memepatheias | Test Drive: April

Entry tags:

*test drive

Test Drive: April

— TEST DRIVE: APRIL —

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 March 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on April 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.
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!

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: Arehtei Amusements is a new company in Verens seeking to bring Arehtei themed festivities to the people of the city. This might've not been the best idea as it's not endorsed by the creatures themselves and coming up with festivities for some of them can be a bit of a stretch, but they've already incorporated, so it's a little late for that now. Anyways, first up is Piphron, which might not be the best or the easiest choice, but it's too late to change their focus now. So visitors to the Piphron Party will find a few activities awaiting them:

Catch of the Day: One of the first activities people will notice resembles a game of frisbee. But with blindfolds! What better way to build trust if you can't see or at least that's the line of thinking here. Participants will be grouped together and whoever's turn to catch will be blindfolded and have to rely on their partner's directions to catch the flying disc. Everything about this seems like it was a better idea than on paper, but it's probably too late for that now. Especially if one of them is flying at you!
Leap of Faith: For those who want to try out something with less of a chance of getting hit in the face with a frisbee, there's also a trust fall activity going on. But unlike the regular team building exercise, this one seems to have been taken to the extreme and mixed it with bungee jumping. After a brief lesson in Dunamis, one person will be escorted to a platform to fall off it and work with their partner on the ground to slow their descent using emotion magic. And don't worry, it's completely safe! The area under the platform seems full of what looks like foam padding, so there's nothing to worry about if someone messes up or falls too fast.
Paper Trail: The Arehtei have two sides and since balance is important, they've also tried to incorporate feelings of distrust into today's activities (besides the feelings of skepticism one might have from watching this nonsense and learning the event organizers are planning on more things like this). The organizers were trying to set up a mock murder mystery to try and sow feelings of suspicion or distrust in good fun, but it seems like someone's stolen the sign up sheet listing all the roles! So now they're asking for help to recover the sheet and the culprit responsible! It could be anyone, but odds are they're still in the park somewhere. Or more likely, the wind blew the paperwork away when someone wasn't looking, but they don't seem to be considering that one, so good luck hunting for the mystery thief!

• Prompt E: Whether he finds you on a random street corner, inside a grocery store, or at the library, a butler who introduces himself only as Benson is handing you an invitation and informing you that the illustrious Count Dunnit has invited you to stay at his manor for the weekend with a few other select guests. The Count has yet to name an heir for his abundant fortune, and he apparently has decided to bequeath his estate to whoever he enjoys spending the weekend with the most. How can you possibly refuse? However, should you choose to join Count Dunnit and his other guests at the manor, you may find that this weekend is more than you bargained for...

Curious Cuisine: Upon arrival at Count Dunnit’s manor, all guests will be invited to partake in a sumptuous dinner of all sorts of rare and exquisite Verenthian delicacies. The food comes in all sorts of strange varieties and colors and aren’t the sort of things that one can find at any restaurant in town, though perhaps for good reason. Whether or not any of this is appetizing is debatable. Have you ever tried grilled wyvern tail? How about bat wings? Snakes? Just snakes? Well, if the cuisine isn’t to your liking, towards the end of the meal, the lights flicker out and when they return, Count Dunnit has crumpled down into his seat, dead as a doornail. Things just took a turn, didn’t they?
In the Dining Room with the Candlestick: So, Count Dunnit is dead, and everyone in the room is a suspect. You’re a suspect. Anyone here might have killed him to steal his fortune. So it falls to you and your fellow guests to analyze the evidence and discover who the culprit is! Dunnit was poisoned, ostensibly, so starting your investigation in the kitchen and interrogating the staff may prove fruitful. However, it also appears that Dunnit has a stab wound in his back, leaving you to find a knife. To complicate matters further, there is also an injury from blunt trauma to his head. Anything might have caused that. How will you investigate the murder? And moreover...can you trust your fellow guests?
Goodnight Sweet Prince: As your investigation continues, it becomes clear that there are simply too many variables in this situation for there to be any one culprit, and all clues point to the murder being a joint effort by the members of the staff in an effort to prevent any of the guests from receiving the fortune they feel they rightly deserve. Once the jig is up, however, they release a sleeping gas into the manor and make their escape before anyone can pursue them. These sleeping gas has some extra special properties that make those under its influence particularly cuddly and snuggly when they lie down for a little nap. You may wake up closer to someone than expected. Maybe they’re a complete stranger and you can both agree to never mention this again...or maybe not!

