Empatheias Events (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
empevents) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
memepatheias2018-12-19 07:39 am
empevents) wrote in memepatheias2018-12-19 07:39 am
Entry tags:
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 25 December and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on January 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. For new characters, these threads do not count for activity check. However, these can be supplementary threads for players already in-game.
- Enable Me/App This Pls. Talk about your app plans or look for a cast here!
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: Toymakers in Briarlan have been taking on more and more ambitious projects, and their newest work centers on a line of action figures that can battle each other based off of commands given by their owners. These figures, dubbed the Great Clobberin’ Siblings, are promising, but not quite ready to hit the shelves, and so technicians are recruiting volunteer (or not-so-volunteer) focus groups to help them work out the kinks with the toy line. Participants will be rewarded for their time with money and a figure of their choice! Be quick if you want to grab the rare “Verens Yoga Instructor” figure...- All Fox, No Items, Final Destination: The technicians will have participants start with a simple task: merely give your chosen figure certain commands and have them face off against an opponent! Though you will quickly find that these figures’ movesets are not quite as simple as kick and punch. Some may defeat opponents by reading to them until they fall asleep, and then knocking them over the head with their book. Others may yodel loudly until their opponent loses their sanity! There’s all sorts of strange and usual moves, but the figures do not take kindly to being told to use the wrong moves too often. If they hear too many wrong inputs, they’re liable to turn around and attack you instead!
- Super Smunch Bros: About halfway through the focus group session, the technicians will return to offer you lunch! They really want their participants to be happy and well-fed, so they’ve pulled out all the stops with the food. Enjoy everything from mashed potatoes to hotdogs to milkshakes all on the house! However, the action figures seem intrigued by the lunch as well, and they are programmed to do only one thing: fight. Don’t be too surprised if a slice of pie is unapologetically launched into your face. But the question is, will you retaliate, or take the high road?
- World of Fight: After several more hours of play-testing, participants are at last set free and given their sylvs and free action figure of choice. Yes, you got that Queen N. Asty figure you’ve had your eye on! When powered down, the figures seem harmless enough...except that they keep reactivating themselves. Strange! And while aren’t aggressive to their owners — they have their loyalties to keep! — they will pick fights with just about anyone else they see. Is that a complete stranger whose hair they’re pulling or shins they’re kicking? Yikes. Good thing that all it takes to complete disarm the figures is feelings of complete and utter peace. Make love, not war!
• Prompt E: Goblins & Golems, a roleplaying boardgame set in the fictional world of Metiaphase, continues rising in popularity in Verens. Once, a seemingly innocent game, is now being played off the board, with people essentially LARPing all over the town. It's still mostly harmless and more of a nuisance to have around, but people are encouraged to play along anyway! Perhaps assisting these players in their quests will bring this campaign to its conclusion and everyone can just move on with their lives. Still, there are rumours of an anonymous game master taking advantage of this extreme game, using its players to cause chaos around the city. This particular master, if they're real, seems to foster delusion, paranoia and violence. It might be another good reason to play along for now, and find out if these rumours are true!- Outbreak: Whether you are at home, the welcome centre or just a small convenience store, you'll receive a telepathic message through your amulet. It appears to be a wide broadcast, not particularly aimed at you, unless you're an active player of G&G. The message? "A virus has broken out. We must quarantine the sick immediately." ... That's odd. At first, nobody else around the area seems to be concerned. Then suddenly, all the windows and doors get boarded shut from the outside. It all happens so quickly, suggesting there is a large group of these "players", and they seem to be both highly organized and efficient. In some cases, they will even use Dunamis to freeze the doors and windows shut, or melt it with heat if anything is made of metal. Do you find a way out, or just chill and wait to be rescued from the outside? At least nobody is locked inside alone.
- Declaration of War: The Goblin and Golem factions (again, just people in costumes), seem to be on the verge of a war with one another. The players are taking this game extremely seriously, and there's a real threat of actual violence breaking out in the middle of the street. Both sides are accusing the other of decapitating the Minotaur King statue's head, who is a god-like being in Metiaphase. However, they've agreed on a three-hour ceasefire, on the account of you finding the missing head of the statue. Whoever took the head must have wanted a street war to break out, but the two factions are too blind to see it. Find the head before it's too late!
