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

Galen Marek | STar Wars: The Force Unleashed

[forcelightning]

A

[ Galen was fairly certain he'd died. Of course things had been hectic and confusing in those final few moments. He'd fully expected he'd die then you know, become one with the Force or something. He really didn't have a clear idea. He was pretty sure it wasn't this though. And talking with more people in regards to it just raised more questions, though it seemed pretty clear at least that he was, in fact, still alive. Which was a good thing! Very good.

What he needed was to clear his thoughts. Find some focus. Reflect on this.. second chance of a sort. He'd spent his entire young lifetime immersed in darkness and all sorts of Bad Stuff, he'd only just begun to claw his way out. And clearing his thought could only mean a bit of meditation. He sucked at meditation. He still tried though, frequently.

He'd found the perfect spot. A nice serene little clearing, empty save for a few flat boulders and the grass. He sat down on one of them and attempted the whole meditate thing. As per the usual, and especially now, his mind was a swirl of emotion. Fear about what had happened, frustration, undirected anger... however unlike the usual where he just spends a frustrating few minutes struggling to find focus this time... the rock he was sitting on just cracked under his own distress. He'd of course heard how emotions could effect surrounding and all that nonsense but he wasn't expecting. This.

Taken by ridiculous surprise, he tumbled backwards in an inelegant heap and then sat bolt upright looking seven sorts of embarrassed and scandalized, hoping no one saw him. ]

D-1

[ The scene was a gruesome one. Straw everywhere. Some bits slightly singed. Galen looked pleased. Sometimes you were at a point where you just needed to vent your frustrations somehow. And sometimes the solution came flailing at you trying to poke you with a pitchfork.

Did the animated scarecrow deserve to be sliced in half with a lightsaber? Maybe not but Galen certainly felt much better after clipping it back on his belt. ]

D-2

[ Why was he holding this many rabbits? He wasn't certain quite how he'd gotten into this mess. Someone yelled at him to grab a few invaders, and then someone handed him a few, and then suddenly he was alone in a field with an arm full of squirmy rabbits. He wasn't even mad. Just oh so incredibly confused, a few murky bubbles drifting aimlessly around him. ]

...Help?

[ Nothing in his training every prepared him for dealing with small fuzzy things. ]

D-2

[toschestation]

Here, I'll take some. Just hold still for a second. [don't scare them with sudden movements!]

[He'd been working at the other end of the field, but honestly it's hard to ignore weird looking murky bubbles drifting up into the sky, even from a distance. So here he was, with a couple of rabbits already in tow.

He carefully scoops up a couple of rabbits from Galen's arms, totally up to four.] Most of them will probably be happiest if we relocate them somewhere better.

[forcelightning]

[ Oh thank goodness. Galen is more then happy to unload a few furballs into the his savior's arms. ]

I'm thinking a relocation to an oven would make me the happiest. With some nice seasonings.

[ He levels a flat glare at the pests. ]

I'm fairly certain one of them keeps trying to bite me.

[ Because you were holding them too tightly Galen. ]

[toschestation]

It might be easier if you loosened your grip then. [He inclines his chin in a nod, indicating what looked almost like a vice grip from his perspective. The ones Luke has taken to old seem to be calmer, but still rather wriggly.]

Instead of cooking them, it might be better to relocate them. They're just trying to live, unfortunately it's making it hard for the farmers here to do the same. Do you think you can handle your armful until we can get out of the field?

[forcelightning]

You know I wasn't actually going to cook them.

[ Because he doesn't know how. Grudgingly he loosens his grip just a bit. He's still a little leery of doing so, these creatures were slippery. He had a feeling they'd all escape if he relaxed his death grip too much. ]

I was hoping they'd get the gist of the threat and behave themselves better.

[ He'd read before that there were some Jedi who could commune with animals. Sadly that was a skill beyond him and he was stuck with just shuffling the critters in his arms until the bitey one couldn't get to his arm again. ]

It doesn't seem to have worked. [ He sighs. ] I'll manage them though.

[toschestation]

[That gets a laugh out of Luke, at least.] Really? I couldn't tell. I don't think they're that good at figuring out what our words mean.

[In the meantime however, he is already carefully stepping his way through the field before tossing the rabbits gently into a few wood and wire cages. Once that's done he turns around with one of the cages and holds it open for Galen.]

They're definitely not the animal for everyone. But they do a lot better if you're calm around them, I think. [So, chill vibes. Jedi mindset, all that.]

[forcelightning]

They don't need to know words to understand tone.

[ He scowls but manages to dump the furballs at least half gently into their cage. He feels Biter at least understood and was simply being obstinate because he squished him. ]

...I don't really do calm very well.

