memepatheias | Test Drive: January

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*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

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.

If what you said happens is true, then how can I be a good Jedi? Or person?

[Obi-Wan's words sting with a certain sense of true. He never accepted the death of his mother, not really. He wouldn't accept the death of Padme.

And he barely accepted Obi-Wan's version of the future. The possibility maybe. But not that he'd allow it to come to pass.

Anakin's strength lies in his loyalty to those close to him. It is also his greatest weakness because he cannot let go. Though he does not comment on it, Master Yoda also tried to give the same lesson. But Yoda's words were ones that struct an inner nerve. Yes, death happens, but he will never rejoice that it does.]

[ If only it were as relatively straight forward as not accepting reality - and, really, that's only relative to the absolute complicated tangle that is Anakin.

The rest, more subtle, equally (or more) dangerous aspect to Anakin's ability to accept involved being able to have a feeling - a negative one, like fear, anger, grief, guilt - and to neither attempt to entirely suppress that feeling, nor to nurse it into a raging inferno that consumed him. ]

You are both for the same reasons - your bravery, loyalty, kindness and compassion.

How does a good person fall? Despair. Desperation. Fear. Not being able to let go. The mechanizations of evil, and a failure by those who loved you to recognize evil and to protect and help you.

You did not fail me, Master. You never have.

[Anakin's response was almost automatic, though that did not make it any less true. At times they may have disagreed, argued and at times perhaps Anakin did blame him for things that happened.

But above all else, Obi-Wan remained one of few he felt closest to. Padme may be the love of his life, but Obi-Wan was his anchor. The one who kept him grounded and on the right path. In moments where their distance grew were the ones where Anakin felt himself slip.

Being here was not one of those times, and though the knowledge of the future tore through him much like the result of the broken table, he still managed to hold on. He did not fall off the cliff into a pit of despair. He teetered on the edge of it.]

Yes. I did. We all did.

[ His heart. ]

The future is always in motion. Nothing is certain except now, and you should not sacrifice now on the alter of what may be.

Just, please, be mindful. Be careful.

Here, and should you go home.

I won't let that future happen, Master. You know that I have to try.

[It seems as though they keep going in circles about this topic.]

But I have been thinking ... About everything you've said.

[As he does occasionally listen sometimes.]

I think the Chancellor wanted to separate us. He wanted me to leave you on that ship. He kept saying things later. Implying that you and Padme were keeping secrets and conspiring against me.

[ Anakin, thinking? Would wonders never cease. ...and he is thinking correctly. ]

In retrospect, he tried before even that.

He tried, repeatedly, to kill me - in front of you, once. I think he hoped it would push you over the edge.

Edited 2020-01-01 06:06 (UTC)

It would have.

[Considering the 'future' there was no reason to deny it. As much as losing his mother set him onto a dark and twisted path, losing Obi-Wan would shatter his very being almost as much as death of Padme.

Qui-Gon.

His mother.

Ahsoka.

All losses that haunted him. Ahsoka not so much, but the pain of her leaving and everything surrounding it still gave him a great deal of guilt. Losing Obi-Wan would be a tipping point. Losing Padme a complete annihilation of everything he strove to protect.

Pieces of a whole that together made him stronger, but losing cause him to break.]

I'm not sure that even the attempt and me being unconscious didn't make you stumble.

[ Anakin was the most loyal man he knew. Loyal to a fault, too attached to Obi-Wan - unfortunately Obi-Wan was just as attached. ]

You killed Dooku.

[They never really talked about that, did they? At first there had been no time and what was done was done.]

I disabled Dooku. At first anyway. I had his lightsaber and mine and ... I shouldn't have done it.

[But Palpatine had encouraged him and something sort of snapped. He reasoned at the time that Dooku was dangerous and could have killed Obi-Wan during the fight. Plus he had the chancellor to protect.

At the moment, it made sense.

In retrospect it was probably a mistake.]

He took every point of attachment and leveraged it.

[ He's had longer to deal with this than Anakin has, the benefit of hindsight (not that it is useful), and understands some things, now.

Even without them having ever talked about it. ]

And yes. That was a mistake.

I was more concerned about getting you and the Chancellor out alive. I would have never listened to him ... about you. Not then, but later after you asked me to spy for the Council ... I began to wonder if some things he said were true.

[He always felt as though most of the Jedi did not trust him. He was only kept around do to the Prophecy, like some sort of tool they all needed.

Asking him to spy on a friend went against everything he believed in.]

I am truly sorry, Master.

I should have argued more strongly with the Council.

[ For him though, that is the past and while he regrets, he can't do anything about it.

No more than Anakin can, when it is also in his past. ]

We were so blind, to so much, right up until the last moment. For that, I owe you the apology.

Test Drive: January

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