TEST DRIVE: JANUARY

[empevents]

— 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!

Comments

[lostapprentice]

Kylo Ren, having been in the city only a short time, has yet to learn of the powers that exist here, and as such is completely taken off-guard by the sudden emergence of light before his eyes. He makes a movement almost as if he were about to stumble back, his grip on the girl loosening as he shakes his head. It's enough for Kevin to pull her away without any further trouble.

Although temporarily blinded and with his senses weakened here—the only Force present in Verens is that which he emits himself—he is experienced enough to know the sound of a weapon nearing him, and his own blade comes up to counter it, slashing to deflect it from its course.

[unghosting]

By rights, the saber should cleave straight through Kevin's blade and, subsequently, straight through Kevin. It doesn't. If he weren't so angry, it would, but Kylo Ren has made a grievous error in that he has given Kevin a reason. A Kevin with a reason is a dangerous beast indeed and just now, he knows with perfect clarity what he needs to do. Between that clarity and the rage lighting up his sword, the blade is that much stronger, and it meets the light saber with a clang that wobbles in the air. Sparks fly from the impact, but it holds, and if he survives this, Kevin will make a mental note to do something good in the name of the witch who conjured the sword for him in the first place.

-- but, the girl first. Kevin snatches her out of the sith's grip and she wails as he retreats, making his location obvious. Some brave soul rushes forward to collect her and flees and Kevin reverses his direction immediately, heading straight back for Kylo Ren. He does not intend to give him the chance to engage in any more magic choking.

[lostapprentice]

The masked man's sight begins to return as Kevin charges towards him, and he meets the approach with a rush forward and a strong, focused swing towards his enemy's sword arm.

He will not be bested with primitive tactics and weapons like these—he refuses. Whatever this simpleton has up his sleeve, Ren is confident he can overcome it and subdue him. He won't be denied the path back to his proper place.

[unghosting]

What Kevin has up his sleeve is a strangely convenient combination of skills, and a whole lot of anger propelling him forward. Unlike Ren, when Kevin is overwhelmed by fury, he burns so hot he goes cold -- calculating, systematic, and well aware of what he's doing. The clarity in him just now is as sharp as the edge of a razor, and he will not be causing any wanton destruction. Well aware of his target, he flings himself mercilessly into the fight, unshaking and ready.

He's also just straight up a damned good swordsman. Quick, agile, and ruthless, it doesn't really matter what sort of style Kylo Ren was trained in; Kevin is not afraid of his strange sword, not afraid to get close. The pulsing light of the blades interferes with his own vision, but his own sword has been glowing on him for months, and he's used to it now; plus, he's spent so much time hurtling through the darkness and practicing against an invisible Incursio that he no longer needs his sight to be effective anyway. His first few strikes are against the light saber, testing the weight of it and how it reacts. After that, all of his offensive movements are aimed at crucial pieces of Kylo Ren's anatomy, muscles that would permanently cripple him if not kill him outright if Kevin were to succeed. Return attacks from his enemy are blocked or dodged, and Kevin shows no sign of tiring.

His sword holds fine against the saber. The light in it is much paler than Ren's, but when they cross their blades, the impact sends ripples of red through Kevin's.

[lostapprentice]

Kylo is ferocious, but not without focus, especially as the battle goes on—when given a clear goal in front of him, the defeat of an enemy, he puts his energy into it without hesitation. There is no holding back on his end, and his saber skillfully parries and strikes just as Kevin's does, perhaps occasionally singeing pieces of his opponent's coat.

But his energy is not boundless; it's due to his recent injuries that the hooded man begins to tire before Kevin does. With not even a fortnight to recover from a blaster to the side and lightsaber strikes to each arm—especially with the lack of appropriate medical care—even the two-handed grip on his saber does not prevent it from shaking.

He can see that physical force alone is not enough to win this battle. Even though he has doubts about the extent of his power in a largely Force-less universe, Kylo Ren would much rather try all he can to avoid defeat. He puts all of his strength into a strike aimed to push Kevin backwards, and his gloved hand comes up to help him focus&mdsah;his goal, to pull the sword out of his enemy's hands and into his own. Even if he does not fully take it out of Kevin's hands, he hopes it will be enough to catch him off balance.

