Maurice Sol

"“Life is the experience of love, death, and adventure. To continue living without such qualities isn’t considered living at all. To continue living without such qualities is merely existing.” -Maurice to Edrisse, in Book Two, Noon."Maurice Sol is a protagonist and the secondary antagonist for the Dawn Miitopia series.

Maurice is a wandering mage that runs into the main party on countless occasions. He has been traveling Miitopia for three years now, and, due to amnesia, he can’t remember what his life was like beforehand until much later. He is a supporting character, playing many roles in not just Edrisse’s growth, but the team overall. With wise words, he helps conduct them to victory until he can’t anymore.

After defeating The Dark Lord, his body was overtaken, rendering him useless until the spell was broken. Even when the spell was broken, he still had a remnant of the curse that resided inside him until his death. This curse, however, wouldn’t stop until it was demolished for good. This meant that his son carried the fragmented curse, but it also meant Maurice’s soul was still tied to it (leaving him a spirit). When the spell was broken, his soul finally was put to rest.

Early Life
"“Why, no…my life before Miitopia is very foggy. All I can remember is waking up here, staff in hand, washed up on the sand without a single idea of where I was. Who I was, even. It was all black.” -Maurice, upon Iris asking about his life"When Maurice was young, his mother and father passed away. He had a sister, however, who was very young when this happened. He chose to take care of her, and did so in the best way he could. He had always been highly logical, excelling in all of his classes with a genius wit. His sister, however, wasn’t like that. She was usually standard, having to be tutored by her brother constantly. She was very sweet, enabling a very strong relationship between the two.

When Maurice turned 12, a man took him and his sister in with loving arms. Reason being, though, was that the man sensed a strong aura from Maurice that he had only sensed within himself. He started giving Maurice rigorous lessons on magic, teaching him only the most advanced spells and curses that he could think of. Only then would he teach the basics. The more Maurice worked on his magical studies, the less time he had with his sister.

After a year, she consulted him about his magic and the time he spent with her. After a long talk and multiple disagreements, Maurice decided he would put his classes aside for awhile. His tutor, however, took this very hard. He wanted his successor to be strong, and he believed that all distractions were obstacles that should be destroyed. Therefor, when Maurice was away, his mentor killed the young girl. When Maurice found out about this, he stole his mentor’s staff and killed him as well. In crisis and pain, he grabbed his tutor’s cloak and ran away hoping that no one would find him. He cast a spell that would allow him to walk on water, and ran out into the ocean. The ocean was too strong, however, causing him to crash into the sea. When he woke up, he woke up on the shore of Miitopia without a single memory of his past. All he knew was that he had a cloak, a wand, and a high intelligence when it came to magic.

Miitopian Life Before The Dark Lord
''“I’ve been here for three years, traveling this land, helping the people. It’s like this is not only my job, but my destiny. I’ve made quite a name for myself…some people even act like I’ve been here before. Folktales and songs of me have been around for centuries. I’m living in a mold they have placed upon me…and what a life it has been.''” -Maurice to Edrisse Maurice’s life after early life and before The Dark Lord was very eventful yet uneventful. He became a respected and loved legend, his tale told throughout Miitopia. However, tales about him sprouted before ever even arriving. He fit perfectly into the role though, having the ancient cloak and staff of the “Great Sage”. Unaware of who he truly was and thinking that this might be his past, he assumed the role without a thought. Though it took some getting used to, he eventually started doing virtuous deeds for the islanders. Though his popularity escalated massively, he still felt that he was lonely and that this job disabled him from having any friends. Luckily, that was soon to change.

Book 1, Dawn
"“So you’re this Dark Lord I’ve been hearing so much about. Well…you won’t be getting your way for much longer. Not if I have anything to say about it!!” -Maurice after seeing The Dark Lord for the first time"

In the first book, Maurice is first introduced when saving Edrisse from The Dark Lord’s wrath. After he dissipates, Maurice introduces himself to her. Automatically he knows that she is special, for she too has an aura unlike most. After giving a couple words of encouragement and wisdom, he roams off, leaving Edrisse confused yet excited. He is a topic of the team’s for awhile afterwards.

