you