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

[staredown]

[It's not that he thinks Zeno would do anything untoward... it's that no one should be putting this poor girl in a situation where someone else might think that he would.]

...Well. If it was never a problem before...

[He blinks again. She looks old enough to know better, but if she doesn't... who is this Hak? He shakes his head.]

I'm overthinking. [It must be because she feels like Hiryuu. Of course Ouryuu would keep her close, and...]

Don't pay attention to me. I'm glad we have a few mutual friends.

[staredown]

[Abi blinks, startled, and-- oh. He spares the vegetable a glance, and rests a hand on it.]

You're right, of course.

[...and begins to think again, about being able to bring something he helped grow to the princess and the king.

And, in fact, Guen can come, too. It looks like his descendant might teach him manners, and that would be something to see... he could see Kija being a nice addition to their dragon gatherings.]

[romanticlove]

I'm s- [He'd been about to apologize when she speaks and it cuts him off short. Lowering the boxes again and tucking them in front of him, he listens to her.]

I understand. I apologize for being disrespectful.

[And still he can't help but feel sad and lonely, probably causing more plants to droops and wilt subtly. It was hard enough adjusting to a new place but being somewhere without Ai and somewhere his parents had no idea who he was was harder. They had always been a family and to have to learn another way to interact with them was hard. After a thousand years habits like that were hard to break. He wanted to reach out and hug his mother, maybe ruffle her hair as she did with him as a child so often. He couldn't be reassuring or think of a better way to apologize than to stutter out words with awkward formality to distance himself from her.]

I only have Yuuki-san's interests at heart, even if it may not seem so.

[romanticlove]

Mm. I think you would be suited for security. As a Hunter you're already practiced in protecting people, right?

[He smiled amicably, though it's still slightly forced.]

I don't mind delivering packages. I meet a lot of interesting people this way. Though I can't tell whether or not this is something worthwhile or something to just pass the time.

yeeees

[romanticlove]

[He might not see but he still has somewhat a sense of perception about him. When the bat lands atop his packages, he stops, looking up out of curiosity. It reminded him of a familiar - like his mother's butterflies. When his gaze meets the bat he continues to stare, almost sizing him up.]

Please don't take anything. They don't belong to you.

[He means the cookies, mr. bat.]

[thirdprogenitor]

[ Tiny feet scrape and tap against the top of the packages that he sits upon, almost as if trying to get a better footing and possibly even fly away with a package or two. However, it's when Krul appears nearby so suddenly that he stops his feet tapping and tucks his wings behind his back, looking over to the tiny pink-haired queen. ]

So this is where you disappeared to.

[ She smiles, standing there, tiny as can be with pale skin and crimson red eyes, strands of pink hair loose around her. ]

I didn't think you took an interest in strangers so much. [ She's clearly talking to the bat, her attention only shifting onto Ren a moment later. ] It seems like you have something that he wants. What could that be I wonder?

[gardenboxed]

[ . . . He's unhappy. Even if he doesn't say so, she can tell. It's in the subtle shift of formality, the quieter tone, and the apology. What she can't understand in the moment is why. Ever since his arrival, he's been so nice to her. But he rarely talks about the time that Yuuki apparently knows him from the future. Inquires are usually side-stepped, or answered in a way that doesn't really reveal very much what their friendship is.

It is a friendship, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't seem to worry over her.

Or maybe, it's just that he genuinely doesn't like Kaname. But if that's the case, she can't really understand. He's only ever been kind and incredibly doting on her. The gentle vampire who saved her, and has done so much for her over the years, must surely be respected and well loved even in the vampire world. Right...?

In the end, she doesn't know what to say. She suddenly feels a little awkward, as though she's ruined the mood. Falling into silence, she walks beside him, brows knit while she struggles to think up something to say. Maybe just a distraction in general?]

Do you... Do you have a favorite cookie, Ren-san?

[herpath]

[She waves her hands a little.]

Hak used to say I had no common sense, so if you think there's something wrong with it maybe you should come live with us too. I know Zeno would be really happy about it.

[Living with two men makes it totally legit.]

[bloodyrose]

Yeah. There seem to be plenty of people who know how to take care of themselves, or the like, but it still may be something that's needed in one way or another.

[Although there's also the chance that he won't be satisfied with what he might find.]

Makes sense. There's nothing wrong with sticking with it for the sake of it, though. Sometimes I don't know what to do with all of this free time.

[lothrat]

[Where all the rest of Qui-Gon's admonishment sinks in to simmer in conflict underneath Ezra's skin, it's the words about hurting his friends that finally makes Ezra flinch. That's the last thing he wants to do, ever. It's hard to swallow back his anger, but in the face of that he closes his eyes, dragging in a shaky breath before forcing himself to let it back out. And again. Catches himself clenching his hands and releases them, then drops them to his sides. It only helps a little, but a little is better than nothing.

