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Empatheias Events ([personal profile] empevents) wrote in [community profile] empatheias_ooc2015-12-18 01:12 pm
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TEST DRIVE: JANUARY

— TEST DRIVE: JANUARY —


Welcome to [community profile] 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 Friday, December 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open Friday, January 1st.

  • OC Reminder! Just a quick reminder that original characters are currently 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: A new card game is sweeping through the streets of Verens: "Magica Ex Arehtei." Players take on the role of an Otherworlder and form battle decks out of minions, monsters, dunamis, and even the Arehtei themselves. It’s insanely complicated in its details, but this hasn’t stopped a seller from handing you a starter deck and all but pushing you into a chair to face an opponent… who may have just been conscripted themselves.

• Prompt E: After a long period of quiet (something about ‘emotional and physical harm to Empatheias’ and ‘manufacturing plush weapons without a Class E(X) license’), toy manufacturers have flooded merchant stalls and storefronts with a new offering, the hyper-cute stuffed Thras. No negative emotions, they promise! Plush Thras is so full of bravery, he’ll inspire anyone who holds him to new heights of courage and valor!

Naturally, magiscience has gone too far, and picking up the doll instills you with vigor, energy, and fearlessness past the point of recklessness.

• Prompt F: Thundersnow! A phenomenon in which a snowstorm is accompanied by lightning and thunder, and not a terribly uncommon one in Empatheias. But today’s thundersnow is more like an apocablizzard -- lighting lashes through the sky and lances down to catch buildings and trees with its fury, all hidden behind whirling sheets of billowing snowflakes that have blanketed the city in a foot of snow with no sign of stopping.

The outside is cold, windy, miserable, and potentially dangerous. Are you trapped in a building you didn’t expect to be in? Or perhaps you’ve joined up with an emergency emotion squad, trying to impose calm or cheer on the raging storm?

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include lumps of coal or moose.


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!
bythemanual: (Heh sheepish)

[personal profile] bythemanual 2016-01-15 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)
I did call. Several times. There was no reception. *He pictures his communicator showing zero bars, not knowing whether or not it will transmit. It doesn't matter, really; even with everything telepathic, the grins in their tones are obvious.*

How long have you been here to have become a 'respectable citizen'?
Edited 2016-01-15 21:01 (UTC)
omnitrixter: (Shrug)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-15 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. I wonder if I could call you with the Omnitrix. I always seem to have signal...[Azmuth tech FTW.]...but I don't have anybody to connect to.

[He gives a shrug.] Oh, y'know. A year, give or take a couple of months. Gwen's here, too, and Kevin and Kai have both been through here, but they're gone now.
lukeim_yurlin: (Heh!)

[personal profile] lukeim_yurlin 2016-01-15 09:10 pm (UTC)(link)
[Oh no no no... Not without a fight! Dezel continues to compensate as best he's able, which he's able to do with more than decent ability. Might have something to do with the fact that his weapons of choice are a set of pendulums on whip lines, so he's used to dealing with situations where he's catching and pulling targets.]

[Still, the part of him that's soft toward animals can't deny Wildmutt forever. So, after another minute or so of tugging back and forth, Dezel finally lets go with a low chuckle, letting the alien dog yank the curtain away.]
omnitrixter: ([Alien] Wildmutt)

1/2

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-15 09:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[Aw yeah! Got the curtain! Got it good! Winner is Ben!]

[He bounds away, barely missing knocking over a shelf. The symbol on the collar around his neck starts flashing and gives a tone.]
omnitrixter: (Aw man...)

2/2

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-15 09:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[And suddenly back as Ben with the curtain still in his mouth. He lefts it fall as his tongue hangs out in disgust.]

Blech! When's the last time they dusted the curtains?
lukeim_yurlin: (An actual smile...?)

[personal profile] lukeim_yurlin 2016-01-15 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[If Ben looks up and around, he'll notice it seems like he's alone again. Yet the low key buzz at the back of his mind will let him know that he's not. If he answers, he'll hear a very brief, barely there chuckle over the telepathic connection.]

