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

[lothrat]

Can't argue with that, though I have to question how much of a threat you think glitter is.

[He debates for a moment continuing the argument about whether or not Dezel might be the actual culprit behind the glitter. Before he can put it into actual thoughts, though, the stranger distracts him with something completely out of left field. Ezra stares at him like he's crazy, then drops the telepathic conversation in favor of voicing his incredulity out loud.]

Why wouldn't I see you? You're right there. You're not even trying to hide.

[lothrat]

"Oh." Ezra feels a moment of sheepishness before he brushes it off. Really, it was an honest mistake. "But you're still his Master, or will be, so it's still lucky that you're here."

He wishes Kanan was here with him.

"Though I guess it's a little weird for you, if you remember him as a little kid, but now he's that old."

[lukeim_yurlin]

Cover yourself with it and then see how long it takes you to get rid of it all.

[Seriously. He was still finding glitter in his jacket pockets like two weeks after, even following multiple attempts to get rid of it all.]

[When Ezra switches over to using his real voice, Dezel does the same, almost completely certain now that he'll be audible.]

I don't usually need to, as how most humans can't perceive me. Makes me wonder how you can.

[There are three options, really, and any of them could be true in this case. Or as far as Dezel knows, anyway.]

[lothrat]

[Ezra blinks.]

You're not human?

[Granted, there are plenty of humanoid races out there, so maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. Curious to take a better look now, Ezra drops down from his branch to the ground. His landing is balanced, heedless of the drop, though he looks a little bit scruffy from climbing and hiding in the tree, bits of bark and leaves clinging to his skin.

Up close, it's a lot more obvious that there's something different about Dezel, an almost... translucency to him.]

So, what are you, then?

[The question's a little bit rude, but Ezra's not necessarily the best with tact. But hey, he figures it's fair game since this guy brought it up first.]

[lukeim_yurlin]

[As Ezra jumps down, Dezel reaches up with one hand to adjust his top hat, tipping it back a tad. He watches the youngster carefully, noting that Ezra had no trouble sticking the landing in the slightest. This one's got some strength and agility to him.]

A wind seraph. A kind of spirit.

[As if to drive the point home, the breeze kicks up briefly, swirling around Ezra to remove of the bits of bark and leaves from him.]

That you can see and hear me means at least one of three things... You're not actually human, or you are but we share an alignment with the same Arehtei. Or that you're spiritually resonant. Humans tend to lack the insight needed to see seraphim.

[lothrat]

[Ezra stiffens at the very deliberate way that the wind picks the leaf litter from his skin. Being able to move things without touching them is a trait that very few people where he comes from have, and most of the ones Ezra's encountered have had nothing like good intentions.

And let's face it. He doesn't know this guy. He's got no reason to trust him.]

Well, I'm definitely human.

[That's not something all that hard to confirm, and so not much of a concession to admit. The rest, though, is going to be met with hard caution.]

How do you know which alignment you are?

[lukeim_yurlin]

[Reaching beneath his shirt from the collar area, Dezel draws out his amulet - shaped like a dagger and hanging on a thin golden chain. The amulet itself is a deep blood orange in color.]

The color of your amulet crystal is the indicator. Blood orange is the color of Elios, Arehtei of love and hate.

Though if you haven't been here long--[and Dezel guesses from the question about alignment that Ezra is relatively new]--your amulet might not have a definite color just yet.

let's break the ice with arukanu saying hi first

[thirdprogenitor]

[ While he may struggle with seeing anything in front of him thanks to the countless packages that seem to practically tower over him, when one is able to fly, that never poses as a problem for simply getting out of the way or taking a peek at just who happens to be behind such a tower of packages.

No, it's not Krul. Rather, her one-eyed bat, Arukanu, who has taken it upon himself to perch at the top of the tower that Ren carries, wings tucked behind his back as he glances down to the young man carrying all of this.

