Earth Pony Heartwood (WoE - Ready)

[Elderflower]

Roleplay Type: World of Equestria

Name: Heartwood, Heart to friends and family.

Sex: Male

Age: Young stallion

Species: Earth Pony

Eye colour: Chartreuse

Coat: Old gold in colour, Heartwood’s coat is very coarse and matte, and is almost always sprinkled with sawdust and wood shavings. This is a look he jokingly likes to call Carpentry Chic (which is accented well by his tawny coloured cowboy hat)!

Mane/Tail: His mane and tail are milk chocolate in colour and very thick. The hair is coarse and rather unruly most of the time – Heart can’t be bothered by appearances. His mane is cut just short enough to keep it from being a nuisance to him and his tail is much the same. Despite the lack of care he shows towards maintaining his mane and tail, however, both are obviously very healthy.

Physique: Tall and quite muscular from years of carpentry. He’s quite a sturdy fellow!

Residence: Appleloosa.

Occupation: Heartwood is a carpenter whose specialty lies in making furniture that ranges from practical to whimsical. He’s an absolute whiz when it comes to woodwork, and though the majority of his work is very basic and functional to fit his commissions he has a striking talent for intricacy and elegance when it comes to furniture. By word of mouth he has received a humble few commissions outside Appleloosa from ponies with more luxurious and indulgent tastes, though not nearly enough to satisfy his thirst for whimsy.

Cutie Mark: The cross-section of a tree in the shape of a heart. Here’s a visual reference from alhovik of 123RH:

Heartwood is the eldest son of a large family of agricultural ponies who have a penchant for growing root vegetables. Growing up, he learned to love and tend to the earth from their parents, who actually moved to Appleloosa from Fillydelphia when they realized they dreamed of a more hardy and adventurous lifestyle.

From a very early age, Heart knew he liked working with his hooves – he loved to get down and dirty and never shied away from chores or hard work, and was always eager to help his parents around their farm. He did his best to share his passion and knowledge with his siblings (of which he had two during this stage of his life), whom he loved fiercely. Just like his family, Heartwood was always convinced that his cutiemark would come early for him and revolve around farming, but he was actually the last of his age group in town with a blank flank. This baffled his parents, who recognized that their son was a capable farmer and expect his mark to come early as well, since he was always working on the farm.

When Heart graduated from small chores to real, hard labour his father had taught him how to whittle. Whittling quickly became a source of comfort for the colt: something he turned to when he was frustrated or sad to vent any of his negative emotions. Needless to say, the longer he went with a blank flank the more he turned to his whittling, creating vast arrays of small figures and settings. During this time his newest baby sister was being rather difficult for his parents – always waking up in the middle of the night crying. Neither he, his parents, nor his sister Taproot knew why, but Tulipwood seemed to grow increasingly stressed during the nighttime. It seemed the only time Tulip could be at ease was when she was beneath the tulip trees in their yard that she was named for.

Seeing how drawn out his parents were from their lack of sleep, Heart concocted a plan. The colt had a basic understanding of carpentry from his father, as it was an extremely handy trade to grasp in an agricultural lifestyle, so he decided to take some of the tulipwood lumber from their yard to build a new cradle for his sister – one that smelled of her favourite spot that he would whittle into the shape of swaying trees.

That was his plan, at least. What he made was a reasonably sturdy cradle with crude attempts at tree-shapes in the beams; it was very evidently crafted by a young pony, but Heart was proud of what he had made. He rushed to find his parents when it was finished, and though he was initially disappointed when they told him his cradle, despite how lovely and generous a gift it was, was not quite strong enough for them to be comfortable with it supporting Tulip. The loving couple did, however, help their crestfallen son disassemble his work in order to fashion it into decoration they could attach to the sides of their daughter’s cradle.

When they did, the newborn foal seemed to feel at ease immediately, surrounded by the roughly-shaped forest of tulip trees. After mere moments she fell asleep, just as the sun was setting – something miraculous for the overtired family. In that moment, Heartwood’s cutiemark appeared, and his love for building and creating with wood has been growing since.

History: Heartwood had a rather simple upbringing. His parents were always very gentle ponies, a trait which they passed on to most of their children. His earliest memories were of long days spent with his mother on the farm, where she balanced helping her husband work and teaching her son to love the earth. These early memories aren’t quite so defined, however; his mother told him where they come from, but all Heart recalls is the feel of freshly turned soil, warm from the sunlight as he pressed his hooves deep into it. Other small moments are in there as well – the sharp scent of a parsnip that he stepped on and cracked, the lonely clank of his father’s hoe striking a rock, and a bright pang from his first bee sting. In many ways, the carpenter feels as though these early memories were the guiding stars of his youth: tactile, humble, and very still.

His life grew very busy as he grew older hower, from a combination of more siblings entering the family and his need to balance his carpentry apprenticeship with helping on the always-growing farm. In those years, Heartwood was always clinging to those early memories of his (as well as his woodwork) for comfort and patience. He wasn’t under constant stress, though. On the contrary, Heart loved and found great comfort in every aspect of his life – the chores, his learning, and guiding his younger brothers and sisters. He took every obstacle in stride and made sure to learn from everything that happened to him and his family.

It was with great difficulty that he eventually decided to move away from the farm. Though he would still be nearby in Appleloosa, being with his family defined a great deal of who he was. All of his patience, charisma, creativity, and sense of fun and play seemed to come from the many hardships and joys of being an older brother. It was a choice that had to be made, however. The stallion was driven to push forward in his woodworking career. He wanted to build his own house and shop and make his name one that was respected in and beyond Appleloosa. So that is just what he did. With some of his siblings helping him with the grunt work, Heartwood began to construct his furniture store with a home attached. The exterior of his new home was very practical and fit the Appleloosan image quite well, but the interior was where his talents truly shined. A vast array of furniture from basic and practical designs to purely decorative pieces of whimsy lined his shop, which smells strongly of linseed and tung oils and wood.

Heart is freshly moved into his new home, and is currently making a living off of doing construction work and commissions for folks around Appleloosa. Through word of mouth, a few commissions have begun to trickle in from more luxurious ponies outside his hometown who are interested in his artful furniture. He’s hoping to make pieces that truly shine, and make a respectable name for himself throughout Equestria.

Character Summary: Heartwood is a stallion of simple tastes. He loves his work, his parents’ farm, root vegetables, his mother’s cooking, and his family. Being the oldest child in a big family, he’s a natural leader (and mediator) and has an endless reserve of energy and patience. He loves comedy, though his attempts at humour really leave something to be desired. Although he’s not an extremely chatty fellow, he has natural charm and charisma that make him a very personable individual.

That said, he’s not just one perfect slice of sugar pie. Heartwood is extremely stubborn and set in his ways. On top of that, he’s got a terrible one-track mind: once he throws himself into something he is consumed by it. Though he loves his family, he is prone to immersing himself so much in his work that he will actually go days, sometimes even weeks without communicating with them, not realizing that any time has passed at all. Despite all of this energy he throws into his woodworking and trying to make a name for himself, though, Heart is bashful to a fault. He can’t stand the idea of praising himself or being arrogant, and as such he is limiting himself in how much he can sell his business to others. Though his work can often speak for itself, when it comes to trying to get business from outside Appleloosa, his shy streak can make him a rather unconvincing salespony.

Understanding Heart is very easy: he is friendly, generous, and hardworking with a strong sense of loyalty. If you show him and his family respect, you’ll make a fast friend out of him. If you try to change his mind about something, well...good luck. You'll need it!

[RarityDash]

Your applications are always so good. Keep up the amazing work.