Test Drive: January

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: JANUARY —

Welcome to empatheias' test drive meme. This test drive is to help interested players test their characters in the game's environment. We've included a few prompts that incorporate specific elements of the game, though you'll find all of them have a lot of leeway for players to get as creative as necessary. Before diving in, here are a few things we'd like to remind everyone about the game in general:

• Pre-Intro Log. For the Test Drive, we are using parts of it as a "pre- intro log," which means not only can players go ahead and use the prompts as if the character is arriving into the game for the first time, but this setting will be adapted and continue in the official Intro Log. For TDM purposes the prompts are a little more generic and vague than what will be on the actual Intro Log, but they're relatable enough that can be easily transferred to the official log with a few minor tweaks. For those who do end up applying and entering into Emp, these threads are considered "forward dated" to the Intro Log.
  
  
• Date reminders. Reserves open December 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on January 1st. Apps will only be open for four days! Because we're on a bi-monthly schedule, the next app cycle after this is MARCH.
  
  
• Emotions are key! Empatheias's 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. 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 to collect their emotions and serves as the network device. Remember, communication is telepathic, but it works basically the same as most other network devices.
  
  
• First or third person allowed. Your threads can be in either first or third, but we'd advise being flexible about it. If you have a preference, be sure to specify. 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.
  
  
• For your threads, put the Character Name and the Canon in the subject line to help readily identify them. You're 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!

PROMPTS

• Prompt A: How about giving the emotions a try? Is your character feeling particularly wound up upon finding themselves in a new place? Or perhaps they're finally getting to live out the fantasy dream and are overjoyed! Or they just stubbed their toe and are in a lot of pain. Whatever it may be, this prompt is your catchall "let's try these emotion effects out" for any miscellaneous situation you may think up.

• 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: It's winter in Verens, and the festivities are alive with some new gimmicks. As always, emotions come into play, so be careful where they take you! Try not to destroy the city.

1. Beware the Snowmen: Do you wanna build a snowman? All snowmen are affected by the emotions around them, and it doesn't take too much to make them come alive. They have imbibed different emotions around them, so you'll find lovey-dovey snowmen who have no respect for personal space, snowmen jumping up and down with joy, sad melting snowmen, and irate snowmen trying to lob their coal and carrots at you. A few snowmen have managed to get hold of murderous tendencies and will now try to kill you when you pass by. Good luck? It's kill or be killed.
   
2. Bittersweet Chocolate: For those looking for a way to warm up, many cafes have begun to offer hot chocolate which is said to be the best in all of Verens. It tastes delicious, with the right amount of sweetness...except to those who hide their true attitude or personality behind a facade. To people who aren't true to themselves, the hot chocolate will taste terrible depending on how much they conceal, not feel. It'll also burn their tongues pretty quickly no matter how long the chocolate has been sitting around.

• Prompt E: Candles of Remembrance for Selenium, a holiday for mourning and grief, are always going through different changes for each year and the prototypes are distributed to see if it works. Normally, when lit, the candles create an image of a person sorely missed, whether they are dead or still alive. But something went wrong with the candle-making process this time. Various scents and aromas were infused into the candles to help improve moods, but the complete opposite is happening.

1. Well, This Stinks: No images are produced from the smoke and flames, but instead, they exude horrible and disgusting smells from memory. They can range from recent events like burned cookies from last week, or the stench of a bloody battlefield from years past. The scent of the candle depends on the character lighting it, so everyone will be able to smell whatever they smell from it. It's very strong, so it's possible someone could actually feel nauseous either immediately or from prolonged exposure. But that's not all. The aroma will elicit varying feelings of regret, disgust, hatred, rage, and overdramatic despair.
   
2. Counter Whiff: On the other end, a different kind of aromatic candle is producing far more pleasing scents, but it's way too strong. It's like getting a bottle of strong, "mature" perfume shoved up one's nose. The scents from these candles have even stranger effects, such as actually knocking someone unconscious; soothing them to sleep right on the spot; or even have strange hallucinations believing that the person in front of them is the one from their memories. The candles also make those affected strangely happy with extreme exuberance, and the emotion effects from their displays of joy are just as extravagant.
   
3. Take a Walk on the Wild Side: Both candles have a troublesome side effect: their scents attract a variety of wildlife from the woods. Deer, skunks, chipmunks, foxes, all sorts of birds, you name it, they've begun to invade the city and zero in on those lighted candles, lingering around them or worse, actually taking the lit candles, which can (and will) potentially start fires. The fires can be put out normally, but strangely enough, after they go out, it is as if the affected structures and items were never burned in the first place. Now they just reek of candle scent. Attempts can be made to remove the scent, but it'll take either a lot of scrubbing or somehow creating emotions that produce a more pleasant scent.

