TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: NOVEMBER —

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, October 25 and Applications (Canon | OC) open Tuesday, November 1st.
  
  
• OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are 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: The Boreas Harvest Festival is fast approaching, and the farmers are trying hard to work through the bleak weather conditions to get their crops in before they go bad from all the apathy. All hands on deck—but there may be too many unwanted hands roaming around.

1. Scarecrows. The scarecrows that have been set up as a festive reminder of the time of year have unfortunately come under the influence of some errant strong emotions from the farm hands that work in the fields. Unfortunately that includes trying to ward off anyone who enters the fields with pitchforks and is one of them carrying a torch? Maybe if they can be convinced that you are trustworthy they will calm down.
   
   
2. Invading rabbits. There are ton of rabbits ravaging the carrot patches. They're easily frightened, but some are more tenacious than others. Beware of the white rabbit with red eyes.
   
   
3. Save the crops! Several batches are already starting to spoil! The only thing that can save them is dumping as much positive emotions into them. Joy of good food, hope for a bountiful meal, love of eating—whatever will work. Just be careful. Too much and those things might grow and explode…

• Prompt E: Aiada, the Arehtei of appreciation and jealousy, has sent a personal request for those who are interested. There is a small island just beneath Empatheias that she has been cultivating over the many centuries. She wishes to contribute to the Harvest Festival with some seeds and spores. However, the recent atmosphere has also reached down there, and now it's all a mess! Giant mushrooms replaced the trees and there's slime and mold everywhere. The cure? Aside from getting a lot of heavy duty cleaners and pushing it off, appreciation will go a long way to help.

1. Goop brigade. Grab that bucket and shovel and clear the goop out! Just be careful not to have too much get on you—jealousy might take over.
   
   
2. Appreciation balls. To help hasten the effort, Aiada has given several tubs filled with light, green orbs. Once channeled with enough appreciation, they can be used as mini-grenades to help explode and wash the area with more positive energy. Those caught in the blast won't be harmed. If anything, they'll just be very thankful.
   
   
3. Watch the ledges. Careful, it's a fairly small island and the goop and slime has made things slick. If you fall… That's not a good way to go, let's just say that.

• Prompt F: Various parties are interested in the emotion shards scattered all over Thera. But this time around, the focus is on the medical laboratory as the equipment and potential research there is also of interest. For three days those who volunteer are sent back to try and gather as much as possible—but of course this won't be easy.

1. Skeletal Scientists. The remains of the scientists who once worked in these rooms are still lurking, ready to protect their work. Fortunately they're relatively weak nerds, so not too difficult to dispatch. Just be careful.
   
   
2. Flying equipment. The various medical equipment has also taken life, scalpels and needles flying everywhere and stethoscopes ready to strangle.
   
   
3. Questionable liquid. Most of the easy shards have already been taken, leaving the more difficult to retrieve ones left. In particular they're found in strange, dark pink liquid. It's mostly harmless—except that upon contact intense waves of grief and suffering will course through. The longer the exposure, the worse it is. So hopefully a bucket full of it doesn't fall on you…

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include feathers and/or confetti.

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

[a_noble_flame]

[Pidge looks sheepish and so does Alice.]

I'm not either. One of the other members of my squad is usually better at talking to civilians really.

[Since Oreldo isn't here though, Alice has to think on how to handle this situation with her and Pidge's clumsy amounts of finesse.]

It isn't right really to expect civilians to shoulder the burden of fixing this problem either. What we really need is some way to amplify our own emotions.

[a_noble_flame]

[The idea of being chatted up seems to sail right over her head. Instead she takes a moment to try to concentrate more emotion into her orb, thinking on her appreciation of those who speak openly and honestly. It isn't quite the significant hit her feelings for her comrades or beliefs might be but it's enough to make a slight difference when she throws it.]

Good. I would rather have someone who spoke honestly and curiously to me than someone who is closed off. I'm Second Lieutenant Alice L. Malvin of the Pumpkin Scissors squad.

[Yeah, she more or less considers the rank as part of her name.]

[ramblingly]

...I wasn't even thinking of civilians. I was thinking of other guys like us.

[People who were whisked away from their homes and their duties and brought to this strange little place.]

