TEST DRIVE: June

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: JUNE —

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 May and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on June 1st. Reminder: Our application cycle only lasts 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: Empatheias seems to love festivals! Every festival is always filled with so many people - whichever city might be celebrating it. However, the next coming days has Verens filled with people from all over the world. The Nightingale, as most people know her, is a travelling Fortune Teller who has decided to pass through Verens for a few nights. As such, she's set up a booth. She will tell the fortune of whomever wants it for only 10 Sylvs.

Apart from being able to see one's future, The Nightingale also sells various wares that would improve one's luck, one's love life, one's career, and the like. Buying a blue adamantium bracelet is said to triple one's bank account, while buying a red feather hat would give its wearer more opportunities to meet new people. Just about every item for every possible effect can be found in The Nightingale's Shop, and everything is limited edition! Perhaps one may want to try purchasing an item and see what happens.

• Prompt E: Rumours are going around about how The Nightingale’s fortunes and her charms are effective. Verens is abuzz with stories such as that man who stumbled upon some spare Sylvs while wearing one of The Nightingale’s pendants, or a shopkeeper whose profits shot up threefold in a week after she paid the fortune teller a visit. Everyone’s horoscopes as told by The Nightingale, even those as specific as, “You will accidentally run into a wall in the next five minutes” or “You will be unable to control a particularly odious fart while you are walking with a good friend”, are coming true. A strange phenomenon, to be sure, but those who are perceptive and diligent enough may notice that a person’s emotional state might just have something to do with how fortunes come true. Persons dominated by negative emotions receive negative fortunes, and so on.

• Prompt F: Some of these fortunes sound just a little bit too good, don’t they? And the frequency with which they come true is suspicious on its own. How could the Nightingale be so precise and accurate in all things? Well, as it turns out...she’s not so precise. Or, at least, not in actuality. Her fortunes and charms are, in fact, powerful spells that fool those under their influence to believe they are coming true, when they are, in fact, not. Once she begins to pack up to leave town and head to her next destination, charms will begin to break, bank accounts will fall back to their normal numbers, and newly-found sweethearts will find their eyes unclouded. Will you stand for this trickery?

If confronted, the Nightingale will reveal her true form as a powerful demon witch. She will not hesitate to attack those who provoke her, and her offensive spells are powerful enough to turn friends against one another. Avoid her magical blasts and aim for the talisman she carries! Once the talisman is broken, the Nightingale will disappear in a puff of smoke...but at least she seems to leave behind all the sylvs she collected while in town. Maybe your fortunes aren’t so bad after all...


• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include seeds and/or spoons.

Comments

Soldier: 76 | Overwatch

[dadication]

A. Emotional Impact

[Pain spidered along his sides, up each rib, and along his spine, digging at him in a way that was hardly familiar. If he had time to pay much attention, it would almost feel as if his cells were rotting out and each one that did would feel like a small breath of air sucked right out of the wound that he bore. The shrapnel of the shotgun blast should have killed him, lacerating into a kidney, his liver... all high-blood rich organs.

He wasn't built like normal people, especially when the unreasonable pain was numbed away. Fighting Reaper felt inevitable on some level, always had. That they resorted to savaging each other with fists was familiar, landing blow after blow so his head was only filled with the hot white static of reckless determination, of a sense of betrayal, of such a fierce anger that all else didn't matter to him.

The blow to his wounded side exploded pain and a new height to frustration as he twisted away. Gabriel! seemed to shout across his mindscape in a rupture of emotion.

And when Soldier: 76 landed, it wasn't on the hot stones of Hakim's current hideout. The sand of Cairo wasn't softening the blow, and the hot sun wasn't trying and failing to bake him where he lay in his ruined leather jacket. No, Soldier: 76 landed in a patch of grass, rolling slightly until he rammed up against a tree. A very green, very shady tree.

After a few moments of shock, his silvered hair rose to look around, to drink in the surroundings that were most definitely not Cairo, not even Egypt. Soldier: 76 picked himself up slow and painfully, hand holding his side and looked around, even activating his targeting visor to scan the area. It locked on to several people, but the information that scrolled about any of them seemed like a malfunction.

The fact of the matter was, Soldier: 76 didn't care where he was or how he had come to be here. Here wasn't where he was supposed to be and thus, it didn't matter to him in the least. The only informational fact that mattered to him was how to get the hell out of here. Shrike couldn't handle herself just fine in a fight, but now more than any other time, he was the driven dog who had finally caught the scent that he had been searching for for years.