Finally, he feels like he can look the Jedi Master in the eyes. The challenge is still there, but underneath it...

He wishes he didn't feel like he was pleading.]

It can't be wrong to want to save someone with everything you've got.

[He just can't bring himself to believe that.]

I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to help.

[sithkabobed]

[Qui-Gon still meets Ezra's words with gentle understanding, even going as far as to place a hand on his upper arm, just below his shoulder. This way, Ezra can pull away in case the touch is unwelcome and Qui-Gon can still show solidarity through gestures along with his words.]

You have a good heart, Padawan. And it is in the right place.

[It's just a dangerous line to walk when one has access to so much power. A shame, really.]

[Then again...]

I know your master isn't here, and I don't wish to impose... but I can teach you safer ways to help, if you would allow me.

[Qui-Gon won't allow Ezra to fall into the dark, but perhaps he can guide him along the path of the gray.]

[invigorates]

[ Her brows raise in a look of piqued curiosity, head cocked to the side. ] You sound like a very important man back home, to handle such delicate business for a Queen. [ Jokes on him he wants to know about your crazy state politics. ]

Were you participating in one of these important court proceedings before your arrival?

[ephemerous]

Recently, the situation has changed. I no longer serve that Queen, but her successor, and we are now in the midst of rebuilding our legal system. In that light, I have been engaged in a great many trials, and not a single one of them has been unimportant.

[Being dragged here, inconvenient though it is, is almost like a bizarre vacation, given just how many cases he's been juggling.]

[oratorical]

Thinking of it that way saves you from worrying about the implications of all this.

[which is to say, yes, this is just whatever it is.]

So do you plan on explaining why you were in that tree?

[lothrat]

[Ezra opens his mouth, then aborts with a cough. Oh. Right. The glitter. Darn, he'd hoped she would have been sidetracked from that.]

Uh...

[What's a safe way to put this that won't just tick her off?]

Practicing? You know I'm training to be a Jedi, right?

[He's actually not sure if she knows that, at least not in so many words. He knows she knows he can use the Force, since he used it right in front of her when they were stealing her ships, but did any of them ever actually get a chance to explain the situation? Things got a little tricky there at the end when they were trying to keep the Imperials from figuring out that Leia was working with them, what with... you know... shooting her and flying off...

Wow, he's so glad she gave him permission.]

[lothrat]

[Ezra goes still, if not quite rigid, at that moment of contact from Qui-Gon. Street-born instincts fight with the awe he has for a living Jedi Master, insisting that letting anyone get that close is a bad, bad idea. It takes him a moment to decide if he's willing to allow that gesture of solidarity or not.

Except in that moment's time, he forgets all about it, caught up by what Qui-Gon is proposing. Let him... teach me? The thought of having another teacher besides Kanan is... His mind balks before the thought even finishes, just as hard as when Kanan had suggested passing Ezra's apprenticeship to Master Luminara. He doesn't want another master. He wants the one he has. Even if Kanan's not here, who says he won't show up, or Ezra won't find his way back? That could happen any day. There is absolutely no reason for Ezra to seek a master in anyone else.

But is that really what Qui-Gon's proposing here? There's more than one kind of teacher. He knows that. Warily, he looks up at the man, searching every inch of his face. He can't deny the appeal of knowledge from a Master, but...]

You want to teach me?

[He still hasn't decided if he's going to pull away.]

Like a teacher? Or a master?

[Pick your words carefully, Qui-Gon. He might respect you as much as he can for having only known you a few days, but he has absolutely no qualms about turning heel and walking away if he doesn't like what Qui-Gon says next. If he has to, he'll find his own way to make sure he can keep his friends safe.]

[sithkabobed]

Only a teacher.

[Qui-Gon's response is level and resolute, yet still kind. He wants Ezra to know that he doesn't, and won't ever, mean him any harm. At the same time, the boy is free to make his own judgments and choices. Qui-Gon won't impose on that, either.]

The bond you have with your master is one that neither I nor anyone else should ever try to supersede. It would be disrespectful--at the very least--to do so.

[He dips his head in a humble gesture, hand still light on Ezra's arm. He'd noticed the way the boy stiffened at the initial touch, and keeps it as gentle as he can while still maintaining contact.]

It would be as if you were training in the Temple. Every Initiate and Padawan would have multiple teachers for different areas of study, but only one Jedi Master they apprentice under and truly bond with once they've reached thirteen years old. Even when undergoing missions with their respective masters, apprentices would still have sessions with these teachers in order to bolster what they've learned.

