TEST DRIVE: MARCH

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: MARCH —

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Date reminders. Reserves open Tuesday, February 23nd and Applications (Canon | OC) open Tuesday, March 1st.
  
  
• OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are currently allowed. Those interested can also use the test drive. OCs do not need to be reserved.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias' premise focuses on how anyone's emotions can affect their environment, be it big or small. While not every emotion will cause a reaction, significant ones definitely will. How much effect a character will have will ultimately be up to you, the player. Also, while we're giving a lot of leeway for the test drive, keep in mind that there will be some limits in the actual game.
  
  
• Everyone has an amulet. All characters have a unique amulet that is specialized for them. It will contain all of their emotion drops and it serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic. Otherwise, it works basically the same.
  
  
• Assume the character is already in the game. Because "OMG WHERE AM I IS THIS REAL LIFE" threads aren't going to be very helpful in this test drive! Plus those are going to happen in-game, anyway. So to make things easier, just assume that they've been around at least a week or so. Still learning the ropes, but not a complete "first day" experience.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. Remember, these threads can also be used in your application for samples! Reminder: We only require one sample and it can be done in either format. We have also made a change to our sample requirements, so look over the Applications page!

Now with that out of the way, here are some prompts you guys can work from!


PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try?

• Prompt B: Refer to the Task Board and choose a task your character may be interested in taking up. For this prompt, you could have your character ask for help, already be in the middle of the job, or react to it in some way. Perhaps they were an unfortunate victim or want to create a job countering an existing one. You could even have a prompt making a job request. Creating jobs for the purpose of the test drive is absolutely doable.

• Prompt C: How about giving the amulets a go? Start a telepathic conversation and see how it works. Remember, the amulets are sending out the owner's thoughts so might want to be careful about how the stream of consciousness goes...

• Prompt D: Fireworks are a common source of entertainment for the island, and each year the equipment and technology used get more advaanced—and more dangerous. This year they're trying to contain the explosive emotional power from the easily angered by using a new device based off the Tree of Memories petals. Except the "device" includes the explosive powder for the fireworks. You can only imagine how disasterous that could be. YOUR OPTIONS:

1. Someone is deliberately provoking you to try and make you mad.
   
2. Someone else has blown their top and the device (and nearby fireworks) are exploding.
   
3. General firework and explosives mayhem.

Note: Calm emotions will help diffuse the situation, but you might want some water or something else to help douse both the literal and metaphorical flames.

• Prompt E: The spring season of Zephyras is on its way, so there's a lot less snow these days. To make the most of it, a lot of the local children have built as many snowmen and snow creatures as they can. Some adults have also taken to it, some actually treating it like some kind of competition. The resulting creations range from the standard to the incredible. Behemoth, monstrous creatures with gaping jaws and horns, majestic unicorns with ice sculpted wings and horns, lifelike human sculptures in various poses. Normally all of these would be considered works of it, but when you're in a world where emotions can sometimes give things a mind of their own...well. Creativity isn't the only way to "breathe life" into them.

1. Emotions can affect these snow sculptures in various way. Those that trend on the happier side will cause the snow creations to move and frolic around in place, perhaps even try to "play" with those around them. Those that trend on the negative, however, will give the opposite, especially anything that could make them more angry and violent.
   
   
2. A few people have caught onto this and have actually created a snowmen army! Using "stock" made snowmen, at least ten from each side slide and wobble around, chucking snowballs and rocks at one another for pure snow destruction. Hopefully you don't get caught in the middle of it.

• Prompt F: Have you ever ridden on a hover board? Or a flying motorcycle? Well if you haven't, you get to be one of many to try out a new design set to come out by the summer months of Eurus. Of course, they are still in development, so expect some hiccups and stalls. Even more, to help with fuel and power efficiency issues, the engineers have created a system that would help absorb and channel the user's emotions into the machine. Now, it's supposed to only take the energy from emotions and not actually be affected by what kind is given. In theory, even a sad person could power their new flying vehicle! However, that's a kink that still needs to be hammered out, so the test vehicles are still prone to emotional effects just like everything else. Angry emotions will have fire bursting from the exhaust, giving it a super huge boost in speed and power, but lack of control. Joy and excitement are also good boosters, but prepare to have a trail of stardust that could blow back in your face. Some other side effects are: rust, engine stall, decreased acceleration, suddenly flying upside down. Oh yeah, these don't have seat belts. But you get a helmet and a parachute! Good luck.