• Prompt F: As the years go on and more people begin to get a grasp of their Dunamis magic, Mr. Bubbly, a man with a vision wants to start training exceptional children to become the island's first official superhero group. He believes that by teaching them to harness their Dunamis by an early age, as well as instilling in them a strict moral code, they'll be ready to defend us from anything in the future. The name of this class? The Umbra Academy. Meanwhile, another man with a different set of ideals, Lord Saline, wants to begin his own program, The Astra Academy. While his school teaches young minds to control their Dunamis as well, he is viewed more as an extremist who wants to tear down the wealthy. While the schools are aware of each other, they have agreed not to clash directly.

First Class: As both academies officially begin class, they are going to need both students and teachers. Anyone aged 17 and under is welcome to join either group, be it as a student or a teacher. Anybody over that age will have to apply as a teacher/guardian, as the students are largely made up of ten year olds. Either way, whether you're a student or a teacher, you are tasked with standing in front of the class and introducing yourself. Talk about your world and most importantly, what it means to be a hero! Be prepared to take questions, too.
The Clash: Astra Academy's first mission is underway! Lord Saline has tasked both students and teachers to break into the vault of a museum, using only Dunamis and non-lethal methods when disposing of guards. Ideally this is meant to be a stealth mission, so it's best not to get caught at all. The target? A pink diamond, belonging to a corrupt owner, which Lord Saline intends to sell and distribute to the poor. Meanwhile, the Umbra Academy has a mission of their own! Their students and teachers are to stop an ongoing burglary of a popular museum. If it wasn't obvious so far, it quickly becomes clear that both groups are sent to the same location, with the goal to prevent the other from succeeding. Looks like it's the clash of the academies!
The Last Stand: Eventually, it's revealed that Mr. Bubbly and Lord Saline are in fact the same person, a legendary con man known as Jet. He created both academies and pit them against each other so he can steal the pink diamond for himself, which he succeeds. Now, even though they're officially disbanded, it's going to take the full force of both academies to catch this criminal mastermind before he gets away. Jet commands a luxury airship full of well-paid guards and mercenaries, which is easily tracked down by our heroes. Using your lessons of stealth and combat from either class, it's time to find your way around his cronies and get that diamond back!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include spiders and/or capes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ This technology with the model ... it was similar to what they had back home. It seemed like she was going to have more questions for him soon, but that would wait until later.

So she was the distraction. It sounded easy enough. She already knew she was distracting without trying, but just to be sure maybe she should put more of an effort. She didn't really do extra service, but she will consider this an exception. She then turned to him and winked. ]

That sounds easy enough.

[ She removed the shawl from around her shoulders, revealing her low-cut dress. The next thing she did was took out the pins from her hair and arranged it to be loose and look a bit more sexy. ]

Distracting enough for you?

Edited 2019-04-03 13:15 (UTC)

[In all fairness, Bishop never really did take a very good look at Sheryl. Not in the slightest. He treated her like every other civilian(well no he was a bit of a dogs arse, he'll admit that) so this was the first time he really looked at her.]

Quiet.

[But he was a professional and not the unfocused raging brat he once was. He closed his hand and the image disappeared but, when he opened his hand again there was a silver earring in the shape of an owl. An eagle owl to be specific, one with two sapphires for eyes.]

Here. When you need to communicate with me, just touch this and whisper. I'll get the message and I'll be able to send you messages as well.

[He'll hold out his hand for her to take the accessory before pulling his sleeve back to check his watch.]

I estimate we have about thirty to forty minutes to pull this off. Ready?

[ Sheryl sighed and took the earring. The earrings Grace gave her meant a lot to her and she was rarely seen without them. They were also things she was able to bring with her from home. Just for tonight though, she removed one of them and puts on his earring. The earring clashed with her dress a bit, but she supposed unless they really looked they wouldn't be able to tell. ]

I understand.

