empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: October

Entry tags:

*test drive

TEST DRIVE: October

— TEST DRIVE: OCTOBER —

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 Sunday, September 24 and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on October 1st. Apps will only be open for four days!
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!
Transfer to in-game. If accepted, you can assume threads made on the Test Drive happen in-game if the scenario can reasonably fit. These threads do not count toward AC.

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: With the crystal having been mysteriously stolen, the weather has been nothing but uncooperative, lately. Actually, uncooperative is an understatement. Just yesterday, it was raining frogs! Now, well…

In the Sky with Diamonds. You might be walking in the streets or in the safe confines of a building when it begins to hail. It's not just any ordinary hail. Instead of ice falling from the sky, it's little beads and pieces of… you guessed it: diamonds! Some are actually fake, but there are some that are genuine. Only the experienced eye will be able to tell. The catch is, it only rains diamonds for ten seconds. And in this short span of time, people have gone berserk over the stone. Looks like some are eager to sell what they've collected, while some are fighting over what "should be theirs". Are you one of those people opportunistic enough to make money out of this, or are you doing something else of your own?
One in a Melon. The crazy weather has not only been affecting the people living in Empatheias, but also the flora and fauna. The fruit stands everywhere have been selling all kinds of hybrid fruit, ranging from melons the size of a building to blue grapes that taste like chocolate! The latter sounds oddly delicious, truth be told. The vendors are all for giving free samples to anybody who passes by, too. In fact, there's one fruit stand that seems to be selling really well. Investigate, and you'll be given a slice of pineapple! Take a bite, and it tastes like Hawaiian pizza. Is this heaven or hell?

• Prompt E: It's safer to stay indoors given the strange weather, but you can't help but go out in the streets and explore! You're in a new world, after all. There is so much to see! Of course, when it begins to rain cats and dogs (either literally or figuratively), you look for a place to hide. Somehow, you've managed to enter a building that's dark, only lit by a flame in the middle of the room. There are a lot of hooded men and women surrounding the flame.

Welcome! When they notice someone else enter, they all look at the door's direction. "Ah! It seems we have a new arrival. Welcome to the Ortheias. You are now in a world where your magic can change the emotions of people. What is your name?"

It looks like you've entered the headquarters of some roleplaying cult. Try and leave, and they will explain to you that nobody can leave. Nobody even knows why they're here. And then someone will casually whisper to you these exact words: "As an OOC Note, we will all leave in an hour and half from now." Do you create a character, or do you play as yourself?
Getting Acclimated. With everyone in the room doing their own thing and "gathering relationships", as they so put it, you've been left to your own devices. Do you talk to other people who might be stuck here for an hour and half, or do you practice your "Emanis"? It seems that this fictional world they've created lets each person manipulate the other person's emotions by casting spells. A short display of fire can make someone angry, or making flowers appear out of nowhere might make the other person happy. Of course, these are all fake and the cult just narrates their usage of magic without actually displaying it.
An Event! Towards the end of the roleplaying session, the "roleplay moderator" announces an event! One of the guardians of Ortheias, the Durathei of fire and ice, Seesonne, has attacked the city of Snerev! A part of the city is now burning, while the other half is encased in ice! What would you do in this situation? People are panicking, so you must stop them from worrying too much!

• Prompt F: While Halloween does not exist in this world, Otherworlders have been present long enough for the natives to slightly change their calendar. For the month of Empta (October), they wish to make sure the Otherworlders are feeling at home by celebrating Halloween! They know nothing about it, but they are going to try and replicate the feeling!