Perhaps it's the scent of cookies that has caused the small bat to take an interest in this pile of packages. Regardless, it seems as though Ren has a companion accompanying him now. ]

[lothrat]

[Ezra eyes the amulet for a moment, weighing his next action carefully. He can't think of a reason not to, though - not without raising even more suspicion - so he pulls his own amulet out from where he had it tucked in his shirt. The crystal's shaped like a snail shell - like the Jedi Temple on Lothal - and it's almost completely colorless. If there's even a hint of a color that might be periwinkle blue, it's so faint that it could just as easily be a trick of the light.

Dezel's right about him being really new.]

I don't think I have an alignment yet. Maybe it still works if I'm "neutral."

[lukeim_yurlin]

[Again, the breeze brushes over Ezra for a couple of seconds as he takes out his amulet. Though Dezel can see well enough with his eyes, he's come to depend on the wind to tell him what vision alone sometimes cannot. And as someone who values information, he's always on the lookout for more, taking in any details he can to help him analyze everything around him.]

I suppose that's possible, but likely doubtful. I've become visible to people over time here, but never faded out again. You're probably with Elios or you're resonant. Maybe both.

[There's a brief pause while Dezel considers the kid carefully, then:]

What's your name, anyway?

[hadthehighground]

"A little," he agrees readily. "As are many other things."

The fact that he's a long lost nearly forgotten relic to some is also just as strange.

"But at the same time, it provides unique opportunities."

[oratorical]

[Ezra's plan works, the movement of the glitter catching Leia's attention out of the corner of her eye, and she turns back toward it. Things moving or making strange patterns on their own isn't exactly that bizarre here, where emotions can mess with nearly everything in many different ways, but the strange thing here is that Leia is pretty sure her emotions were under control. There's no way this swirling could be her doing.]

I'm not going to hurt you, if that's what you're worried about.

[lothrat]

[That's not the Force. At least, he doesn't think that it is. It doesn't feel like it, but something about it still feels intentional, and that raises the hair on the back of Ezra's neck. He almost, almost tries to ward it off, but refrains at the last second. He's not sure he wants this guy knowing what he is.

But does he want him to know who he is? Ezra hesitates before answering the question. On the one hand, it's doubtful he has anything to do with Inquisitors or Sith, but on the other, he doesn't know that for sure.

In the end, he has to go with his gut.]

...I'm Ezra. What about you?

[lothrat]

Ezra tilts his head. "Like what kind of opportunities?"

What kind of opportunities are there for what would feel like jumping forward in time?

[hadthehighground]

"I get to see what sort of man Luke has become. According to him, we didn't have much time together. Here at least, we can make up for that."

It did feel like jumping forward in time. And there are some things he'd rather not have known about but he's trying to make the most of it.

[lothrat]

[If Ezra had taken the time to think about it, he might have noticed a nagging sense of familiarity about her voice, too, but the feeling is shunted to the back of his mind in favor of the mischief at hand. Grinning, he pounces on the opportunity to move freely as soon as she glances down. With his hand stretched out, he makes a scooping motion up, then pushes it, his mind using the motions to help focus his intent. The glitter rises like a cloud all around her before exploding outward. In this case, it doesn't matter if his control isn't the best, because glitter everywhere is still glitter everywhere.

It might almost be pretty, if it wasn't such a mess.

Either way, the end result gets a muffled laugh.]

[sithkabobed]

[No worries, Ezra. It's not on you to comfort the old Jedi.]

[That being said, Qui-Gon's sadness swiftly melts away into a semi-austere gaze directed at the boy walking alongside him. It doesn't quite breach into the realm of scolding, but there's a serious air about the way Qui-Gon speaks, how his tone shifts into an artful blend of quiet and commanding.]

You may not have been using the Force, Ezra, but that doesn't mean your actions were any less dangerous.

[He hates the idea of stifling experimentation with powers, but Qui-Gon knows all-too-well the lure of the Dark Side, and how even the most seasoned of Jedi can get ensnared without realizing it.]

