TEST DRIVE: August

[empevents]

— 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!
  

  1. 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!
     
  2. 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!
     
  3. 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?
  

  1. 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!
     
  2. 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!
     
  3. 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!
  

  1. 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!
     
  2. 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!
     
  3. 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!

Comments

Martel Yggdrasill | Tales of Symphonia

[untwisted]

[Prompt A (Smile through your suffering)]

[Not far outside of Verens, a beautiful woman slowly wanders the fields. She's giving careful attention to the plant life around her, pausing at times to bend down and observe something more carefully.

Apart from the thoughtful frown that occasionally comes to her face, she looks rather serene and smiles slightly. This is notable as she hasn't seemed to notice that the plant life she's already spent time with has all withered and gone limp. Huh...]


[Prompt B-ish (Inspired by Tasks but not actually related)]

[Martel is browsing the Merchant's Square, giving clear preference to the shops in the area. It's pretty obvious she's looking for something in particular, but stores carrying things like medicinal supplies or clothing and accessories are catching her attention. It's certainly promising for anyone who works on commission at one of these places.

Periodically, she'll pause to ask various others in the square this question:]

Excuse me, would you happen to know if someone here sells musical instruments?


[Prompt F-1 (Points if she's somehow successful)]

[Someone had said something about a game, which was all well and good. Then a man insisted she draw a slip of paper from a hat, and that also seemed innocent enough.

Now, however, it's pretty obvious Martel has NO IDEA what's going on. She periodically gives the piece of paper a confused stare before glancing around to see if anyone is going to explain what's happening.

She does know that she's supposed to keep this piece of paper to herself which...is just making things worse. Honestly, she may not even know what a "blackmailer" is... But she'd hate to ruin someone's fun if this is part of the "game", so she'll try to find out! Starting with...anybody close by.]

I...think I arrived after this was explained. What are we playing exactly?


[Prompt G (I'm sorry mine suck)]

[This is where I'm open for other ideas! Maybe even things based on the prompts I didn't list. She does know how to dance... I'm kaitodoushi on Plurk and should be open to any private messages. And yes, if that looks familiar I used to do this years ago at other places before I failed out...]

F1

[oligomania]

[ There is one woman standing next to her, long black hair down to her ankles and she's even started to have to braid it a little better so it doesn't drag on the ground everywhere. Somehow Velvet has gotten roped into this little charade.

When Martel turns to ask her a question, she holds up her own slip of paper. ]

Sorry, can't remember anything. [ On it are the words written: amnesiac. ]

[untwisted]

[Martel takes a second to read it I think it's facing her at least and gives a soft chuckle.]

That only raises more questions, doesn't it?

[...Seriously, it's managed to make even less sense to her with that.]

[oligomania]

[ A shrug of only one shoulder - it's not worth both. ]

Yes but that's how this place tends to be.

[ Answers bring about more questions. At least that is Velvet's experience. ]

[untwisted]

[Well that's...disappointing. But she's pretty sure neither of them can do anything about it, so why push it?

Martel looks at her paper labeled "blackmailer" again before turning it toward Velvet. She'd already seen hers, after all.]

Does there happen to be an explanation for this, at least?

[oligomania]

[ She could do something about this situation but it would be considered rude and Velvet would most likely be the only one to just walk away from all of it.

An eyebrow raises as she looks at the word on Martel's slip of paper. ]

You're supposed to be someone who has important information or object to someone else and make them do all sorts of things because of it. Say you knew a secret about me, you could threaten to tell everyone unless I paid you regularly.

[ Sorry Martel, you got a horrible role. ]

[untwisted]

[She agrees, yeah...

Martel looks at the print again with a troubled frown. The wording was new, but the concept was more believable than she wished it were.]

Hmm... This doesn't sound like much of a game. I don't believe that anyone could truly enjoy that.

[oligomania]

[ They could trade. Velvet would be a much better blackmailer.

Unfortunately there were all sorts of humans out there and not all of them are nice. ]

You might be surprised to hear that some humans would enjoy the role of blackmailer.

[ Though considering the point of the game is to guess other people's roles, looks like they might be out already. Which is fine with her. ]

[A.]

[pactfulfilled]

[This is definitely, absolutely notable -- though it might not have been if Asbel hadn't become so overprotective of the sopheria flowers. Having them all but wiped out once will do that to a person.]

[This particular field leads right up to the hillside he's been tending outside of Verens, and Asbel was just on his way back up there to check on them when he spots the woman from afar...as well as the trail of swooning plants.]

[He takes a quick step forward, a worried frown on his face as he calls out to her.]

Ah, excuse me! Sorry -- I know it's not any of my business, but... is something wrong?

[untwisted]

[The voice surprises her a bit, as does the query. She quickly looks toward the source, still failing to notice her path of destruction. She lets him get a bit closer before responding.]

O-oh, no! I was seeing if I recognized any of the plants or herbs in this place.

A!

[jamminshield]

[A small boy happens to be wandering nearby, whistling softly to himself when he notices the green-haired stranger. He raises a hand with a cheery greeting!]