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include empty barrel and/or chickens.

For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're also welcome to use more than one prompt for respondents to choose from. If you have any questions or want to brush up on the game information, refer to the Game Information entry. Otherwise, tag around and have fun!

Comments

I really need my 100 icons, but I want to wait till April.

[herpath]

A little angry voice in her head thought about pointing out very loudly that she was a princess and she should act spoiled sometimes, but her rationality was already coming back to her and pushing that unreasonable voice away. She was a princess, yes, but she shouldn't be spoiled or locked away. She should do whatever she can to help the people who she loves, her country, her friends. She shouldn't act like a brat just because she can.

She holds up her hands, letting the last of the mushrooms go (a bunch of pinks that she hadn't thrown mixed in with the other varying colors) and was about to agree to come out on her own when she realized Hak was advancing with very scary determination. That was not good. He was definitely going to hoist her up like a sack of potatoes, and smack her into trees ... and hit her. On instinct she started backing up and further into the mud. Unfortunately that meant she had to pass through some newly created green smoke.

"Just because you're stronger then me doesn't mean you should use it against me. I know I'm not strong like you and the others and it's just mean to point it out by throwing me around like that. Stupid, strong bear person!"

resiiist resiiiiiiist.

[raijuu]

"Bear?" he repeated, almost offended. Almost. Or should he consider it a compliment to his strength?

Whatever, he was getting tired of this and Hak had always been a man of action. So ready or not, Yona, here he comes.

I don't even have them made yet.

[herpath]

It's probably a compliment actually, but she's only saying it because of jealousy.

Yona continues to back up as fast as she can. Unfortunately there's mud all over the ground and all she manages to do is slip on it and fall on her back. Still trying to scramble to her feet all she does is kick mud in front of her and bunch it up behind her.

"Don't come any closer!"

The only problem was that she knew he wasn't going to listen. This was going to end with her thrown over his shoulder and hoisted back to town like a pathetic sack of potatoes. All because he was angry and strong and she was weak. How could he be such a strength wielding jerk?!

well that should help lol

[raijuu]

Indeed, he was not going to listen. Although the words did kind of unnerve him a bit. It was less the command itself and just how it sounded, and that was enough to break the haze of irritation that had been slowly building. Soon he was standing right in front of her. But rather than do as he threatened, he held up his hand.

"Come on. If you keep squirming around like that you'll just make it worse."

I'm trying to do things slowly .... that and I have over 200 icons to color

[herpath]

The closer he got the more she tried to squirm away, but then he just stopped. No bending, no hoisting her like a sack of potatoes. Her shoulders slumped in relief, hands falling into the mud before she realizes that Hak is actually trying to help her up. She holds out her hand before realizing that hers is covered in mud.

"Uh."

She wiped her hand on her cloak before reaching out again to take his hand.

"I think I know how I can pick the mushrooms, but we'll have to cover our mouths."

yeah...i have 150 still waiting...

[raijuu]

"Clearly," he said in a dry tone before he reached over to wipe some mud off her cheek.

...Or maybe smeared it a bit more, although not really his intention.

"You should clean yourself off first. There's a stream nearby so you can wash up there."

I still have so much cropping to do too.

[herpath]

She tried to hide the small blush that started to come over her cheeks at his action. She couldn't help it. Ever since the night she'd given him the good luck charm Hak had started making her heart beat faster and causing her to blush even though she knew it didn't mean anything. There was no way she could let on how she was feeling. It'd just be too embarrassing.

At times like this she wished she still wore her hood up more so she could hide under it. Maybe she should start doing it again. Instead she just looked down at her own feet.

"I'll go wash up. Don't knock any mushrooms over while I'm gone."