Huh, had to change back? Too bad. You make a better dog than a human.
omnitrixter: (Smile 2)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-15 09:23 pm (UTC)(link)
No Master Control and it's kind of impossible to set the Life-Form Lock without a mouth that can talk, so I'm on a time limit.

[Ben looks around, reaching a hand out towards where the other guy had been.]

So now that I know I'm not totally insane, what's your name?
bythemanual: (Disgust)

[personal profile] bythemanual 2016-01-15 09:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Ben, I'm afraid that is impossible. Unless...

...People have mentioned that this place has--time travel?

*He's not sure what he wants less: to have this strange overlap of lost and found time, or to have spent the last year with a Ben that wasn't Ben. No, wait, nevermind, one is clearly more unsettling than the other. Still, time travel...?*
omnitrixter: (Huh?)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-15 09:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Something like it. It's more like, I dunno, being pulled from different points in time. I mean, we were leaving Anur Transyl when I first came here, but Gwen's from farther down the line so she's seen stuff that's happened before I have.

[Also welcome to Ben's existence, Rook: Do you have any idea how many nights he laid awake wondering if the people in the universe he recreated are really real or not?]

So what was going down right before you got here?
Edited 2016-01-15 21:43 (UTC)
lukeim_yurlin: (Quiet contemplation...)

[personal profile] lukeim_yurlin 2016-01-16 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
At least half of that went over my head, but I suppose the time limit is the important part.

[Easily settling down again after the impromptu game of tug-o-war, Dezel folds his arms across his chest and sort of half sits on the edge of a nearby table.]

Dezel. And before you ask, I'm a wind seraph.

[As the question of what he is had already come up more than a few times since his arrival in Verens.]
omnitrixter: (Hmm?)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-16 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
Pretty much. [And reaching towards where he "saw" you before. Nope. Too far to your right.] Dang, you must win every time at Marco Polo.

I'm Ben. Ben Tennyson. What's a wind seraph?
lostapprentice: (k: lightsaber noises)

[personal profile] lostapprentice 2016-01-16 06:06 am (UTC)(link)
He sees that Rey is down but not yet out, a situation he'll do his best to remedy as quickly as possible. His first steps towards her are normal strides, but when he sees her reach for the saber he covets, he moves into a sprint, grasping her staff in both hands. He is no expert in its use, but it's a relatively simple blunt weapon and he has plenty of strength and skill to hit an unmoving target.

He descends upon her with it, aiming a heavy blow for her head. If he can strike her down without involving sabers, that would be the most optimal—but if she can get her hand on the plasma weapon, Ren will have no choice.
nannying: (007)

late but i'm here......... f

[personal profile] nannying 2016-01-16 07:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ at least some things never change, no matter where he is... like, well, eijun sawamura being a dumbass. ]

What happened to being the man of sunshine, Sawamura?

[ said five seconds before a hand smacks him on the back of his snow-covered head. ]

Idiot... you're gonna freeze if you keep pulling stuff like that. [ and he'd deserve it, but shinji still can't let him die. kominato would track him down, somehow. ]
bythemanual: (Disgust)

[personal profile] bythemanual 2016-01-16 11:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah... I had just been cleared for duty after the Clown Virus epidemic. As I do not remember us ever departing for Anur Transyl, I will assume that I am 'earlier' in the timeline than you are.
omnitrixter: (Not good!)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-17 01:28 am (UTC)(link)
Oh jeez, you're from that whole thing with Zombozo?

[Nope nope nope nope to the tenth power.]
tire: fallencrows @ tumblr (such senpai)

touches face tenderly

[personal profile] tire 2016-01-17 07:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ it's so cold outside!!! it is so!! cold out!!! eijun's still shivering a little when he gets back inside, and he yelps an-- ] Owch, Kanemaru!! [ when he gets smacked. it even dislodges some of the snow out of his hair so thanks for that buddy.

whiny: ]
I'm just trying to help!! We're supposed to get it with our feelings and I felt at it!! And it didn't do anything!! Maybe I've just gotta feel harder, yeah.. as soon as I get warm again, I'm gonna go out and try it!!