• Prompt F: Boreas, or winter, is in the air and this month the city suffered from a number of wintery effects, partially due to the Arehtei Peromei. Some like the blizzard and mistletoe could be considered typical holiday fare. The werewolf flu sweeping the city, not so much, but that still hasn't stopped the citizens of Verens from celebrating the holiday season. [Note: Scenarios pulled from our current event, and the full details can be read here. Due to the timing, these threads cannot be carried over into the game.]

1. Hibernation: A despair filled blizzard has taken the town by storm, bringing a strong urge to hibernate with it. Characters with strong negative emotions will be hit the hardest, but most everyone will feel the urge to take a nap right then and there at some point. There are ways to ward off the emotionally induced drowsiness though as roving bands of carolers seek to keep people's eyes open and spirits light. In addition a number of hope infused lanterns have been strung throughout the city to guide travelers to safety and keep them from dozing off in a nearby snowbank.
   
2. Mistletoe:t's not just the snow either, the town is also plagued by a particularly invasive species of mistletoe brought to the island by Peromei. To citizens' dismay, it isn't ordinary mistletoe or even ordinary magic mistletoe. No, instead this awful plant that lurks in corners and on ceilings is influenced by a combination of Peromei's and Elios's influences to make it aggressive and mobile. It now prefers to slither around and attach itself to moving targets. Once attached to someone, it induces a terrible longing for the sort of love and affection one secretly hopes for the most -- anything from a simple hug to a mom to fuss over you to a new friend you can always have lunch with -- and it won't let go until its victim has found someone who can fulfill that longing.
   
3. Wereflu: In addition to the mistletoe and blizzard, there's also the aforementioned werewolf flu sweeping the city. Thanks to a foolish researcher, the infected are suffering partial or in some cases full transformations into wolflike creatures. The main cure for it is positive attention as like the mistletoe, the afflicted will be driven to seek it out and the more they get, the sooner they'll be back to normal. If left unchecked, it can lead to more feral aggressive behavior, so Otherworlders and natives alike have been warned to be cautious when attempting to help those affected.
   

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include paper snowflakes and/or cinnamon.

Comments

[reyofsunshine]

[The sunlight around Rey glints harshly, and the edge of the table nearest her starts to dry and crack. For a moment she's tempted to just leave—a small dark part of her wants to strike out at him, but it's only a brief, passing urge—but what will that accomplish? He's right about one thing: he's offering this "truth" because he's uninformed.

She can fix that.]

I've had the bond open. At first because I didn't know how to stop it, but later because I liked it. I liked it because for the first time in my life I wasn't alone. And I thought maybe I could help someone who felt as alone as I did. [Rey's expression is still raw and angry, but there's a bit more moisture in her eyes than there was. She swallows thickly.]

I couldn't. Instead I just unleashed the most brutal monster the galaxy has known in generations. Worlds are being burned, neutral planets massacred, anyone who offers us the slightest bit of aid is killed without mercy, and it's because of me. So I shut our connection, and I'm never opening it again. [Rey puts her hands on the table, sand immediately starting to spread from underneath her palms, leaning on it both for support (talking that much with that much emotion is exhausting) and for emphasis.]

Don't act like you know the truth, because you don't. You don't know a damn thing about me.

[sithkabobed]

You're right, Rey, I don't know much about you. However, I would like to change that.

[Again, a simple truth. It's devoid of blame or exasperation. There's no need or point for either, especially not when Rey is so clearly wounded already.]

To start, I think I can offer more empathy than most when it comes to unleashing a monster upon the galaxy.

[Maybe they can find some common ground there. Some macabre common ground, sure, but common ground nonetheless.]

[reyofsunshine]

[After so many people trying to relate to her, say they're the same, say they understand her or know her, having someone just admit he doesn't know much about her is... nice, in a way.

Also lonely and cold and discouraging, but... a little bit nice. Enough to cool some of the fire of Rey's anger, though she remains tense and doesn't sit again just yet. But she also doesn't leave, which is (maybe) progress. It helps that this is one of the only times she recalls Qui-Gon actually sharing something about himself. Rey studies him warily and decides she might as well take advantage.]

If you could go back, knowing what you know now, would you do anything different? With Anakin.

[sithkabobed]

[It's a fair question. One that, in all honesty, Qui-Gon should have expected, given the circumstances.]

[Then why is it so hard to answer? Why is it taking long moments of chin stroking and reflection before he can say anything? He's already given this thought. He's already meditated on the tempest of clashing emotions that rises from the pit of his stomach whenever the topic of Anakin Skywalker rises to the forefront of his mind. He's already come up with a response to the question that, until this very moment, had been hypothetical at best.]

[A few more moments pass, and then he realizes why: as much as Qui-Gon would like to tell himself that he's positive of his feelings on the matter, there's always going to be some part of him that's unsure. That doubts. Although he's no stranger to doubt, it's never struck a chord this deep inside of him--probably because the ramifications of his decision are still being felt, even during Rey's time.]

