Trans_9 Application
Character's name: Caelestine
Character's LJ: caelestine
Character's canon: Mouse Guard (OC)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character:
Caelestine is an often-curious mouse, but he doesn't let that overcome him so much that he'd be hurt by it. In fact, after being burned by a bad loan he entered into while still a tenderpaw and needing to be bailed out by his parents, he's frugal and careful to maintain his money and equipment. He learns a little slowly and carefully, but he isn't afraid to study new subjects, and his tenure in the Guard has left him with the dedication and focus needed to puzzle even through the toughest subjects.
He's a little slow and uncomfortable to make friends, but once he does he tends to trust them totally, barring other evidence. So far this hasn't hurt him, but it could certainly turn out that way in the future. In particular, he'd have trouble dealing with anything he might see as a predator-raptors, cats, wolves, and so on-as every instinct would be telling him to run away and hide somewhere safe. (He can work against these instincts-he's helped drive away small predators before-but it certainly isn't conducive to forming friendships.)
Though he lives frugally, there's often a springy exuberance to him, as he still has the energy of youth. What's kept him from getting into real trouble is that he usually takes a second or third look at a situation instead of simply leaping into action. While this slows him down a little sometimes, it acts as a check on his natural instincts, and gives him a certain awkward wisdom in some situations that have left some of the higher-ups in the Guard looking at him as a potentially useful patrol guard or patrol leader once he becomes more experienced over time.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character:
Caelestine was born in Port Sumac, a little but hardworking mouse town on the edge of a lake, to parents who specialized in maintaining the cartography and navigation used by ships that stop at Port Sumac as a trade hub. While he quickly kenned to the winds and weather and navigation, he never became quite comfortable with the boats themselves. Unsure of himself, he ended up talking things over with a less-conflicted friend of his who was already well into the local apprenticeship process, and ended up, after much soul-searching, deciding to join the Guard-the para-military organization that keeps lines of communication open between the mouse town, keeps watch for predators and other dangerous animals, and maintains the "scent border" that serves to repel the most dangerous animals that would otherwise threaten the mouse Territories.
Caelestine spent his first half-year in the Guard in Lockhaven, the fort-city at the center of the Guard organization, serving as a junior apprentice, where his aptitude for cartography got put to use, producing maps and copies of maps for different parts of the Territories. The tedium of the work, though it honed the deftness of his paw and the quality of his mental visualization, left him eager to face something more challenging.
Finally he was given over to a mentor, a smart, skilled patrol leader. While he was still made to do grunt work, the excitement of facing the wild and putting his navigational skills to real use distracted him from the stones and dirt and bark of the paths that hardened his paws and from the extra weight on him of supplies and messages that built his stamina. Under his mentor's supervision, he learned how to safely handle bows and knives and swords, how to bind wounds (including a few minor ones of his own), and how to safely scout and mark trails without drawing the attention of predators. In particular he found himself with an almost uncanny sense for the weather, able to know exactly when to hide away from the elements to best protect himself and the patrol he had been placed with.
After a year with that patrol, Caelestine was recommended to Gwendolyn, leader of the Guard, for promotion to full guard mouse status. While he wasn't as good a fighter as some, his keen sense for survival in the wild had made him an invaluable member of his patrol, and he received his ochre-colored cloak-a reflection of his love for the autumn leaves every year. It was barely a season into his first term of service, in fact, when a secret rebellion from one of the mouse towns attempted to overthrow Lockhaven and the guard; Caelestine was one of the bowmice that served in the defense, though an injury received in the fighting left him with a small scar up his side and another season to recover from it. It's only just recently that he's recovered enough to get back into active duty.
Sample post:
Oh, sure, there are plenty of people wandering around-but how many of them look down? "This place is so stupid," mutters a little black-furred mouse wearing an ochre-colored cloak, dragging along a sack as nearly as big as he is. Without any natural environment to get a handle on and his sense for the weather on the fritz (was there even any?!), Caelestine has elected to simply drag along everything he might need with him, even if it slows him down some. Or he has up until now, anyway-something (someone?!) is coming, and with a mouse-sized shriek he drops the sack and skitters around behind a fleshy conduit.
Magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities: Caelestine is, well, a mouse, and he's instinctually quite good at things mice do (climbing, hiding, foraging, escaping predators, and so on). As a mouse, he is rather small and squishy. He doesn't move nearly as fast as a human at full speed, but he has remarkable endurance for his size and is quick and agile over short distances. He can naturally understand the communication of many other animals, and even speak to them somewhat, though many wouldn't be inclined to listen and some (like insects and snakes) speak in tongues he couldn't wrap his mouth around for more than a few words.
Non-superhuman special abilities of note: Caelestine's a skilled survivalist, tracker, scout, pathfinder, and hunter. He can make maps well and has a good spatial (and 3D-spatial) sense, and has a broad basic training in how to fight with many types of weapons and in how to care for wounds and injuries. Also, he has an uncanny sense for the weather: with just short exposure to outside conditions, he can make intuitive, accurate predictions about how the weather will turn out in the near future.
