TEST DRIVE: MAY

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: MAY —

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 Monday, April 24th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on May 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: Elios’ land was a great place to hold this year’s festival, but it’s always best to leave a place as you found it. This is especially important for the surface, as there’s a lot of work put into trying to heal the different domains that span the land down below Verens. Anyone who volunteers for cleaning duty is getting paid, and vouchers to several of the cafes up in Verens as a reward! For anyone not interested in cleaning but interested in a new closing ceremony of sorts, they can instead attend a fireside dance that will be held for the next few nights at the site of the festival once things are tidied up.

1. Cleanup Ordeals. Not too much mess was left around luckily as most people who helped organize the Festival understand the importance of cleaning up the mess you make, but it looks like the tent areas have a lot left to clean up and take down. Removing flowers and string lights, packing up fabric and blankets, and generally picking up trash here and there left by festival goers is the main job. It’s a big job, and the festival organizers encourage anyone with special skills or dunamis practice to use whatever they have at their disposal to speed things along.
   
2. Fireside Dance.It’s a small, simple gathering done once the sun has gone down and the sky is dark. The fire is stoked hot, surrounded by worn black stones painted with Elios’ symbol in red and orange tones of paint. The dance is a quick one, requiring two circles, an inner and outer one. Partners on the outer circle travel the inner circle and wind up dancing with each person in turn. Luckily it’s pretty quick to learn and everyone spirits run warm to match flushed cheeks. At the end, each participant is asked to throw a small twig into the fire and express a moment of love or hate, in the pursuit of balance.

• Prompt E: During the festival this month there was a curious prize at one of the game booths. Some of the Elios plushes from the bobbing for ducks booth seem to not have been plushies at all! After a few days of having one in your possession, The plush will engulf in non spreading flames and burn completely out, revealing one small egg, white or black. Depending on your mood the past few days, the egg will either hatch a leathery or feathery winged creature. Hopefully you’ve been in a good mood! Luckily, the creatures are only around long enough to perform their duty before winking out of existence again.

1. Bad Egg. Negative emotions have lead to a sour and dark winged creature who is up to mischief. They will not listen to their “owner” and instead are quite often out to make things difficult for them. 3 misfortunes or specific instances of bad luck will happen over three days to their possessor while they run amok. A claw shaped trinket is left behind as a reminder to try and enjoy life and not get caught up in bad moods.
   
2. Good Egg. Positive emotions will lead to a happy, bright and angelic feather winged creature. They’re mischievous as well, but often in gentler ways, and sometimes try to play cupid for their owner. These playful creatures will grant 3 small wishes over three days for their owner, such as desires for better weather, tastier food or small trinkets. No wishing for a million sylvs here! Once it poofs out of existence in a puff of glitter it leaves behind a small pearl as a reminder to value the things they have and experiences they get that make live worth living.

• Prompt F: A small ring of Circus performers from Thesthai have traveled up to Verens and set up a tent out near lake Niras. It’s a small Circus performance, a prelude to something that might be bigger in the future. All performances are done by the Circus members themselves, from acrobatics and magic tricks, to displays of fearless daredevilry with the help of Verens steam-punk inspired vehicles. Overall it seems to be garnering a lot of attention, causing a several day repeat showing of the activities. Performancy plays a central role in some setups, and they seem to be the most popular...

1. Animal Experience.Enjoy the animal menagerie, all sorts of creatures are here. They’re all well taken care of, and seem to enjoy the food and pettings they’re getting from the attendees. Happy animals make for happy animal loving customers afterall! There IS one catch.. mischevious circus performers will cast performancy on those who aren't paying enough attention to their surroundings, and circus goers in the menagerie area may find something new if they look in a mirror. Animal ears and tails and a host of other features! Don’t worry. It’s temporary and all in good fun.
   
