memepatheias | Test Drive: January

Entry tags:

*test drive

Test Drive: January

— 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.

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.
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.

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.
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.
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.]

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.
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.
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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ It didn't go a little beyond. It was the height of understatement.

He hears Anakin call him a friend and snaps: ]

He is the Sith the Council has been looking for. He's no one's friend but his own!

[ That's what's going on at home. Has gone on at home. Will go on at home? Blast tenses, anyway. ]

[Those words struck him like a bolt of lightning. Palpatine was his friend. His mentor. The one person who was always there when he needed advice.

He took a small step back.]

No, you're wrong. He couldn't be. He's always been on our side and I know the council doesn't agree with everything but these accusations have gone too far.

You're mistaken. If he were a Sith, we'd know it. I'd know it. You don't know what you're talking about.

[Something had to have happened to Obi-Wan. Why else would he be saying such crazy ideas?]

[ There is something wrong with him, all right.

There is a lot wrong with him. ]

Ten thousand dead Jedi at the hands of the clone troops says I know very well what I'm talking about.

[ He stops being half-hysterical for a moment, mostly still believing he's having some strange hallucination and yelling at some kind of specter instead of reality. Also, tense is... relevant.]

He was never your friend, Anakin, and like me your attachment blinded you entirely.

[What? This can't be happening. He thought his day was going bad before and now ...

Now he doesn't even know what to think.]

No. No. You are wrong. The clones are also on our side. We've risked our lives together! Many have died for us. How could you slander them?

I know you dislike the Chancellor, you always have. But what you're saying makes no sense.

[While Anakin did well to keep calm for the most part, a storm brewed deep below. To a fault he was loyal to those close to him.

Right now he felt very betrayed, but not sure by whom.]

He's always been there for me. Any time I've ever needed him. And every time you haven't.

Anakin.

[ Far from near hysterical anger he'd been feeling - and reflecting in his voiec - his tone is now soft, and he's merely very, very, tired. ]

Listen to what I've said. I am not speculating about the future, or telling you what I believe is the case in the present. I'm telling you what has already been.

That shows how much you are wrong because nothing like that has happened. And say you are right, both of us would have stopped anything bad before it got too far. We always do.

[It was this city. This planet. Whatever. Something here was warping Obi-Wan's mind and causing him to talk like this. To say such terrible things.]

[ He surrenders to Anakin's stubbornness - what would even convincing Anakin accomplish, anyway. For him, it is the past and there is nothing to be gained by clinging to it. ]

I envy your confidence [ Barely a murmur, before he raises his voice. ] You're right, we've more pressing matters, anyway. As you said, this place is very strange, very cold and I've no idea how I came to be here. I take it you haven't had much success, either?

[It wasn't confidence, it was denial. Denial that the person he thought was one of his closest friends could be someone completely different. And the accusations came from the one person Anakin trusted the most. The Force gave away no indication of deceit or lying (not that Oni-Wan was known for such a thing anyway).

He felt so very conflicted, not only because he heard Obi-Wan's words despite his open denial but because the pieces suddenly started falling into place.

Little things said here and there. Comments Anakin usually dismissed as nothing important. But then there was also story he told. One Anakin questioned as being a fable but also was unable to verify. ]

I haven't. I've been asking questions, but their technology is not the same and I have not found anyway off world.

[He took a very small pause before continuing]

Master ... have you ever looked any of the archives the Jedi have on the Sith? I'm not allowed access.

[Which is not to say he didn't try to get in there ]

[ Ah, yes, of course. Stop pressing your advantage and allow Anakin time to disengage his stubbornness and his inherent brilliance and ability to understand takes over.

He really should have remembered that.

He wishes he could pretend it had been a deliberate act.

He'll take it regardless. ]

I have. What is it you want to know?

I heard a story about a Sith named Darth Plagueis. I want to know if it's true. I need to know.

[Not that he could tell Obi-Wan the reason why. None of the Jedi would understand why this was important.

Not even Obi-Wan.

But if it were true, then it was knowledge he could not toss away.

Even if it came from a Sith.]

I suppose that depends on the story you were told. [ Three guesses who told Anakin the story, and he doesn't need the first two. ]

Is there or is there not information in the archives about him?

[He's not going to play this game where Obi-Wan gives him back cryptic answers and tells him to trust the Force.]

Yes.

[ Or there had been at some point. Discovering the archives had been tampered with had left him doubting their completeness.

He isn't going to lie or waffle on a technicality, though. That isn't who he is.]

Why?

He had knowledge that I need.