[ Her problem now though was where to put her other earring. She did not think to bring a purse, nor did her cocktail have pockets.

Taking his hand and placing the earring on it. ]

Hold on to this. I want this back later.

Be careful.

[He was tempted to make a comment about how it clashes with his outfit but, now wasn't the time. He knows that. He simply tucks the earring away in his breast pocket.]

Got it.

[He heads up the driveway and into the manor, slowly opening the door and checking if the coast is clear.]

All clear. Let's go.

[He walks in and makes a beeline for the door to the basement, taking one last look at Sheryl before disappearing behind the door.]

[ It was time to get to work. Sheryl took position by the entrance and was keeping watch. She could hear the guests inside the ballroom getting rowdier and rowdier. It was clear that the alcohol was beginning to take effect. This worked both against and in their favour.

Drunk guests meant that majority of the help would be busy trying to reign in the guests. If they wanted their plan to work, they needed to keep guests in the ballroom. However, if someone did manage to get out, in Sheryl's experience, handling a drunk would not at all be fun.

She touched her earring and whispered. ]

The coast is still clear. Let me know if you are ready.

[Meanwhile, Bishop worked his way into the basement and arrived at the storage room. His reply doesn't come immediately, a long pause before he finally responds.]

I'm in the storage. There were two guys here, I had to deal with them first. How are the guests?

[He asks while he puts the unconscious servants to one side and searches for his material.]

[ Despite the fact that there was a dead man in the middle of the room, it didn't deter the guests from drinking the limitless supply of alcohol the servants were plying them with. ]

It is getting a bit livelier in the dining room. I suppose it is all the alcohol. How is your little scavenger hunt?

A bit more exciting than I was hoping for, and a bit more troublesome.

[A beat.]

You said alcohol, yes? Can you see what kind? Wine, cocktails, on the rocks, that sort of thing.

[ Sheryl opens the door to the dining room and took a look around. Waiters were busily working the room. Some had a tray of champagne, others had a tray or red wine. Some of the other guests were at the bar, chatting with the bartender as he made their drinks. ]

I wouldn't be surprised if they had all of the above. The waiters are carrying around red wine and champagne. The bar is pretty busy too. Why do you ask?

[Because his plan involves causing panic and drunk civs are incredibly prone to panic. And causing harm, but she doesn't need to know that. He just needs to haul ass.]

Because you're a pretty young thing and alcohol turns elder gentlemen into dirty old men. Be careful out there.

[He says as he starts furiously searching the storage room. Shortly after his last message, he sends another.]

Got it. I'm on my way up. This is a bigger haul than I expected. Keep your eyes open.

[ Sheryl couldn't help but chuckle at that. ]

Are you concerned about me, Bishop? How sweet.

[ Beat ]

Don't worry. I have had a lot of experience handling dirty old men in my line of work. Just focus --- wait. I think someone is coming.

[He was still a ways from the exit when she told him to wait but she had his attention all the same.]

Stay on your toes. I'll be behind the basement door in thrity seconds.

I'll get him near the door. You take care of him for me.

[ Sheryl did not wait for him to respond. As luck may have it, of course it was one of the elderly guests walking towards her. From the slow and unstable gait, he was obviously a bit drunk.

Maybe it was a good thing because he did not at all question what she was doing away from the festivities. Then again, maybe it was also attributed to the fact that his eyes were drawn to visible leg from her dress's slit. ]

'My dear, do you need company?'

Maybe. [ She leaned against the wall beside the door. As she did, she lifted her leg a bit which was invitation enough for the man. He puts his glass of wine on a nearby table and went nearer.

Sheryl had to keep herself from gagging when he was near enough to smell him. She managed to smile but her hands were trembling. This only worsened when the man dug his fingers on her hips.

She wanted to scream or kick him, but the noise would call attention to them and she could not have that. ]

Wait, what?!

[And before he knew it the message was through. Bishop clicked his tongue clearly irritated but tapping into those those old powers. He crossed the remaining stretch of the hallway in a matter of seconds.