2. Carnival Games. Carnival type games have been set up outside the main tent, including a lot of familiar games that may have been seen during the Zephyras Flower Festival. Ring Toss, water laser races, darts, and the good old fashioned strong arm competition are all part of the setup. The prizes here range from simple small toys to bigger 4 foot tall plushies. Careful though, some of these setups might actually be rigged. The house has to have an advantage, in the end. Where would they make their money?

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include geese and/or potatoes.

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

[dhamp]

Well food can be fun! I enjoy making it more than I enjoy eating it though.

[ But if you have to drink the blood supplements to it every time, then naturally you might feel a little put off.

The sudden question makes him confused but he grins cheerfully, so his fangs are slightly visible. ]

I'm a master at it~ [ He giggles. ] At least according to my son when he was little, but now he says I'm terrible at it, so I'm probably not.

[clowndoll]

It is? I've never had it! Zenli smokes even though he can't even taste it, we don't have lungs!

[ So obviously he doesn't know what blood tastes like. He knows what it looks like and the sound a severed head makes when it hits the ground though. ]

You know how to make tails too? I've always wanted to try having one! [ Hmm, he doesn't understand it. He's never met a functioning family after all. ] Why's he say that? Is that a family thing?

[dhamp]

Oh dear, you don't? How come?

[ (What does blood look like?) It's true that the boy doesn't smell human. Or like flesh and blood overall. But he's never met anyone who does not need to eat at all. ]

Maybe you could braid one and attach to the back of your pants. Kids like doing that when they play, I think. I also think that it's because he's a teenager now. But I don't know for sure; it's a very long time since I was a teenager and even longer since I was a child.

[clowndoll]

We're dolls, so our maker didn't give us any.

[ He can describe it some time, but it's easier when you're actually looking at it. ]

I don't know how to braid! Teenagers don't like their parents? Does that mean i I were a human now, since it's 18 years since he made me, I'd be hating parents too if I had any?

[dhamp]

[ A doll? Well, Kain is an old dhampir who’s seen a lot, so he’s not surprised. ]

My, they didn’t? Then you don’t need to breathe at all, do you?

[ And they don’t need to drink blood, or eat other things to survive? How convenient and sad. ]

If you want to learn you can practice on my hair. Al used to do it when he was little. I don’t think teenagers generally hate their parents, they just think we’re embarrassing. But papa just loves his precious Al so much~ [ Wait, he asked another question #GASP! ] If you’re not the type of person who would hate your parent you wouldn’t hate your parent. Do you hate the person who made you?

[clowndoll]

[ Sattsu mostly saw death and murder the first years of his creation, but then he saw more fun things, so he's still surprised by a lot of things. ]

Nope! I don't know what anything smells like either! You could be smelling horrible for all I know.

[ It is. It's mostly sad though, when you hang around humans the way Sattsu has. ]

Yay! I wanna do that!

Yeah, I hate him. He made me kill so many people for stupid reasons and made all the other dolls sad too. And his Toys kills all the people I don't anymore.

[dhamp]

[ If he can avoid more death and murder then that’s good. Somebody protect this boy. ]

I do hope I don’t, I take baths every day. You don’t smell much at all though, to be honest.

[ But he should be able to sniff him out with his sense of smell. It’s not as good as his hearing but still. ]

A brush would be needed but you’re welcome to it anytime.

He doesn’t sound like a very nice person. And also like a bad parent. I would like a word with him.

[ Kain takes parenting very seriously. In a very silly way since that's the way he is but he's very serious about parenting. ]

[clowndoll]

[ It's a bit too late for him to be protected. ]

Every day? You really need to do it that often? And I don't smell like, hmmm, a replica or something?

[ He's just a replica of a person after all. ]

Do you have one? It's so long you gotta keep one somewhere.

No need, hopefully Karu and Manji can kill him. I don't know how they're doing though, my core broke, so I'm kinda dead over there.

[dhamp]

[ Never too late. ]

I don’t think I need to but when you’re blind your other senses gets sharper and when you’re a vampire they’re even better than that. [ He’s been looked down on for being blind despite being a vampire for so long but it only bothered him for maybe a century or two. ] A replica of what, dear?