- Endgame: The game master occasionally sends gamewide bounty targets to all its players. Up until now it's been mostly generic names and faces, and anybody who isn't playing the game would wonder if any of this is even real. Surely these players aren't being sent out to attack and hogtie actual people, right? This is just part of their silly game! Until one day, your face and name comes up in the telepathic broadcast, with a completely fabricated crime and a very tempting reward. Whoever this game master is, they seem to want you off their board for good. Run, hide, defend yourself! It looks like this is no longer a game!
• Prompt F: During the winter months, a new trend is taking Verens' performance artist community by storm. Getting a bunch of people to meet at the same location and do some sort of wacky stunt before dispersing. In this case, the wacky stunt is dressing up like snowmen. So yes, Verens is being besieged by snowmen flash mobs.- Abominable Historians: This means that characters exiting anywhere could possibly find themselves surrounded by snowpeople that weren't there before. Which can definitely be a little jarring to exit Steambucks or the Welcome Center and suddenly there's snowmen as far as the eye can see. Sometimes it's something inconvenient like blocking your path. Other times,you've exited into a giant, if brief, snowman production, perhaps reenacting a past event in Verens history. It's like walking into a historical reenactment, but everyone dressed up as Frosty.
- Ice to Meet You: If you're not encountering the snowmen, there's a good chance you could be drafted into their ranks. After all, they need lots of people for their stunts, so characters may find themselves handed a costume and directions to the next area. But there's still time to talk with your fellow snowmen and plot out the next stunt. Or to just discuss how ridiculous this entire thing is before abandoning the snow troupe.
- Snow Problem: It wouldn't be a new trend in Verens without something going wrong, and this proves to be no exception. Several snow creatures somehow have made their way down from the colder parts of the Ferril Mountains, only to get caught up in these shenanigans and they're definitely giving this craze the cold shoulder, opting to rampage through town apparently offended by the frosty facsimiles. Being giant snow/ice creatures, they're definitely weak to fire, but for those less inclined to run around melting them, it is possible to calm them down and lead them back out of the city.
• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include a duck and/or hazelnut.
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! - All Fox, No Items, Final Destination: The technicians will have participants start with a simple task: merely give your chosen figure certain commands and have them face off against an opponent! Though you will quickly find that these figures’ movesets are not quite as simple as kick and punch. Some may defeat opponents by reading to them until they fall asleep, and then knocking them over the head with their book. Others may yodel loudly until their opponent loses their sanity! There’s all sorts of strange and usual moves, but the figures do not take kindly to being told to use the wrong moves too often. If they hear too many wrong inputs, they’re liable to turn around and attack you instead!
no subject
... Y'know, that's. Not an awful thought?
[ sounds like a fish in less than half the time? a meal? managing to keep any potential shivering from his posture, icicle pants apparently forgotten, trevor flings his socks off to the side. then he nabs his pole, drawing himself back to his full height and pulling the twine back to wind it into a hand. looks like the bait--a bit of meat--survived his little mishap.
trevor waves a hand. ]
Well, c'mon. Let's see what you got.
no subject
[He can probably see her form under the ice, making rounds much faster than one might expect. Unsurprisingly, Zora are mainly fish-eaters themselves, and the major branch of the fish market. By the time she's been gone just a few minutes, Mipha's chased the fish toward his end of the lake in small patches of schools.]
[As she's rounding them up, she surfaces a little ways away to let him know fish are newly incoming by waving an arm and beaming at him.]
no subject
[ fishing still takes a bit of patience. however, it's only a few more minutes later that there's a tug to the line. trevor gives it an experimental tug back, it holds true, and he throws in his weight into pulling it to shore. ]
Upsy- [ there's some movement, a fin breaking the surface of the water. ] -daisy!
[ cutting into the air, the fish gets yanked his way. it's an actual, sizable catch? incredible. hook removed and safe within his grasp, he brandishes the fish into the air with triumph. it's still, err, vigorously flopping about, but he's got a strong grip and a second to spare. ]
Aha! Always fancied myself something of a fishing master.
no subject
Oh? [she hums conversationally (and unsarcastically)] I'm sorry I nearly ruined your fun. There are plenty more where that came from!
