Unicorn Mirthbane [Final]

[Halide]

Name: Mirthbane

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species: Unicorn

Pelt Color: Coal black

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: Long, shaggy, dirty white

Eye Color: Emerald green

Cutie Mark: Herbs in a conical flask

Physique: Athletic

Origin: Canterlot

Roleplay Type: Mane

Occupation: Herbologist

Motivation: Discovery, study, remaining a useful part of scientific progress,

Likes: Discovery, cleverness, insight, discussion, debate

Dislikes: Celestia, blind faith, stagnation, high-pitched noises

Character Summary:

Mirthbane is, for the most part, a hermit, and a voluntary one at that. Not that being grouchy and lonesome are considered his 'special talent', but he still seems to succeed at these. The reason for his exile is fairly simple : he has very little respect for the Celestian rule that has control over Equestria, and he let this control his disposition towards those around him. He feels that she has every intention of remaining ruler of Equestria, with little in the way of checks or balances to her power, without any real plan for sharing of her power through bloodlines or abdication, without much room for somepony to become a major player in equestrian politics, and he feels that worst of all that she has something of a 'cult of personality' over Equestria - her name is part of common parlance, her image is found on the currency, she has monuments all over Equestria, and she is often shown as being a fairly major part of Equestrian history. Whether this is correct or not, it is what he believes to be true, and hence he has decided to live outside of the major population centres, exiling himself in a small stone underground hideaway in the Everfree forest.

Born to a somewhat simple mother, and a fairly down-to-earth father; both unicorns, both of them fairly proud of their own lives. An easy existence, though they lived somewhat poorly. He was a third child, with two sisters before him, both fairly normal. His father was quite happy to find out he hadn't a third daughter, once he saw Mirthbane for himself. The midwife and the mother had nearly mistaken him for a daughter, the mother immediately naming him 'Birthmane' in her confusion. However, this failed to stick once the matter of his gender was sorted out, and he took on the name 'Cloudmane' instead.

A fairly normal childhood lead to a normal education in Canterlot – he turned out to be better at magic than his sisters, again to his father's happiness. His mother was happy for him, too, but it was always hard to tell if she was happy -about- something, or just being herself. But, in spite of his talents, he was nothing unique nor above and beyond the bell curve – near the upper end of it, yes, but not much beyond it. Still, it was enough to earn him respect and recommendations into the more advanced classes in school.

His cutiemark, he got in what had been called 'variety class'. An experiment by the teachers, trying to get students to try a large number of things, self-motivated and slightly counselled, in order to see if students could figure out our vocations faster. Though the class had a somewhat mediocre success rate, it still helped a number of the more academically-inclined ponies find their talents. As it turned out, he had a knack for understanding the properties of various plants, both chemical and magical, and as such ended up with his cutiemark - a flower in a conical flask. It seemed that alchemy was what he was best at, and quite frankly he rather enjoyed the subject.

But that aside, as good a student he was, he was also a lousy classmate. He made very few friends, with either teachers or other students. He was described by his classmates as rude, grouchy, and disrespectful, while his professors often described him as solitary, unsympathetic, and at times arrogant. This made him no friends with his classmates - he was an arrogant upstart, full of bluster, cold-shouldered colt, distant to anypony he didn't like, and he was well aware of it. But, dislike him as they might, none of them could fault his academic abilities. It got to the point where he was even accused of plagiarism, out of spite from a group of classmates who simply wanted him to stop acting like he was better than those around him. Knowing this to be a false accusation, however, he fought it and showed through ink analysis that the document he had been accused of 'copying' was possibly newer than his own work. Though his innocence would be nearly impossible to prove, there was also evidence that he wasn't definitely guilty, and so the accusation went unresolved.