[ He was raised to be a ball of anger and hate and just general unpleasantness. He's been improving! But it's difficult. ]

[toschestation]

[HEY. That's his old man ur talking about. ...not that it's wrong....]

That's fine, not everyone does. But if it's something you would want to work on if you wanted to get along better with animals.

[Biter seems peppy even in the cage, making it a point to hop forward to the front of the cage and thump his feet down aggressvely.]

[forcelightning]

[ SORRY TO BREAK IT TO YOU. but ur dad is kind of a dick. ]

Eh, I don't know. Most animals I've met only seem interested in eating me.

[ He crouches down to look at the bunnies. Now that he's not panicking over having to hold them they're maybe just a little cute? Except Biter, that thing still clearly has it out for him. ]

Then again I grew up on a star ship. Not exactly a whole lot of animals there.

A

[oratorical]

[Unfortunately, someone did see him. That someone is Leia, passing by on her way to complete some task she'd signed up for. She didn't pay him any attention while he was just sitting there trying to meditate, but the sound of the rock cracking and him falling to the ground causes her to turn in his direction.

She stares, eyebrow raised, for a few seconds as he sits there before walking in his direction and extending her hand.]

Need some help?

[forcelightning]

I'm fine. Really.

[ Mortified that there were witnesses to this idiocy he waves her hand away and hastily pulls himself to his feet, dusting himself off. It's only after he finishes collecting himself that he gets a good look at her and freezes for a moment. There are only a very small handful of people he can claim to have some acquaintance with and he's fairly certain he's looking at one of them. ]

Princess?

[ Leia is only like thirteen, fourteen tops. Certainly a lot shorter then the girl in front of him at least. Galen frowns a little. The resemblance is utterly uncanny. ]

No, my mistake. You look quite a bit like someone I know.

[oratorical]

[To be fair: Leia is still pretty damn short. Maybe not AS short as she was when she was younger, but nowhere near what anyone would consider tall.

Leia is used to being recognized by people she doesn't know. It's part of the territory when you're royalty, a former senator, and one of the more well-known faces of the rebellion. But that's something she's used to back home. Here, the only time that happened was when someone was from her galaxy, and it wasn't often that those claims of recognition came with the title of "princess," rather than "general." Retracting her offered hand, Leia raises her chin and looks Galen over with scrutiny, trying to see if she recognizes anything about this man, but comes up with nothing.]

I prefer to be addressed by name, rather than by title. Titles don't hold much meaning here, after all.

[Her curiosity gets the better of her, so after a moment, Leia continues:]

Who is it I remind you of, out of curiosity?

[forcelightning]

[ Galen is once again struck by the similarities. Even if he ignores everything else... that was the same sharp tongue he knew. He swears if he hears anything about going to rescue some Wookies he's just going to pack up and leave right there. ]

A young girl by the name of Leia Organa, the princess of Alderaan. Are you a relative of the royal family maybe?

[ He cocks his head a little, lips purse as he gave her a critical eye. There was no way that there wasn't a connection... But as far as he knew Leia didn't have any older siblings. A cousin maybe? It'd be an awfully big coincidence either way though. ]

[oratorical]

[She's not sure what she expected--someone confusing her for Padme, despite Padme not having been a princess, maybe--but that certainly wasn't it. Her eyes widen and she blinks in surprise, but that expression, and the cold wind accompanying it, only lasts momentarily, quickly replaced with her usual neutral expression.

Leia doesn't reply right away, instead looking Galen up and down to see again if there's anything there that might jog her memory, as futile as she knows it to be. Remembering names and faces and all sorts of details connected with both is something Leia has had to do all her life, and if she couldn't remember this person now, it's unlikely she would even if she thought more on it.]

In that case, it's only natural I'd remind you of myself. Unfortunately, I can't seem to recall your name.

[forcelightning]

...Ah. That would explain it.

[ He feels.. disappointed on top of confused. He seems to recall someone telling him that time could be odd here. If she was Leia, and honestly he didn't have much argue against the fact, that would account for the age discrepancy... But that she didn't know his name? Didn't recognize him? He does a good enough job at not betraying how he felt on his face, but even he can't stop a few small blades of grass wilting at his feet. ]

It's Galen. Galen Marek.

[ He pauses then, just a moment. ]

You don't know me, do you?

[oratorical]

[Time differences are something Leia is no stranger to, with the nearly 60-year difference between people from their galaxy here, but this is something different altogether. Two people from the same place but with wildly different memories is something she honestly isn't sure how to handle, and though Galen may do a good job of hiding his emotions, but it's not difficult for Leia to imagine what he must be feeling after that, on top of finding himself in a new galaxy.