Although, I wonder... how would you amplify emotions? Do they come out as a wave, like sound?

[The question had set the machine that was her mind in motion as Pidge mulled over the various possibilities. Tinkering was her thing, if nothing else.]

If so, we'd just need a solid amplifier like they use at concerts, but we'd need to figure out how the wave works so we can channel it from it's source to the device.

[latentforlife]

Oh, titles huh? Well I guess I'd be a Division 1 Enforcer for the MWPSB.

[Can he still call himself that?]

What do Pumpkin Scissors squads do?

[ephemerous]

[Yeah, that sounds like Dhurke. Nahyuta might have been forced out of contact with him for half a decade, but he'll never forget that sense of humour. It's a bittersweet kind of amusement, hearing his jokes repeated back like this.]

Ah, so he was the one that did it. You can be honest with me, if that's truly what happened.

[He picks up the box and heads back over to Apollo.]

But before you tell me any more about your backside or your drinking habits, shall we begin to make our way out of here? There might be more unpleasant surprises waiting in this place, if we linger.

[a_noble_flame]

... I guess others like us really wouldn't be civilians.

[It's a little hard for her not to think like that though. Not that she thinks she's the be all end all of army around here but she does try to protect far more people than she probably should.

The more Pidge talks, the more Alice's expression wavers. After a moment she scratches at her cheek sheepishly.]

I haven't really wrapped my mind around how this emotional stuff works at all. It's not that it doesn't take effort but I'm far more used to physical effort.

[Not that she doesn't put forth emotional effort but boy howdy, this place has already asked her to start deeply examining emotions she just kinda glances towards now and then or accepts but doesn't think about.]

[a_noble_flame]

[Ah, another military unit. Alice takes note of that mentally as she reaches for another orb. She gives her reply easily.]

War relief.

[She ought to question as well since he's doing so. Tit for tat, so the saying goes.]

And what about Division One? If you don't mind me asking, that is.

[Their own Section One was a pretty secretive bunch after all, though not as much as Section Two.]

[sanguisdolore]

[ Initially he didn't know how the other boy was going to take what he'd said or what conclusions he'd come to. There was a number of things people could think of when you said you weren't human and as such there was things Rion could assume him to be all on his own.

Though he catches a glimpse of that smile briefly, the words following making him blink a bit before as a small smile is turned in the other boy's direction as well. ]

I'm also not falling apart or anything, either.

[ Since from his basic knowledge, zombies fell apart and were rather ugly to look at and well... he was far from that. ]

However... you have the right idea. I am dead, but... think of something more on the lines of something that never ages and feeds on only one thing.

[latentforlife]

Sounds pretty important.

[War relief? Well that's a bit different. There haven't been any local wars in a while.]

MWPSB's sort of like the police. Each Division has a couple of inspectors and a bunch of enforcers.

[That's the nice way to put it.]

[a_noble_flame]

[Like the police. Alice nods a little there.]

It is very important but it's only one piece of an answer to a larger problem. The police are another part of that.

[seasaltkeys]

[If he's being honest, the answer is No and probably not is more of an understatement than anything else. But it's kind of rude to be flat out like that. Settling on what he's going to say is a bit of a nightmare right now.]

It...i...I missed you. A lot.

[ramblingly]

[They were taking the term 'civilian' on a few separate definitions, it seemed tp Pidge. While she had attended a military academy and knew it's proper definition, her experiences in recent months have taught her a different way of looking at the word:

'Those not involved.']

Make that the two of us, [Pidge confessed with a nonchalant shrug, as if the detail were no more than a mere technicality in all of this.]

I'm also used to things taking a physical effort, even if it's just pushing a button to make the machine work. This....I admit, it's beyond what I know right now, but it's obviously worth something here. That's enough reason to look at it, I think.

[latentforlife]

All part of the bigger picture, huh?

[He plucks another orb, staring at it.]

I guess Enforcers don't really have to worry about all that. But I do appreciate escaping.

[His orb begins to glow giving truth to that last statement.]

[pinkidealist]

{She would say the same if she had realized she'd been gone in the first place, but she can understand why. So she hugged him gently this time.}

I'm sorry. I'm here now. I didn't... expect to leave.

