TEST DRIVE: April

[empevents]

— TEST DRIVE: APRIL —

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 March 25th and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on April 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. These threads do not count toward AC.

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: The Verens Emergency Response Teams are running drills to make sure that the Verens populace, natives and Otherworlders alike, are prepared for any and all emergencies. This means large scale obstruction of public areas, traffic delays, businesses closing their doors temporarily in the name of professional cooperation... and, best of all, Otherworlder participation!

1. Alpha Lava: If you asked Team Alpha, they would say they drew the short straw. They are in charge of the volcanic eruption preparedness drill! This includes cordoning off sections of the merchant’s square and residential district to conduct the following tasks: evacuation drills, where random houses are the "willing participant" of loudspeaker announcements telling them they have thirty seconds to escape their homes before they die; dunamis training exercises, to determine who would be most able to hold back or freeze incoming pools of lava; and, most helpful, the role of victim mannequin. Posing still as a statue for several minutes at a time to simulate being encrusted by molten lava is a thankless job, but someone has to do it.
   
2. Epsilon Epidemic: Team Epsilon's emergency preparedness drill is outbreak of a deadly disease! For this simulation, they will be rounding up helpful Otherworlder volunteers and distributing signs for them to wear around their necks. Following that, instructions are varied. Perhaps some people end up in quarantine, informed that Team Epsilon will shoot to kill anyone who escaped. Perhaps some people are under strict instruction to act out their sign to the best of their ability, and will be penalised if they don't! (What's the penalty? It's quarantine, or no gift bag, or both.) Perhaps they are simply dead and have to lie in the street all day. Yes, that's very boring. No, they don't have a choice. At the end of the simulation, all participants are given a gift bag filled with handmade cookies (courtesy of Team Epsilon's very own multi-talented Agent N) and gift certificate for a spa day for two. Most importantly: have fun!
   
3. Gamma Grandstanding: Team Gamma ended up with the newest preparation drill. Its official title is "People With Indeterminate Motives" (PWIM for short) to keep from throwing a wrench in the Briarlan trade deal and offending sensibilities, but make no mistake: it is about knowing exactly what to do if pirates invade Verens and conduct a hostile takeover. Some Otherworlders will be placed specifically in local business - restaurants, independently owned shops, even the zoo - and trained how to protect them from PWIM. Some businesses will be targeted; others will be ignored entirely (hope you brought a deck of cards!). Other Otherworlders will be asked to play the pirates - sorry, PWIM - themselves, complete with lame costumes (eyepatches, fancy hats, fake parrots to sit on a shoulder, itchy peglegs) for the sake of immersion. Arr! Aye, avast!

• Prompt E: Despite the rain and everybody coming down with colds during the month, everyone in Verens is still doing their best to get ready for next month's Flower Festival. And Otherworlders are definitely expected to help with prep work. After all, it's everyone's festival, so everyone should help make it the best it can be! So here's a few ways to help!

1. Sign Me Up: The Festival needs signs! Lots of signs. And lots of signs need lots of painters! Or one incredibly overworked painter, but in this case, they've decided to go the teamwork route, pairing up Otherworlders and having them make signs advertising various games at the festival! Sounds easy, right? But with emotion based paints in play, be careful. Too much negativity between partners and the wording will change, the paint could run, go too far in the other directions and the signs will be practically glowing, but possibly lead to claims of false advertising!
   
2. Special Delivery Flower Festivals need lots of flowers, and people to transport those flowers! And thanks to handy tech exchange with Briarlan, this year there's some fancy containment units for transporting them. They're really just crates with some fancy looking meters attached, meant to open up when they reach the festival grounds. Unfortunately, these new inventions probably could've used some additional testing and are prone to opening randomly sending flowers all over the place! Try and collect as many as possible and bring them back to the grounds, the festival organizers would appreciate it.
   
