Unicorn Writ Phillipe (Final)

[Halide]

Name: Writ "Storyteller" Phillipe

Sex: Male

Age: Elderly stallion

Species: Unicorn

Pelt Color: "Salt and Pepper"

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Long, slightly wavy silver tail and mane with traces of black

Eye Color: Aquamarine

Cutie Mark: An open book with a dreamcatcher on the pages

Physique: Fairly tall, fairly thin

Origin: Canterlot

Roleplay Type: Mane

Occupation: Storyteller

Motivation: Keeping both himself and others entertained in his old age through the use of stories, though teaching younger ponies about some of life's lessons is also something he enjoys.

Likes: Stories, attentive listeners, adventures, happy endings

Dislikes: Giving up, ruining the story, boasters, being called a creepy old stallion

Character Summary:

Writ is a travelling storyteller, pulling along his cart from city to city, setting his tent up along major roads now and again. Anypony can walk in, but once they do, they may be in for an experience unlike any other. Writ is a Unicorn, and though he only knows a few spells, one of them has been very well-practised and has become quite popular - a spell that controls and joins the dreams of other ponies.

It is this spell that Writ uses most often, and it is this that he often uses to tell stories, placing his 'listeners' as the protagonists of the story, letting them truly become the ponies of the old tales of adventure and heroism. Not that he would do this to an unwilling audience - for that matter, as soon as somepony tries to wake up, they are almost always able to. There are smelling salts and spells for the ones that have trouble otherwise. Still, his manner of 'storytelling' is far more involved, both for him as the storyteller and for the listeners and the protagonists, than the usual campfire tale. Writ can, of course, simply narrate a story normally, but much prefers his way of doing things, as to him it provides so much more depth and so much more fun than simply listening to an old stallion talk. But, he realizes he is getting old, and he only has so many stories left to tell, so he has also taken to writing his stories down for future generations, while looking for a talented unicorn to learn his spells.

His life started long, long ago in Canterlot. As he's raised 5 foals of his own, 23 grandfoals among them, and so far 3 great-grandfoals among -them-, he feels reasonably accomplished with his bloodline. Not that any of his family have really had his talents for dream-mastery spells, as much as a few of them have attempted to learn. But, of all his family, he lives with none of them; his wife, a mare several years his senior, has passed on, thus leaving him alone. With no ties, but still a small bit of spring in his step, he has decided to travel, meeting whomever he happens to meet, spending the money from selling his home on his expenses as he goes. It's an adventure, of sorts, as far as he is concerned. Though, as far as he is concerned, the stories he offers are much more interesting than his wandering his last years about Equestria.

As a foal, and later as a colt, Phillipe's life remained fairly mundane – a unicorn born to a unicorn mother and father in Canterlot, their first of five children, and one of two sons. His father, a gem-cutter, and his mother, a teacher; he was raised in a fairly well-to-do environment, and was afforded the magical education his parents could provide. Though he was a bit quieter than his brothers and sisters, he nonetheless got along with them easily enough, spending time with them when their parents were busy, acting as something of a baby-sitter and teacher for his youngest two siblings, as any eldest sibling might. However, the time which he found he was appreciated most was when it was time for a story; in this, he surpassed his father in availability, but with practise, so too did he surpass his father in emphasis, explanation, and entertainment. As time went on, his stories started seeming more tangible, he and his siblings able to get a more vivid idea of the story, as though they could see glimpses of what it would be like to actually be there. Soon enough, Phillipe started dreaming of these stories, vividly, and quickly found he could control them – upon waking up one morning, this gave him an idea. If he could control these stories, in his dreams, perhaps somepony else could too – and what better way for a unicorn to experiment than with magic!