[ He certainly smells different, but they’ve already established that. ]

I had one, but I forgot it in my office back in Gardenia Demon City. I haven’t bought a new one yet.

[ It’s been a little hard to find out what shops sells what and first of all he’d need a job to pay for one that doesn’t electrify his hair. ]

I suppose killing him would take care of it. But if it’s only broken maybe it can be repaired. Don't give up on hope dear.

[ Just like dying can turn into vampire or werewolf or something other supernatural. ]

[clowndoll]

[ Considering everything Sattsu has done, he would disagree. ]

So you've got yours and mine on top! [ It's a joke, can you tell? ] A person. Since I'm not a real one.

You should get one so I can brush your hair. [ What a great idea. ]

I don't know about that, but I'm whole again here somehow, but I have no idea how!

[dhamp]

[ Kain will convince him some day. ]

Do I? [ Maybe it’s a joke you need vision for. ] A person is someone with a mind, I think you have at least that, don’t you? You don't need to be human to have a mind.

I’ll get one later. [ He has other things to focus his attention on right now. ]

If you’re whole here maybe you can be whole there too, you never know.

[clowndoll]

[ Maybe. ]

I'm not sure about that, but it's boring to fight over it so let's go look for a brush instead. We can do it together! [ He's never done that. He's never gone shopping at all. ]

Who knows, Varii might not even be alive by then anymore. He's old you know?

[dhamp]

I’m sure though. But yes, perhaps you could help me choose something nice.

[ He can only choose by form, not by looks. He might end up buying something screaming orange and yellow. ]

Oh? Is Varii a friend of yours?

[clowndoll]

Heck yeah, let's do it! Come on!

[ He ignores that first part, focusing on the rest since even though he's free in the aftermath of being destroyed, he has a complicated relationship with himself. ]

He's my pact holder!

[dhamp]

Would you mind lending me a hand, then? So I don’t lose you in the crowd.

[ He taps his blindfold with a long finger nail.

Not that he won’t be able to find him again, or probably even lose him, but none the less. ]

Pact holder, hm?

[clowndoll]

Oh! Right, sure, I can do that!

[ He grabs his hand, and Kain might be able to feel the joints in his fingers through the gloves since they're not that thick. Hopefully it's not uncomfortable, he's not used to people holding his hands. ]

Yup! He pulls my strings and makes me kick ass!

[dhamp]

Thank you, dear.

[ He certainly has doll limbs, at least to some extent. How interesting. And it’s not uncomfortable at all. ]

My, how curious. That must be a sight.

[clowndoll]

You're welcome! I dunno how good my taste is though, I've never gone shopping.

[ Good thing he's wearing gloves or Kain would have been pinched in his joints. He really doesn't know how to hold hands without doing that. ]

It is! He's the best pact holder I've ever had.

[dhamp]

I don’t go shopping very often either. Except for groceries! I do cook for my song and me and sometimes his friends.

[ He would absolutely love to go shopping if he could actually look himself in the mirror though, no doubt. ]

That’s wonderful, I’m glad for you, dear.

[clowndoll]

That sounds really fun! Can I join? I mean, I can't eat anything, but it sounds nice.

[ Considering he's never really done anything like that before. ]

Right?! I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again though.

[dhamp]

Of course you can, I don’t mind company at all.

[ Au contraire! He loves it. ]

Ah. That would be a shame, if you don’t. You seem like a sweet boy.

[clowndoll]

Yay! Let's do it! One day! Some time!

[ He'll get to do something he's never done before. ]

I'm not really a boy, I just look the same all the time.

[ 18 is old for a doll, so he can't consider himself a boy, he's sure. ]

[dhamp]

Yes~

[ It will surely be fun. ]

Anyone who’s younger than my centuries is a boy or a girl in my eyes.

[ You know, figuratively. ]