[If anyone was being cryptic it's Anakin. But he couldn't exactly divulge everything to Obi-Wan. He still doubted the whole part about how it all already happened.]

When we get back I need to get into those archives. It's important.

[ No need to guess what Anakin believes he needs that particular Sith's information for, either.

The blessing and curse of hindsight.]

Anakin, the rest of that story that you believe is the product of a head injury is that in attempting to save Padme, you turned to the Dark Side of the Force.

And killed her.

What?

[If any thought or idea could crush his very soul down to the core it was that. It tore through him like a rabid flame smothering him from within.

He could do nothing but step backwards in both disbelief and confusion.]

No. That's absurd. I would never harm her. I wouldn't!

[The tone of his voice rose along with the smoke around his feet. Flames caused by a terrible mixture of emotion and this world.

He did not seem to notice.]

No. You're lying. I'm going to save her. You just don't want me to have access to those teachings. You're just afraid of the power I'll gain.

[Rational? No. At this moment Anakin was anything but.]

If the story is true I can save her and you won't stop me.

[Another heavy, tired, sigh.]

Well, it is certainly true that I won't stop you.

[ The tangle of tenses here is useful. What has been for him is done. What will be for Anakin is not certain and cannot be. What is, is that in this moment Anakin is irrational, angry, and frightened.

And that Obi-Wan is tired and disoriented and somewhat already defeated.]

[As much as he wanted to be angry at Obi-Wan for stating what Anakin believed to be nothing but lies ... he also seemed resigned? Defeated?

Could it be true? Could he have really gone down that path? Anakin's earlier anger melted into something more akin to anguish. He took another step back, stumbling down into a chair.

He knew he wasn't thinking rationally, that the utter thought of losing her tipped him over the edge. But if he continued to hold onto his fear and anger (mostly at himself) then he'd be doing nothing but proving Obi-wan right.]

I've been having dreams. Like the one's I had of my mother before her death.

[The flames threatening to scorch the floor under his feet at least resided. If nothing else this was a start.]

[ Obi-Wan watches Anakin when he stumbles and resists the urge to help. It's such a simple, straightforward thing that stumble.

And his response to it.

It's a reprieve from the more complicated tangle of future and past, meeting here. ]

I'm sure he told you that he knew how to save her. Ironically, that's probably what caused her to die.

I'm sorry, Anakin.

He told me a story about a Sith who held the power to save the ones he cared about. That's why I needed to get into the archives. I wanted to find out myself. I can't lose her like I did my mother.

[He slammed a fist down on a nearby table, though not with enough physical strength to break it. Use of the Force however did cause it to crack.]

[Before the entire ... disaster that had led him to a desert on Tatooine, Anakin displaying that sort of anger would have really upset him, and had him at least mildly rebuking and trying to soothe.

Now it more or less washes over him, though he still finds it uncomfortable. It's just that it's uncomfortable in another way entirely. Less about wanting to make Anakin feel better and being uncomfortable with emotional displays and more about feeling threatened. ]

Yes. And is often the case with prophesies and visions, in trying to avoid the thing you fear, you instead take those actions that bring it about.

[ He would have been quite happy to see the force remain unbalanced, thank you. ]

That can't be right. I listened to the other Jedi, to you when I had those dreams of my mother. They came true because I wasn't there. If I hadn't she'd still be alive, but I was too late because I listened to you.

[Anakin's words are laced with anger and spite. He points a finger directly at the Jedi Master with that last "you."

In a way he blamed Obi-Wan for his mother's death, for not allowing him to go back to her earlier. But he mostly blames himself and his own failings for not being able to go to her rescue. ]

No, Anakin. Your mother died. Anything else is speculation. It is entirely possible that, even had you arrived in time, doing so would have changed nothing.

[ Is he bothered? Yes. He aches for Anakin and lost opportunities and things he'd done truly wrong, but he isn't trying to defend himself.

And he isn't answering with anger. ]

You. Don't. Know. That.

[This time Anakin completely broke the table. He kind of stared at his hand for a moment after he did it, slightly realizing how much he was tipping over the edge.]

Speculation or not, I would still have to try. Tell me, what is wrong with trying to save people? Isn't that what we do as Jedi now?

[Why would saving his mother or Padme be any different?]

Anakin....

[ He sighs, heavily and sadly and watches Anakin with much the same expression - because or in spite of the outburst from his former student?

He doesn't know. ]

You understand so much of what it means to be a Jedi. You are not only a good Jedi, but a good man.

But this is the lesson I have never managed to teach you. The one I'm not sure you are even capable of learning and that is acceptance.

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