Post by Sunshine Swirl on Nov 1, 2014 2:44:58 GMT
-General Stuff-
Name: Esmeralda
Nickname/Alias(es): Friends sometimes call her “Esme” (Ehz-mi)
Race: Unicorn
Gender: Female
Age: Older Mare, (Human age mid-50’s)
Additional Status: Esmeralda is known by her fellow merchants as a fair trader with many interesting wares in her backroom. She lives a fairly modest life, but is frequently invited to aristocratic Canterlot events due to donations she has made to support the arts.
-Physical Stuff-
Pelt Color: Her coat is a dusty orange-brown
Mane/Tail Color and Style: Her mane and tail are wavy brown with stripes of gray here and there.
Eye Color: Her eyes are emerald green with teal highlights.
Cutie Mark: Her cutie mark is a dark purple magician’s hat with a pink star on the belt. She doesn’t like it when ponies refer to it as a “Witch hat"
Other Scars/Markings: When Esmeralda was young, she was an adventurer. She and her small band quelled evil beasts, scaled mountains, explored caves and ruins. During those adventures she picked up many small scars and other markings. Esmeralda is fairly skilled at healing magic, so they’re hardly noticeable.
Physique: Esmeralda is in remarkably good shape for somepony her age. She was very physical in her youth.
-Social Stuff-
Current Residence: Esmeralda has a very nice apartment at the Royal Canterlot Estate Terrace Apartments. Located in the heart of Canterlot, it’s luxurious, exclusive and well guarded. From her balcony she can see the Royal Canterlot Guard training grounds as well as the castle itself.
She settled down there after a profitable adventure in the mountains of San Palomino involving a troublesome dragon and a cursed sapphire orb. Other members of her adventuring group retired around that time as well, each settling down in different areas of Equestria. She’s lived there for, my, 20 years now. Time goes by so quickly.
Job: Esmeralda is the owner of a Canterlot shop called, “The Bell, Book & Candle” which sells Bells, Books and Candles. The business covers her living expenses. She supplements her income with back-room trades of minor magical items. She acquired quite a few from her earlier years of adventuring. She employs Storm Scout to assist her at the store. She also exchanges wares with Riddle Bits, a merchant in Ponyville.
Mother: Esmeralda was close to her mother, and learned about high society and the arts from her. Her mother passed on a few years ago. (unnamed npc)
Father: Esmeralda has lost contact with him. His last note was from the Fortress of Talicon where he was searching for leads to find "The Eternal Flower.” Esmeralda hopes he’ll return someday with tales of his adventure. (unnamed npc)
Sibling(s): She has a younger brother, a Doctor of Archaeology and a collector of fine antiquities. (unnamed npc)
Other Family: None of note.
Closest Friends: Sunshine Swirl is a mare-friend of hers who used to rent the apartment above Esmeralda’s shop. She also enjoys spending time with her young assistant, Storm Scout and dealing with fellow merchants like Riddle Bits.
Nearly 20 years ago, she had five close (NPC) friends that she adventured with. A male griffin, female diamond dog, a young male drake (flightless dragon), a zebra stallion and a pegasus mare. After a particularly good haul, the group disbanded, each going their own way. She periodically gets letters from some of them, except for the Griffin. He never writes.
Courting/Courted By: Nopony right now.
Mate: Years ago, Esmeralda was very serious with a young male griffin in her adventuring group. They courted for years, but when things got serious, he flew off as griffins are apt to do. Esmeralda has a few stallion friends, but no special somepony.
Foal(s): She really hasn’t given much thought to foals. She thinks she’s probably past the time for them - baring some sort of magic. On the other hoof -- Esmeralda has a habit of taking in strays, be they struggling students or adventure seeking young pegasi. She has a small set of ponies in Canterlot who consider her a mother figure to them.