[Of course, she reads as a similar Fish to everyone else, but that's how it always seems to go with new Hylians (or...what the rounded-ear people in Verens call themselves).]
no subject
but hey, he did see her moves. and she's been nice enough. much as he could take credit for all of that (really, he's contented to), there's a touch of gratitude to be acknowledged with a nod: ]
Well, you did a bit, too.
[ she did a fair amount. ]
But, gods, it's still fucking cold. And I'm hungry. [ now that the rush of excitement has run its course, he can also acknowledge that his pants aren't getting any warmer. his gaze flits across the ground, seeking to recognize the fodder to begin a fire (he hasn't quite grasped that emotion business, either). stabbing the end of the pole into the dirt for the moment, he folds his arms across his chest. ] You eat fish, then? ... How do you eat it, raw?
no subject
[She tilts her head to the side, eyes soft and serene. Even if she hadn't done so, after giving the man a heart attack, helping him fish is only polite. That's a saying somewhere, right? That's probably how it goes.]
[Fire had been quickly forgotten, although easier by Mipha having already been submerged in icy water. The curse quiets her; but she has a feeling that's just how this man is. And a moment later, he asks a question nobody's ever bothered to ask her before. Light surprise colors her face, and she begins to tread closer to his chosen seat as he becomes even the tiniest bit friendlier.]
Ah... Yes, I do prefer them raw. [implying she's definitely had it both ways] Are you preparing a meal?
[to eat in the freezing cold wearing frozen clothes]
no subject
[ he does think about stepping off his rock, into ... well, even colder ground. but he's barefoot and his boots still aren't dry. after surveying the area a moment more, noting some dry twigs, he props a hand to his hip and sideeyes her. ]
Was gonna be mighty magnanimous over here and let you use my fire if you had another fish to cook for yourself. But since you don't, and I don't have one, there goes that idea.
[ flatly, along with a shrug. ]
[ not bothering with the socks for now, he begins pulling his shoes back on, clutching at his cloak with the other hand. because yeah-- he's going through with attaining this fire, apparently, already beginning to collect wood. ]
no subject
[While he seems to be collecting fuel for a fire, she dives back under the water and disappears from view. It's a shame that she doesn't have her trident, otherwise she'd be able to offer the man triple the fish at once than just with her bare hands. And teeth.]
[Her capture is swift, taking it upwards and to the surface with her. Breaching the water, she throws the fish to the snow and finally comes ashore herself. She's tiny—four and a half feet, maybe—and her head-caudal fin is no longer than her waist. Her reply is a little delayed, but...] Well, I thank you again regardless. I can offer to round up more for you to take, however. [chuckles again, looking at his prize] Your catch should make quite a good supper.
no subject
[ he's crouched, in the midst of arranging his pile of wood when he's addressed again (the sound of a fish slapping into the snow also catches his attention). his eyebrows arc, eyes widening at the catch coupled with her words. he gets a good look at her, too-- even at his current lower vantage point, he didn't expect to see that he would have a solid foot and half on her, damn. ]
... Well, wouldn't complain much.
[ seriously. now, he has to ask: ]
This all outta some crushing guilt for earlier, or is your... kind, just always the type that's "happy to be of help"?
no subject
[Clasping both hands in front of her, she looks down at them and fidgets with her fingers as her earlier embarrassment makes a return.]
Ah, well... ...Both, I must admit. [She looks back toward him, offering a sheepish smile.] I am awfully ashamed of startling you into the bitterly icy water... However, if our meeting had not been quite as disastrous, I would have offered my assistance all the same.
[And then her smile turns a bit more amused.] ...Though, I don't quite know if it's necessarily tied to 'my kind'.
no subject
cue some agitated choice words beneath his breath as he gets on all fours, some hurried blowing at a particularly promising area, ]
Figures. Well, I'd guess that you're no demon, anyway -- bunch of ugly fuckers, would've tried to rip out my entrails to wear as a crown by now.
[ it's casual. he squints at the lit leaf, and-- success! looks like his efforts (emotions may have helped) are met with a steadier stream of smoke. he sits back on his calves, peering back to his more aquatic companion. ]
So, begs the question: What is your kind, then?
no subject
You're...you're correct. I'm certainly no demon; I am a Zora. [While explaining, she picks up her own catch of the day and makes her way over to his spot.] It shall come as no surprise to you that we are primarily an aquatic people.