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo. For the rest of Exi (September), farmers are asking Otherworlders to help them harvest pumpkins. Thanks to the strange weather recently, these pumpkins have grown to be the size of a car. They're rather big! What's more, they've also grown legs and can run! It appears they don't want to be caught, but anyone who gives chase will be able to get them to stop easily. Just chop off its legs! And to make it inanimate, one has to carve a face on it.
What's Your Favourite Scary Story? To prepare for what's to come next month, the natives are asking Otherworlders to go to the Welcome Centre every weekend for a meeting of sorts. One will be able to find refreshments and snacks there, and there are a lot of people listening to speakers who rotate every so often. It seems these speakers are talking about their favourite scary stories. Perhaps you're one of the listeners, or you're speaking and sharing yours! Things are beginning to be spooky, though, that's for sure.
It Leaves a Good Taste in Your Mouth. Children are selling cookies door-to-door, and the only type of cookies they're selling are maple leaf cookies. It's only 10 sylvs a box, and taking just one bite will send one to heaven! It's so delicious that it might make anyone who eats it react in a strange way (the video is just an example, not the exact reaction). Spectate at how people react to these maple leaf cookies, or be the one that gathers a lot of attention!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include cat ears and/or nail polish.

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

[A graveyard at night with skeletons. Great. A job's a job though, and that job is what'll pay the bills and put food on the table so who is she to complain, right? She begs to differ, especially when the rattling of bones sends an uncomfortable chill up her spine. She's fought all sorts of things, but the undead was one of the things she would have preferred to keep off that list.

Fighting them off doesn't seem to work -- slicing them with her sword or shooting them with bullets slows them down at best, but it's enough for her to make an escape for now. Not that she's particularly slow, but it gives her what might as well be a lightspeed head start.

Lightning isn't surprised to find someone else in the graveyard. It's who she finds that surprises her. The skeleton he's having a face-off with is suddenly shattered to pieces, bones flying this way and that, when she seems to appear out of nowhere to bring her blade down and through it.]

Did you really think you could take that thing on alone? [She's one to talk. She thought she could, too. It's much easier to stubbornly ignore it and not admit that out loud, though. Especially with Caius, the last person in the universe she imagined she would have to team up with, ever.] It's not going to stay down for long so it's either we come up with a plan together and get paid or we get the hell out of here.

[Her sword folds over with a loud k-chnk into a gun. It's much easier to carry this way.]

Edited (words) 2017-09-22 03:57 (UTC)

[That voice and the ring of bullets shattering bone, the swift swing and ring of steel is a familiar sound to him. He knows those sounds all too well. He takes a brief moment to take in what he sees and nods once. Teaming up with Lightning is the last thing to cross his mind yet it seems fitting in this place that she is the best person to offer him aid since she knows him better than anyone else at this point.

He shifts his weight to stand back to back with his once enemy and raises his hands to gather the chaos that he can in his hands. They have to come with something and fast. The skeletons he crushed with the chaos coupled with Lightning's steel isn't going to stay down. He scowls as he studies the way the bones shift and rattle back together to become whole yet again. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as smashing them to bits.

He lets out a groan in disgust.]

Any ideas?

[It irritates him that he's not the one in charge this time, but it's necessary in the cases where he's not certain what to do other than smashing things which obviously didn't help at all at this point.]

[It takes every bit of self-control within her to not return the noise of disdain or roll her eyes upon hearing his groan or his question. Lightning came here to get paid and that's what she intends to do, Caius or no Caius.]

No. Fresh out. [She can at least admit that. She's tried her sword and her bullets...] These things just keep crawling, even after you take 'em down.

[As if right on cue, the shattered bones start to shake on the grass and one of the arms starts to creep towards them, pulling itself along with its skinny fingers in the dirt.]

And I'm not sure the locals'd appreciate us blowing up an entire cemetery to get rid of them.

['Us' in this context still feels weird to say, and the sourness in her voice makes that very clear.]

[The sight of the arm creeping along the ground became a line of sight target. Lightning's words gives him pause though the scowl never leaves his face. The focus he has sharpens to the creeping arm and decides to experiment.]

Hmph, as if we need permission from pacifists yet they asked for aid. Let's not waste time in trivial matters.

[Just as he speaks, he unleashes the chaos he's been holding back. A dome of black that once starts as small as a softball grows into larger dome and engulfs the scene of scattered skeletons that threatens their rebuilding efforts of sorting themselves back together.