He eased down, grabbing his pulse rifle and slung it over his shoulder. He walked like a sly run down old dog; blood had, by now, stopped dripping out of his wounded ruined jacket and the necrotic tissue was festering, not that he could see it or care. He managed a week in the new terrain, this new city, still not caring about the who and the whys and the wheres. It didn't matter. He growled out only one question:]

Where's the exit? [He had business to attend to.]

B. Task Board: The Reaper

[Mercenary was an easy job of choice, no strings attached, no questions asked, just fill the objective, get paid and move on. Like everyone else, Soldier: 76 had a few needs that required the common currency to fill, and that meant the occasional job in order to keep him funded enough to eat and resupply.

He took no pleasure in his missions, but he did them well. He took those that were the most complicated because they paid well. Doing fewer but more complicated missions meant that he had more time to snarl about getting off of this floating city.

Soldier: 76 saw one posting about "The Reaper", and he didn't even bother to read it at first. He was convinced. He took the mission posting immediately with a grunt, read up on the possible locations and headed off with a lame paintball gun that he had no plans whatsoever of using.

Historical sites seemed more likely, so he made his rounds searching for spots to set up, look for clues for signs of activity that he could trace to "The Reaper" and decided on one particular spot that allowed him to settle down on his belly under the cover of foliage and wait.

Patience had once been a strong suit, but it had eroded over the years.

The moment anyone seemed to be skulking about the area, Soldier: 76 was ready. He let them come in, hands set on the stone beneath him, and he burst from the cover of the bush that he kicked a loose stone on the ground and sent it flying so hard to pulped when it impacted on stone, which was a common startling technique he had developed.

He lifted a fist to bring around as he eyed the target, swinging without identifying them, but if it wasn't the Reaper he knew, he was good enough to abort without actual impact. Then he growled low in his throat, deflated a bit and shook his head.]

Get out of here before you get hurt.

C. Amulet Troubles

[Soldier: 76 wasn't keen to use any kind of device that would link him with anyone; he was used to the knowledge that there were hackers out there who could tap into any device and steal information, download conversations, and even turn it back for blackmail. He was old-fashioned enough now that he kept to himself, but this amulet business was something he was going to have to learn to deal with.

He turned it over in his gloved hands, shaking it a little. He should abandon it. How the hell did it work? He had to think at it? Fine.

Think typed message: How do we leave?

No?

How about: Tell me how to leave!

Nada.

Soldier: 76 growled at the stupid crystal and very nearly threw it away. What a useless means of communication! He had no telepathic abilities whatsoever, and he didn't want them either; people reading his thoughts was literally the opposite to what he wanted.

He tossed the crystal into the air and caught it, leaning against the tree he had been resting against. Toss, catch, toss, catch. He finally relaxed enough to not be clammed up about the whole communication thing, mindless activity and all.]

I wonder what happens if I jump off the edge of the city. Would I be finally able to get home?

G. Wildcard

[Feel free to write a prompt of your own. PM for plotting, but otherwise, everything is game. Sorry in advance for any growling he might do.]

C

[gr1m]

You die, and then reappear back on the island three or more days later.

The dumbest death possible.

[It may have been text, but boy was the rolling of eyes felt through the connection- along with the fact it was an of-handed response.

Person on the other end was preoccupied with something.]

[dadication]

[Ah! Someone responded! How had that even happened? So maybe he had managed to communicate telepathically? Like all things that earned his focus, Soldier: 76 latched tightly on the connection like he had to strangle it to not lose it.]

That's it? Just die? There's no survivability known?

Where's the exit? I'm going back where I belong.

[gr1m]

You just die, mostly because of the state of the planet below this island, so you die before ever reaching the ground. Because we're not from here we revive.

[A little jarring, some growl heard despite the continuance of text.]

There isn't one, or else most of those brought here would have taken it by now. You're here until you're randomly spit back out.

[dadication]

So this place is the last visage of life on this planet? Why are we here then?

[Hearing that growl earned one in reply from him. Just another method of communication.]

No portal? No secret magic word? How about suicide?

[gr1m]

Not quite. There's another island, along with a few cities down below- two populated and others restored with effort of those brought here.

They once did think this island was the last visage of life o the planet, however.

No to both. Suicide only has you revived three or more days later. Like I said, we don't stay dead, unlike those native to this world.

b.

