Empatheias Events (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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memepatheias2018-07-19 07:19 am
empevents) wrote in memepatheias2018-07-19 07:19 am
Entry tags:
TEST DRIVE: August
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 July 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on August 1st. Apps will only be open for 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.
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: Helisium, the upcoming festival, is a celebration of daytime games and ballroom dancing. However, the sad truth is that not everyone knows how to dance, or how to play certain sports. To kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, a certain section of the party-planning committee has come up with a new sport that incorporates the best of both worlds. The name of the game? Footloose Ball, and it's the latest craze! Why not join and learn something new? There's even a tournament being held, with a big prize on the line!- Training: The rules of Footloose Ball are simple, it's a combination of rugby football but with a twist! The player in possession of the ball must constantly be dancing as they try to reach the goal. But there is plenty of time until the game, so the coach has instructed everyone to go out into the city and dance for a whole day. Going grocery shopping? You must dance! Waiting in line for coffee? You better dance! Talking to someone else? Get them to join!
- Otherworld Cup: It's the day of the finals game, and now it's do or die! Literally! Maybe. What the rules forgot to say was that the player in possession of the ball must dance, or the ball will shock them with a high voltage! Can they get to the goal and score a point for their team? As for those NOT in possession of the ball, they don't have to dance until they have the ball, and they get to use whatever skills (or magic?) they know in order to stop the other player. Anything goes!
- Victory Pose: The winners of Footloose Ball Cup have been declared! Now all that's left is a traditional team photo with the trophy. Make sure not to blink! Just kidding. The method that the group "photo" is taken by isn't with a device, but a traditional painting instead, which means the team will be posing there out in the sun for a while. You can't rush art, as they say, so make sure to stand still as the artist does their job. The good news is that players are allowed to talk to each other as they stay still, so why not get to know another a little better now that the game is over? As for those who aren't posing, they are allowed to interact with the players, too. Why not get them a drink? Or heckle them? That's also an option.
• Prompt E: Helisium is the highlight of the summer and every restaurateur in Verens is eager to see their establishment become one of those selected to cater for the festivities. Of course, there are only a few slots available, which means the only way to settle who’s the top chef in town is through some rigorous cooking competitions! These teams of chefs are going all out, and need all hands on deck, so they will be seeking volunteers to help them win their way to the top! Do you have what it takes?- A Pizza the Action: One round of the cooking competition asks teams to cook rather traditional dish: pizza! However, nothing is as simple as it seems, and the hosts soon reveal that teams will be required to cook their pizzas with some...unusual (and dangerous) secret ingredients. Are you given a spiky, smelly durian to work with? Are those lobsters actually alive? Or are you asked to serve your pizza while it’s on fire? The more creative you are, the more points you’ll earn your team. Things are sure heating up!
- Piescraper: Any chef worth their salt will tell you that presentation is key, and in this event, presentation is the only key. Really, it doesn’t matter what you use so long as it’s food, but the judges want to see the most impressive food sculpture you can come up with! Just bear in mind that these creations must stand on their own and be created entirely, 100% out of food products. Your team may earn extra points for making the tallest sculpture as well. Start building!
- The Great Verens Bake-Off: Desserts are almost as important to Helisium as the regular food is, though the judges for this event seem to be a little less...intense than the others. For this competition, participants are asked to bake and decorate a beautiful, tiered cake with sweet, edible flowers. These flowers have certain emotional effects on those who handle them, and such individuals will find themselves feeling very pleasant and agreeable, no matter how prickly they may ordinarily be! They may even try to assist other teams with their bakes. Oh, well...at least everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. The judges will be making their decisions based on which team had the most camaraderie, so play nice!
• Prompt F: The roleplaying cult of Ortheias seems to have become more prominent lately, having taken in new members from Briarlan. Today, they seem to be playing a "murder game" called Syndicate! They are also inviting people who aren't members to participate… will you join them by picking a role from the purple hat the men in cloaks have to offer, or will you just watch? It's confusing and anger inducing, either way. For those who want to play the game, the objective is to catch all the Syndicate members before they "kill" all the innocents in the game!- I Put On My Role and Wizard Hat: Perhaps you are forced by a man in a cloak, or perhaps you voluntarily pick a role from the various strips of paper in the purple hat. The roles are for the Syndicates are: blackmailer, consigliere, boss, and framer. As for the innocents, the roles are: janitor, spy, veteran, doctor. There seem to be neutral roles, as well, such as the survivor, the witch, the amnesiac, and the fool. The game moderators don't seem to intend on explaining what the functions are of each role (thanks, mods!) so go ahead and make up your own backstories and abilities. Of course, they key to this game is to figure out who the other person is without letting your own identity slip. Good luck!