3. Flower Round Up! Or maybe painting signs and boxing flowers aren't your thing, so how about...corralling them? With all the good vibes in the air, it seems some of the flower arrangements have literally pulled up roots and are running around the festival. And you can't have a flower festival without flowers, so do your best to try and get them back where they belong before they run off to start some sort of flower civilization in the woods*.
   
   *They probably will not form a flower civilization in the woods, but you never know.

• Prompt F: With Verens trading with more and more cities out there, some shopkeepers have gotten an idea to try and increase sales by encouraging both citizens and Otherworlders to shop local by promoting a tour of various business in the merchant district! Though the crystal has been a little negative, they're still hoping the tour goes off without a hitch! After all, it's too late to postpone it.

1. On the Clock: The first stop is Click, Clack, Clock, a clock shop that offers delivery to anywhere on the island! Unfortunately, due to the poor weather, all of the delivery staff are out with colds, so they're looking for volunteers! And yes, you're on this walking tour, but don't be surprised if you're handed a bicycle and a clock and sent on your way to deliver a clock. Hopefully they remembered to tell you where to go before shoving you out the door.
   
2. Shine On: Assuming you haven't been conscripted into the clock store's delivery force, the next stop is at Verens' very own Restoration Works, an establishment for restoring old antiques and making them look good as new. They've set up an interactive demo for everybody, so partner up and practice using your emotions to bring some shine back to some dull scraps of metal! Sorry guys, they're not going to let you work on anything really valuable during the tour, but if you show some promise, maybe they’ll hire you on in the future!
   
3. Polg-Oh No: Finally, the tour will end with a nice relaxing meal at the Sweethearts Cafe. Or it was intended to be relaxing, anyway (who would've thought the antique store would be the calmest part of the tour?), but it seems no place is safe from the Polgo plague. Better keep an eye on your plates, otherwise the second you’re distracted, the small kitten-sized blue bugs might scurry up the table and try and run off with your food!
   
   Even if you’re paying attention, they might give it a shot anyways. So be on your guard and ready to give chase if it happens!

• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include blueberries and/or buckets.

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

Qrow Branwen | RWBY (Potential Volume 5 SPOILERS within!)

[mirrorbroken]

Prompt D-1: Alpha Lava

[ Some people would say that being a volunteer for such a noble cause is the Right Thing to do and be all gung-ho about helping and giving it their all. And there's probably a lot of "willing participants running around doing just that. Giving it their all. Being the most helpful they can be.

And then there's this guy. Who probably smells like a bar. And is currently passed out on a park bench. Quite possibly with no idea where he is or how he got here. Or even, for that matter, that he is not in the same place he passed out.

Look, yesterday was A Day and last night had been A Night and he may have drowned himself in a little too much indulging to both celebrate the fact that no one Important had died and to also forget the fact that he almost Had and a certain family member was 100% to blame.

And while he might not be intentionally posing while passed out on said park bench.... well. At least he's being very effective as an unintentional victim mannequin? ]

Prompt D-2: Epsilon Epidemic

[ Drunk Qrow Branwen doesn't always make the best decisions - mostly - but considering he'd been so rudely roused from his park bench, he's stumbled down the street searching for somewhere else appropriate to finish sleeping off this hangover. He's actually doing fairly well at staying on his feet, not swaying with too much obvious public drunkenness and nothing has broken or crashed in at least five minutes.

And then he spots some poor sod handing out signs to other volunteers and you can literally see the lightbulb go on over his head. He hurries up to the nearest sign distributor (whoever that might be) and points at one particular sign very determinedly. ]

Hey! Give me that one!

[ And then he cracks up, dissolving into a moment of snickers because something about the 'I am Dead' sign has tickled one of his funny bones and sounds like a great idea right now.

And should he succeed in conning said sign away from the person... he can soon be found sprawled on the nearest surface, cuddling his new sign like a teddy bear and promptly going straight back to sleep. ]

Prompt E-3: Flower Round Up!