Of course, in school you learn more than just what happens to be pertaining to one's cutiemark. History classes were where he started noticeably separating from the proverbial herd, with political studies following shortly thereafter. Every week, another antagonizing discussion with the teacher, practically interrogating the poor stallion as to just how much the recounts given by the Celestian libraries could be trusted to give an unbiased account. It was there he started really questioning authority, and there that his whole run of splitting from the common herd started. It got worse, from there - he simply dropped out of history and social sciences altogether, asking the school to simply set him as 'withdrawn' as he felt that he could not believe in what was being taught, which left a worrying stain on his otherwise fairly strong academic records, one which would later bar him from the finer universities in Equestria. It wasn't long after that he joined the Lunar Rebellion – or, at least, a group of clandestine and largely riotous younger ponies who called themselves such. They weren't really pro-Luna as much as they were anti-authority, and as such had little organization or brains behind the following. He quickly found that he didn't much fit in with he group, but it was there that he found companionship, in a few ways. It was amongst this group that he decided upon his 'new' name, as per the rest of the group's coming up with names that weren't entirely orthodox. Out of his own amusement, he decided upon a portmaneu of what he'd been almost named, going by the moniker of 'Mirthbane' rather than putting up with 'Cloudmane' amidst his peers - a name he never really felt fitting, apart from the colour of his mane.

After graduating... well, that's when things starting catching up with him. Due to his student records and his troublesome background, nopony would give him a worthy line of credit, nor a loan, and hence he found himself unable to afford the education for the credentials he thought fitting for his abilities. He started living in rather meagre spaces, considering it somewhat abhorrent, almost as though as the conditions were there to spite his intellect. He had difficulty holding down work while trying to earn enough to pay for what he considered to be his "rightful" certification as an alchemist. Not that those responsible for employment didn't give him a chance - he managed to land himself a number of different jobs, though his ability to keep them was lacking. Those jobs which had him working with customers often went sour quickly, as he let his feelings of disdain effect his moods. He was often unenthusiastic about his work, and from time to time might be overheard muttering rather unflattering comments concerning those around him. Some employers tried to be patient and understanding, while others simply didn't think he fit in with the workplace - and indeed, he didn't. He hadn't the resume or the connections to get a job that would normally require proper certification, and so he was reliant on his own dwindling resume for employment.

Eventually he became so frustrated with his marginal employment that he left Canterlot entirely, deciding to run off to make his own findings and publications. He figured that he could do just as well in the wilderness of Equestria, in terms of making discoveries - even without the advanced education that he had failed to properly afford. However, rather than simply attempt to learn entirely on his own, he used the money he'd normally saved for rent on used textbooks and equipment, affording him a small set of tools and instruments with which to educate himself – this aside, he's also guilty of having 'borrowed' a number of textbooks from a handful of libraries that he has either copied entirely or has no real intention of returning, adding to his collection of references. After a quick burst of petty larcernry and intentional financial irresponsibility - a boost in capital to make his hermithood all the less inconvenient - he left, changing his name to the nickname he'd selected for himself, finding 'Mirthbane' to be somewhat more fitting for his usual demeanor.

His decision on where to try and find somewhere to live was based on both research and myth - he'd heard of the Everfree forest in the manner that most ponies had, as a place that generally inspired fear and was thus to be avoided, but he'd also done some research. He knew of some of the tales surrounding the forest, some of which piqued his curiosity to some extent, but he had also read about some of the species found there, which truly caught his interest. He felt that there, more than most places, he would likely be able to find more potent and perhaps more undiscovered species to work with than in most other undomesticated areas, and given the presence of some of the ruins rumored to be there, he felt there might be some chance of finding the materials to construct some form of shelter. As for his current residence, that was sheer luck - the basement of an old, insignificant and forgotten watchtower, the wooden surface structure having long since rotted away, leaving only a mostly-buried shelter beneath it - not that Mirthbane is entirely aware of the history behind his refuge.

As for the present, he spends much of his time practising both magic and alchemy, relying largely on flora found in and around the Everfree forest for both food and resources. He will, every few weeks, venture back into one of the various cities for various reasons – for small amounts of income, he provides herbs and/or mixtures to some of the smaller shops, and when he thinks he's found something worthwhile, he'll attempt to approach certain professors with his research, though this is rather rare. The money he makes isn't enough to afford a normal lifestyle, but given that he doesn't need to pay rent, it's easier to live off of.

For the sake of his own amusement, and simply to stave off the boredom that comes with being largely alone in one's home, Mirthbane has a small pet of his own : a scorpion named Bitters. Its shell is a blue-black colour, it measures nearly half a foot long, making it fairly large as far as scorpions go, with fairly large pinsers and a rather small tail, and as such it does not posess much in the way of poison. He often lets it scurry about, though he will on occasion keep it in a small habitat when necessary. As one might expect of an anthropod, it is not trained, nor does it really communicate in any way, though it is fairly docile and as such more likely to scurry away from attention than to retaliate. It is approximately three years old, and was simply found skittering about Mirthbane's home during a brief bit of pre-winter reorganizing. Seeing no real reason to get rid of the armored invertibrate, Mirthbane simply decided to designate a small basket as its livingspace and keep it as a pet.

