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

Randel Oland | Pumpkin Scissors

[willofthewisp]

B -- But he thought it was candy...

[It was the word 'licorice' that had brought Randel into the strange little bar, ducking through the entry and towering over everyone's heads as he looked around for where the samples might be. He had thought that a bar was a strange place to have such a test-- but, honestly, he's been to stranger locales and tried stranger things.

At the very least, he might meet a nice person. Or...so he thought.

Upon explaining what he understood of the flyer to the barkeep, he was greeted with...many, many pints of beer.

Randel eyed them with surprise. He knew it would take a lot more than that to get him drunk, but was there something that he misread?]

Uhm...

[He dipped down, examining the many glasses from all angles (and underneath the bar-- especially under the bar) before looking askance at the barkeep.]

But...licorice?

C -- Thinking out loud

I wonder where all the cats are at?

[It was an idle thought that Randel had no idea he had transmitted, fiddling with his amulet like he was while he passed through the outskirts of town with a bag of food tucked under his arms. A kind person had insisted on giving it to him after a simple act of helping someone carry their groceries that he hadn't expected repayment for... with their excuse being that he was so much taller than they were. It was impossible to just refuse the gift, because he didn't want to see disappointment in that person's eyes after the pleasant walk and conversation they had shared together

But he knew he wouldn't use a portion of the gift himself, so he wanted to put it to good use. And, there were always populations of feral cats and dogs where ever people lived....

Right?

He glanced down at the bag pensively, wondering how he was going to use all of this if he didn't find any cats.]

Wildcard

[Don't like a prompt? Make one up!]

B

[a_noble_flame]

[Alice looks askance (and up) at the man herself.]

Why would a bar be giving out licorice?

hahah

[willofthewisp]

[Randel gave his petite lieutenant a confused look for a moment before reaching into a pocket of his billowing coat to pull out a copy of the flyer he had found.]

Licorice and beer sound strange together, so I thought that I should see for myself. But...

[He cast an uncertain look at all of those pints, as if not sure how to proceed. While he wasn't a teetotaler, this sure seemed like an awful lot for one person-- even if he was quite a tall person himself.]

[a_noble_flame]

[Taking the flyer, Alice peers over it with raised brows.]

Licorice beers.

[Then she peers up at the wide spread of beers. They near cover up the bar itself and for a moment she's a little befuddled.]

These can't all be...

[With a free hand she plucks up one of the pints and then looks like she's just going to down it here and now. Then she stops short, sniffing at the pint rather than drinking from it. Her brows shoot up again.]

It certainly smells like licorice.

[What proceeds next is like some sort of beer sniffing event. Alice ends up taking note of a fair few of the pints, then she looks up at Randel thoroughly amazed... and confused. One can near see the question marks in the environment around her.]

These all smell like licorice. Just licorice.

[Now she turns to the pints themselves, brow deeply furrowed. The question marks increase.]

... I never knew there were this many types of licorice. They're all subtle but different.

[Finally she turns back and thrusts one of the pints at him.]

Drink this.

[willofthewisp]

[Those little question marks hanging around Alice could be seen around Randel as well-- although, that seemed to be a near constant state for him, as he tried to navigate his way through this new city with varying levels of success. He leaned forward, watching Alice curiously as she conducted her lengthy and very thorough investigation with the same respect and regard that any subordinate would have for their superior officer.

Except, those question marks seemed to turn immediately into exclaimation marks when she thrust one of the pints into his hands.]

Aah-- right!

[Trusting that Alice would never knowingly lead him into danger, Randel drew deeply from that pint without question or second thought. The herbal bite of the natural licorice burnt his tongue and his throat alongside of the alcohol....but, honestly, he's had far worse.]

It...isn't too bad, [He decided after a moment.] Maybe a little heavy. You can't taste much else.

[But he was a kid from the poorest part of town. He could easily imagine any of the kids in the 0 District scrambling to try something as precious and unique as this. He wanted to share it with someone, which was why half of the glass still remained...

He didn't seem affected by the alcohol at all.]

1/2

[a_noble_flame]

[Alice waits a couple of seconds after his appraisal, looking up at him almost expectantly. And then she sighs out some, swinging her gaze back to the pints themselves.]

It only makes sense it wouldn't do much to you.

[She may just mumble those lines, the world darkening a little around her. One sip and she'd have to be carried home, even if the taste of licorice overwhelmed the alcohol itself. And it wasn't even that she was upset that she couldn't try it out herself, it was just-- hmph.]

2/2

[a_noble_flame]

[She taps her lower lip with her index finger in the next moment, thoughtfulness overtaking her prior huffiness.]

Well, I suppose sampling these is part of the job. I can't exactly do it myself though.

[Then again, it was champagne and wine she couldn't much take. Perhaps beer was a different thing altogether? It was still all alcohol in the end and Alice knew precious little about any of it.]

[willofthewisp]

[The confusion is plainly written on Randel's face when he overheard Alice's first muttered comment, and he briefly found himself wondering why she even envied those who could hold their liquor when drunkenness was often more embarrassing than not. If anything, Alice and her inability to tolerate alcohol left her in a better position.

After all, she had saved several dozen lives and prevented a rebellion with her blade in a ballroom gown in part because she was still sober and had her wits about her.]

I don't mind doing it... [He said, trailing off in some disappointment.] I was hoping it would be just candy.

[a_noble_flame]

[The environment seems to darken around the man with his disappointment and Alice frowns a bit. She had never much cared for seeing people disappointed, unless they had done so to themselves or had a good reason to be.

Alice hms a little, hand against her chin briefly. And then she gives a firm nod, her smile bright as she glances back up at him.]

Well then, why don't we find some candy after this? I don't want to leave a job unfinished but there's no reason we can't find a candy shop of some sort in a town this size.

[Because clearly the problem Randel has at the moment is the lack of candy. Yes, that's definitely what it is. With that the air around Alice slowly begins to brighten. Is that the light of determination?! Yup, you bet!]

I'll even help you as much as I can. I'm sure this won't be a problem!

[No problem at all!]

C

[majorgeneral]

Probably napping. They like to sleep a lot.

[ byakkomaru is no different there, even if the white tiger is a demon. this is the first time he's reached out to someone over this telepathic amulet they all seem to share but he thinks he has the gist of it. ]

Have you tried alleyways or a local shelter?

[ that is, should there be one around. ]