Her expression softens, and Leia glances away just briefly before her focus returns to Galen, a hint of something like regret in her expression. She knows she shouldn't feel bad, because it's nothing either of them did, but it's hard to not feel that way when faced with someone who you've never met that claims to recognize you.]

I'm sorry, but I don't. How did we meet?

[which is, you know, really weird to ask, but she can't just not ask about it.]

[forcelightning]

[ It's really something strange to have to explain to someone how you met them... but Galen sighs a little and straitens up. He supposes there have been odder things. ]

I met you on the Wookie homeworld, Kashyyyk. My... [ His brow crinkles a little. How do you describe the drunk old Jedi who's been giving you guidance? ]... mentor, General Kota [ good enough. ] had a contact with the Senate. That contact wanted something extracted from the planet before Imperial activity there got too heated.

You ended up being the thing that needed extraction. However... [ He crosses his arms and a look of annoyance crosses his face. ] You refused to leave and made it clear in no uncertain terms you wouldn't be going anywhere until I destroyed the Skyhook the Empire was building to transport Wookie slaves off planet. And rescued all the Wookies currently captured. I briefly considered just knocking you in the back of the head.

[ But that would be a very un-Jedi-like thing to do. Especially when one is trying to be one of the good guys. ]

[oratorical]

[It's almost funny; though the story he's telling is nothing Leia has any memory of, it's something she can absolutely see happening, knowing how she could be. Especially considering how closely it did tie in with other work she does know she did during her younger years. A trip to Kashyyyk may not have happened, but helping Wookies and other species in similar situations as best she could certainly did.

Leia can't help the smallest of amused smiles at him saying he considered just knocking her out. She knows just how well that would have gone, and spoilers, the answer is not well at all.]

I think it's for the best that you didn't stick with that plan. You did rescue the Wookies, didn't you?

[forcelightning]

[ To be honest trying to be a good guy or not it didn't take a genius or force visions to realize just how bad an idea it probably would have been.

He gives her a look that says 'Really? REALLY?' because from his point of view this is a conversation he's had before. Some of it over the radio as he was in the process of doing so while being chased by ridiculous amounts of storm troopers. Some in AT-STs. There had been nothing covert about that little excursion. ]

Of course I did! I wasn't about ready to leave you somewhere hostile and I don't abandon missions halfway through.

[oratorical]

[His reaction only makes her smile wider, and she bites it back to try and hide it. She can't help but find it amusing; something about how emphatic he is about having done as she "requested" (demanded, really, it sounds like), as well as his assertion that he doesn't abandon missions are both things Leia looks favorably on. Because as curious as she was about the safety of the Wookies, she was half-teasing in asking him that.]

I'm sure I could have managed. But, I'm glad they're safe, and for your help in ensuring their safety.

[forcelightning]

After meeting you I've no doubt you would have, but the point still stands.

[ He sighs a little, sounding just a touch defeated. For a former Sith apprentice he's surprisingly loyal. A trait that was one of the things that began to lead him away from that dark path to begin with. ]

It was... nice actually. Saving lives.

[ He colors a little, feeling vaguely embarrassed for admitting that. It was the truth though. A mission that he honestly felt... GOOD about. He very rarely saved people, most of his assignments when he was under Vader were simply assassinating his enemies. ]

D-1

[tacticalvisor]

[If he was someone else, he might clap. Slowly.

As it is, this particular soldier, having caught sight of this while on patrol for some scarecrows of his own?...he can't help but tilt his head in respect. Not like any weapon he's seen, anyway.]

You trying to impress someone?

[forcelightning]

[ He looks over his shoulder, a frown tagging at his lips. ]

No. If someone's going to poke me I poke back.

[ If he was trying to impress someone he would have used the Force to send the straw bags flying halfway across the field. He did consider doing so. Just for the hell of it. ]

[tacticalvisor]

[76 grunts in response, adjusting his rifle on his shoulder. Fair enough. The other's clearly seen experience, and just in case was paranoid that he'd been watched for some time-] Just saw the end of it.

[Everyone's supposed to be on the same side, but if they're remotely as paranoid as he is - well, the assurance couldn't hurt, in any case.]

[forcelightning]

[ He's not paranoid! He's just not used to having anyone on his side. And usually has to consider everyone an enemy. He's working on it. Just. Trust issues. So many of them. ]

It was hardly worth anything to-

[ He pauses mid-sentence and stares out into the field. ]

-Aaand I believe I've angered it's friends. Great.

[ And not a moment later and the sound of rustling as more unseen strawmen stalking through the field becomes clear. ]

Are you any good with that weapon?