- Activity Check: Everyone is safe while the sun is still up… Do you have your role and have you gotten to know the other participants of the Syndicate game? Good. Because the game moderators now want you to participate in an activity! You now have to think of a lie about yourself and convince two other people that this is true. Basically - just lie to as many people as you want! Be sure you're convincing… but remember - the moderators are watching you. No unruly business!
- The Trial: After a day has passed in the setting of the Syndicate game, a trial happens. Why? Because you've lost one person to one of the Syndicates. This person is now dead in the game and cannot be revived. It seems that everyone is suspecting you - whether it's your clothing, the way you're dressed, or just the fact that you're breathing the same air as they are, you are now the primary suspect for the "murder"! Prove your innocence to all players involved, try to pin it on the nearest person, or maybe even get into a fight with everyone? The world is your oyster.
• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include raisins and/or a skirt with holes in it.
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! - Training: The rules of Footloose Ball are simple, it's a combination of rugby football but with a twist! The player in possession of the ball must constantly be dancing as they try to reach the goal. But there is plenty of time until the game, so the coach has instructed everyone to go out into the city and dance for a whole day. Going grocery shopping? You must dance! Waiting in line for coffee? You better dance! Talking to someone else? Get them to join!
c
Mai just happens to be one of those two, maybe three people.
And sure, dropping things is too literal--he's working in his mom's lab, so whatever he's holding gets put safely--if quickly--down. But then he's out the door, and taking off into the sky.]
It's definitely real. Hold on, I'm on my way over.
[He sounds...calmer than he would have been a few weeks ago, before his mother was here. She had told him that Mai had survived, and therefore he'd gotten that explosion of emotion out back then. There might have been crying.
There was definitely crying.]no subject
...Trunks...is that...you?
[Disbelief. Hope. Relief. Happiness. All these in more in her tone.]
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He lands before he responds.]
Yeah, it's me.
[Probably looking a hell of a lot more cheerful and less haggard than the last time she saw him.]
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[When he voice called out to her, her head darted upward, and she turned to look at him. Staring wide-eyed at first. Lips parted...before the corners turned upward in a bright smile.]
Trunks! [Without thinking, her hands rose to her chest, placing the amulet directly over her heart.] Thank goodness. You made it too. But...
[Elated as she was to see her dearest friend, the lingering touch of loss still weighed too heavy on her heart to leave her smiling for long. He would see her shoulders slump the longer she looked at him.]
...the others?
[Did they make it here with us?]
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(It never even occurred to him before now that his mother would have omitted certain truths, when she told him what happened. Whenever he asked her about it, she'd given answers, but stubbornly didn't mention much of how, exactly, everything had been when she left. Just that everyone was okay.
What had been her definition of 'everyone'?)
He steps into her immediate circle, then, guiding her off to the side so they're out of the street. There happens to be a bookshop--the owner is used to seeing him sometimes, so they're pretty much left alone, especially when she sees the serious look on his face.]
This world doesn't exactly work like that. There's people from both timelines here, Gohan--from theirs and ours--myself and the younger me from the other timeline, Piccolo, and my mom from the other timeline, that you'd know of. There's also Goten--he's Gohan's younger brother from the other timeline, and Videl. She's Gohan's girlfriend.
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[Still not fully aware her thoughts were still transmitting, she looked to him in confusion for a time. Enough that her body was left to move of its own accord--with his help, of course. She had no idea where he was taking her, but she didn't even think to ask. She trusted him.]
[Gohan...Gohans... that alone was enough to leave her mind whirring for several seconds, nearly missing the part about at least one of them having a sibling and/or girlfriend.]
I don't...recognize the name. [Videl. Or Goten, really, but she lingered on the girlfriend label a second longer than the others. Before her head returned to the present, and she looked up at him with renewed questions.] Is that all? What about Vegeta? Goku?
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[He shakes his head.]
Dad was here for...maybe a few days, he was different though, somehow. Goku hasn't ever been here as far as I'm aware.
But people are here from different time frames. Gohan, Goten, the younger me, and Videl are all from...about 8 years after I left their timeline. Mom is from later than I am. There's not a whole lot of pattern to it.
[There's a small nook in the store, one meant to sit and read in, with two plush armchairs close together.]
I...I had just gone to the past, like we'd planned. I thought...
[And there's the rush of emotions, fear, grief, hurt that he'd only recently been able to combat with a little bit of hope.]