[ these emotions happen in a matter of five seconds, and eijun eventually gives an exaggerated shiver, even with his vigor totally restored. ]
reyofsunshine: (I SAID FIGHT ME U ASSHOLE)

[personal profile] reyofsunshine 2016-01-17 10:58 am (UTC)(link)
Rey sees him coming this time--with her staff, the prick--and while she may not be equipped to defend against his superior Force abilities, she's all too familiar with big men tossing her around and attacking her with blunt objects. But Unkar's thugs don't come after her anymore, and there's a reason.

She waits for the downward swing, hand dropping to the ground so she can focus her still-hazy mind on her attacker instead of the saber. This type of combat is more what she's used to, anyway. She can get the weapon when he's (hopefully) distracted. He was bleeding in the forest, she remembers, from Chewie's bowcaster bolt. She recalls him beating on the wound to numb the pain.

When the staff comes down, she rolls to dodge it, the powerful blow landing inches from her face, and rolls back immediately to grab onto the shaft with both hands and pull herself to her feet with a snarl. Her eyes never leaving his left side, she instantly brings one leg up to aim a ferocious kick to that old wound. His reaction time is quick, she knows, maybe quicker than her experienced, half-instinctive counter-attack. But oh, slamming her heel as hard as she can into his soft spot would be so very satisfying.
lostapprentice: (k: THE FORCE!!!)

[personal profile] lostapprentice 2016-01-17 08:38 pm (UTC)(link)
He'd mistakenly thought she would still need more time to recover before striking back at him, and it becomes clear that he's been underestimating her physical abilities when he fails to step back in time to avoid the harsh blow to his still-healing wound. Because he hadn't expected it, he's had no time prepare himself against the pain, and the fact that it's hurt him is obvious—a grunt echoes out of his helmet and he stumbles back two steps, his grip on the staff loose.

Heat rises around him once again, making the air shimmer with its intensity. He's done playing.

Channeling his anger at the wound, at his last defeat, at the thought that she'd dare to hit him or keep him from what's rightfully his, he reaches out once again with the Force, his strongest skill. The only thing she's proven to resist is the invasion of her mind, and if he can pull or push her as he's been doing, he can surely freeze her in place.
bythemanual: (Amusement)

[personal profile] bythemanual 2016-01-18 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
I am.

Is there a problem?
omnitrixter: (Stern)

[personal profile] omnitrixter 2016-01-18 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
No! There's no problem! Why would you think there's a problem?! Everything's totally cool!
reyofsunshine: (FIGHT ME)

[personal profile] reyofsunshine 2016-01-18 05:16 am (UTC)(link)
His pain is every bit as satisfying as she anticipated--as is the fact that she's made him retreat, even just two steps. It's a much-needed reminder that he isn't as all-powerful as he'd have her believe.

Rey rips her staff away from him viciously and raises it to take a brutal swing at his injured side. She'd rather hit him in his stupid face, but with that horrible mask on that's sadly not an option. But then his hand comes up--and she realizes she can feel him calling on his power this time, having experienced it a handful of times--and her staff stops infuriatingly short of its target. Rey struggles, fights his invisible grip as hard as she can, but her arms only twitch.

Her voice is as frozen as her body, so her frustrated scream has no outlet but through the amulet... and directly into Kylo Ren's head.
lostapprentice: (k: i will finish what you started)

[personal profile] lostapprentice 2016-01-19 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
The sudden sound in his mind is enough to make him twitch, but not enough to break his concentration. He cuts the connection with enough force for the sound to echo back in her mind. He has no interest in being subject to her tantrum.

"Scream all you want, scavenger," he spits angrily, turning swiftly to retrieve the lightsaber, his coveted lightsaber, from the ground. There is no more hesitation. Even if it will not respond to his call with the Force, he can still handle it physically, and it cannot reject his hand the way it can his power. That is enough for now.