Five to be precise, vaulting up the stairs in a single bound, and it took him another three to put down what he was carrying and pull out his gun.

He opened the door and immediately swung around and pointed it at the old mans head.]

Silencer. Sleep.

What the-?!!

[He said before pulling the trigger. The old man immediately crumples in place, Bishop moving to catch him and drag him into the dark stairwell where he snored peacefully.]

Dammit, and here I thought I was done dealing with Knight's crap.

[Bishop whispers before sighing under his breath.]

You okay?

[ Sheryl managed to stop herself from shaking. She hated being in that sort of situation where she doesn't have any control. While it happened often in their industry, she knew enough techniques to discourage anything more than she was willing to give.

Despite all that though, she still managed to pull of a confident face. ]

Of course I am. I have been paying attention. If I didn't think you could rescue me on time, I wouldn't have done it.

As you can see, I am never wrong.

[ She looked towards the direction of the unconscious man and shivered a bit. ]

You should go now. Dessert service should be over soon. The servants might be almost ready to make their move.

[The most deadpan expression appears on his face and any further he may actually look dead.]

Right then.

[Bishop rolls his eyes as he goes to pick up what looks a bunch of sacks wrapped by chains made of light, the color of which is the same as the light he used earlier. Closer inspection would show that the bags are....flour?]

Okay, I'm gonna go blow things up now.

[He throws the chained bags over his shoulder, the chains itself oddly not making any rattling sounds as it does, but before Bishop goes he pauses and brings a fist to his mouth....and then lets out a light burp.]

Hooo boy. I am still feeling that steak. Damn.

[ With that burp, at first she stares at him in surprise, it was only when he had turned around and was a bit out of earshot that she found herself smiling. Here she was scared out of her wits and he was not even bothered. Was that a mark of a professional?

She had worked with and paid professionals in his field before, but she could say that they were really nothing like him.

Was she insane to trust him? Was she insane for thinking he was even remotely interesting?

At least a bit of the stress is gone, and now she was going to have to focus on the next part of the plan. Now that he was safely on the second floor, the explosion would definitely start a stampede of people.

She needed to move out of the way. Putting her shawl back on, she moved towards the door. The safest place for her now was outside. ]

[His casual take to death, the calm and cool demeanor were all certainly marks of something. Something that should probably be never ever talked about or even thought about.

He moves past the lobby like a shadow, quick and almost unseen, and moves up the stairs and into the halls like a snake. With people getting drunker and servants probably getting antsier that their plan isn't working as well as they'd hope, he had to be quick. Who knows how far south this could go if any one party decided enough with the charade.

Dipping back into his powers, he races across the second floor looking for the best place to cause a powder explosion without putting anyone in danger. Well, as away from danger as they can be. He knocks down the door to a room in the northwestern wing then drops the sacks of flour, stacking them a top each other then cutting across each one and letting the flour pour. As the clouds of flour rise and swirl around the room quickly filling it, Bishop steps out the room and takes a deep breath.]

Miss Nome, I'm ready and you need to be quick. Once this message ends, take the earring I gave you, count to five then toss it into the ballroom then quickly step outside then head to the western end of the yard. I'll meet you there.

[He's already calculated how many seconds it would take to ignite the flour, how many seconds it would take for debris to eviscerate him, his reaction speed, and the distance to the nearest exit. This was simple, but certainly not how he expected to spend his evening. Beat doing nothing at least.]

[ Sheryl didn't reply and instead made her way to the ballroom. She could hear the sound of laughter and music coming from the inside. It looked like some people were done with dessert and had now moved to the ballroom. Fortunately, all of them were either too drunk or distracted by something to notice someone had opened a crack at the door.

She was annoyed the Bishop was not giving her more time to do this. Did he think it was easy to run in five-inch heels? While she couldn't say it wasn't doable, it wasn't easy. Her hand went to the earring he gave her and began to remove it. She had to do this quickly.

It was then she began to count: 1 One of the waiters handed another glass of champagne to a lady on the dancefloor.

2, 3 ... A man twirled his partner clumsily during the waltz.

4, 5 ...

