empatheias_ooc | TEST DRIVE: JANUARY

Entry tags:

!mod,
*test drive

TEST DRIVE: JANUARY

— TEST DRIVE: JANUARY —

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 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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Sorey is honestly excited by the prospect. New friends from different worlds!]

I'd like that a lot. And I'll introduce you to my friends from home, too!

[But Plue is probably the cutest of the lot.]

[ Hands down, he definitely was the cutest. And like Sorey, Lucy was eager to meet new friends from another world as well! Though she regrets she can't call on all of her friends. What cruel joke was that? ]

You mean Mikleo? I'd like that!

[ If her own friends don't show up here, at least she'll be able to have some friendly faces to talk to, right? ]

[Sorey grins.]

Definitely Mikleo, but there's also a couple human friends from home and three other seraphim I know. I think Rose is the only other one who's here right now, though. She's human and a good friend of mine.

I'd love to meet them~! Right, Plue? [ She glanced down at the spirit, who waved his paw with another 'puuhn' of agreement. Seeing as he's calmed down a lot since earlier, she shifted her grip on him so he could rest more comfortably in her arms. ]

So, you mentioned them before, but what exactly are seraphim?

[ She's gonna assume it doesn't mean what it meant in dictionaries since he's from a different world. ]

[He grins at Plue. So cute! But he'll answer her question.]

They're spirits or gods that most humans can't see or hear. Each individual seraph is aligned to one of the four elements: earth, fire, water, or wind. Their blessings help protect the land and ourselves from the malevolence, a spiritual impurity born from human hearts.

Really? That's completely different from the celestial spirits-- well, only a celestial spirit mage like me can contract with them, and they all live in the celestial spirit world but... regular people can see them just find if they're in our world. But their abilities are a little different from elements.

Well, I bet you'd have no problems seeing them, Lucy.

[Which is great because humans befriending the seraphim is what he's always hoped and dreamed for!]

They sound pretty different. But I'm interested in better understanding what they are!

I hope you're right! [ She's right there with you Sorey. A lot of her spirits were mistreated by their summoners, and Lucy had to prove herself to them, that she wasn't like them. ]

Well, they're living beings just like you or I- but they're also hundreds of years old, especially the Celestial Spirit King. He's probably been around since time began. The other spirits might have been around just as long - but they're all represented by star constellations.

What are your friends like? And the seraphim?

Whoaaa, that's pretty amazing if he's that old!

[The King must know a lot of her world's history, then.]

Hm, well, the seraphim are generally good people in my experience. They're the ones who have magic normally, which we call Seraphic Artes, but very rarely humans can use magic, too. As for my friends, let's see....

Mikleo's a water seraph, and we've known each other since we were infants. We both share a passion for history and archaeology. He can be stubborn as a rock, but he's kind and caring, even if he'll deny it. [A lot.] Rose is one of my human friends and she's pretty quirky. She's cheerful, though, and takes things at her own pace, though sometimes that means rushing headlong into a situation.

I have maybe five other friends who aren't here, but, uh, I could probably go on forever talking about them.

[ Sadly, he and the other spirits were pretty mum on human history. Well. She could probably find out from Old Man Crux, but he knew more about the celestial magic and celestial mages than human history. Nonetheless, Sorey has her full attention as he described his friends. ]

Haha, they sound like a lot of people I know. But I know what you mean - it take a long to really describe everyone in Fairy Tail that I hope to see. I think you'd get along with a lot of them though - and they're all really proud of their magics if you ever wanted a demonstration.

[Sorey grins at that. It's true, he's very curious about how their magic is different from Lucy's.]

I hope so. Although, if you're friends with them, then they must be good people regardless!

[ She giggles. ]

Hey, I was going to say that..! No fair~!

[ Praising each other's taste in friends aside, her curiosity was insatiable. ]

So, tell me about your world; what's it like? It seems strange that there aren't a lot of humans who can use magic - I guess there aren't any guilds where you're from, are there?

[Sorey laughs at that.]

You'll just have to be quicker next time, Lucy!

[Insatiable curiosity seems to be a trait the both of them share in common. This will be an adventure.]

Sure, and you can tell me about yours, too! I don't think there are any magic guilds, but there are certainly guilds for merchants and mercenaries and other things like that. I'm not the best person to ask about my world's magic, honestly. Mikleo could tell you a lot more than I could. Let's see...the continent of Glenwood is my home and the place I know the most about. It's currently recovering from a war between the Rolance Empire and the Kingdom of Hyland. Last I heard, my friends in those two nations were in the middle of peace talks.

[ She laughed. ]

Oh fine, I'll let you win that round.

