memepatheias | Test Drive: May

Entry tags:

*test drive

Test Drive: May

— TEST DRIVE: MAY —

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 24th of April and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on May 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!
For any concerns or questions, head over to this top level.

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: Perhaps one may have heard that Verens used to be a floating island, and it was! When the island then ended up on the surface, creatures which explorers have called "Dinosaurs" (quotation marks included) were discovered inhabiting the plains and the mountains in a far off area. It's time to go back to the jurassic world for a very important mission: gather as many Amaranthus Rubus, red pearl-shaped fruits that heal any and all wounds on one's skin. The hospital needs it! As such, one needs to prepare.

Explorers do not wish to harm the "Dinosaurs", as they are afraid the "Dinosaurs" would go extinct should any danger be placed unto them. This means that one's option when encountering volatile and aggressive "Dinosaurs" is to run away. A fun run is now being held in Verens a few days prior to the trip to the "Dinosaur" plains, where 50 sylvs and a t-shirt that says "I successfully ran away from a 'Dinosaur'!". The colour of the shirt is random, though, but there are as many as the colours of the rainbow. Maybe trade with somebody else who's finished the run if you don't like yellow so much.

• PROMPT E: Once the preparations have been made, it's time to set forth into the land of the “Dinosaurs”. As you enter their domain, it may be difficult to resist the temptation to interact with these rare and unusual creatures, and some of the “dinosaurs” are indeed tranquil and herbivorous. Go ahead and feed the long-necks leafy branches and if you're feeling daring, climb up on their backs for a ride! However, many of the “dinosaurs” are quite a bit more dangerous, and they are very territorial. If you cross paths with the a pack of raptors, prepare to run, fight, or distract. All explorers have been supplied with strips of alluring jerky to placate the beasts. Who knows, you might even make a friend! Be careful not to lose and hand, though.

The Amaranthus Rubus is thickest near the home of the most terrifying “dinosaur” of all, the "Tyrannosaur", and if you are daring enough to approach the lair of this creature to reap the fruits, you may not even have the chance to run away before the creature corners you, roars, and...wiggles his sad, little arms. It seems poor old "Tyrannosaur" just wants some kind of tool to extend his reach! Help him out and he will let you go. Or refuse, and he'll eat you. Sounds reasonable, right?

• PROMPT F: It seems like the land of the "Dinosaurs" isn't so bad after all! Perhaps "Dinosaurs" and man can co-exist, but for that to happen, much research will have to be made regarding a "Dinosaur"'s way of life. Now aboard the ship to head back to the city, researchers are talking about another excursion in the future that's solely for researching on "Dinosaurs" - various species, what they eat, their excrement, and the like.

The trip back to Verens is a little long. Perhaps you're just resting in one of the rooms when there's an explosive sound that can be heard. Oh no! It looks like the engine's running out of steam! Luckily, there's a steam generator in the ship, but steam can only be made through cooperation, anger, and sadness. The entire ship needs your help to get back to the city safely, and if you have to hold someone's hand, slap them, and yell at them to get them to manifest their emotions tangibly, then do so!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include swords and/or stones.

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[ It's a little strange how quickly you can settle into comfort. Admittedly, it took her a while to stop seeing shapes in shadows of silken darkness and letting her mind count the exit points in every room. Still alert, just not shaken, it's become an existence she isn't unhappy with. She tends to weave through crowds when necessary to be in the city and not take her time dawdling unless the streets are half-empty.

She'd only recently dropped off some butchered creatures to a favorite local restaurant in exchange for payment and she was already itching to treat herself. Maybe it was going back home and remembering what it was like to be trapped and without autonomy that made her feel self-indulgent, but she wasn't about to resist the temptation.

It's as Jill carries on that she notices spots of rain ahead of her. It's not an uncommon emotional effect and one she'd witnessed at great length with a friend of hers here -- but there's nobody ahead of her. So, she thinks little of it until thunder strikes when she dips between houses. From where she now stands, it's more clear that there's someone up there. Nudging her baseball cap up with her knuckles, she tries to get a better look. ]

You having some trouble up there?