[ Some time later, once the Huntsman has had some time to sleep off his epic hangover (or most of it, anyway) he can be found wandering down the unfamiliar streets of this city, looking very confused because where is he? How did he get here? And where is here, exactly?

And then he stops short when he turns a corner and sees flowers running everywhere, with unfamiliar people chasing them and trying to catch them and corral them back to.... somewhere.

Qrow stops. And stares. And then stares for a while longer.

Eventually, he pulls out the flask that he keeps tucked within his vest and uncaps it to stare accusingly into the dark recesses of its currently-empty interior. ]

What the hell was I drinking last night?

Prompt: Wildcard

[ Hit me up with another option! ]

E-3

[brokenlight]

Oh, you're finally with us.

[What's up, Qrow?

Ventus is holding a few struggling flowers in his arms while there's one on his head as if snoozing away.]

Mind helping out?

[mirrorbroken]

[ Qrow pauses from blaming his flask for whatever this is to peer around it at the kid addressing him. Eyes narrow as he squints at him because... he's pretty sure he doesn't know this one. I mean, granted, there's been a lot of new kids around lately, but he's pretty sure he would have noticed if another one of their friends had popped up under his nose. ]

Finally? What do you mean finally? Who are you? What are those?

E-3 /assumes he can see her for the east of TDM

[umbredna]

You probably don't want to know.

[Says the tiny blonde perched on a nearby fence, twirling her umbrella.]

[mirrorbroken]

[ The sight of a twirling umbrella has him pausing with tension for a moment, squinting over at the kid before he relaxes again, because she's a blond at least. And she's talking. That's probably a good sign.

he gives a careless shrug and tucks the flask back in his vest as he scrapes a hand through his hair with a huffed exhale. ]

Y'know. You're probably right. But this is definitely the weirdest shit I've hallucinated so far.

D-2

[deniles]

[Well, here's a sad state of affairs. A drunk man cuddling a sign. There's a few routes Niles can go with this.

He can leave the man alone.

He can pour water on his head to wake him up.

Or the third, and final thing he could do (and has gone this route), he's just going to take the board of the sign and start giving it a tug. A really hard tug.]

[mirrorbroken]

[ One eye snaps open at the first tug to his new prized possession, expression twisted into a displeased glare. There is a curl to Qrow's lips as he gives a quiet, threatening snarl. ]

Mine.

[ Please do not attempt to steal from the grumpy drunk. He will not be responsible for the consequences. ]

E-3

[seeingaredfuture]

[Have a tiny hand tugging on your cape.]

Can you help me?

[mirrorbroken]

[ Qrow pauses at the voice, glancing down to spot the little girl tugging at his cape. The flask vanishes in an instant, out of sight and forgotten as he turns and crouches down in front of her, bringing himself to eye-level as he regards her with a serious expression. ]

What's the problem, pipsqueak?

D2

[sparkstrikes]

[This is stupid. All of this is stupid, and Lightning makes no effort to hide it. And yet, somehow, someone's managed to wrangle her into taking a sign or rather, they slung it over her shoulders without her permission and sent her on her way with minimal and, quite frankly, muddy instructions. Not like she would have followed them anyway.

Lightning has the misfortune of being a zombie today. Hooray! And thus begins the first rule she breaks by not staying in character.

All she wanted to do was to go home after a long day at work, but the road back to the house is blocked off by people trying to shoot at those wearing the signs. Shame she doesn't carry her gun with her on days like this...

So, she tries an alternate way back today – one of the main roads – and it's much busier than her preferred route. Most things, like the screaming folk who are actually taking this seriously, she can ignore, but the man on the sleeping bench? That makes her pause.]

Tch. Of all the times to sleep.

[Someone's going to come up and try to quarantine him or something... She crosses the road and stops in front of him, hands on her hips while she considers her next move.





... and then kicks one side of the bench hard enough that it jolts and scrapes loudly against the cement.]