Hi there! [He looks down to try to get an idea of what she's looking at... and he notices the withered plant life.] Oh no, those poor plants! [He scurries over to get a closer look!]

[untwisted]

[The kind child addressing her is certainly pleasant, but before she can respond he's moved on. She turns her head to see what he's talking about, letting out a soft gasp. Hadn't she just been walking there?]

What happened...? [She asks this almost sympathetically as she too approaches the ailing plants. Her skills weren't in really in the rearing aspect of gardening, but this is troubling!

And if she ever checks where she'd just been standing and sees the similar scene there, it'll be more so...]

[jamminshield]

I don't know... [He frowns while leaning over and poking at the plants in question, while a mild gloom builds up in the air.]

Something must have gone wrong. Maybe someone's emotions messed with it?

[untwisted]

[She crouches down as well. Being relatively new, she's probably heard about the emotions thing, but with as much as she's been needing to adjust to that was easy to forget.]

Oh, that's right. It's certainly a strange area to be affected, though...

[jamminshield]

It is! [He nods in agreement as he looks over some of the plants carefully. At least his surging feelings of optimism is causing color to return to some of them!]

You're right, it is! Did you see anyone else around here? Who might have been... bummed out or something?

[untwisted]

[She tries to remember carefully. She'd been paying attention to the plants, but had anyone else passed by?]

I don't think so. How odd.

[She reaches toward one of the recovering plants, but as her finger makes contact it begins to wilt again. The only sign that she may have finally noticed is that her hand freezes.]

[jamminshield]

Hmmm! This is a real myster-

[But then he blinks as he notices the effect of her finger's contact with the plant.]

...Oh. [Steven looks at her with surprised concern!]

B

[roseheartz]

[Rose loves visiting the Merchant's Square! There's always so many fun people to watch, or even to speak to. What's not to love about it? It's a good way to waste some time, as well.

When she's stopped for the sake of a question, she frowns and places her hands on her hips.]

Musical instruments? Oh, I'm sure I've seen them around... Was it, perhaps, over there? [She glances over her shoulder, towards a far corner of the square.]

[untwisted]

[Martel cranes her neck to look in the same direction, which wasn't much of a change since she had to look so far up to make eye contact with this woman anyway. Her vision's not what it used to be (not that she'd complain about the reason why), so she can't see anything indicative of that type of business from this distance.]

I can go over there and check for it. [...yep, somehow she's making it sound like she's helping you now, she can't control it, really...]

[roseheartz]

[Rose blinks, then turns her head to peer down at the woman before her again.] But I don't know for certain if it was in that direction. It's entirely too much trouble to head over there for nothing. Here, let me see...

[Her hair begins to ruffle in a non-existent breeze and the next second, she rises up from the ground. She doesn't need to gain that much more extra height- only enough to see over the stalls, so she remains levitating at about six feet above the ground.]

Hmm... Where was it?

[untwisted]

[Oh. That was certainly impressive without wings. The spirits could pull that off, but Martel was pretty sure she knew all of them. She'd like to help, but someone just had to decide that she'd lost the capacity what with everything they put Colette through...]

I-I really don't mind, so it's not necessary to...go out of your way. I've really enjoyed being able to walk around.

[roseheartz]

Oh, no, it's not out of my way at all. I rather enjoy the sightseeing myself. [She sinks back down again in a slow, graceful manner.] I did see the stall over in that direction. Would you like to walk there together?

[untwisted]

That's wonderful! Sure; it's very kind of you to accompany me.

[She shouldn't lose her in a crowd, at least. Even if she doesn't float again. Admittedly, she's curious about this giant woman and her abilities, but she'd rather be certain it's not rude to ask before doing so.]

F1

[crowdobserver]

[Izaya turned as someone reached out to him. The look of the person who asked him seems, very intriguing. Clearly she's out of her place and did not know what's going on. A perfect prey for a person like Izaya. He gave out a quick smirk before suddenly turning dead serious and stared at her.]

This game is dangerous, come here for a sec.

[He grabbed her hands and pulled her over to the side. He observed his surrounding as if securing the area so that no one can hear them. Then he started to talk:]

Listen, I heard from the acquaintance of mine that this cult is holding an annual deathly event called the "murder game." It's basically a battle royale to hide your identities, and once the other person finds out who you are you need to.... [a small pause.]

kill them and hide that fact that you did it. The game ends when a certain faction has successfully hidden their identity over some period of time or manage to eliminate the other faction. I don't know about you but it's not going to be pretty.

[He sounds so convincing that it's hard to believe. However he definitely mix some of the real intentions of the game with some other lies.

P.S. HE IS EVIL. Beware.]

[untwisted]

[Yep, she is as optimistic and benevolent as they come despite everything in her life (and death!) that would make someone leery of strangers. Good pick! Martel looks incredibly worried and troubled by his explanation.]

What a horrible waste of life...! Maybe it would be best to find some way to stop this altogether.