I thought you were dead too. I attacked Black, managed to distract him long enough to get to the time machine and power it up, start the launch sequence...And then I woke up here.
[So, if it wasn't blatantly obvious, he has absolutely no idea what actually happened after he came back with everyone.]
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[From there, he had the whole of her attention. And she would need ever bit of it, too, to process what he had to say next. Vegeta...there, but gone. And "different"--from another timeline, perhaps? The presence of two Gohans was already evidence enough of that for her. And a second, younger Trunks...]
[The corners of her lips twitched upward at the mental image, and she very nearly allowed a small chuckle...but then Trunks continued on, and all traces of humor left her then. Along with a touch of color from her face.]
[It wasn't just the others who'd come from different points in their respective timelines. She and Trunks were out of synch as well. And while she knew all too well the truth to come, good and the bad, he was still carrying the burden of thinking she had died. A burden she had witnessed first-hand, when it unloaded in that moment. How he'd cried her name. The tears he'd threatened to spill, before she set him straight.]
[He should never cry because of her.]
[Not then, nor now.]
I didn't die. [A rather obvious statement, perhaps, but one that carried so much more weight than that. Because not only was she telling him she was here, alive, now...but that she was from a later point in their timeline. Alive.] The attack knocked me out cold, yes. I woke up, and you and the Time Machine were gone. I refused to believe you hadn't succeeded, so I...returned to the underground base.
[The slightest quiver in her voice when she spoke of the base. Of the people they'd cared for together. She swallowed a rising lump in her throat and kept going.]
I told them the plan, Trunks. They needed to know why you weren't around. They needed that hope.
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He didn't really have enough data to know what was up with Dad, since...well, it had been like a week. Maybe. He just knew Mom had said he was very different and that was about that.]
Mom told me, when she got here. I was so glad to hear you were okay.
[And he knew you were tough as nails, but he's proud too. Black is by no means weak, and Mai had always fought him as hard as she could--without much ki, even.
He nods at hearing she'd told everyone the plan.]
I trust you to make the right call.
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[Still, a certain amount of weight felt lifted from her chest. When he mentioned that Bulma told him the truth; she made a mental note to thank her later for that.]
I was glad to hear you made it, too. When you came back. [She hasn’t feared him dead, but the worry had been there. Lingering doubts and uncertainties about what happened after she’d fallen unconscious. His relief at seeing her again had only just barely overshadowed her own. A relief similar to what she felt here, now.] And I’m even more glad you’re here. Although...
...how long?
[Since his arrival. She’d already accepted it must have been a significant amount of time. Because time travel.]
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He knows that she would have to consider that. It wasn't impossible--it had nearly happened more than once. He was fighting a losing battle after all--that was the entire reason they were trying to get back to the past anyway.]
It's been a few months. The time machine is out of fuel, even if it wasn't...well, it wasn't the time machine that brought me here.
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A few...months...
[Not as bad as she’d feared, if she were to be honest. Days or weeks would have been better, but months were still preferable to years.]
I suspected that might be the case. I wasn’t in the time machine, either. It was nearby, but I’m certain Bulma had turned it off when we got out.
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He nods.]
The others wouldn't have been anywhere near it either. And...well, there's people from other realities here, too.
[He smiles slightly.]
Since everyone's fairly certain we return to the immediate time we left, I've been training.
[And at least recently starting to sleep and eat more, so he's bulking up again and the dark circles under his eyes are less pronounced.]
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Not too much, I hope.
[A light tease, and mostly joking. She knew all too well how important it was he keep up his strength. Improve his speed and stamina. Become bigger. Better.]
[Which...the longer she glanced over him, she could see he was. In more than physical fighting conditioning. He seemed more energetic. Well rested. There was no constant, pressing need to run out to the next fight. He was being taken care of, by either himself or someone who cared enough to look out for him, and the thought was...comforting.]
You look well.
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He shrugs.]
I'm also helping Mom with her lab now, so...less than I was.
[It's also cut into his brooding time, which is probably good for him honestly. He flushes slightly at the comment, glancing away in embarrassment because what even does he say to that.]
Thanks. Y-you do too.
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I mean you look healthy. You've been eating and sleeping more. Although, if Bulma's here, I can understand why. The last time I ate was that...
[Though she trailed off before she could finish, and a momentary bout of confusion took over. Her brow furrowed, and she looked back up at him in mild concern. Secrets were rare between them anymore, but this...timelines...was uncharted territory.]
But then...you wouldn't remember. Not yet.
[How much am I allowed to tell him?]