[ Maybe she should've made a joke about needing an umbrella. Less confrontational. ]

[ OOC: hrhghghghgh I'm on hiatus because I'm sick right now so brace for slowness, but how could I possibly pass up the Best Boy :( ]

[He could ignore her, he thinks. He could leap across the street to another roof and and be gone before she knows she's talking to thin air.

It's tempting...

Ultimately, he peeks over the side of his roof to peer at the stranger in the alley below, colorless eyes narrowing, clawed hands digging into the stone as he crouches down.]

Funny weather we're having, isn't it?

[It's not much of an answer to her question. It's also not much of a joke as his raspy, death-rattle voice doesn't carry much humor in it.]

[ She might follow and part of her does expect that whoever might be up there might take off or just keep going as she does, but typically people whose emotions manifest this way seem to be in a bad way. She's definitely not the ideal to have comforting someone, but in some ways how direct and honest she can be might be helpful.

Jill raises her arm at elbow, flexes her fingers in greeting. ]

Might like it a little better if the downpour was... say, six inches to the right or left? [ She does seem to think of it as a joke, especially because of the tone. To her, it comes like sarcasm although it admittedly might not be. ] So, you're just going to stay up there perched like a gargoyle and make a gal do all the work, huh?

[ The alley isn't much of one, more a quaint cobbled side road, but she manages well enough to jump from opposite building to the one he's on and dig her hands into the roofing. It's one of the times she wishes she had full-fingered gloves on. Her movement is slick and practiced as she flips backwards onto her feet and crouches some distance away. A polite distance. ]

Guess I can't blame you. Quieter up here.

[ It was, anyway. ]

[Raiden whirls were he's crouched, following her movements. When she lands he kicks one long leg out in her direction. It's not an attack, it's just a warning, an indication that he is able to spring into action in an instant.]

Is this a habit of yours? Jumping up on to other people's roofs?

[Of course this was very much not his roof. It was a local business's. Some sort of bakery if the smells were any indication, though he hadn't bothered to learn its name.

It didn't matter. For the moment, in his mind, it was his roof and some stranger has just intruded upon it.]

[ She knows the gesture and takes it as more than reason enough to keep her distance -- if only out of consideration. ]

Isn't that pot calling kettle? Sometimes, yeah. Good vantage point, though it definitely doesn't beat the mountains. [ She's been here a year and a half at this point, so she has some idea of most places here and there and who runs them. Sometimes it was due to business with them, other times it was just dealing with them thanks to the task board. You got to know a lot of people when going on hunts for them or tracking things down. ] Just less awkward to talk this way.

[ But she's clearly equipped with weaponry, pistol holstered and combat knife on her lower leg. She makes no effort to reach for them as she stretches and stands. Hand on her hip, like she expects something. ]

Flowers follow me sometimes. When I'm in a good mood, anyway.

Funny.

[Raiden's tense position relaxes somewhat, though he never takes his eyes off of her. Hunter instincts tell him to always watch, always be wary.]

Flowers seem to wilt wherever I go.

Except once... Once a bouquet of them burst into flames.

[That was about the time he figured it'd be best for the general population if he kept his distance.]

I try.

[ She either doesn't notice or isn't acknowledging that he's keeping an eye on her. Though Jill is more casual about it, she's always ready for a fight. She's less on her toes in the city, at least. It's usually safe here. ]

Some people know how to use it like... I guess magic. [ Not quite disbelieving it, but she sounds uncomfortable with the concept. Frankly, she is, even if she's surrounded by it. ] Easier said than done, but you just have to control your emotions and it'll go away. Took a bit to push it down for me -- might want to be careful with the crystal you got, too. Some people have a hard time not transmitting their thoughts when they first arrive.

[ She only takes a few steps forward, languid and without threat, and holds out a gloved hand. ]

Jill Valentine. I've been here a good year and a half. [ There's the faintest pause where she hesitates because she does tend to mind her own business, usually. ] I take it you're military where you come from? You've that sense about you.