[mirrorbroken]

[ Fortunately by this point he's gotten enough sleep that he's finally shifted over from 'still drunk' to 'mostly just hungover'. Whether that's better or worse remains to be seen, of course.

But the kick still comes as a surprise, especially with Lightning's strength behind it and Qrow snaps awake in an instant, limbs flailing, the 'I am dead' sign flailing with them as he gives a startled yelp.

And then there's an abrupt crack as the bench splinters beneath him and he falls, still flailing wildly. Right into Lightning's legs. ]

D-2

[untalented]

...Oi.

[Waver Velvet, irritated by all of these drills, toed at the sprawled body of the man before him. His nose wrinkled when he caught the heady stench of alcohol and something distinctly 'dive bar' on the man, but beyond that he paid it no comment.

Instead:]

Drill's over. There are better places to sleep.

[mirrorbroken]

..... Shut up, kid.

[ The 'I am dead' sign is currently draped over his face to block out the sunlight. He doesn't move it, merely groggily lifts an arm to point at it in response. ]

Can't you read?

D-1!

[inheirence]

[ Among those volunteers in the area today is Oscar, although his participation mostly has to do with being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not that he doesn't care about being ready for emergencies or anything, but this is a bit much, isn't it? So after helping some very displeased citizens through an evacuation, he slips away to take a break (and to let his ears recover from getting too close to the loudspeaker), only to be met with two findings: one, the closest bench is already occupied, and two, said occupant is someone he already knows.

Okay, he's been thinking it'd be nice if Qrow turned up here, but... maybe not like this. Still, Oscar recovers from the surprise of this sight after a moment and approaches to give him a shake, making something of a face at the odor. Please be close to sober... ]

Uh, hey... Qrow, wake up.

[mirrorbroken]

[ One eye peeks open at the shake. And the sound of a familiar voice. Fortunately, this one of the few faces that won't earn an irritable grumble from the guy who really just wants to sleep. Although he does groan and rub a hand over his face as he flops over onto his side, half-falling off the bench. ]

N-nooooo. Jus' a few more hours, Ozzie. Can you just.... turn off the sun a bit? That... that'd be great.

[ Thaaaaat.... would be a giant 'NO' on the close to sober part. ]

Wildcard

[stark_rift]

[Care for Raven to join her brother for a friendly drink to bury the hatchet?]

[mirrorbroken]

[ He's sitting across the table from her, a glass of alcohol resting untouched (for once?) in front of him while he just. Stares. Arms folded against his chest, his face is completely unreadable, other than a faint narrowing of his gaze in a suspicious manner.

Where were you planning on burying that hatchet exactly, Sis? ]

E3

[nevernoaction]

[Where's Ruby when you need her to corral her drunk uncle? Ren sighs, distracted from his flower gathering task.]

This is something that's actually happening and not a hallucination.

[Hopefully that's enough for Qrow to get focused? Although admittedly it's a tough call with the older Huntsman.]

Re: E3

[mirrorbroken]

[ Kid. He so doesn't believe you. Maybe he's dreaming you, too.

In fact, he's standing there and jabbing a finger in the direction of all the flowers running amok in front of them. ]

Things like that? Don't just happen.

D2

[collectsdust]

[Roman's not sure how he got stuck with this particular job but he is and it's a thing. The things he's done for money in this town. Still, it's a pretty quiet gig as he hands out the signs without much interest. So it's a little surprising to be suddenly give a demand.]

Huh? You sure? That one's pretty boring.

[mirrorbroken]

[ Okay, Qrow is drunk. But he's not that drunk. And even if he hadn't been keeping a close eye on his niece and her adventures since she'd come to Beacon, your face is still one that had been plastered all over the news for weeks before the attack during the tournament.

Only... he'd been pretty sure you'd ended up as some Grimm's dinner, so the fact that you are here, holding the sign Qrow had been trying to confiscate, is enough to give him pause.