[ She fell silent, thoughtfully listening, though her smile twitched somewhat at mention of war. ]

I see. I'll remember that, when I meet Mikleo then! Ah... I'm glad that your home is recovering from a war - sad to say mine is just now caught up in the middle of one. Luckily our guild was able to evacuate all the citizens before the army made its attack - and a lot of other guilds we're allied or friends with are helping out, but...the odds aren't great, even with a master tactician on our side. But I know we'll come out on top - there's just too much at stake.

[He looks sad that her world is also suffering from a war.]

Well, at least you were able to get them to safety. I hope that you'll be able to get out of that with diplomacy before more people get hurt.

[Or killed. Sorey decides to change the topic, though.]

My world also deals with something we call the malevolence, too. It's a spiritual impurity born from human hearts and it can make living things turn into monsters. Like the seraphim, though, most humans can't see them as they truly are. The only way to save them is through purification, which is an ability only the seraph known as the Lady of the Lake has. Although, she can share that power with someone called the Shepherd and any seraph who makes a pact with her.

[ Lucy smiled weakly, the light dimming somewhat at the topic. Sad to say, she didn't have hopes for diplomacy. The best she could hope for was turning the army away without losing any of her friends. Glad for the topic change, she shook her head a little, more intrigued in this malevolence thing. ]

So.. all humans where you're from have malevolence...? Is that why humans can't see the seraphim? [ Lights flickering back to normal as her mood tossed off the gloomy topic of war and on to more curious things. ]

It's a relief that people can be purified, at least. It'd be awful if people were doomed to become monsters.

Well, I don't think it's the malevolence itself. We used to be able to see the seraphim all the time, even though the malevolence was still prevalent. That was thousands of years ago and a lot of that information was lost.

[Ah. Sorey looks a bit uncomfortable.]

Not... not all of them can be saved through purification.

Really..? I wonder why - or how - that information was lost like that. Maybe it just went the way of ancient knowledge in ruins.

[ Oh, oops, did she step on a taboo topic? She looked a little apprehensive, exchanging a glance with Plue. ]

O-oh I... sorry, I didn't know...

I don't know. Glenwood was invaded a lot in the past, so it's possible that it was destroyed during those times. That's why Mikleo and I are so interested in exploring ruins. We want to discover the truth of what happened in the past.

[Sorey shakes his head.]

It's okay. It's just that those cases are when we have no choice but to... well. Kill them. Not even the seraphim are immune to the malevolence. Sometimes they become hellions, too.

[ She rocks back on her heels a bit. Man that... that really sucks. ]

But it's only a small percentage, right? ... I-I mean... even if it's at 1% it's still bad, but it's not a completely hopeless case. People who are afflicted can still be cured. Do you think they remember any of it? After they're purified?

[Yeah, it's...not pleasant. He's never felt more terrible or sorrowful than the times in which he's forced to do that.]

It doesn't happen very often, no. I can only hope that they're okay after passing on, but...I don't like it when it does happen.

[Perhaps, more than anything else, he feels as though he's failed them in some way by not being able to purify them.]

Some of them remember, but a lot of the time they don't. I've come across some people turned into hellions who refused to believe that they had been corrupted like that. Others don't remember what happened at all.

I'm sure they are. I only know a little about what you described to me, but ... if they were turned into monsters -- um, hellions, then they would at least be grateful to you for helping them to find peace. No one would want to be trapped as a monster for their entire life - especially if they forgot their humanity.

[ She looked thoughtful for a moment. ]

So... I guess it must be traumatic - no, I think it definitely would be traumatic, and denial, or forgetting is their only way of coping.

[That eases his heart somewhat. He still doesn't like it, but Lucy makes a valid point.]

You're right. Thank you, Lucy.

[Sorey thinks about that, and nods after a moment.]

That's probably a big part of it. Even some of the seraphim weren't aware that the transformation had happened.

[ She doesn't blame him for not liking it - she wouldn't either. But if she helped him a little bit, she was happy, and it shows; the air in the library felt a bit warmer as she grinned at him. ]

You're welcome.

[ She looked thoughtful for a moment, suddenly wanting to ask if his seraphim friend Mikleo - or any of the others - had ever fallen victim to malevolence but that felt like a very personal question to ask. She discarded it. ]

Hmm... I see...

[ ....how did their conversation get so serious and blah? ]

Hey, why don't we talk about something else?

[ Something less likely to lead into uncomfortable territory. ]

[Honestly, he doesn't know. Something about war. He's glad to change the subject, though.]

Ah, sure.

[What to change it to.... Oh!]

What's it like to be part of the magic guild you're in? Are there different magic guilds?

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