[ Maybe a mercenary, who knows. The way he's dressed is entirely foreign to her. ]

[He rises to his feet as she approaches, listening to her words.

Emotions, yeah...

He's never been good at managing those.]

I don't use the crystal.

[Not when he can avoid it, anyway. He's had enough jabbering voices inside his head to last a lifetime.

When she puts out her hand he looks at it thoughtfully a moment before reaching out and giving it a gentle shake with his claws.]

Raiden. Been here a week or so...

You're right, I'm military. Guess it's pretty obvious.

Might not be doing it intentionally. If you go far enough from it, it won't have any effect on you, though. Including those little sounds you hear in the back of your head. I buried mine for a while, once. Did the trick.

[ A hot tip from an old pro, apparently. It's the least she can offer when she'd been met with such genuine kindness and consideration upon her own arrival. She's pretty sure she'd have thought she was dead and gone mad otherwise.

For a moment, she hadn't expected anything from him but she responds in kind. More clasp than shake, quick but not too quick to retract. ]

First week was the pits for me. Arrived injured, even. [ Jill offers up something somewhere between a shrug and a nod of her head accompanied by a rueful smile. Taut, but not unfriendly. ] Like knows like. Anti-bioterrorism on my end, though formerly with the United States Army if that means anything to you. Here, I mostly hunt monsters for the Beast Hunting Guild -- [ She gently taps at the holster on her side, not making any motion that may suggest she's out to grab it. ] -- in case you're wondering why I feel the need to carry in the city. I was going to check in with the guild and see if they needed a job on the way out.

Hunting....

[He looks down at himself.

Now that he's standing, Jill may notice, if she hasn't already, that he has a gun strapped to one hip and a sword to the other. A knife is strapped around one calve.]

Maybe I should look into it.

Hunting is about all I'm good for.

[Silence before he looks up at her again.]

...United States Army?

[ Kind of hard to miss the sword, though she hasn't asked because he hasn't offered. As much as she loved to talk about her weapons (and other people's), it was sometimes a very personal thing. ]

Beats normal work. I don't think I could take an hour as a barista.

[ Despite her own work being fast-paced and stressful, that was a different kind of it. The people-pleasing kind, ugh. Regardless, it's her way of relating and saying she's about the same.

One arm wrapped around her waist casually, the other twists with vague hand gestures as she carries on. ]

I mean, that was about fifteen years ago, give or take. I currently work for an NGO if you're familiar with the BSAA? Not anyone from where I come from here currently, so I don't expect familiarity.

[Raiden thinks a moment.

BSAA...

Bureau of Strategic...American...

No, no.

He huffs.]

Ah...Can't say I know that one.

[ That's probably better unfinished than what they came up with. She briefly hopes that maybe, just maybe it's just someone she doesn't know from her world, but... seems like not. ]

Biohazard Security Assessment Alliance. I'd say if you're not aware of us even in passing we're probably not from the same place. Or a same place, I've given up trying to understand it.

[ She doesn't quite size him up so much as give him a curious once-over. ]

So, you just like hanging out on rooftops?

[He looks out at the street with a sour expression.]

Beats being in the crowds.

You and me aren't from the same world and me and them aren't from the same world.

There's not a me shaped hole in this place...

It's better for me to be up here than down there in the civilian population.

[He says this with a soft growl that suggests this feeling isn't new to him.]

Suppose so, but you've gotta come down sometime. Might be stuck here as long as I've been -- year and a half, by the way -- and it's better to deal with people than avoid in the long run.

[ But there's no bite or push to her words; almost nonchalant, even. A mild suggestion from personal experience. ]

There are place on the outskirts of the city. Got myself a fixer-upper out there, so if you're less into this you can still be comfortable. [ Some halfhearted gesturing below, not at anyone in particular. ] Lot of people here aren't civilians where they come from, though.

They live a civilian life...

Some soldiers can learn to live that way, but I...

I never could.

[Beneath lowered lashes he watches people pass by on the streets below. No comment on living outside the city.

Frost starts to gather beneath his toes. If it seems like he's wallowing, it's because he is.]

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Test Drive: May

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