He glances down at the sign he'd been pulling away, the one that boldly declared that he was dead, because that had been the most convenient at the time. And still was. But now he can see the one behind it, and in his drunken logic, this one seems the most aptly ironic.

Wordlessly, he tucks his new 'dead' sign under one arm to free his hands. And then grabs the second sign and fumbles for a moment to drop it over Roman's head until it dangles from around his neck. He takes a moment to fussily center it from being crooked before stepping back to admire his handiwork, breaking into a grin.

....Yeah, he totally just gave you the 'I am a zombie' sign, Roman. Oops? ]

D-1

[newrecipe]

[It's not often that Ignis uses his condition to his advantage, but the fact that entire sections of both the residential district and Merchant's Square are being blocked off for this ridiculous exercise is enough for him to make an exception, especially as he quite depends on being able to follow a very particular route to and from work. He still has to wait for certain roads to be passable again, however, but given that he's through with work for the afternoon and the drills aren't too terribly long, he supposes he can wait this next one out— fortunately, nobody on Team Alpha has dared to try and coerce a blind man into participating, which is precisely the way he likes it.

He sighs heavily as a volunteer assures him that his route will be clear again in no time, and turns to head towards a familiar bench in order to bide his time. As he approaches, cane in hand, there's an undeniably familiar smell that hits him, one that he's become accustomed to experiencing during some of the late evening hours at the Hearth, when he and Auron had to put out last call. Though his cane doesn't come in contact with anything as he approaches the bench, he pauses beside it to carefully lift his cane and test to see if there might be someone sprawled across the bench rather than sitting on it— resulting in his gently nudging Qrow's leg in the process.

Ah. Well. That explains the smell.]

Pardon. [He lowers his cane to the ground, lightly resting his weight against it.] My apologies. Are you quite alright?

[Read: are you injured, or are you a homeless?]

[mirrorbroken]

[ Trying to poke him in the leg had been a valiant effort there, Ignis. Except he'd somehow contorted himself in an attempt to get comfortable on a very uncomfortable bench. And where his leg had been a few minutes ago, it was now Qrow's nose getting poked with the end of the cane.

Eyes don't open - because there's still a sun up there somewhere and they are currently mortal enemies - but a hand snaps out to latch onto the end of the stick poking his face even as Ignis goes to pull it away. Only he misses and halfway falls off the bench in the process. ]

No.

[ Does he look alright Ignis? Oh, wait... ]

D-2 /piles on qrow

[continuer]

[ Oh, of course Qrow is drunk off his ass again, and Jaune wouldn't be surprised at all if the man chose to play this particular role just so he can continue lying on the ground.

Infuriating!!! He should set an example and teach others how to respond in an emergency!! Why won't anybody take this seriously!!

With the saltiest glare at the Cool Uncle, Jaune bends down and grabs him by the ankle... and then starts to drag him across the ground. Will that wake him up? ]

Wildcard D3

[nailed_it]

[Yang doesn't even need to borrow a pirate costume for this. She has her own, leftover from Ruby's Birthdayween party. Complete with an obnoxiously over-feathered hat. She's fully aware of what this specific drill is about. She was here for the original invasion by Briarlan and the organizers of this drill are not being subtle. At the same time though, she also doesn't really care because this is easily the best drill team to get put on.

She's been assigned to "rob the zoo" and "loose all the animals to create chaos and panic". The latter assignment thankfully has a footnote attached of "Please do not release any animals; simply pretend to open the cages" however. Right now, she's figuring she'll start with the ticket-taker and get whatever money is on-hand, and then use them as a hostage to co-erce a zookeeper into mock-releasing the animals.

...Look, her mother is basically a land-pirate queen, it's no surprise she's half-decent at this stuff.

So it's probably fortunate the Otherworlder assigned to act as ticket-taker at the zoo turns out to be somebody she recognizes, although what condition Qrow's in to "thwart" her is...debatable.]

Hands where I can see them. [She brandishes her very plastic-looking sword and then adds, with mild enthusiasm.] Arrr~