Seeing as you have multiple Jedi Masters and Knights here, it may be a good idea to obtain as much knowledge as you can from each one of us. It would offer a more complete training experience.

[invigorates]

[ There's a part of her tempted to question how such a situation came to be, but even her curiosity isn't strong enough to pry deeply into another person's personal life if they do not wish to speak of details. So she just nods. ]

I see. For what it might be worth, if you have not already been informed, you should return to your home right where you left off. [ She has no idea if he was worried about that, but just in case. ]

[lothrat]

[Training in the Temple... The idea of that had always been something Ezra could only entertain in idle daydreams, what-ifs he knew full well could never be. The Temple was destroyed, the Jedi all but gone. Kanan was really the only one who could teach him, supplemented by the lessons stored in his holocron.

Except that's not the case here. Ezra blinks, stiffness fading when presented with the idea from that angle. Not a master, not someone trying to take Kanan's place, not even just his only teacher, but one of maybe several. Almost like-]

Like going to school?

[Granted, his school attendance has been a little spotty since he started living on the streets, his priorities aligning more with survival than with formal education - and of course actually going to school was impossible on the Ghost, his lessons coming from either the crew or a computer terminal - but this at least lands things back in familiar territory. It's enough to disarm Ezra's initial reaction.

That, and Qui-Gon's clear respect for the line Ezra's drawn in his sand. The fact that the man is willing to give Ezra room to make his own decisions without judgment goes a long, long way to easing the tension that had settled between his shoulder blades.]

Would the other Jedi want to teach me, though? [That's not self-doubt, just Ezra analyzing the idea with a growing fascination.] They might be busy, or teaching might not be their thing.

I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T SEE THIS BEFORE!

[lightthedarkness]

AMI-CHAN! [Usagi called out, waving to the other girl and bounding over to her... and promptly falling flat on her face in the field.]

I-I'm okay... [That's a bit softer but eventually, after a few moments, Usagi picks herself back up and continues to head over to Ami.]

How is the revival going, Ami-chan? [She stood next to Ami and looked at the crops.] Aaaah Ami-chan this is great you're doing so well! [Usagi instantly wrapped up Ami in her arms.] I knew you'd be amazing!

[oratorical]

[Her brow furrows a bit at that question, just momentarily. She knew, looking back on it, that he could use the Force, and now she supposed it made sense that he was training to be a Jedi, but she didn't consider it at the time. As far as she knew, the only other Jedi alive before... well, all this mess, was Obi-Wan.]

You are? But... the only other Jedi I knew lived on Tatooine, not on Lothal.

[other Jedi besides Luke, that is. The unasked question here is, of course, who was training him.]

[lothrat]

[Tatooine? Whoever was hiding there must have been desperate. That's a Hutt world. Even so, Ezra makes a mental note of that little piece of information, right before he promptly gets distracted.

She doesn't know? Ezra opens his mouth, then stops himself. No, it might be more than that. Seven years, she said, and the implications of that are only now sinking in. And that still leaves him feeling a little bit stunned, but...

Maybe she forgot? It's weird to think of someone forgetting something that happened so recently for him, but there it is. He hesitates again, just because it's not exactly something he and Kanan advertise.

But, well, she knew some of it once, and it's not like the Loth-cat's not already out of the bag. Ezra scratches his head, then finally shrugs it off.]

Well, you can count one more Jedi, then. Kanan's teaching me. He's the one who had the lightsaber, remember? [Ezra quirks a smile.] He didn't just pick that up somewhere.

[oratorical]

[It's unsettling to Leia, as well, especially considering she hadn't seen Ezra, Kanan, and the rest of them in person since that trip to Lothal. Heard of things, sure, but not seen them in person. But that was no reason to jump to conclusions; it was a big galaxy, and it was easy to hide if you really didn't want to be found.]

You have to admit him picking it up somewhere isn't an unreasonable assumption. [what, you mean he made his first lightsaber and wasn't just given a child-murder-saber from the man that cut off almost all of his dad's limbs?]

There are other Jedi here, you know. Have you met them?

[/makes vague handwave motions toward continuity with other threads]

[lothrat]

[Considering they just found a place that had uncounted numbers of lightsabers just lying on the ground? No, he can't fault her too much for that idea. And who knows what sort of horrific deeds any one of those lightsabers did?]

No, I guess not. Still, that one's definitely his.

[At the question, he tilts his head, trying to think back to who all he's met. Has he...?

He ends up shaking his head. He can only think of the obvious one.]

I met Master Kenobi. How many others are here?

[oratorical]

At least two others.

[Anakin was gone--not that she counts him as a Jedi--and she's not exactly sure where Galen would fall in the Jedi spectrum, if he even wants to be considered one.]

I'm sure the names Qui-Gon Jinn and Luke Skywalker mean little to you.