He lights the blade without a second thought, blue reflecting off his mask as he gazes at it. For a moment he loses himself in the awe, the euphoria of finally acquiring it, head canting slightly as he takes in a slow breath. The air is almost heavy around him, and the glow of the blade is brighter than usual, casting a deeper shadow behind Ren.

He regains his focus almost suddenly and whips around to point the saber at her, its tip close to her throat.

"You will learn—your—place."
reyofsunshine: (FIGHT INTENSIFIES)

[personal profile] reyofsunshine 2016-01-19 01:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Being frozen in place, if nothing else, gives one time to think. Rey tries to concentrate--to feel the way his power tugs on the... whatever energy it is that drives this place that isn't the same Force she felt in her own galaxy. She tries to understand it and channel it the way she could the Force. After all, if he can do it, so can she... probably.

He's been trained, her traitorous brain points out. You haven't.

Beat him before. Twice. She ignores the facts that he was injured and uncertain in the forest, focuses instead on his botched interrogation. He certainly has no excuse for that one, she was just stronger. And she can be stronger again.

She tries not to focus on the coil of rage in her gut when he picks up her lightsaber--Luke's lightsaber, she reminds herself--and she tries to ignore how utterly wrong it is to see blue light reflected on that horrible mask instead of red. But she can't ignore the blade at her throat or how the heat and glow of it make her heartbeat race. The snow at her feet melts into a grimy sludge, the ground underneath turning hard and cracking.

Rey stares directly where she knows his eyes are underneath all that metal, where she imagines a scar splitting his boyish face in half, and she finds her strength. Her grip on her staff loosens and tightens as his hold on her slowly weakens, and her foot shifts a centimeter or two. Then she swallows and commands her mouth to move--even if her words come out stiffly, there's a victorious glint in her eyes.

"You. First."
lostapprentice: (b: supreme leader she was mean to me)

[personal profile] lostapprentice 2016-01-20 08:25 am (UTC)(link)
His shock is quite clear even through his mask—it lines his posture, and though he refuses to step away she'll be able to see a slight twitch backwards. The shadow underneath him snakes outward as he feels that unsettling fear pull at his chest again, an emotion he has absolutely no intention of letting become familiar.

In response he lashes out, though with his words and the Force rather than the blade in his hand. He concentrates his full effort on holding her still, his left hand held out to assist as he pulls the blade away.

"This is not a victory for you!" he says, voice raised in the hopes that anger will cover the feeling his traitorous shadow displays. "The saber is mine—and even if you can struggle against me you have still lost it!"

He refuses to give any thought to the fact that his words are meant as reassurance to himself as much as they are an admonishment for her.
reyofsunshine: (FIGHT INTENSIFIES)

[personal profile] reyofsunshine 2016-01-21 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
And that's it. After all the bravado, all the theatrics with the flowing black garments and terrifying metal mask--despite the power he possesses that he's proven over and over dwarfs her own--he's frightened by her. One small scavenger from Jakku showing the slightest bit of resistance is enough to actually scare this monster, and if that isn't pathetic Rey isn't sure what is.

Taking advantage of his weakness, she shifts her weight in a sudden jerk forward, lips curling into a vindictive smirk. After that, his hand coming up can only hold her back so much, particularly when he pulls the stolen blade away.

He was bluffing. He was bluffing, and she called him on it, and he had no choice but to relent. And in doing so, gave her the greatest weapon of all: the masked man doesn't want to kill Rey. She doesn't bother to question his motives--she recalls him babbling about teachers in the forest--because the facts speak for themselves. Given plenty of motive, a functionally incapacitated, unarmed opponent, and two lightsabers, he chose not to harm her further. Somewhere in this creature's foul mind, he finds throwing her into things acceptable but draws the line at lightsaber wounds.

... Rey will take it.

Her body shakes from the effort of fighting his power, particularly now that he's fully focused on her, but she keeps staring into his mask, trying to slip between the cracks of his frayed control. She's patient, determined, and has just been given information that greatly decreases her fear of him. He's threatened and scared. Defeat is inevitable. Rey's lips twitch into a snarl, and she forces her voice out through gritted teeth to echo something he said to her long ago.

"We'll. See."

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