[Her blue sash is covering the gills underneath her ribs, but the incredibly obvious evidence that is her literally standing on dry land points to Zora being amphibious. Upon reaching his little area, Mipha suddenly gasps quietly to herself as if remembering something important. She gently sets her fish down and looks to the man with yet another apologetic gaze.]
Oh, it's as though I've forgotten all manners! I've been terribly rude. [TRULY. She actually gives him a little bow.] I am Princess Mipha, of...well, the Zora. May I ask your name?
no subject
Seriously. The most terribly of rude...
[ facetiously; he does note the bow with a little furrowing of his eyebrows. hey, alleged royalty don't exact bow to the common folk where he's from, out of politeness or not. the smoke's swelled to a petite flame by the point, catching onto some of the twigs. trevor attends to it, alternating between fanning it and warming cold fingers. ]
I'll have to beg your royal pardon in advance, your highness-- always had a bit of an issue with authority. [ GOSH, who would've guessed at that one by now, what with the continuing tone. a pause. ] But I'm Belmont. Trevor Belmont.
[ while he doesn't gesture, there's notably plenty of room for her to crouch near to the fire, should she like. ]
no subject
A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Belmont. [That bright smile is back, and she pauses to direct it to him like it's part of the sentence.] I appreciate your patience with me, then. It's...it's only a title, here, after all...
[And since she... Well. Didn't need it anymore.]
[Trevor may not gesture and the spot may be open, but Mipha is too polite (or, she is now, having corrected her boorish behavior!). So, still standing, she gestures to the campfire herself and asks,]
May I?
no subject
and picking up his fish, he uses one of his knives to start descaling it. ... then peers back up at her, eyebrows raised with curiosity. ]
... You ever use a curse word before? In your life?
no subject
[...Then again, he's given her no reason to act any less cordial.]
[She sits down across from him at the campfire, bringing her fish over as well; situating herself with her knees bent and off to one side. At his question, she nearly laughs and smiles knowingly. Mipha knows she doesn't come across as...much.]
Once. [scandalous] When I was very small. Hylian soldiers were visiting the Domain, and I overheard a word I did not recognize. When I asked my tutor what it meant, he threw quite a fit. [To this, she does laugh quietly at the memory.]
[Then, tilting her head at Trevor,] I could ask you the very opposite.
no subject
[ don’t mind him, he’s just going to continue working with this fish. he’s so hungry. guts aren’t all that appetizing, though. ]
[ but wait. is that… sass that he detects? trevor shoots her a look. ]
I was... six? Seven? Eight? 'Round there. Point is, there was a period of years in which my mouth wasn’t foul. [ he shakes a stick at her, juggling another that he’d been busy poking into his food. ] I'll bet that cursing lowers stress, or some crap like that.
[ his smile quiets, though also becomes wry. ]
You could try. Might be worth a proper shot.
no subject
[Sass? Coming from the embodiment of politeness itself? It's more likely than you think.]
I see... You began quite young, then. [As though it's a practicing religion. Is that how it works for you, Trevor? Are you unburdened from stress every two minutes? She knows what he's trying to do, though, and ducks her head in silent laughter, hiding her face and wiping some snow off of her fish.]
Why, I've nothing to curse, Mr. Belmont.
no subject
[ spoken simply, more reflective - he hasn't any idea that mipha might be struggling to name them, actually. ]
[ the last comment gets an eyebrow arching. ]
Surely, even princesses have something to curse from time to time. [ he takes to warming his hands by the flame, palms forward. his shoulders lift in a shrug: ] But you ever feel compelled, and I happen to overhear - secret's safe, hm?
[ because, yeah. ... he'll admit some (a lot) of the appeal here is that it's not a very princess-like activity, huh. ]
no subject
[Mipha stifles another chuckle, glancing away for a moment so she doesn't break by just looking at his face. Should she? Should she really? Trevor's been awfully friendly, conversationally...]
You do have a point. There has been plenty to...curse. [Then she shrugs, too, in the tiniest rise and fall of her shoulders.] But now that I am here, in this world... I do not have the-- those...those damn reasons anymore...!
[She covers her mouth. Was that...is that how you do it did she do it right did she do the curse]