Character's LJ: caelestine
Character's canon: Mouse Guard (OC)
Brief (around 300 words) personality outline of your character:
Caelestine is an often-curious mouse, but he doesn't let that overcome him so much that he'd be hurt by it. In fact, after being burned by a bad loan he entered into while still a tenderpaw and needing to be bailed out by his parents, he's frugal and careful to maintain his money and equipment. He learns a little slowly and carefully, but he isn't afraid to study new subjects, and his tenure in the Guard has left him with the dedication and focus needed to puzzle even through the toughest subjects.
He's a little slow and uncomfortable to make friends, but once he does he tends to trust them totally, barring other evidence. So far this hasn't hurt him, but it could certainly turn out that way in the future. In particular, he'd have trouble dealing with anything he might see as a predator-raptors, cats, wolves, and so on-as every instinct would be telling him to run away and hide somewhere safe. (He can work against these instincts-he's helped drive away small predators before-but it certainly isn't conducive to forming friendships.)
Though he lives frugally, there's often a springy exuberance to him, as he still has the energy of youth. What's kept him from getting into real trouble is that he usually takes a second or third look at a situation instead of simply leaping into action. While this slows him down a little sometimes, it acts as a check on his natural instincts, and gives him a certain awkward wisdom in some situations that have left some of the higher-ups in the Guard looking at him as a potentially useful patrol guard or patrol leader once he becomes more experienced over time.
Brief (around 500 words) history and background of your character:
Caelestine was born in Port Sumac, a little but hardworking mouse town on the edge of a lake, to parents who specialized in maintaining the cartography and navigation used by ships that stop at Port Sumac as a trade hub. While he quickly kenned to the winds and weather and navigation, he never became quite comfortable with the boats themselves. Unsure of himself, he ended up talking things over with a less-conflicted friend of his who was already well into the local apprenticeship process, and ended up, after much soul-searching, deciding to join the Guard-the para-military organization that keeps lines of communication open between the mouse town, keeps watch for predators and other dangerous animals, and maintains the "scent border" that serves to repel the most dangerous animals that would otherwise threaten the mouse Territories.
Caelestine spent his first half-year in the Guard in Lockhaven, the fort-city at the center of the Guard organization, serving as a junior apprentice, where his aptitude for cartography got put to use, producing maps and copies of maps for different parts of the Territories. The tedium of the work, though it honed the deftness of his paw and the quality of his mental visualization, left him eager to face something more challenging.
Finally he was given over to a mentor, a smart, skilled patrol leader. While he was still made to do grunt work, the excitement of facing the wild and putting his navigational skills to real use distracted him from the stones and dirt and bark of the paths that hardened his paws and from the extra weight on him of supplies and messages that built his stamina. Under his mentor's supervision, he learned how to safely handle bows and knives and swords, how to bind wounds (including a few minor ones of his own), and how to safely scout and mark trails without drawing the attention of predators. In particular he found himself with an almost uncanny sense for the weather, able to know exactly when to hide away from the elements to best protect himself and the patrol he had been placed with.
After a year with that patrol, Caelestine was recommended to Gwendolyn, leader of the Guard, for promotion to full guard mouse status. While he wasn't as good a fighter as some, his keen sense for survival in the wild had made him an invaluable member of his patrol, and he received his ochre-colored cloak-a reflection of his love for the autumn leaves every year. It was barely a season into his first term of service, in fact, when a secret rebellion from one of the mouse towns attempted to overthrow Lockhaven and the guard; Caelestine was one of the bowmice that served in the defense, though an injury received in the fighting left him with a small scar up his side and another season to recover from it. It's only just recently that he's recovered enough to get back into active duty.
Sample post:
Oh, sure, there are plenty of people wandering around-but how many of them look down? "This place is so stupid," mutters a little black-furred mouse wearing an ochre-colored cloak, dragging along a sack as nearly as big as he is. Without any natural environment to get a handle on and his sense for the weather on the fritz (was there even any?!), Caelestine has elected to simply drag along everything he might need with him, even if it slows him down some. Or he has up until now, anyway-something (someone?!) is coming, and with a mouse-sized shriek he drops the sack and skitters around behind a fleshy conduit.
Magic, mutant, or otherwise metahuman abilities: Caelestine is, well, a mouse, and he's instinctually quite good at things mice do (climbing, hiding, foraging, escaping predators, and so on). As a mouse, he is rather small and squishy. He doesn't move nearly as fast as a human at full speed, but he has remarkable endurance for his size and is quick and agile over short distances. He can naturally understand the communication of many other animals, and even speak to them somewhat, though many wouldn't be inclined to listen and some (like insects and snakes) speak in tongues he couldn't wrap his mouth around for more than a few words.
Non-superhuman special abilities of note: Caelestine's a skilled survivalist, tracker, scout, pathfinder, and hunter. He can make maps well and has a good spatial (and 3D-spatial) sense, and has a broad basic training in how to fight with many types of weapons and in how to care for wounds and injuries. Also, he has an uncanny sense for the weather: with just short exposure to outside conditions, he can make intuitive, accurate predictions about how the weather will turn out in the near future.