She tossed the earring inside and began to run as fast as she could towards the exit. Praying for the best ... she made her way to the western part of the yard, as instructed. ]

Edited 2019-04-08 14:59 (UTC)

[He'll listen to her complaint later.....actually, no. That's a lie, he'll do no such thing. He counted in his head roughly alongside Sheryl's, and when he was finished he started to count again this time from fifteen down.

He slowed his breathing down with each number, picturing Sheryl making her way down the lobby while the guests continued to get drunk and enjoy. He pictured the servants plotting their next move, the mastermind somewhere among them irked that no one seemed bothered. Good, he thought. No one was ready for him.

As the count down came closer to zero, Bishop raised a hand and conjured a feather, pale green and threw it into the room like a dart or a knife. The feather shimmered and a gust of wind rushed through, blowing the flour everywhere and scattering it further then when it was spread in a thick grey-white cloud he gun and gave it an order. Incendiary, the gun's cylinder changing to a fire orange then firing. A red hit bolt flew into the room while Bishop, instantaneously, turned around and ran.

The flour ignited and in half a second the corner to the house exploded with a thundering crash, the second floor hallway catching fire while explosion itself reached all the way to the ground floor then to the top floor. It's no surprise that the the guests and servants were rattled and started to evacuate when the fire started to show itself in the ballroom.

While this happened Bishop raced down the hall with superhuman speed, the force of the explosion and fire right behind him, and he burst through the window at the end of the hall and into the front yard just as the fire caught up. He rolled as he landed, and by his estimation, should be right in front of Sheryl at the western end. Or, well, at least she should have seen him launch out the window with a fireball right on his tail.]

Hooo, buddy! Talk about being hot on my heels. [If he has time to make lame jokes, he's probably fine.]

[ Sheryl did not know how long she had. All she could do was run as fast as she could. Despite the heels and the dress, she was already at the meeting place before him. However, it was a surprise to her that he wasn't already there. Was he still in there? She turned back and stared worriedly at the house, knowing it was about to explode.

Where was he? She touched her ear without thinking, forgetting for a moment that she had tossed the earring into the ballroom earlier. There was no way to communicate anymore.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, annoyed by herself and her irrational fear. She told herself not to worry and that this was going to work. It had to ...

As if on cue, it was right at that moment that she suddenly hears it. All hell began to break loose. She stood frozen there as smoke, fire and screaming came from the house. ]

That idiot. What is taking him so long?

[ Up until the moment he crashed through the window, there was genuine concern on her face. She ran towards him, worrying if he had hurt himself crashing through that. It seemed her worries were not needed though because he looked like he had a fun time. He enjoyed it so much that he was now cracking jokes. As happy as she was to know he was okay, she was still quite upset that he made her worry. ]

You are late.

Edited 2019-04-09 12:24 (UTC)

[Talk about demanding. He just outran an explosion that would have killed anyone else. Couldn't she be a little bit more considerate of him?

...

Then again, if she did he would be a little concerned. Oh well.]

Am I?

[Bishop says as he pats down his arms and coat, checking to see if the coat tails are burned or singed.]

I could have sworn I was right on time to ignore you while you whine and bitch at me for blowing up a house.

[Har. He's funny.]

[ And yeah, here they go again. The nerve! She couldn't believe that she actually worried about him for even one second. He was such an annoying ass.

She smiles a deceptively sweet smile, holding back the desire to shout at him. ]

That is incredible. I did not know that being psychic was part of your vast inventory of skills. A comedian too! What else do you have there? Crochet? Tap dancing? Juggling?

[He continues to pat himself down, then checks the inside of his coat to make sure his gun is secured. He checks if his knife is secured. He also checks if he has any meat stuck in his teeth, or if he has something clinging to his teeth in general before checking if his breath smells. Boy that would be embarrassing if his breath was rancid while he was working.

He continues to check his person while chaos and panic was going on before finally stopping to see if anyone had left. A few cars had indeed left or were in the process of leaving but, most of the cars were still there while the guests were resting and trying to process Bishop's handiwork. And this is when he finally notices Sheryl next to him.]

Oh, sorry. Were you saying something?

Test Drive: April

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