[He was almost one of them.]

Anger is a powerful emotion, but it's driven by fear and negativity. That path only leads to ruin.

Whatever strength you think you'd gain is low-hanging and bitter fruit.

[lothrat]

"Oh." Well, that's a sobering note. Ezra's smile fades away.

Considering the last time he saw his own master, Kanan had been fighting two Inquisitors, the thought of losing your master after only a short time hits a little too close to home for him. Around him, the air turns chilly and damp, but that's not the reason he rubs his arms. His worry is a very real thing, even if he doesn't want to admit that it is.

Shaking his head, he tries to brush the thought off. There isn't much he can do about it that he isn't already doing, and he knows Kanan and Ahsoka can take care of themselves, and Maul had been on his way to help them. He just has to trust in them.

"Well, then I'm glad you got this chance, and I'm sure he's glad, too." Aaand he kind of wants to change the subject from that now, before he can dwell on it. "I should probably get back to work. I did promise that farmer I'd get rid of the rabbits in his patch."

[staredown]

[He's talking before she finishes.]

That barbarian is lying--

[You have a handsome arm, Yona, and you-- wait you're still talking-- about-- the hell--]

That barbarian. I will paralyze him within an inch of his life.

[It actually is not said with a lot of bite. He even concedes:]

If it pleases you.

[herpath]

[Her sun pendant flashes brightly for a moment. It makes her happier then she realized it would to meet the original dragons and Shin-Ah's ancestor is kind of really cute.]

Ah! He was trying to make us feel better. Shu-Ten is a really kind person.

[Really, she didn't mean to get him in trouble with his friend.]

He's even teaching me to sword fight.

[staredown]

He was trying to give you your death of cold. Far be it from me to presume, but I doubt you'd feel that much better.

[Shu-Ten has his redeeming qualities. Maybe kindness is one of them. Abi's not going to swear to that on the record.]

You can do better than him.

[herpath]

If I got sick I'm sure he would have come over to help me feel better.

[Yona has so much faith is Shu-Ten. He's a good person who loves his friends and wants them to feel better. He's just also really awkward.]

And he's a really good teacher. He doesn't go easy on me at all.

[She sounds really happy about that. After having to practically force Hak to teach her and then him putting it off here it's good to have someone willing to teach her.]

[staredown]

It's humiliating, if I'm being honest. [Why is he being honest? Damn you, Kija.] That is the other side of the coin of humility, after all.

[He does manage to stop himself from adding that it's terrifying, too, to be aware of your surroundings yet trapped in your own body. Or worse, to begin losing consciousness and know you'll be left at the mercy of whoever is closest, and praying it's Hiryuu, one of the other three, or even one of his subordinate soldiers.]

I understand the sentiment. Hakuryuu's power is something you can see and touch. So is Ryokuryuu's. But Seiryuu's, ironically, is invisible. There is nothing there to fear, so it's feared all the more.

[staredown]

[Abi can't even read minds, and he has the special eyes. Kija, how.]

Sometimes that kind of familiarity is inappropriate. [Grabbing some pride to prop himself up with.]

But I suppose, we like it because it's familiar. Who are you, if you aren't your own name?

[lukeim_yurlin]

[In a way, the kid's hesitation to answer is admirable.  It shows a degree of caution, something Dezel can actually respect just a little.  ...though it does make the seraph wonder what Ezra's been through to instill that lesson in him.]

Dezel.

[Never the type for fancy introductions, this one.]

And I was looking for a place to eat the food I just bought, but looks like I'll be handling clean up ahead of that.

[Attention returning to the glitter on the ground (which can't possibly be good for the soil, plants, and possibly even domestic and wild animal life in the area) Dezel stirs up the air currents again, the wind sweeping the offending mess into a small, tight tornado.  It then funnels the glitter into a waste bin a short distance away.  Doubtful every speck has been handled, but better most than nothing as all.]