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Sigil [READY]

Dio

By Dio
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Dio Wonderbolt

Dio

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Sigil

With the proper materials and methods, magic is accessible to all.

RP Type: World of Equestria

Name: Sigil

Sex: Female

Age: Young mare, about college age

Species: Crystal Pony

Eye colour: Aubergine (#614051)

Coat colour: Alabaster (#FAFAFA)

Mane/Tail colour & Style: Maroon (#800000) mane and tail with a shock of Persian Rose

(#FB1393) in her forelock.

Physique: Average size and build for a mare of her age. Good core strength, but not especially athletic due to spending more time reading and experimenting than physically conditioning.

Residence: Grew up in the Topaz Ward of the Crystal Empire. Now living in Canterlot to study.

Occupation: Student.

Cutie Mark: Alchemical symbol for earth and salt combined, indicating her desire to bridge the gap between magic and science.

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Character History

Sigil grew up in a moderately well-to-do family in the Topaz ward of the Crystal Empire. The daughter of an imperial guard and a textbook seller for the local university, Sigil had a strict upbringing. Her mother, the guard, enforced a strict schedule and tight discipline when it came to matters of importance like school. Her father, the bookseller, ensured that she remained well-read and curious. While Sigil resented the straightjacket schedules and constant events, she slogged through them in an effort to please her parents and perhaps find a real interest to captivate her.

In grade school Sigil developed a particular fascination with the arcane arts. Unicorn magic was something of a novelty to their community due to the preponderance of Crystal Ponies living in the capital. But when she searched for books on arcana, magic was always described as an intangible force that was dark, mysterious, and often capricious. On the other hoof, the chemistry texts that she read included rigorously tested theories and well-defined practices for handling and using chemicals in the lab. It then dawned on her: why not take the methods for science like chemistry and apply them to the study of magic? Her interests and aptitude landed her in accelerated classes with older students.

Even though Sigil couldn’t wait to get her hooves dirty, she was a young student and thus still had to contend with schoolwork. As much as the precocious filly wanted to push it aside to write and research her own theories of magic, she had obligations to fulfill. One day while working on a simple ore separation assignment in class, Sigil developed perplexing results. The ore she was attempting to separate refused to respond to normal solvents and mechanical separation. Sigil was at first frustrated that her experiment had failed and that she would likely get poor marks for her inability to produce the correct results. It seemed the other students had gotten great results with the same materials and methods. Sigil double and triple-checked her notes and even performed the experiment a second time to be sure. Each time the results were the same: wrong.

After some thought, Sigil completed her report of the failed experiment and returned it to her teacher. The teacher congratulated her on her honesty and her commitment to scientific rigor even though her experiment had yielded unexpected results. She then went on to reveal that the seemingly mundane ore chunks had been laced with aetherium, a magical mineral that greatly altered the base properties of the material, making standard methods of separation useless. Random samples of aetherium-laced ore had been introduced to the class’ lab stations as a test to see if the students would continue to follow scientific rigor for even basic experiments. Sigil was the only one to turn in a lab report indicating failure; meaning she was the only one with salted ore who was honest in her assessment. Sigil was ecstatic, so ecstatic that she barely noticed the tingle on her flank as she received her cutie mark: the alchemical symbols for earth and salt combined, an indication of her mastery of the basics of scientific inquiry and her firm desire to bridge the gap between the arcane and the mundane.

Her intelligence and good marks in school granted her entrance to the Imperial University, where she pursued her interests in chemistry, arcana, and how the two interacted. She was in the middle of her first year when King Sombra attacked, plunging the capital into the void. When she awoke, a thousand years had passed and the world was a very different place. With most of her prior education woefully outdated, Sigil took a huge leap of faith, electing to attend Canterlot University as part of a cultural exchange program. She studies arcana and chemistry there and has plans to develop a rudimentary theory of atheromechanics as her senior thesis.

Personality

Sigil is highly intelligent and well-read in hard science and arcana. From her bookseller father, she got her bottomless curiosity. This, combined with her eidetic memory, makes her a veritable sponge for information. From her military mother, she acquired a strong sense of justice and respect for the truth as well as a prominent stubborn streak. In spite of her obstinance and intellectual ego, her respect for the law and the specter of her mother’s discipline keeps her from lashing out, though it does little to dispel her feelings.

Sigil is reticent in most social situations but can be very bullish when she feels that her intellect is being challenged; her response to being threatened is often forceful and heated. She is not unfriendly, but does not handle fast-paced conversation or crowded areas well. As such she would much rather be in a coffee shop or a lounge in the Canterlot University student union than a loud nightclub with party ponies. This is not to say that Sigil doesn’t know how to have fun; she just prefers smaller venues with fewer ponies. Her thousand-year hiatus has also left her out of touch with some of the more modern pony recreational activities and cultural traditions, leading at times to awkward social encounters as she struggles to catch up with the times.

Outside of her studies, Sigil enjoys tea, graphic novels, and jousting, though her interest is mostly in the technical side of the sport rather than the sport culture surrounding it. When she was younger she was enrolled in a youth program for it, though she has fallen out of practice as her schooling took up more and more of her time. Though she maintains a passing relationship with her parents, she can’t say she misses the stringent schedules imposed by her mother. Deep down inside, however, she knows that mother means well, even if she doesn’t always know how to show it.

Her dream is to someday fully realize her ideas for the interactions of magic and science, creating a unified theory for the mechanics of magic and its interaction with the real world.

Miscellaneous

  • Sigil has a passing knowledge of military tactics and techniques due to her mother’s occupation.
  • Sigil is an awful cook and thus chosen to repurpose most of her apartment kitchen into her own chemistry lab.
  • She has a soft spot for any sweets that involve raspberries.

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Dio Wonderbolt

Dio

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Technically ready, but I would still like fresh eyes on her, as I feel like she could easily be missing something that I didn't include in the blitz this evening.

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Jane 20% Cooler

Jane

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Looks great, Dio! I like the idea of a Crystal Pony living and trying to adapt to life outside of the Empire. :)

I'm not sure I'm the best person to ask, but if you're looking to improve her then maybe a suggestion could be to flesh out some of her other interests and hobbies. Is there more to Sigil than her studies? Also what sort of ponies does she get along with? And what ponies doesn't she get on with quite so well? Just some things to think about, since you're looking for suggestions. :)

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