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memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
empevents) wrote in memepatheias2019-12-18 05:55 pm
Entry tags:
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!
• 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.
no subject
Which is to say: Why you're going along with it doesn't matter, old man, it matters that you are. ]
Of course you do. You would never be so stubborn as to pick up the lightsaber form best suited to Yoda, simply to prove you could.
[ Is he teasing? He certainly is. It's gentle, though, rather than anything that so much as approaching truly biting. ]
I do enjoy it. It's been quite a while since I've had any cause to practice it, and I originally began simply to supplement what I was already using, but with the war and all the blaster fire I relied on it more and more. It's proven more flexible than I would have thought and of course it isn't exhausting.
no subject
So what you're telling me is that the Clone Wars have made you lazy.
[Qui-Gon matches Obi-Wan's gentle banter, easily slipping into old habits.]
[He takes another look at Obi-Wan--the shagginess of his hair, the way that his time on Tatooine has clearly aged him... it all points to a difficult life.]
...But you've also clearly earned some rest.
no subject
[ He looks up at Qui-Gon and reads either look itself or the sentiment behind the remark and responds to that as much as the words themselves with a surprisingly elegant shrug of a single shoulder.]
A wise old Jedi Master once told me that life was a test, and passing the test made you human. I also seem to recall him being fond of saying that life is neither fair nor unfair, but rather simply is. He had a point. It also means that I haven't earned anything, except arguably my humanity.
I'll rest when I'm dead.
no subject
Why is it now that you're finally listening to me?
[He's kidding, however melancholy, but it serves a purpose: just how many of Qui-Gon's teachings is Obi-Wan holding in his heart?]
[Moreso... did they do him any good?]
no subject
[ Meaning both that he's getting old and that maybe he's just grown up enough to understand more, now.
He smiles, even chuckles a bit.]
'You must own the rain, it must be part of you, an extension of yourself. If you fight it, it will win.' Do you remember that? [ He'd been all of fourteen at the time. He looks down at his soaked robe, a bit pointedly.] Seems the literal application has come around again.
no subject
[His voice is contemplative as all of a sudden, Obi-Wan is that 14-year-old once more, young and hopeful for what the future holds--if not brash with his emotions.]
[Qui-Gon opens his mouth, as if he wants to say something more, but is cut off by the sign that catches his eye. It seems like they've made it.]
Ah. We're here.
[He pushes the door open and gestures for Obi-Wan to step inside.]
no subject
In truth, he'd go in regardless. It is bound to be at least warm. ]
no subject
[When Qui-Gon steps inside after Obi-Wan, the person behind the counter raises her head and gestures to a free table, as if they'd performed this routine countless times before (they have). He smiles and nods in return before guiding Obi-Wan with a hand on the shoulder.]
Make yourself comfortable.
no subject
In truth, in spite of being soaked to the skin with his hair haphazardly swiped away from his face he is, somehow, managing to give the impression of still being somewhat put together.
...Qui-Gon for comparison may be helping with that.
He says nothing about the hand on his shoulder, though it causes him just a flicker of fond amusement. That same amusement colors his voice: ]
Yes, Master.
[ He removes the heavy wet cloak and drapes it over the back of his chair before he seats himself. ]
Did our arrival here interrupt a thought?
no subject
It did.
[He leans his elbows against the edge of the table.]
I suppose my concern is that you're owning too much of the rain.
[Qui-Gon dips his head at Obi-Wan, signaling to his soaked... everything. If that's not an apt metaphor for the disaster his Padawan's life has become, he's not sure what is.]
no subject
He reaches across the table to pick up the tea-pot once it's been delivered, and pours for them both. At least the downpour and cold wind chilled him enough to be able to appreciate the warmth of it.
He glances back up at Qui-Gon and lifts an eyebrow. ]
Even if I agreed [ And he doesn't think he does, but he's not at his most certain, or confident. ] I cannot think of a single alternative.
[ Except drowning. He doubts Qui-Gon means that. ]
[ OOC: Note for others: There is a different canon entry point for game, than I used here. Because of this we've discussed changes to the beginning of thread, and tone will likely to change to being more... raw. Sorry and thanks <3 ]
no subject
[It's part of why he loved this place so much. They always managed to pick leaves that brought an undercurrent of comfort to whoever consumed them. Qui-Gon suspects they may infuse them with some level of happiness before brewing them, or other emotions as they saw fit.]
Regardless, I'm here to help, Obi-Wan.
[He places his mug down and laces his fingers together.]
Will you allow me to do that much, at least?
no subject
It's also, somehow, preventing him from becoming actively frustrated instead of quietly bemused.
Also very, very grateful for both Qui-Gon and tea. ]
Can you be more specific in how you're offering to help?
no subject
You've just lost your Padawan.
[And Qui-Gon knows exactly how it happened. How gruesome the battle had been. How horrific Anakin's crimes were.]
It's a lot to process, and I'm here to guide you through that.
I also have room in my home. You're more than welcome to stay with me.
no subject
Recognizing that quick flare of temper for what it is - unfair, unjust, unhelpful, and little more than a pain response - helps it go. That the reason it's unjust is because of Dooku, and Xanatos, means it's even quicker. Lights brighten, but only as if there was a power surge. It's a second.
Then he... sort of let's it go, albeit less because of Jedi discipline than because of just being tired. ]
I still don't know what you can do to help with this, but I will happily accept your offer of a place to stay, and give my word that I will be open to possibilities.
And Qui-Gon> [ A tiny pause and deep breath. ] I thought I was sorry about Xanatos then. I failed to understand most of it. I probably still do, but I am truly sorry.
no subject
[There isn't much that he can say that hasn't been said already. Hopefully that touch alone is enough to convey his emotions.]
[To lose a Padawan is effectively losing part of one's very self. To take an active part in that loss... well... it's about the same as ripping out that part.]
And I am sorry about Anakin.
[He palms the cup again.]
When I lost Xanatos, talking about it helped far more than I thought it would, initially.
no subject
It also serves to make him more than academically aware that he is also a tangible person with a physical body, for the first time since well before his arrival here.
Ow?
He takes a drink of the hot tea with one hand and then returns the mug to the table.]
I'm sure that you're right [ Maybe. Diplomacy! ] but it has been a very long... day. [ ...days, likely. ] I am in desperate need of a shower and an hour or two in what Cody seemed to delight in calling a coma would be wise.
After I've finished my tea, and possibly after we've finished the pot.