-Personality Stuff-
Likes:
* Adventure - When Esmeralda was first old enough to travel on one of her father’s adventures she jumped at the chance. Adventuring has been in her blood for as long as she can remember. In recent year’s she has settled down but lately, the yearning to run off on a daring adventure has been building. She’s still got at least one grand adventure in her.
* Very fine dining - Although much of her childhood was rough and tumble in the outdoors exploring ruins and the like, her mother did teach her the finer points of life. This included a tour of some of Equestria’s finest restaurants.
* The Arts - Her mother also instilled in her a love of the arts; Galleries, Ballet, Opera, the Symphony. She’s quite knowledgeable in these areas. She loves to shanghai younger ponies, taking them to an event and explaining the nuances and history behind an opera or musical score.
* Pinching Pennies - She is a master and striking a good deal. When the Royal Canterlot Estate Terrace Apartments were being renovated, she met with the manager and managed to get a rental agreement at the pre-renovation prices with no expiration date. (Little did the manager know she would still be there 20 years later!) She managed to get life-time balcony seats at the Canterlot Opera by making a modest donation at the right time to the cash-strapped opera company. A few years later, she used her connections to get a similar arrangement with the Canterlot Symphony. “Always ask. The worst they can say is, No."
* Meeting new ponies - Esmeralda does meet many high-class ponies at events in Canterlot, but none that she really relates to. She meets many more interesting ponies at her shop and is always looking to make new friends.
Dislikes:
* Griffins who break their word - Esmeralda has never really gotten over her former "special some-griffin” and seems to hold it against all male griffins she encounters.
* Dishonest Traders - As a merchant, your reputation is the most important thing you have. Esmeralda doesn’t brook a trader who tries to cheat or swindle.
* Snakes - do I need to explain this?
* Pit traps, Spear traps, Dart traps, Rolling boulder traps... You get the picture I’m sure.
* Growing old - Esmeralda dislikes being called “Grandma” by foals and hates the idea of being old. She tries to keep spry, but can’t help but notice the gray in her mane and the slow weakening of her magic and body. Growing old sucks.
Motivation: Esmeralda enjoys living the easy life in Canterlot. She took many risks as a young mare adventuring. The easy life was always her and her adventuring group’s goal. That said, she doesn’t quite feel at home with the snobbish Canterlot aristocrats whose idea of adventure is “Extra sugar in my tea! How daring!”.
Esmeralda longs for adventure again. She’s done a few small trips since her group disbanded 20 years ago, but adventuring solo is very dangerous and unsatisfying. She enjoyed the camaraderie and safety that her adventuring group brought her. Everypony brought their own unique strengths and abilities to the group.
During the Changeling invasion of Canterlot, Esmeralda tried to protect others, but her magic wasn’t as strong as it once was. She came to realize that her days of adventuring solo are probably over.
Esmeralda is old, and alone. She wants to make a difference in ponies lives, to be important to them. She has no foals, so she sees each new friend as a way to leave a small legacy behind. She befriends young ponies and helps them when they're in need. She might find them work, or help them find a place to stay. She often forms deep relationships with these ponies and treats them as if they were her own children.
Strengths: Esmeralda strives for fairness, and for doing “the right thing”. She knows how to position herself as a neutral party and draw out the desires of everypony in a negotiation. She was the moderator and spokes-pony during many encounters in her adventuring group.
She is a well liked merchant in the business community. She is well tolerated by the Canterlot elite given her donations to support the arts, although they find her amusingly eccentric. (“I hear she once dated a Griffin, can you ~imagine~!”)
Esmeralda knows a hoofful of spells, mostly defensive and healing. She was the support pony in her adventuring group. She could create small barriers to buy vital minutes to regroup. She could do minor curative magics such as closing a wound or mending a broken bone. She could even cushion a fall by making everypony nearby as light as a feather until they landed. She’s also skilled with a bow and arrows but prefers not to take up arms except as a last resort.