[gardenboxed]

Zero...

[But it's so weird now. Maybe he just wants to be considerate of her and the fact that she's used to referring to him that way by now.]

It feels weird to say. [She admits it.] You're around the same age as Kaname-sama now.

[oratorical]

[She sighs, giving Barry an exasperated look, before turning and heading further into the lab. She expects he'll follow because of how protective he's being and also because they have a job to do, so there's no point in telling him to follow outright.]

And if you need to go, the same goes for you. For now, we have shards to find in this mess. And from the looks of it, they aren't going to be large and easy to find.

[and skeletons or no skeletons, she plans on doing just that.]

[bloodyrose]

Yeah. I can imagine. I've said so before, though, right?

[It's only the truth, really.

He doesn't especially like Kuran being brought up, but he does know (for this) he has to be mindful of what to say. Once again, there's so much that Yuuki doesn't know.

. . .Granted, she did witness his first reaction towards the pureblood.

And in spite of himself, he's more curt. The air around them with a slight, though noticeable chill.]

Am I? I hadn't thought him to be eighteen.

[gardenboxed]

He's a few years older than us, right?

[The chill in the air causes her to lift her hands up and rub at her arms as she walks beside him.]

What am I like at that age?

[a_noble_flame]

Of course.

[She admitted that readily enough, even if she seemed somewhat frustrated. At least until she realizes the bundle still tucked against one arm has wilted a bit. Then the brief frustration broke for exasperation at herself.]

Alright, being frustrated won't help.

[And here Alice made a decision. She planted her free hand in a balled-up fist against her hip.]

We're going to concentrate on appreciative thoughts all night if that's what it takes! I refuse to give up on this!

[And there she went, charging into the piles of corn like she was on a mission.]

[ramblingly]

[...Ah. So the power of emotions were that strong hm?

Pidge just grinned, already liking where this idea was going.]

You planning on making all this into a feast for the whole town? [She asked, a teasing lilt in her voice as she looked over at the young woman.]

That's as good a plan as we're gonna get right now, so I thing we'd better get started!

[gratitude]

[ mika, this probably would have been a good time to like... just leave it at that. rion's eyes widen; he's not sure what exactly mika is, but... he's dead, he used to be human, uhhh.

ah. wait. is this all some sort of ploy? ]

A... um.

[ he's. really not sure he wants the answer to this question, because his knowledge of vampires is that they are manipulative and sooner or later he's going to end up being eaten. maybe he's something else, but mummies tend to be much more obviously... mummies... and he doesn't know what other dead-but-not-dead things there are that feed on one thing. ]

Um.

[ of course. of course it had to be something like this, didn't it? why wouldn't someone who seems alright in fact be like, a vampire or something? just rion's luck. of course he was only friendly because rion would be edible.

he is doing a very poor job of not looking really alarmed. ]

[a_noble_flame]

[The connection with the light and the emotion certainly isn't hard to figure out. So he enjoys freedom and escape, even more so than comrades. Alice considers those facts a moment and then turns her mind to the word 'escape'.]

I think we all look for escape in our own way. I certainly have through my work. And it's taken me some time to realize that's not a bad thing.

[She is the way she is, the Corporal is the way he is and there's nothing wrong with any of it. The noble she is and the Second Lieutenant are both valid parts of her. So in some ways even if she escapes one role or the other, she appreciates those moments of escape.

Her orb lights up gently, though steadily.]

[latentforlife]

It might not be the same. Unless they execute deserters where your from.

[That comes out way too casually in his tone and he tosses his orb before he dwells on that thought. It releases its energy.

He switches gears without even missing a beat.]

But if I had to choose a favorite escape, it'd be cooking. Or video games. They're both pretty close.

[bloodyrose]

Maybe fifteen or sixteen. At your time at least.

[Although that's also a bit of a guess.

He smiles a bit after that.]

You're outgoing and kind. Very determined, too. [He pauses.] The Chairman does get the Night Class part of the Academy going, and made you one of its prefects— or, more so, as a 'guardian,' to keep the Day Class from interacting with them.

1/2

[gardenboxed]

[A 'guardian'... and she gets to help make the chairman's dream of peace a reality...?]