The words were more mumbled then spoken and she quickly tried to leave the area before he had the chance to teaser her about the fact that she was acting weird. She already knew she was acting weird and she couldn't help it. Maybe taking time to wash up would help her heartbeat return to normal.

[raijuu]

Fortunately for Yona, there was too much mud covering that blush so Hak didn't notice. He did notice her looking down and mumbling, but he didn't think much of it. Maybe she was embarrassed being dirty or something or another.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need another mess," he said as he watched her leave before looking down at the remaining mushrooms.

But...what was he supposed to do? Try to pick them up again? And why were these things so annoying and dangerous? Who would want to use these? At least the air was clear again and the effects gone.

By the time she returned, true to form, Hak would have started gathering the mushrooms again, or at least separating them in clear stacks (and far away from each other).

[herpath]

When Hak was out of sight Yona took several moments just to breathe and force her heart to return to normal. She splashed water on her face, wiping away the mud and reminded herself that she needed to act normal around Hak. Just because he'd started making her heart beat faster when he was nice to her or when he smiled or grabbed her hand or ... ok, just because he made her heart beat faster all the time didn't mean that he'd changed or anything and if he found out about this he'd only tease her horribly. She couldn't let that happen.

She needed to focus, concentrate on being in this new world and helping the people here as best she could. Right now helping was focusing on the mushrooms and making sure another accident like the one before didn't happen.

Once she was sure her heart had calmed down she stood up and pulled the cloth of her cloak up over her mouth and nose. She wasn't planning on dropping any more mushrooms, but this would be a good precaution in case something happened.

It wasn't surprising how far Hak was with the job when she got back so she simply walked over and looked into one of the bags; making sure to keep her nose literally out of the bag.

"Which bag is which?" She really should have brought something to label the bags with.

[raijuu]

"So far I got the oranges here and the reds here," he said as he pointed. "I tried sticking some plants on there to help tell them apart."

And once again, Hak proved himself capable and thinking along the same line as her. Indeed, attached to each bag, if a little haphazardly, were leaves of flowers or plants of similar coloring to match the mushrooms.

"Blues and greens here, pinks and yellows over there." He stood up and dusted his hands off. "That's all of them, right?"

[herpath]

"We need orange and red too."

She closed the bag tightly and put it back on the ground before looking around for orange and red flowers to label the respective bags. She was not going to mess up this time. She'd go one color at a time. It might be a bit slower then working on them all at once but it was safer if something happened. For a brief moment she thought about asking Hak to help her pick them too, but she'd already gotten more help then she'd been planning on and really, she wanted to do this as much on her own as possible. She waned to show herself that she could still be useful even here.

"I wonder what they want to use them more." She's starting to think it might be a good idea to ask when she brings the samples back. Of course, maybe they just want to catalog them or something.

[raijuu]

"Who knows," he shrugged as he watched her. "In this place, anything could happen."

They made jam out of those memory petals.

"But I wonder if it's just the smoke from these mushrooms or the mushrooms themselves that are potent."

[herpath]

She frowned in her labeling, he had a point. What if they got stuck in someone's food or something and caused even more trouble. How long would the affects last if they were actually eaten.

"You could volunteer to test it." There may have been a little lingering anger there. Well, that and she knew he was smart enough not to actually follow through with it.

[raijuu]

"That's a little cruel, Princess," he only answered, knowing full well she didn't mean it. "But did you really not look into this before taking the job?"

[herpath]

Her face burned with embarrassment at his chastisement and she muttered a quiet 'I'm sorry' under her breath. It really was a cruel thing to say and she felt bad for saying it.

The rest of his words were difficult to answer. Had this been home she would have been more suspicious when looking into the job. She would have tried to think up a plan to learn everything about what they were doing with the mushrooms before accepting. Even so, she still wanted to believe that people were really good and kind. She wanted to believe that they just wanted to study the mushrooms and maybe the effect they mentioned weren't really that bad. Having experienced the effects of the spores though she couldn't help wanting to know more about what they planned on doing with them and why they wanted them.