He then see’s the team again in Neksdor, where he asks about his missing lamp. He explains how dangerous it is, warning her about its power. When Edrisse claims she hasn’t seen it, he sighs and starts to walk off. Before he goes, though, Iris follows up behind Edrisse and meets him for the first time. After a long pause of silence, Maurice introduces himself. Iris, stunned, says nothing, causing Maurice to snap out of it and look for his lamp. They meet up again at an oasis, and the topic of a chaotic genie perks up. He then realizes that Edrisse does have the lamp, and goes into specific detail about how to trap the genie in the lamp again.

Every once and a while, Iris would leave the team to truly get to know Maurice. Their relationship grew really quickly, for they bonded. However, they kept their backstory a secret from each other. A silent tension grew between them, because they felt that secrets were being kept. However, out of respect and fear that they’d have to spill their own secrets, they kept silent about it.

Edrisse and Maurice meet again outside the Elven Retreat, where he happily congratulates her on saving the genie’s face and teaching him the error of his ways. After a quick conversation, he asks why she was all alone. She explained to him that Iris was now gone, and he had a slight panic. He collects his feelings though, and shows her the way to the Elven Retreat.

Book 2, Noon
"“I found them like this…wandering around aimlessly. I brought them back here, but…only these three. I…I don’t know where anyone else is. Where Iris is.” -Maurice after Edrisse sees her faceless friends"Maurice, when traveling to Karkaton for reasons unknown, found and herded three of Edrisse’s kidnapped friends (Miranda, Lloyd, and Michael of whom had been Defaced). He took them to a shelter, where Edrisse met up with him. In trying to calm her down, he agreed to join her party until she didn’t need him anymore. Conversations between them spread throughout the trip as they continued to save faces. After Cerberus, however, he stopped fighting and retreated to the inn so Edrisse could grow.

When they saw Iris again, they realized that she had been working for The Dark Lord the entire time. Iris apologized a multitude of times, Maurice, struggling to remain calm due to infuriation, ran off. He realized his mistake much later, and climbed the tower to try and find the team. He found them right after they had defeated The Dark Lord, and blocked the Dark Curse from cursing Iris.

Book 3, Dusk
"'So you want…to save the curse? I’ll say, Edrisse…I didn’t doubt that you would say that. Your kindness ever shines through.” -Maurice to Edrisse before saving the curse."When the darkest lord was defeated, Maurice was released from the dark curse, seemingly unconscious. After the dark curse attempted to possess Edrisse, he froze it in midair with his magic. He then asked her if she wanted to break it (dissipating it, causing it to never come back), or to save it (bringing the lost spirit back). She decided to save it, revealing Eva. Before he could leave, he noticed that Iris was fading away. She told him that it was okay, and that she’d be fine, even though the curse had ended and all monsters should be dying. He told her that he loved her. After Iris completely faded away, he congratulated Edrisse sadly. They exchanged hugs, and he talked to Eva for a second about morals and ethics. Maurice then took Eva and ventured off to teach her good.

Later in the final chapter it talks about how he would visit their team every once and a while with Eva, show them her progress, help them with a few missions, and eat dinner with them. The more he came, the more devastated he looked.

Book 4, Midnight
"'I’m...........sorry.” -Maurice when being released from the dark curse one last time."After a large time skip from the last story, we learn that Edrisse has been training young heroes, and Maurice helps more often now. He seems sad all the time, still rather depressed that the one thing he loved most had died. One day, however, with the same old daily routine, Edrisse had answered the door. She had her face dug in her clip board, answering questions about how this new teammate would fight. After saying a very recognizable line in response to her question, Edrisse looked at the “new” teammate with wide eyes, calling Maurice down stairs as quickly as possible. Rushing downstairs and looking at the girl in the door, Maurice broke down into tears and hugged Iris. She told them all about what her life was like, and how hard it was to come back here. Iris then joined Maurice every time they would go out to teach Eva. Iris didn’t trust Eva, but Maurice had full trust in her.

After a while, they started to see that Maurice was getting weaker, as if he was sick with some obscure disease. Eva insisted that she could take care of him, and Edrisse and Iris let her do so with all their skepticism. Maurice still progressively got worse. He was sick because Eva was silently poisoning him. Eventually, Eva took advantage of his weak body, possessing him, and her, now ten times stronger than the last time due to training, killed many in the team with his body. (Penelope Berry, Oliver Wilson, Miranda Windsor) They do eventually kill her, but Maurice dies as well.