[torsion]

[ The sylvs for this are paltry compared to ones for the Beast Hunting Guild, but she liked to mix things up a bit. From time-to-time there were interesting enough tasks put up and this one seemed up her alley, though it was usually ghouls and not ghosts she happened to be familiar with. Still, body parts floating around? Sounded plenty like science gone wrong. Maybe they didn't float at all. It could be something much more dangerous and if people were passing around these little stories, it meant they'd come looking for it. Nip the mark in the bud before it becomes a problem, she supposes.

The forest is dense with the warmth of summer, but much too quiet for her liking. The way she moves is still too much like she's controlled, utterly silent without even the crunch of branches beneath her; light footfall, combat knife in hand, ready to defend herself if she must.

She barely catches a rustling before the shock of stone occurs. She doesn't know what to describe it as, but she thinks back on the monsters out here -- massive golems and ferocious wolves. And men. Jill dodges anything that comes her way even if it is seemingly a halfhearted warning rather than meant to wound and when the voice comes along with the visual her knife is twisted in her hand and put back in the sheath along her calf. ]

Yeah, well, it's nice to see you again, too.

[ That guy. 76. Jack. She'd only really known his name because of the way he looked at that tomb and Gabriel being nowhere near as subtle as he must have thought he was being.

Hand to hip, head cocked, Jill gazes at him somewhere between amused and expectant. ]

[dadication]

[While he had considered it possible that there would be multiple people working on the same bounty, he was confident enough in his ability to both inflict and take damage that he hadn't worried much about it in this came. Soldier: 76 could be accused of having a one track mind times. He like two things: solid facts and decisive action.

And when he was determined that he had found a lead that was towards a very specific goal, he would follow it doggedly and without care for the people that he left in his wake. He killed when he had too, but that was part of being a soldier. Causalities were part of the job, but in this case, the person who he nearly assaulted was clearly someone hunting the same bounty.

He almost considered marking her with a blast of the paint gun so he wouldn't miss her as she continued on her way. That she pulled a knife on him wasn't at all unusual, and he took no offense given his own previous mode of action.

He shook his head and turned away instead, looking for a new hiding spot in which to potentially get the drop on "The Reaper". It was a good thing he hadn't set up traps or he likely would have snagged another mercenary.]

I don't know who you are, but you're better off being on your way. [He walked away, hopping up easily onto a rock as he decided on a sight line from a branch of a tree.]

[torsion]

[ Typically it seemed to be that there were several of any creature. She can't say the same for this one, since it seems to be singular -- and thankfully not her spooky masked friend or the creatures of the same name from her own world. Though it might be funny if it was Gabriel hanging out here, playing some kind of strange prank that she hadn't been let in on.

That'd be too easy.

Jill seems comfortable in his presence (such as it is when you go drinking with someone), but still mildly on guard. It's more about the ghost than him, but he still appears ready to fight at a moment's notice. His tone isn't to be missed and it has yet to occur to her that he might be "different" than the previous version of himself that she had known. It's not an uncommon occurrence so it should hit her, but they had a similar sense of humor, it seemed, and he seems just as likely to mess with her in a moment like this as she might with him.

Her tone is still friendly and without threat as she peers at him, eyebrows raised beneath her baseball cap. ]

Cute, but playing hard to get doesn't suit you.

[ Naturally, she follows. She intends to keep this conversation going and she doesn't want to yell. It could startle the ghost or something much worse. There were some dangerous monsters lurking around this month closer to Verens and she didn't want to attract them. Jill remains below rather than going the full way, allowing him some space. ]

Here I thought we were something like friends. [ She calls lowly, looking toward him with a cant of her head. ] Or... did you forget being here? Would figure. Let a gal buy you a drink or ten and now you're let off from returning the favor, huh.

[ That's the problem, obviously. ]

[dadication]

[Soldier: 76 was wondering why she was still talking to him when he had made it wildly clear that he had one mission in mind and that was to find Reaper and put an actual real live pulse ammunition right in his chest. He was of the opinion that conversation was simply not worthwhile to engage in while he was on the case of the 'ghost', which he knew was likely some lure for Reaper to do whatever it was that Reyes thought was entertaining these days.

He hopped up easily to a thick branch of a tree, seating himself on a hip and allowing his legs to dangle down one side. He swung his pulse rifle from his back and looking down the sight lines of the massive weapon to make certain that he wasn't actually missing anything. No, he had a good line of sight, and the vantage point was higher ground which gave him the advantage. So he's have to shoot instead of punch. He'd take it.