Even if she explained herself Hak would probably say she was being naive. "I looked into it, but I didn't realize the effects were like this." She carefully concentrated on the mushroom in her hand, frowning heavily. If she didn't bring the mushrooms back then she couldn't get pain and contribute to the things that needed to be bought, but she didn't want to just hand over something that could possibly be this dangerous without knowing what they were doing with it.

[raijuu]

Hak watched her expressions carefully before releasing a small exhale and picking up the nearest sack.

"If you want, we can just take these back to house and I'll look into it. Shouldn't be too hard for me to do some basic investigation on them." Since he was in the Enforcers and all.

I have no icons to match this tag; so have one that doesn't match at all.

[herpath]

She looked up, the look in her eyes firm and unwavering. "I want to help." She wasn't going to let Hak clean up her mistakes. she was the one who didn't look into things enough and she wanted to help make sure she wasn't helping these people do something bad.

still laughing

[raijuu]

Hak looked down at her for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"All right, then carry four of those bags."

My work here is done~

[herpath]

She put the mushroom that was still in her hand into the bag and collected the rest that were nearby. She needed to be more vigilant here. She supposed in some cases she was still just as naive as she used to be. It was one of the many reasons she needed the others's strength.

Her hand tightened around the top of the bag as she worked through things. Plants that enhanced emotions ... there were a number of things that something like that could be used for. For good or bad. Still, she wouldn't know what they were doing if she didn't investigate.

[raijuu]

When they had finished collecting, Hak leads the way back in his usual silence. His thoughts do drift back to the mayhem from before, but...well, he isn't going to really dwell much about it.

"So you really think I'm a jerk?"

Instead he's going to bother her about it. Really, he's heard similar sentiments before, so it doesn't get to him. But things are kind of weird between them right now, and what better way to dispel than by flustering and annoying his princess?

[herpath]

For his trouble he gains just that. She dips her head to try and conceal the embarrassment at her previous actions; mostly because they weren't entirely her own. She had no problem with throwing things at Hak and yelling at him, she just didn't like the thought that something out of her control could make her do it.

"Sometimes." She wasn't going to say he wasn't a jerk. That wasn't true. Sometimes Hak was the jerkiest of jerks, but he was also loyal and kind.

She thought about what he'd said to her and she turned to look up at him. "Do you really think I'm spoiled?"

[raijuu]

"Sometimes," he answers.

However, although he won't say this unless she asks, compared to before when she was still living at the castle, the spoiling she receives is of a different kind. And he certainly spoils her even if it's not always through attention or doing everything she wants.

[herpath]

The look on her face doesn't deny that the words weren't the ones she wanted to hear, but at the same time she appreciates that Hak is being honest with her. She knows that she still has a long way to go, but 'sometimes' is better then 'always'. She holds her bags a little tighter as she lets her mind wonder in thought. Just because she's here she can't stop training. She'll need to get a bow and a sword and for that she'll need to get more money. There are a lot of places she could look into, but she's been looking and there is one place she wants to know more about.

"What are the Enforcer's like?" She knows what most people know about them, and if she wants to protect people it would be the best place for her to look at, but she needed to know more. Although, if Hak was an Enforcer they couldn't be bad people.

[raijuu]

The arduous sigh Hak makes is the only tell about his initial thoughts on his employment. Well, not that he dislikes the Enforcers generally. Just...some of the higher-ups he has to follow. And even that is just a "means to end" and "kill time" until he returns home. After all, his loyalty could never be toward anyone or anything other than King Il and his daughter, Yona.

"A bunch of clowns who are surprisingly capable when they actually have to do something."

Not exactly glowing praise there. However, there's another reason why his sigh had such a unhappy air to it. He has an idea of why she's asking, but he'll ask her anyway.

"Why? Interested?"

[herpath]

She nods, eyes shifting to her hands.

"Just because I'm here doesn't mean I should stop trying to help people." It really was a given that she would think that way. To her being here wasn't some sort of vacation or an inconvenience. It was more like a challenge. She needed to stay strong and keep helping people even if she wasn't in their world.