empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: MAY

Entry tags:

!mod,
*test drive

TEST DRIVE: MAY

— 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.

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.
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.

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.
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...

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.
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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Jean senses that something went terribly wrong within the last thirty seconds, but he's not sure what. ]

Oh. [ Is the safe thing to say. And he should maybe just leave it there, but then he ventures -- ] It just looked like it hurt, is all. [ But if she says she's fine, then surely he can continued to be enthused about -- ]

Your Glyph thing was incredible, by the way.

Thanks for the concern.

[ it's said dryly, and she only really means it fifty-percent. ]

And yes, they are. [ the line her lips have formed slowly curve into a smile, then she stands up. she offers him a hand soon after -- not something she would do all the time. jean is lucky this place has made her slightly softer. ]

[ Jean seems slightly surprised when Weiss gets up, and is even more surprised when she holds out a hand to him -- probably because he thinks she's a little unimpressed by him. Nevertheless, he takes her hand as some sort of show of good faith on his part, lightly pulling himself onto his feet. ]

Thanks. [ He lets go and dusts off his knees. ] Will you show me more? I mean -- not now. If you don't want to or if you're tired or whatever.

[ whatever good impression jean's made earlier has been thrown out the window, that's for sure. but that doesn't mean she should be a jerk towards him, hence the helping hand.

once he's up and back on his feet, she lets go and dusts off her skirt. it's a light shade of lilac so the dirt can easily be seen, and she's none too pleased about it. ]

I think next time might be best. Besides, you were going somewhere, weren't you?

[ why else would he be flinging himself in the air like that? it's not like he'd be training for something.

is he? ]

[ Well. ]

Nope. [ He doesn't seem perturbed or bothered by her assumption, simply crossing his arms as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other, studying the way she dusts herself off. He's completely unaware that she might be displeased about the dirt on her skirt. ]

Swinging around in the trees was definitely my plan today. [ It sounds sarcastic. It's not! ] It's my practice run before I give a go at jumping onto another island!

[ another island?

weiss turns to look around, as if dazed. it's not like she can see the other islands from here, but it's a means to prove to herself that the other islands aren't anywhere near what they're on now. the surprise she feels quickly disappears and what immediately fills her head is the idea that this guy might be stupid. (i'm sorry.) ]

For what purpose? If you really want to go there, just use a teleporter or something.

[ still giving him the benefit of the doubt! lucky jean. ]

[ w h a t .

Jean stares uncomprehendingly at her as she looks this way and that, and he doesn't get what she's saying at all. Why is she looking away? What is she looking at? What's a teleporter? ]

A what? [ And then: ] I, uh, don't know what that is.

Oh.

[ it's a disappointed-sounding one, at that. she turns to face him so she can converse properly. she doesn't look stressed, but her face is all scrunched up as if she's bothered by something. ]

You're... new? How long have you been here?

[ Jean's frowning when Weiss turns back to him, and the expression sticks when he sees the way she's scrunching her face up. ]

A week? [ He ventures. It's roughly a week. The first few days were a bit of a blur, and it took him a while to get his bearings, but he's at least pretty certain he hasn't been here longer than a week.

He decides to address the expression on her face. ]

Hey, look, I might be new around here, but if you're going to start treating me like I'm an idiot just because of that...

I never said anything about you being an idiot.

[ not yet. ]

In case anybody hasn't told you what a teleporter is, it's a device that lets you travel from one place to another in a very short amount of time. Think of it as disappearing from one place, and then suddenly appearing in another in a blink of an eye.

[ she sighs, then rolls her eyes. ]

This place really needs a better welcoming committee.

[ ... oh. That's what the expression was all about. He feels sheepish at going on the offensive now, so much so that the wonders of a teleporter become lost upon him temporarily. ]

R-right. Sorry.

[ Then, trying to recover: ] Uh, well, you know, you'd make a pretty good welcoming committee?

[ ... It's a compliment. ]

You're not wrong. [ she has a bit of an ego, and he definitely helped inflate it a bit more. ] I'm still learning about this world, but I'd like to think that I have some good knowledge of how this world works.

[ a pause, as she shifts her weight to her other leg. ]

In any case, my point is that if you're going to travel between islands, it would be a lot better and safer to do so using the teleporter.

