Post by Aegis/AJ on Oct 25, 2011 12:59:41 GMT
Spring/Summer appearance - antlers may or may not be present depending on the exact time of the year
Fall/Winter appearance - antlers will be fully matured by this point
-General Stuff-
Name: Qalipu Tundra
Nickname/Alias(es): Kali
Race: Deer [sub-species: Reindeer]
Gender: Female
Age: Young Doe (~18)
Additional Status:
-Physical Stuff-
Pelt Color: White/Cream with brown patches during winter, Dark Brown with lighter brown patches during summer. During spring and fall her pelt will be a blend of the two as the transition is made.
Mane/Tail Color and Style: Her mane and tail are shades of light brown during the winter and darken during the summertime. Her main is mid-length and her tail is extremely short (at least compared to ponies...it's normal-sized for a deer)
Eye Color: Brown
Cutie Mark: N/A
Other Scars/Markings: Like all deers of the frigid northlands, Qalipu grows antlers during the summer and loses them at the start of spring.
Physique: Even though she is larger than most deer, Qalipu is still fairly short and lithe when compared to a pony. In the summer, her mane also thins a bit so she appears slightly smaller than compared to the winter when her mane is thickest.
-Social Stuff-
Current Residence: None - in exile
Job: Jeweler
Mother: Inari Tundra
Father: Rangifer the Gold-Horned
Sibling(s): None
Other Family: The North-East Tundra Tribe
Closest Friends: The North-East Tundra Tribe
Courting/Courted By: N/A
Mate: Lockhorn of the Fallowfields [betrothed and separated]
Calves: N/A
-Personality Stuff-
Likes: Lichen tea, snow, ice-skating, diamonds, fall, traditions/customs, bunnies
Dislikes: Summertime, itchy horns, rutting, humidity, fast-talkers
Motivation: Currently, she is just trying to find a new home for herself. She is extremely uneasy with the idea of being alone and is determined to find some place where she can start rebuilding her life. But determined to make good of a bad situation, she's using it as an opportunity to explore the world.
Strengths: Tracking, digging, gem-cutting, wilderness survival, climate adapting, selfless
Weaknesses/Flaws: Prone to culture shock, language difficulties, stubbornness, difficulty trusting non-deers, timid, prideful
Fears: Dogs, isolation, deep water, thick forests
Overall Persona:
Even by pony-standards, the deers of the frigid northlands are an extremely sociable group. Forming tightly-knit social groups isn't just essential for emotional stability but essential for the survival of the entire tribe. In the harsh, northern climates, even a small amount of strife amongst members can spell disaster for a tribe. And true to her kind, Qalipu is a proud member of her people and holds these values close to her heart.
Exiled from her homelands, Qalipu is rather shy and timid amongst ponies. To her, they are a strange lot with strange beliefs and a strange manner of speaking. However, they are also the only source of social contact available so she tries her best to overcome any initial reactions of confusion, anxiety, disgust, or fear and attempt to understand these ponies better. But at the same time, she recognizes that she is just as strange in mannerisms to them and she's very self-conscious about her behaviour. Even though it likely will mean nothing in the long run, Kali doesn't want to misrepresent her tribe to the ponies of Equestria. Kali tends to over-analyze her actions as a result, nit-picking over proper etiquette and social expectations and what might be seen as 'weird.' Having being raised on the tenets of close social bonds, Kali can actually become uneasy and anxious if left alone for prolonged periods of times. Keeping what friends she can is, as such, of the upmost importance and the difference in cultures doesn't always make than an easy task for her. The various differences in gestures, tones, and customs can easily lead Kali to misread a situation and approach it in a differnt manner. For example, locking horns is a common means of settlings disputes between individuals, even close friends. To non-deer, this can be seen as a somewhat violent means of settling arguement but amongst her kind it is viewed as non-chalantly as one would view a friendly debate. As such, Kali has to continually remind herself that headbutting a pony is not the socially-acceptable means of expressing an opposing viewpoint. At the same time, it also means that Qalipu has trouble settling disputes outside this method but will always tackle her problems head-on (sometimes literally).