[Qui-Gon sighs, and places his trust into the first answer that manages to make itself known.]

No.

[Well, that's going to be hard to justify.]

My only regret is that I was not the one to train him. Obi-Wan did the best he could, and I don't blame him for what transpired after, but it wasn't fair of me to trap him with that heavy a burden.

[reyofsunshine]

[Rey watches Qui-Gon closely, searching his face for signs of indecision or doubt. He always seems so certain of everything, free from the kinds of conflict that Rey's been unable to shake recently. But this question actually affected him somehow.

The answer he provides doesn't disappoint. Rey couldn't care less about the flimsy justification he gives—the question wasn't about what he regretted—and she's not interested in blaming him for everything that happened in the galaxy as a result of his decision. If anything, she's looking for justification for her own decisions regarding Kylo Ren, if in a roundabout sort of way.]

You had compassion for him. For a little boy.

[Rey takes her seat again, satisfied enough with the direction of the conversation to stay longer. Her voice remains quiet, but there's something in her expression that's raw and sincere, things she's kept pent up for months.]

Is that right?

[sithkabobed]

[Far be it from Qui-Gon to discard that sincerity. Rey's always been an odd combination of open yet enigmatic, and to be allowed even a glimpse into her genuine emotions is a privilege that he's not going to rebuff.]

[He regards Rey's question with due diligence before he responds.]

Yes.

[There's no reason to elaborate on that point, in particular.]

It is never morally wrong to show compassion to another individual, although it does leave one open. Vulnerable.

[reyofsunshine]

[Vulnerable.

That's a good word for it. More gentle than "weak" or "stupid". Rey struggles with not thinking of compassion as weakness—she can feel in her heart that it isn't, but logically it's difficult to not think of herself as a fool. The idea that Qui-Gon might have the same uncertainties has never occurred to her, but it's... nice, in a way.]

And what do you do? When your vulnerability unleashes a monster on the galaxy? [Her question is phrased openly, like a proverbial "you," but the expression on her face is serious and intent. She's asking what he does with the knowledge he has about the consequences of his compassion. She didn't sit back down for more life lessons and abstract wisdom. Qui-Gon cracked open this door by trying to find common ground, and Rey has no intention of letting the old man shut it again.]

[sithkabobed]

[It's a question that is, in a word, uncomfortable. That intense look in Rey's eyes, though, and the overall atmosphere of their conversation dictate that Qui-Gon treat it not as something to avoid, but to embrace.]

[He's quiet. Contemplative. As long as he keeps them honest and devoid of unnecessary riddles, the words will come. He just has to give them time.]

You hold yourself accountable for the action, but you do so in a way that withholds self-blame. You muster up that compassion and spare some for yourself, no matter how little you feel you may deserve it.

[Qui-Gon leans his forearms on the table.]

You understand that your actions were, for all intents and purposes, right, regardless of their outcome. To doubt the morality of your choice is to start on the path to losing your humanity to callousness, and blaming yourself will only keep you on that path.

When [not 'if'] you find the strength to show yourself mercy, then you'll have the strength and moral fortitude to fix the problem in a way that you know is correct.

[reyofsunshine]

[Rey is truly interested in Qui-Gon's perspective on this, and she listens and watches him intently... but the longer he speaks, the less satisfied she by his answer.

It sounds nice, sure, but something about it doesn't feel right. She realizes the issue when he mentions "fixing the problem". It's all too easy, too distant. Qui-Gon will never need to fix the problem he created. He'll never see Darth Vader's destruction or have opportunities to stop it. He doesn't have to make the choice of who deserves compassion more: a sad, tormented boy or an entire galaxy of people he's hurting.

Rey lowers her eyes in disappointment, her face a grim mask. He's giving lessons again, and she isn't interesting in anything he can teach her.]

Easy enough to forgive yourself when you'll never need to fix the problem you caused, I suppose.

[sithkabobed]

[Qui-Gon pauses.]

[He's not usually in the business of laying his entire life bare for everyone to see, regardless of any bonds that may have formed over the years. He knows that, if nothing else, he can trust Rey not to share his secrets with anyone. Whether or not he can trust her not to weaponize them is up in the air, but he respects the young woman enough to venture into this uncharted territory.]

[He can't say that she's making assumptions about what he has and hasn't had to 'fix' in the past, because he hasn't exactly been open with it. That's not her fault.]

I've had to fix plenty of 'problems' because of my compassion before, Rey. Perhaps the biggest one was my own Padawan.

[Qui-Gon's shoulders sag. He's had to relive this memory far too many times within the past few months.]

Xanatos posed an imminent threat on multiple planets and the Jedi Temple before Obi-Wan and I tracked him down and he met his end.

Many people died and I bear that burden of my choices every single day.