[unghosting]

Kevin, meanwhile, has endurance in spades; he fights until he literally drops or until someone is taken down, one of the two. He does not have magic beyond his lights, and that gives Kylo Ren an advantage. Having already used them once, Kevin won't be wasting time on the same trick again. Now would be a fantastic time for reinforcements to arrive, really, but -- Kevin has forgotten to call any. It's always been his deepest inclination to handle things alone, and the second he decided this guy was worth destroying, all thoughts of his comrades fell from his mind entirely.

If he lives through this, no doubt he's going to get a terrible scolding.

What saves him just now is that Kylo Ren's magic isn't a surprise anymore, either; Kevin saw the diplomat fall and saw his death accompanied by that same hand gesture. He hesitates for a split second as he catches his balance, only to feel that pull at his blade and realize the other man is trying to disarm him. That's a sensible tactic, yes. Kevin's not bad at fistfights, but a fistfight against a light saber would be on the deep end of stupid.

Which is not to say that Kevin isn't on the shallow end of stupid most of the time anyway. He tightens his grip, and shifts direction. The sword flies toward Kylo Ren.

Angling the blade toward his enemy, Kevin goes with it.

alas. i fucked up on html.

[lostapprentice]

It only takes half a second for Ren to see how the other man has reacted to the Force pull, and he adjusts his tactics accordingly. His hand sweeps to the side as he attempts to angle the blade so that it will fly past him rather than straight into him, and he rushes forward, his own saber pointed towards Kevin's chest.

Although he is strong, here, his powers are something he has to focus on intensely in order to maintain. A frantic battle is not something that lends itself to that.

Whether or not this will work or turn out to be a poor decision, he'll find out in a few short moments.

fucking html

[unghosting]

Understanding immediately that he's not strong enough to get the blade where he wants it and still avoid the blow from the light saber, Kevin elects to be an incredible dumbass. Having smelled the charred fabric of his coat as it was nicked, it's easy enough to come to the conclusion that whatever wounds he sustains from the saber are going to be immediately cauterized, but any wounds he delivers with his own sword will be much more bloody.

He is definitely, definitely going to get a scolding later.

In this moment, though, he has to make this count, because if he misjudges even a little bit -- even if he doesn't -- he isn't going to get a second chance. He compensates for the Force pull by throwing himself to the side and just a little bit down, tugging his sword back within striking range of Kylo Ren. The light saber is now pointed at the shoulder attached to his sword arm, an injury he would never risk if he saw any other option. If this works, the injury will be a minor one, and his own blade will hit something that isn't some sort of armor. After that, well. That's a decision he's going to have to make when he gets there.

[lostapprentice]

Kylo Ren has underestimated his foe, underestimated his own injuries, and he realizes too late the the sword is headed straight for his abdomen. There is only so much that his padded robes can do against a sharp weapon at this speed.

His lightsaber moves downward, leaving a streak of burns along Kevin's arm, but it only knocks the swordsman's blade away enough so that it slices through his (already injured) side instead of his middle. Letting out a pained scream that's turned into a horrific sound by his helmet, he recoils and stumbles sideways.

[unghosting]

The burns hurt, they hurt, but the noise that emerges from Kevin's throat twists itself into a mad, gleeful cackle -- the swordsman can pass as an eccentric weirdo these days, but he hasn't been truly sane for some time. There's no time to test his arm and see how well it will work with these injuries, so instead he lifts his leg and slams his foot into Ren's injured side as hard as he can.

It's his favorite non-sword fighting technique, literally punting his enemies.

[lostapprentice]

The man can't suppress the cry that leaves him from Kevin's blow, but in response his rage grows further—a low rumbling sound begins to build as the ground cracks underneath him, and the light in the area is gradually sucked away. Like a wild animal, he moves forward regardless of the pain, an enraged roar echoing through the area as he strikes with his lightsaber. But his mind is clouded by pain and anger, and his attacks lack direction or planning. All he can think of, all he wants at this moment is this man's death and the logical side of him cannot intervene to make that happen.

[unghosting]

It's been such a long, long time since Kevin was up against a swordsman whose skill rivals his own and actually wanted to kill them. He's exhilarated by the fight. There is little that brings him as much satisfaction as destroying someone who really, really deserves it. Someone with more sense than Kevin has summoned the local Enforcers, and they're gathering at the edge of the square now; but it's all too clear that these two are Otherworlders, and they pause to try and gauge the powers involved before diving into the fray. A few of them know Kevin, and the fact that he's clearly injured sends them into high alert.