One of the first things that a pony will notice about Kali is her manner of speaking - it's always very formal and polite (King's English to put it in simple term). It's obviously not her first tongue so even simple colloquialisms and figures of speech can go right over her head and her own attempts to use slang can usually result in confusing others. But at the same time, she is very honest with others, both good and bad. And it'd take an act of god to make Kali raise her voice in anger for any reason. The deer of the northlands are known for their calm, stoic mannerisms when dealing with ponies and at times Kali reflects this trait. For her part, though, Kali is trying to break through her usual inhibitions with regards to non-deer. Kali can be a bit on the timid side as well - loud noises easily frighten her and she dislikes being in tight, confined spaces, or areas where she has limited visibility.
To her friends, she can be as true as the next pony - for her, friends are just as important as family, if not moreso. She can be selfless to a fault, which has already gotten her into trouble already since that is at the root of why she's currently in self-imposed exile. And alas, that exile weighs heavily on her heart. Kali frequently gets homesick and is prone to mood swings as a result. She tries to avoid the subject as much as possible.
Background and the Deer of the Northlands:
The Deer of the Northlands, also known commonly as reindeer, consist of numerous nomadic tribes that wander across the frozen tundras far to the north of Equestria. For many centuries, these tribes existed free of contact with the ponies and other deer to the south. Tribes could be anywhere from a few dozen to numbering in the hundreds and they would migrate with the seasons to new food sources. They are a hearty group known for their large builds, larger antlers, and the peculiarity that even females grow antlers. In the early days, there were hundreds of small tribes scattered across the frozen tundra and while there were occasional bouts of hostility between them, for the most part tribes were able to co-exist in peace.
Contact with the ponies to the south brought about a drastic change in the culture of the Deer of the Northlands. The nomadic tribes used to dig up small, clear, sparkling stones to adorn jewelry for use in various celebrations and rituals - a stone they referred to as 'ice rocks' but the rest of the pony world knew as diamonds. The pony explorers who made contact with the northern tribes quickly realized the lucrative business opportunities at hand and trade relations soon sprung up. Trading posts were established along the 'de facto' southern borders of the northlands where the nomadic tribes could trade their diamonds for food, tools, and other supplies. The nomadic tribes that once had to migrate for fresh food sources could now instead focus on diamond mining, allowing them to bring in far more food than their traditional methods could. This allowed tribes to support larger populations, thus the numerous tribes of the north soon dwindled into a dozen or so extremely large tribes that now only needed to migrate to new mining sites. Some were even able to make permanent towns around some of the larger mining sites
Qalipu belongs to one such tribe - the Tribe of the North-East Tundra, who were the largest of the still-nomadic tribes. And Qalipu was the daughter of the tribe's Stag Lord (their leader), Rangifer the Gold-Horned. Unfortunately, being the only child (and a daughter) of the Stag Lord put the tribe into a precarious position - a successor would eventually be needed and tradition dictated that the Stag Lord had to be a stag. The customary solution was betrothal - Qalipu was promised as a bride to a young buck of a nearby tribe, the Herds of the Fallowfields. Her husband-to-be was named Lockhorn and because of the arrangement, the two grew up together and considered one another as close friends. But as time passed and the two grew older, a problem arose - Lockhorn did not love Qalipu and instead had his heart set on another doe. Being the selfless doe that she is, Kali helped Lockhorn elope with the doe of his dreams, heading south where they would be able to live their life in peace.
Sadly, actions, no matter how noble, always have consequences. Despite her heart being in the right place, Qalipu's actions would have dire impacts on the future of her tribe. Having defied family, tradition, and her own leader, Kali could not bear the shame of returning to her tribe...and so she, too, fled south.