At this point, he is unsure of whether or not he wishes to return to a more comfortable lifestyle, or if he would rather continue to enjoy the freedoms his current living affords him. For now, he is rather satisfied with the opportunity to study and research in solitude, though he realizes his lifestyle may be unsustainable under more adverse conditions. Time and outside influence will likely sway his decision on this matter one way or the other, though in the meantime he has little plans to change his way of living. He considers himself free from the reigns of society, and is actually more satisfied with his current lifestyle than he has ever been since graduating. There is no glamour and much less social interaction when one lives alone, especially in the Everfree, but he feels reasonably accomplished in his work and thus he is satisfied.

[brianblackberry]

Greetings! While I do like the idea of the eccentric or outside the mainstream alchemist and/or herbalist concept because it opens up a lot of story possibilities, especially in creepy areas like Everfree, my concerns lie in how he got there.

Disliking the rule of Celestia in either length, focus, or style of government is a decent plot point and could be used for something who wants to be "counter culture", however I feel this character is more self-imposed tragedy than counterculture in his design. What leads me to view the character that way is the concept the was denied any chance without any real reason and that just doesn't jive well with pony society. One example is the idea that nopony would loan him money or allow him to attend an institution or apprenticeship for herbalism because of his school records, but in the paragraph before it was stated his academic abilities where considered excellent and that he succeeded in defending his work against accusations of plagiarism (indicating he would've graduated with good grades). I am also having trouble with the concept that the faculty would actually attempt to sabotage his grades because they disliked his disposition, as such an act would be nigh-unprofessional (and illegal) in a major way.

The application focuses mainly on how he was given a bad rap in life but says very little on what he actually does out in the woods, what he hopes to achieve with his studies, what he hopes from life and the future. Does he want to become a professional alchemist or herbalist? Does he have plans to return to Canterlot or in some way sell his remedies. Or perhaps he wishes to find the answers he is looking for in his life in the wilds of Equestria? There is plenty of potential here to explore, I would like to hear more focus on that as it would make him more playable and easier to interact with.

In short I like the result of where he is and what he does, the story to getting to that point though could use some work. It feels that he was written just to be unfairly oppressed by society without any reason to be so, or at least without changing Equestrian society significantly from what we seen in the show (it comes off as all of Canterlot is against him because he just has a poor attitude).

[Halide]

Yeah, my bad on that. Put too much focus on results of his lack of trying to fit in, not enough emphasis on the fact that he's largely doing it to himself - whether he means to or not. Don't know -what- the heck I was thinking with having one of his educators trying to sabotage his records, that was just bad writing.

Anyhow, thought things through better, tried to put more logical reasoning behind them rather than simply having them 'happen', and added a bit more to the 'transitional' bit of his backstory. Hope it doesn't break canon. >_>

[RCTwilightSparkle]

[Skye]

Born to a somewhat simple mother' date=' and a fairly down-to-earth father; both unicorns, both of them fairly proud of their own lives. An easy existence, though they lived somewhat poorly. He was a third child, with two sisters before him, both fairly normal. His father was quite happy to find out he hadn't a third daughter, once he saw Mirthbane for himself. The midwife and the mother had nearly mistaken him for a daughter, the mother immediately naming him 'Birthmane' in her confusion. However, this failed to stick once the matter of his gender was sorted out, and he took on the name 'Cloudmane' instead.[/quote']

This is actually fairly confusing. You say his name is Mirthbane in the app, but then you give him two other names here. The first is understandable, but the second one is mentioned nowhere else. I'm not sure if this was just overlooking, or if it was intentional.

[Halide]

I didn't think that anypony would actually be born with such a dour name as 'mirthbane', it's simply what he calls himself. Edited slightly, added in a bit of explanation towards that front.

[Skye]

[RCTwilightSparkle]

Mirthbane is being moved back to apps so Halide can make some minor adjustments (just tack a [FINAL] tag on the end when he's ready to be re-evaluated)

[Halide]

Edited : added a paragraph (second-last pargraph) pertaining to the inclusion of a pet scorpion.