Book 5, Morning
"'I'm so proud to see what you've become. My dear...I wish that I could've been part of your life. You are a bright star, and I will always love you.' -Spirit Maurice towards Cassian."In this book, it brings back the magic of a tethered spirit to a another spirit. Maurice had been watching Cassian as he grew up, but couldn't find himself to talk to him in a spirit form. He didn't even really know what made him have a spirit form. Eventually, when Cassian started to show signs of interest in dark magic and started to have an insensitive personality, Maurice knew something wouldn't connect. Therefor, when Cassian was running by himself in the woods, Maurice showed himself. They connected immediately, Cassian amazed and confused at who this spirit was, and Maurice just happy he could interact with his son. They would meet again every now and then, and sometimes he would follow Cassian around. No one else seemed so see him.

When Maurice was around him, his normal and sprightly demeanor would remain. At some point, Maurice started to have trouble reaching Cassian, as a barrier seemed to form between them. Cassian started to get worse again, rather abruptly. He soon realizes that he was tethered to the mortal world because he was tethered to another soul that hadn't seemed to die fully yet.....Eva. Eva had a hold on Cassian, keeping him from displaying sweetness. Once he found out and Alice had come back from her training, they broke her spell one last time. This caused Eva to dissipate, finally, with no retcons. However, in breaking this seal, Maurice died as well.

Pre-Darker Lord
Maurice’s most prominent physical traits consists of his bright golden hair, his brown round eyes that almost looked black, his fair yet freckled skin, and his signature cloak. It was also said that these features were on the Great Sage before the Rebirth of Miitopia. Maurice’s hair was seen swept backwards and out at the ends, with strands of hair framing his face. He also had side swept bangs, all of which was very controlled and straight. Though he has a cloak with a large hood, he is rarely seen with the hood covering his head. His cloak is white, yet gradient to turquoise till the tips. His sleeves and hood are hemmed with a standard blue, and the inside of his cloak is a thick blue as well. Under his cloak, he dons a dark turquoise shirt that is tucked into white pants. Edrisse also makes a comment on the fact that even though he is way taller than her, it doesn’t faze her because he has such a calming aura it’s hard to be intimated.

Post-Dark Lord
After Maurice is released from the curse, his appearance changes slightly. Though everything else remains the same, a large, bright yellow circle resides from his ear to the bridge of his nose, resembling the sun and surrounding his eye. The eye inside that circle is all white, as well as a black slit that seems to be his pupil. His teeth are also noticeably sharper. His blond hair has slits of aquamarine as well.

Spirit
As a spirit, his cloak is all white and seems to lose opacity as it reaches the ground. His hood also covers his head. His body is also translucent, and both his eyes are white with a black slit.

Personality
Maurice was described as a very wise man, despite his age. He was strategic and quick witted, all leaning into the fact that he was very smart. When angry, he seems very strict and closed off, but he wouldn't let it get to him unless the cause was very personal or it endangered those he loves. He never cried, but when sad or melancholy he would speak less or have a concerned expression. He would never let others know his negative feelings though, hoping that he wouldn't drag his friends down. He was very kind and calm, helping those in need whenever he could. Though lonely, he has no problem making platonic relationships with those he deems nonthreatening.

After being possessed by Eva, he became more quiet and stern, his trust lacking in most everyone. His face was usually blank, so anyone talking to him would have to guess his emotion by the tone of his voice. A smile was very rare, and if you did somehow get him to smile, it wouldn't last forever. His demeanor got better after seeing Iris again, where he became more relaxed and a little like his past self.

Spells/Attacks
Though his true power is unknown, he has been seen using Tower of Flame, Cure, Mega Lightning, and the unnamed move that scared the Dark Lord the first time Maurice was seen.

Trivia

 * In early designing, Maurice was going to have ended up with the main protagonist, Edrisse Blake.
 * His appearance was also different, such as:
 * He was about to have blue eyes
 * His hair was close to being brown in very early designs, but his creator decided against it, knowing that that would clash with the protagonist.
 * Freckles were a debate, but eventually became part of the actual design.
 * His current hair was created when his creator was drawing him, and forgot what his Mii hair looked like.
 * Maurice's last name, Sol, is the Latin term for sun.
 * His design was based off of the previous Great Sage before him, of whom was based on a real person.
 * Maurice is one of the few to have been based off of the previous person before him, as most people in the first 'era' were based on the main party.