He glanced down at her following him, tilting his head slightly when she seemed to be unnaturally friendly and positive towards him. He finally actually peered at her as if to assure himself that he had no idea who she was. No, he definitely hadn't met her, threatened her, or seen her around the mercenary circles that he very rarely had to endure for information.]

I don't have friends, and I don't know who you are. You're clearly thinking I'm someone else. [She didn't look like a scammer or intoxicated, but who knew with kids these days. He was raising a finger to activate his tactical visor so he could scan the woods, but aside from her, there were no targets.]

I don't drink unless it's with friends or alone. [And he had previously established he didn't have friends, so... definitely not that one. He also wasn't stupid enough to drink alone when he had a bounty on his head.]

[torsion]

[ Maybe she just needs the company. She didn't like working alone or in groups. Partnerships were comfortable to her, having someone at your back felt natural. As things were right now, it wasn't likely that he'd have hers but she could at the very least have his. Though there weren't any warnings about the Reaper being dangerous, most any monster or wild animal could be if cornered or if they felt threatened. Ghosts were likely similar.

He's still got that handsome gun of his, the one he'd told her she could get a look at and one of the reasons, she supposed, she'd been interested in talking to him to begin with. He knew Gabe and he knew Ana and those were a plus, but when it comes down to her interests? Jill's few and far between aside from fighting and weapons.

Though she might seem casual, she's got her eyes and ears on the distance, listening for any shift in the forest or indication of something present. Her senses are still heightened, still above average. ]

No, not at all. Who the hell else goes around dressed this flashy and insists on being called a number? [ She finally stands more rigid, folding her arms under her chest rather than just leaning from below. ] You were here before but recently left. Sometimes... people do that. Don't remember being here.

[ She definitely liked him better when they were flirting, but that could be said for anyone. It reminds her of herself when she puts her walls up, but she's not about to comment on that. It's really up to him what he believes or not, but she's always willing to start at the foundation. It's important to her. Comrades, friends. Trust. ]

Don't usually drink with others, either. [ She leans with her hip against the tree, sighing low but audibly. What a convoluted mess. She'd been lucky enough to avoid this up until now, so it was really only a matter of time before she'd deal with it herself. ] ...Jill Valentine. Former US Army Delta Force, currently and anti-bioterrorism SOA. I don't mean to be so pushy, I just thought you were messing around.

[ She wipes at her face, kneads at the eyes with her fingertips. Damn if this isn't awkward. ]

B

[rootedpath]

[Despite the strange fantasy-like nature of this place, Beth is entirely skeptical of the ghost claims. She's basically just here to shoot at suspicious looking individuals and call it a day for the money.

What she doesn't expect is to be ambushed and rushed. She gets distracted by the powdering of the kicked stone and she's too jumpy to be as sharp as she used to. Fortunately, years of muscle memory still kicks in. She yelps and falls back a few steps, firing off her paint gun at point-blank range at Soldier: 76's chest before freezing at the sight of the fist stopped way too close to her face for comfort.

Her stance wavers as she keeps the paint gun trained on him, equal parts trained soldier and anxious civilian. The hood of her steampunk jacket has fallen off to give a better view of her face. The small cracks around her feet have also deepened and lengthened considerably after the scare.]

You first.

[She's proud she managed to keep her voice steady.]

[dadication]

[Soldier: 76's hand snapped out to take the paint bullet to the hand rather than the chest, almost expecting real ammunition. That's what he had planned on using if the individual that he was expecting actually made an appearance, but it seemed it was just another hunter on the job. Someone looking for money rather than The Reaper himself.

He sized her up, noting the cracks in the ground but also the way that she held her weapon. Like she had been trained to use it. That shot certainly had been accurate enough to cause a wounding if it had been actual ammunition and that range, he probably would have still taken fragments to the chest through his hand.

Instead, he flipped his hand to send paint splashing down on the rocks. It seemed he would need to wash it off. More importantly, she wasn't The Reaper.

He turned away, still flicking his hand to remove liquid paint from it.]

I'm not concerned about being injured. [As a blind reckless charge might indicate.]

[rootedpath]

[She released a breath and lowered her 'weapon', relaxing her stance as he turned away. Her shoulders were hunched and she seemed more gloomy and skittish than confident. She probably shouldn't engage this guy farther. He seemed dangerous, and she had enough to worry about. But it really wasn't like she had much to lose anymore.]