And so, Phillipe began to understand his capabilities better – research, study and experimentation started to come into his storytimes, which initially made them more boring, as far as his older siblings were concerned. With time, though, progress began; he began with basic hypnosis spells, being able to talk to somepony in their sleep. From there, he worked on dream spells, slowly being able to shape and influence a sleeper's dreams. Storytime was becoming exciting again, at least to his youngest brother and sister. There were backfires, of course, such as nightmares and restless nights. But, with time and practise, Phillipe slowly brought his idea to fruition; one night, there was abruptly no storytime from the oldest brother. There was simply going to sleep – but it was then that the story began. It was crude, simple, and short, but it was a successful start. Phillipe woke to a cutiemark on his flank – thus encouraged, he began to refine his art, making the magic of dreams his field of study throughout the rest of his school career.

As a stallion – a much younger stallion – Phillipe was a bold, outspoken pony. He adored speeches, though he gave few of his own. He engrossed himself in the more virtuous shades of personality – courage, honour, bravery, integrity, honesty. He loved the classic 'hero', the champion, and though he knew he wasn't particularly cut out to be such a stallion, he still tried to portray some of the personality involved, simply because he felt that being a generous, honest, upstanding citizen was simply the right sort of thing to do. It didn't hurt that he had a love for hamming it up a bit here and there, either. However, though this was certainly a hobby of his, it was not really his specialty – after all, so many ponies enjoy tales of heroism.

But, as he grew older, he fell in love, and thus lost some of the theatrics. He raised his first foal, and learned to be cautious. He raised a family of foals, and learned to be humble. He lost a colt, and learned to be sombre. He watched his mares and stallions move out, and he learned to take the beaten road. He watched his children have children, and he learned how to share his wisdom. And, with time, his wife said her final goodbye to the world, and he learned to love the past a little more than the present or the future. Perhaps he would have been a hero, had he been bolder or stronger. Instead, he spoke of heroes, and he offered other ponies a chance to be heroic in various stories, and as he grew up, he realized that he was far more satisfied with being a storyteller than a story character.

He now spends his time as a nomad, wandering the main roads between the major cities, often showing up whenever or wherever festivals may be held, and simply choosing his own route at any other times, taking his wagon with him wherever he travels. Sometimes, he chooses to set up his tent and entertain whoever might be interested, and other times he simply watches the modern-day lifestyle and appreciates the changes around him. Perhaps he will settle in a small apartment someday, perhaps not.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

How is this application coming along? If you need some points, the staff can ask you questions to help expand the character and/or discover something you may have left out.

[Halide]

Will come up with an update soon, have been rather busy due to programming assignments and other madness. It's okay to give him a 'family' of non-canon characters that haven't been actually written up thus far, right?

[MyLittlePonyTales]

Yes, you can totally name NPC members of the family in the application. You don't have to app them. But, if you want any of them to have a significant place in the RP, then you'll of course need to app them.

[BlindJester]

How is this app coming along?

[MyLittlePonyTales]

If a comment is not made saying you would like to keep this character, it will be locked for deletion in 5 days.

[Halide]

Okay edited it a bit, still working on it. Cutiemark I'll do tomorrow morning.

[Dessa]

Loved this guy in the chat RP. The old, wise dude, with a passion for instructing the young. It's a very original concept, as we don't see so many older ponies. Can't wait to see him approved.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

How is this Application coming along?

[Halide]

I'll finish it up as soon as I come up with a cutiemark story that isn't horribly boring

RE:EDIT

Okay, did that, how's it look?

[SunsetSombra]

Looking pretty strong as an app there, at least with regards to the background and character - I don't see any real GLARING issues, but no doubt there's something easily overlookable that I'm not seeing in the reams of awesomely constructed text!

Barring anything like that, I like it.

[brianblackberry]

I dig him; he has a pretty creative set of unicorn powers, not too powerful and set all around his special talent. I also dig his backstory.

For Great Justice

[Skye]

This seems a lot like something similar that Skye can do. I think it could be interesting to see those two get into a 'Story battle' together. Cooperated storytelling can be a lot of fun, I've done it before, one of these days I would love to do one with you.