[ Jean nods, absorbing the information properly this time. Something that can instantly take him to another location? Well, it sort of makes sense considering how this place can somehow bring people here in the first place... ]

I guess safer is better. [ Which is a subtle way of saying he still thinks he can jump there! ]

But, so you're saying, the teleporter can take me anywhere? Because I signed up for this job, and I'm meant to go get things off an island that's gonna come by or something, and if it's that easy, how am I supposed to be first!?

[ that... is a good question. one that weiss doesn't know the answer to, and it's embarrassing to think about how she can't answer him when she said that she has a decent amount of information regarding this world. ]

I... actually can't answer that.

[ she's never really studied the teleporters - but now she thinks she should! thank you, jean. ]

Did you ask the person who put up the task?

Dammit, I didn't know enough back then to ask... I thought I'd have the advantage with these! [ Another pat to his gear, and then Jean scoffs rudely. ]

Ugh! Typical, right? Merchants and the rest of them! Never letting people know when there's an easier way to do something! Doesn't matter to them as long as the job gets done at the end of the day!

[ A seed of dissent has been planted, Weiss. ]

[ there sure is passion in those flurry of complaints! weiss can even hear herself say the same words, because she admits that she can complain like a madman at times. it's why she doesn't tell him to calm down. she isn't a hypocrite.

cold blue eyes stare at jean, watching him. she's not annoyed, but is instead trying to find a solution to this. money is a very important thing to her -- not because she's been so used to having so much of it. she knows that it's something you need to be able to survive. ]

It's not too late to ask the poster. Or you could try one of the teleporters.

[ her eyes fall to the 3dmg, then she takes in a deep breath. ]

Besides, I have a feeling that your gear won't even be able to bring you to another island. It's quite a distance.

[ She would definitely know more than him with that assessment, so he takes it on as good advice, making a mental note to do both those things later. That does mean, though, that all of his time spent swinging around out here was likely all for nothing.

What a waste of gas. Jean sighs. ]

Well, this just makes me doubly glad I messed up my swing. I probably wouldn't have figured this out without you, Weiss, so I suppose I owe you or something. Right?

[ There's a slight grin on his face as he says that, as if he's located the silver lining to all this. ]

[ she understands that it's just a saying, but she doesn't want him to think that he has to do something for her just because she helped. ]

You don't owe me anything. It's fine.

[ then she smiles softly, mostly relieved. ]

I'm glad I was here to see you fall.

[ ???? ]

[ !!!!

Aw, heck, that smile... ]

O-oh! Uh, me... me too.

[ Goodbye adrenaline, and hello sudden furious blushing and stammering... all over again. Jean reaches up to scratch the back of his head, trying to find something for his limbs to do that isn't awkward. ]

We should... we should definitely do it again sometime. [ Falling???? ]

[ okay. okay. weiss was trying to brush it off at first, but he looks so flustered now that it's difficult to ignore. she's seen people look at her and speak to her that way before, so forgive her for assuming. ]

You want to fall from a height.

Again.

No! [ It's said slightly too loudly, because you can't just say yes to something as dumb as that! Then: ]

Learning! If... if you'll be my welcoming committee for a little while longer?

[ Smooth. Smooth recovery. ]

[ well, he's weird, but at least he's not hitting on her.

that's... that's good. ]

Alright. It would be foolish of me to just let someone be unknowledgeable about this world, anyway.

Edited 2017-04-28 06:01 (UTC)

You're a noble spirit, Weiss! [ Jean says it really fast, but at least he's gotten the words out without tripping up this time. He spins around then, and gestures broadly at the trees. ]

Well, I guess it's goodbye to you lot and it's back to civilization for me! [ He turns back to Weiss. ] T-to the teleporter I go!

[ ... He makes no move to take off. ]

[ her brows scrunch, as if she's bothered by something.

she's bothered by him. what a weird guy. ]

Are you sure you're okay?

[ Almost robotically: ] Yeah. Adjustment period. Crazy world here.

[ Then he... finally takes a step in the city-ward direction, then stops, then wonders what the heck is wrong with him and just goes ahead and says it. ]

Are you going back to the city, Weiss??

TEST DRIVE: MAY

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