Feels like you have a personal stake in this ghost hunt.

[dadication]

Chasing ghosts is what I do.

[Well, very particular ghosts, that was. He had more than his share on his list of people to find, and this one had just happened to come with a name attached to it that he recognized from his world. That meant that he would pursue it relentlessly and likely end up disappointed with the end result.]

This one is definitely personal.

[rootedpath]

How can you be sure this is the ghost you know? We're all from different worlds, aren't we?

[Not that she can fault anyone who let their path be determined by something that happened in the past. Sometimes it's just all they had to go on.]

B

[la_sombra]

[ Done up in dark clothes and a skull that Soldier:76 would surely recognize, Sombra felt her blood run cold in her veins for a moment.

Keeping tabs on Los Muertos through the amateurish antics they'd gotten up to in her departure, the news of an old man handing out beatings had been filed away. Here without her tech and her backing was not as fair of a fight as she would have liked against a super-soldier; even against one past his prime like Jack Morrison. Gabe was as dangerous as he was, partly due to whatever the hell those doctors did to him - Morrison seemed to be running on salt and bitterness alone.

However, if 76 was here - it meant that he was looking for Gabe. Same as her. Shit.

Time to play the part, at least until she could get a bead on the old soldier's headspace.]

Big talk from someone who couldn't even follow through on the punch.

[ She smirks at him, cocking her head.]

What? You don't hit girls, Gramps?

[dadication]

[Los Muertos had been child's play, pulling their ranks apart like candy for weapons trafficking and drug supply. He had been hoping that they had something more useful to them, but they were just a bunch of thugs with had a couple of smart members who directed the insignificant workers who were there based on their physicality as well as the relatively empty space between the area where a brain should be.

However, 76 easily recognized the very distinctive Los Muertos 'war paint', enhanced by darkness. He might recognize her war paint, but her as an individual didn't register. He knew Talon had an elusive hacker, but that individual was just that. Good at covering their tracks.

He grunted at her accusation when it came to following through on a punch, but he was unbothered as well. She wasn't who he was looking for, so he expected she was out here for the bounty.

He was already turning his back on her, looking for another vantage point to slip into for another attack for the next poor unfortunate soul that might come this way.]

You're not who I'm looking for, so punching you through a tree isn't necessary. [He turned his head slightly.] Unless you want me to punch you. Wouldn't be the first time I laid out Los Muertos.

[la_sombra]

[ For a split second, Sombra scowled at his back. She was very unaccustomed to being disregarded and had a momentary flash of empathy for people left in the wake of a well-timed translocation.

It passed quickly enough. ]

No thanks. It's puta mala suerte I even ran into you.

[ The wise thing would be to leave him to his temper and his sour mood. There was a job to do after all and her pockets were light enough that it would be worth focusing. However wise was not something Sombra ever claimed to be. ]

Try and spook the locals off the job and I find the one ghost from home my friend warned me about.

[dadication]

[Most people seemed to consider it puta mala suerte running across him, especially if they were on the opposite side of his particular objective. He had a habit of simply going through them in whatever way was necessary.

He took a few steps away from her, though he was definitely keenly aware of her position and movement.]

You are free to leave any time. Consider it buena suerte.

[He sighted an appropriate vantage point to take, about to move towards it when he stopped and slowly turned to regard her for a moment. He could assume the ghost in question in this conversation was Reaper, but at this point, it was hard to tell. He did tend to disappear after all.]

Wasn't a very good friend if it was just a warning.

C

[tagartist]

[ There's the smaaaaaallest amount of concern that makes it way through the telepathic link here, even if it is text. u ok there, dude ]

That sounds like it would be hella painful and probably not very effective.

[dadication]

[Perhaps the most strange part of linking up with another person was the emotions that came down the line. He wasn't a fan of it, mostly due to the fact that he kept his own emotional state that wasn't anger strictly in line. He also wasn't used to any kind of concern these days.]

Depending on the distance, the pain would last only a few seconds.

[tagartist]

[ It's literally the worst and she has yet to figure out how to make it not happen. ]

But what if it's the kinda distance where it lasts a lot longer? That would be shitty.

[dadication]

Then you don't jump. Velocity while falling is the same; it's the distance that changes.

[tagartist]

Do I wanna know how you can tell the difference just be looking at a glance? Because I'm 99% sure I'd be the kind of person to be like "Yeah that looks like it's far enough" and then I'd suffer for two hours.