Weaknesses/Flaws: Esmeralda is at times overconfident in her own abilities. Her most powerful days are behind her. This can sometimes put her and her companions at risk. (Her barrier at Market Street held for only seconds against a very small number of Changelings during the invasion. It left her and her neighbors with almost no time to escape.)
Twenty years of the easy life in Canterlot has made her grow soft. She’s unlikely to put up with roughing it outdoors or risking her life in a dusty old ruin — even though she claims she wants to adventure.
If the back-story on a minor magical item is compelling enough, Esmeralda will sometimes trade just based on that. Even though the actual power of the item is possibly in doubt or improbable.
Fears: Esmeralda’s biggest fear is of growing old and useless. She wonders if she has really accomplished anything with her life. She’s never saved Equestria. Most of her adventures were for minor baubles. With no children and no mate, she wonders if anyone will remember her when she’s gone.
Although these fears are with her in the back of her mind, she doesn’t let them overwhelm her or get her down. There is so much to do and so many wonderful things to discover.
Overall Persona: Esmeralda is a mature and trustworthy older unicorn mare. She is a respected shop keeper in Canterlot and has enough bits and baubles saved away to live very comfortably for may years to come.
Although she lives the life of a wealthy Canterlot merchant now, she spent most of her youth living in the outlands exploring and adventuring with a small band of friends. They had many minor adventures together. She grew fond of a male griffin in the group and they courted for several years. After a very dangerous but very rewarding encounter with a dragon, the group decided to retire from adventuring. Her griffin friend went his own way. Esmeralda never found another special somepony to take his place.
Instead, Esmeralda embraced a new role in society among Canterlot’s merchants, and with Canterlot’s arts community. She has lived in Canterlot for 20 years now. Her mother was originally from Canterlot and was very involved in aristocratic life. She taught Esmeralda well.
As mentioned before, Esmeralda tends to take in "strays". Young ponies who need some help. She helps them get on their hooves and in time, ends up treating them in much the same way as she would treat her own foals. Perhaps it's her way of compensating for having never had any foals of her own.
Although Esmeralda has lived in Canterlot for a long time, she has trouble relating to the elite ponies there. She often feels like a pretender as her childhood was very different than theirs. She’s much more comfortable with the travelers and adventurers she meets at her shop. Someday she hopes to find a small group of daring ponies and go on one last grand adventure.
Esmeralda runs the Bell, Book and Candle shop in the merchant district of Canterlot. She also dabbles in the trading of minor magical items. Most of these items are of dubious use or have subtle disadvantages. Some probably don’t actually do anything but have fascinating back-stories. (see: "Weaknesses" above.)
History/Background:
Esmeralda was born to unicorn parents in Canterlot. Her mother was a skilled healer unicorn with aristocratic parents. Her father was a roguish traveling adventurer. Her parents met when her father visited her mother’s hospital for treatment from an adventuring mishap. The two fell in love, and married. Esmeralda’s mother couldn’t resist the “bad-colt” and was whisked away on his adventures to strange lands. They returned to Canterlot for sometime after little Esmeralda was born.
Esmeralda was taught to appreciate the fine things in life including the arts and high-society. Esmeralda enjoyed hearing about her parents adventures and was quick to learn simple healing spells from her mother. Her father taught her the art of negotiation as well as a hoofful of protective spells. She soon got her cutie mark (a magician’s hat). Her younger brother had less interest in adventuring, and more interest in treasures and artifacts. When their parents announced they were going to go on another adventure, Esmeralda jumped at the chance. Her brother on the otherhoof preferred to attend a private boarding school.
From that very first desert temple ruins, Esmeralda was hooked on adventuring. As she grew, she met several other like minded adventurers her age. They formed a party of six and adventured together for almost a decade before striking it big and retiring. Esmeralda’s father continues to adventure even in his advanced years. Esmeralda’s mother passed on after a happy and full life. Esmeralda’s brother is a Doctor of archaeology and collector of fine antiquities and teaches at Mareshall College in Bitford, Connecticolt.
i was kinda excited to feel like im back in 2015