His open hand clinches into a fist once he's satisfied with his handiwork to bring the dome in on itself. He knows that things can be repaired but the dead needs to stay...dead.]

Don't you agree?

[He lowers his arm to survey the scene.]

[Once he starts his work on the skeletons with the dome, there isn't much Lightning can do to stop it -- that much she already knows. She stands and watches him, her fingers squeezing around the handle of her gun and her jaw tightening. The dead need to stay dead, yes, but those who are at peace need not be awoken, too.

Once he's done, she pushes past him and making a point to bump her elbow against his, to check on the skeletons and the gravestones the destruction left behind.]

I don't need permission from anyone, but there are other ways to do things than blow up a graveyard.

[As much as she'd like to blow everything up right now...]

Unless you'd rather our pay goes to repairing the place.

[Her motions are enough to get his attention fully and a groan escapes. She's right, as usual, and he's not afraid to ever admit it, at least now that he needs the money as well to survive in this place. He does have enough control over the chaos he possesses still to keep things from going to hell in a hamster ball fast.

Purple eyes remains fixed forward and much to his surprise, nothing happens. The skeletons are not shattered as he expected. Instead they are whole, but unmoving. He reaches out to grab Lightning's wrist just firm enough to get her attention upon seeing something in the distance that he doesn't want to make obvious. His voice is low.]

We are not alone.

[He lifts his chin slightly to indicate what he means toward a moving shadow in the distance.]

[Were it not for the thing his gaze seems to be fixed on, Lightning would have wrenched her wrist free from his grip immediately, but her eyes follow to where he gestures to, her free hand moving a finger to rest on the trigger. Whatever it is in the shadows, she isn't even sure her sword will work on it.]

Yeah, I got that.

[Her answer is sharp – yes, they are surrounded by undead skeletons rising from the graves. No gravediggers here. She picked up on that part quickly.]

What is it? More of these guys?

[She doesn't want to light the place up more and make their presence more obvious. Not that the gunshots didn't already do that for them, but she knows next to nothing about these skeletons and whether light will draw them in or scare them away.]

[He removes his grasp on Lightning's wrist now that he knows she's searching for the puppeteer. His scowl knits firmly on his brow and ready to strike. The trouble is they can't let the master get away. To do so would mean losing all hope in letting the dead rest for good; that is, if this creature is actually controlling the dead. The only way to be certain is to catch it.

Without the chaos he's used to controlling, it's hard for Caius to tell what it really is or it's true intentions.

He takes a moment to study it further from his present location without moving.]

No. We are being watched.

[He reached out to grab one of the skeletons by the skull and hurl it toward another to buy them some time. He then takes off in a run toward another skeleton while keeping his movements deliberate in battle while keeping track of the shadowy figure that remains lurking to keep suspicion low.]

Watched...?

[That sends a shudder down Lightning's spine. The shadow in the distance remains unmoving, even as they watch it, and she almost protests out loud to Caius picking up the skull from the ground and throwing it but she's quick to shut her mouth. They've got other, more pressing matters to worry about than him throwing dead heads around. She frowns, lifting her gun and flicking her wrist so that it snaps back into a blade, and walks forward.]

Not for long.

[Just as she had appeared, Lightning disappears again, illuminating the graveyard in a bright red light for a split second before it goes dark again. She's in front of whatever it is and as soon as she sees it, she skids to a halt. It's another undead, but this one is different.

Unlike the others, there is still skin peeling away at its face and hands. There isn't enough to make out its face entirely, but she can see that he looks... almost sad.

With her guard down, she doesn't notice the hand that bursts forth from the ground until it wraps around her ankle and pulls, sending her falling onto the grass. She calls out to him without completely realizing it.]

Caius!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE: October

SLAMS IN HERE!! hello c: hope you're cool with this being post first-meeting!

Absolutely! Loving it already. :)

:D!!!

We certainly need popcorn for this. :D

oh god we totally do...

YES! I love it when she knocks him down a peg or two. :D

I love this already!

Same!

fyi i am just making things up as I go lol