Pegasus Captain Swash Buckler [FINAL]

[Alkali]

Roleplay Type: Mane RP primary

Name:Swash Buckler

Birth Name: Windy Nimbus

Sex: Male

Age: Stallion

Species:Pegasus

Eye Color:Teal

Coat Color:Dapple Grey

Mane/Tail/Markings Color & Style: dark steely blue wild mane and tail. His mane is usually held out of his eyes with his goggles when not in use.

Physique:Lean

Cutie Mark:Jolly Rodger

Origin/Residence:Stalliongrad, lives on his Ship, The Freedomwing

Occupation:Adventurer, Sky pirate, Treasure Hunter, and General Ne'er Do Well (read Distraction for the Guard and Knights)

Motivation: Adventure, freedom, and treasure!

Likes: (optional) Clouds, chance, gambles, challenges, Spiced Cider, treasure, being a general pain in the flank for the police/guard/knights/whatever, music (especially dubtrot and classical, as weird as that is)

Dislikes: (optional) Jail, boredom, staying in one place too long, daises as a food.

Character Summary:

History – Born in Cloudsdale, like a lot of pegasus ponies, Windy Nimbus quickly fell in love with romanticized pirate tales written about in books and comics. It would remain a passion and love of his through out school, ship to ship warfare and sword fighting becoming two of his best subjects, especially once his cutie mark came in. Joining the Royal Guard for a short time after gaining his mark and graduating flight school, looking for adventure and a place to best utilize his talents in sword play and what he called 'natural navigation', known to others as 'getting lost and still somehow getting to where he wanted to go.'

He soon learned he wasn't a fan of authority. His exit from service was likely one of the most unique, stealing a small airship that didn't require much to man. Over the course of a couple months, Windy, now known as Swash Buckler, would run into many of his now crew, including First Mate Gangplank, whom he saved a few days out from his home of Gallopaus (to be edited as soon as I look up his bio). Somewhere around Stalliongrad he saved the life of his Lookout and Boarding leader, Grandya Silentalon. One other event happened along the way, and his proudest moment yet: Stealing the SS Freewing from the guard. In quite the stroke of coincidence, the ship he chose to steal turned out to be the first one Gangplank had made, giving the First Mate and the Captain an edge. His time in Stalliongrad has so far introduced him to Medical, his ship doctor, Tinderbox, ship tinkerer, and Martel, a mercenary.

The Freewing itself is a decently large airship, armed with several ballistae who's sole job is to fire grappling bolts at opposing ships/towers/docks/what ever the captain feels need to be grappled. The ship's crew area can easily support 20, and as much as 30-40 at max if need be, if everyone takes sleeping shifts. The Freewing moves partly thanks to a magically fueled steam engine, a pair of experimental 'drive propellers' which can changed as much as 45 degrees either way. The rest of the ship's maneuverability comes from Swash's and Gangplank's magic abilities, specifically the pegasus's gentle control over the wind, as learned from his father. It is kept aloft by a blimp-style balloon, made from some tough materials to help it survive rough weather and harsh landings, though it's not completely indestructible.

Parents – His father worked as a foreman for the department of the Weather Factory that dealt with winds, and his mother was a home maker. They are....not sure what to think of their son's decisions so far.

Cutie Mark Story – What is your pony's Cutie Mark? When/how did they get it? What does it mean to them? What does it mean to other ponies?

His cutie mark, while cliche, is perfect for him: a Boat wheel and crossed cutlasses. He discovered it while getting some sword lessons from a friend of his father's who was in the Royal Guard. To him, it's a sign that he's meant for adventure, and to others, it means he's possibly trouble, though what kind is hard to tell.

Flaws/Fortes –

While his skills cover a wide range of pirate activity, he's still a little on the wet side. While he hasn't been thrown in jail yet, he is still working on his leadership skills and plotting skills, to avoid his first major near failure: his actual swiping of the Freedomwing, which nearly ended in him ramming the ship into the castle, among other things. He knows that he'll need a right proper crew before he can truly call himself a Pirate Captain, though he's quite pleased with the group he's gathered. His primary skills are close quarter combat, rope swinging, and certain other daring do. Thanks to his dad's position in the Weather Factory, he also as a good grip on pegasus wind magic, but it's not as developed as if he had worked there from the beginning.

Personality - Swash is a brash pegasus, and would be considered an anarchist if it wasn't for the fact that he knows that every group needs a leader of some kind. He's friendly otherwise, and enjoys his drink. His crew will always come first though, and he will never betray them

Crew Relationships:

Grandya Silentalon: Lookout and practically second mate, Swash saved her life as told in her app, helping nurse her back to health afterwards. He sees her as a good friend and trusted crew member.

GangPlank: First mate, and first crew member. Was saved from a shipwreck when leaving his home island.

(More to be done when it's not almost 2AM)

[Xiee]

Oh wow, you guys are fast. Liking it so far... Gonna post mine when I get home.

[QuickLime]

First mate GangPlank in the works SIR!=salute-

[Alkali]

Marking this final so I can finally get some opinions/criticism on this character. Here's hoping he's not too bad.

[QuickLime]

I feel you could explore his cutie mark story a little more

[flutterscotch]

If I were RPing with this character, I would wonder a few things.

What's the The Freedomwing like? Is it a grandiose affair? Is it a little more than a ship with an airbag? How many ponies does it sleep comfortably? This might be important in RP if anyone decides to describe the ship.

What made him join the Royal Guard?

Who first told him his pirate tales? I have a pirate character from Cloudsdale as well....who is significantly more ineffective, and much goofier. Maybe they shared comic books about pirates as foals!!

And just for the sake of the possible "skulls as cutiemarks are too dark" argument (even though we all know they were on Sweetiebelle's headband), is there a potential alternate cutie mark you could come up with, just in case? And maybe change "rum" to "tropical drinks" The adults will know what you mean, and the kids will just assume that Swashbuckler's just a fan of mango juice!

This might also be a trifle dark: "If I'm going to kill you, you will be awake, facing me, and with a spur on your hoof." But kudos for sneaking a Firefly reference in there

[Alkali]

Chunky history edit, changed the drink preference, and gave you guys an alternate cutie mark if the good old Jolly Rodger is too dark for you guys. Here's hoping it helps out a lot, especially given the news that at least one of the crew has been accepted.

[Dio]

I will approve this with the following caveats:

• I like the cutie mark for the boat wheel and crossed cutlasses much better both from a stylistic standpoint and a thematic standpoint. Let's go with that as opposed to the jolly roger.
  
• I will trust that you will include crew relations after they have been approved. I would include this in a relationship section and remove all the parenthetical notes just to clean up the formatting.
  
• Finally, as an interim ruling, airships will be treated as mobile RP locations. They will not be engaged in combat or action against a city or another ship until rules have been fully hashed out for this.
  

For now:

[Skye]

Okay, whilst the rest of the pony looks okay, the problem I have here is with the use of black powder cannons on the airship.

We do not promote the type of combat that would be presented useing black powder cannons. In addition, this introduces firearms to the world of Equestria and this is not what we're going for here. However, you could have trebuchet-style lauchers that shoot pies or apples, or something else for comedic effect, but the focus of the roleplay is storytelling, not the grim and gritty world that firearms would bring. On this basis alone, this app is held up. The rest of the airship is fine, but we cannot allow guns of this nature into the RP.

[Skye]