Kevin pays them no mind.

If I kill you, you'll be back again in a week, he says conversationally, using the amulet in order to save his breath, voice slithering into Ren's mind with an undercurrent of smug happiness. He's testing out his arm, finding it too weak to trust, but the other man's haphazard attacks are easy enough to dodge for a man who is just as high on adrenaline as he is. So, what shall it be? Shall I take your sword arm? Cripple a leg?

What Kevin is going to do, actually, is knock this guy unconscious entirely; that's the way to stop the ground from opening up beneath them, and dodging these cracks is annoying. Hopefully the Enforcers intercede after that, though, or Kylo really will lose something important. Kevin is at his most vicious right now, and while he's got enough of his wits about him to understand that killing this man won't help, he's not about to leave him the full extent of his abilities if he can help it.

[lostapprentice]

Kylo Ren's only response is a flood of blind, unrelenting fury and another attempt at a slash that scorches the stones under them with a harsh crackling sound. The light of the saber reflects off his helmet sharply, and for several moments Kylo himself has a red glow. He refuses to accept defeat, despite the wound in his side streaming blood down his black robes.

Perhaps if he's lucky, he'll regain his senses enough to flee in time. At the very least, the way the pavement is fragmenting, he may provide a difficult time for those who would try to pursue him.

[unghosting]

Kevin dodges the blow, circling the man, toying with him. The burns are serious enough that his muscles are protesting, and while he still has a grip on his sword, he won't be able to withstand more than a few direct hits, if any. If he gets in another strike, it's going to have to be the last one.

Or, perhaps a priestess of my acquaintance can seal those pesky powers for you. Yes! I think that's just the thing. My comrades among the Enforcers have far better things to do than deal repeatedly with idiots who think the world ought to bow to them, you know?

One of Sergei's highest-ranking underlings has arrived. He is directing his own Enforcers to circle the square.

[lostapprentice]

Kylo doesn't listen to the entirety of Kevin's mental mocking, having no patience for it, especially in his own head—he slams the connection shut halfway through to focus his mind on the fight.

It's at that point that he realizes he's being surrounded, and that the current circumstances aren't going to be favorable to an outright victory. After another attempt at a blow with his saber—mostly to distract the swordsman and drive him back—he raises his hand, sending a nearby cart careening straight into several of those Enforcers. He intends to clear a path. Even if it's only for a few moments, it should be enough.

[unghosting]

"Take care!" Kevin calls, raising his voice as he half-stumbles over a crack in the ground. "He doesn't need to touch you to choke you!"

It's something he has to say for the sake of their lives, but it also has the effect of causing the Enforcers to pause, and in those few seconds of hesitation, Kylo's way is clear. Kevin stays that and starts to follow, but the Enforcer commander reaches his side then, grabbing Kevin's shoulder -- the right one, not the one on his blind side. He's worked with Kevin before.

"Not you," he snarls. "Not with that injury. We'll chase him; you call your friends."

Kevin starts to sneer, only to realize abruptly that if he'd sent the call out sooner, more urgently, his friends might have already been there and there might not be native Enforcers struggling out from beneath that cart. Kicking himself, he summons whoever is available and tries to set Kylo Ren's back on fire.

It doesn't work. The clarity from earlier is gone now, diluted by his annoyance at his own self.

[lostapprentice]

It's the perfect opportunity—or as perfect as it can get, under the current circumstances—and Kylo Ren doesn't hesitate to take it. He dashes towards the open path, not allowing the pain of his old-turned-new wound hold him back, and makes an impressive leap over the cart and rolls, having to take a couple of seconds before getting back to his feet and up to a running speed. His saber goes out, which allows him to hold a gloved hand to his side in an attempt to stop himself from leaving an obvious trail of blood. It's successful enough that he is eventually able to lose his pursuers, though it drains him and leaves him worse off than before.

He'll realize how much of a fool he'd been to create that disturbance—he doesn't care about the life he took or the injuries he caused, but it was brash and stupid, even for him. He'll wonder what came over him, why he'd so clearly put a target on his back when he was still half injured and lacked any useful information about the consequences such an action might have. It's unlikely he'll ever realize it came from a doll, which, if nothing else, will spare some of his remaining pride.