memepatheias | TEST DRIVE: April

Entry tags:

*test drive

TEST DRIVE: April

— 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!

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.
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!
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!

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!
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.
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.

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.
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!
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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Edward tilts her head so far to the side that it seems in danger of rolling off her neck. While she is happy that the crying man properly identified her as a girl instead of a boy, as so often happened, she had no idea what he was talking about.]

How is Edward doing what?

[he's been extensively trained to see through any disguises, physical or otherwise, to the person within. and she seems a bright one. for more than just the obvious reasons]

You're not getting wet.

[curiosity overwhelms his grief, and the rain slows to a misty drizzle]

[She looks up at the clouds, blinking curiously as the rain that had apparently been drenching everything else lightens.]

Ooo la la. Rain rain go away!

[She sticks her hand out of her little sunbeam and giggles as a few raindrops spatter on her palm. When she giggles, a little rainbow briefly shines through the rain]

[realization dawns on him: her joy is monumentous, a phrase which here means at least equal to, if not stronger than his grief.]

It's your emotions. I knew they had an effect on the environment, but this is phenomenal. I suppose you're literally at one end of the rainbow, miss.

[his raincloud finally pulls itself together and just hovers, unobtrusive and dry, above his head. he folds up his umbrella and leans on it like a walking stick]

[She blinks up at him, frowning a little as she tries to understand. In her confusion, her ray of sunshine fades. But it makes little difference since the sun is shining now that Lemony's raincloud has shrunk.]

Edward's at the end of a rainbow? [She looks up. Nope, no rainbow here.]

Well, you were. Before the rain went away and took its prismatic refraction along with it.

[he shrugs]

My name is Lemony Snicket. Who might you be?

Lemony. Lemonyyyy!

[funny words. Oh well. She snaps to attention, suddenly standing her full height, saluting Lemmony with as much muster as she can... muster.]

Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the fourth. Nice to meet yooouuu!

That's quite a name.

[and she's much taller than he expected, too, but teenaged girls always have long legs. he remembers how much taller Kit was than him, for a while]

What would you like me to call you?

[She rocks back on her heels, crooking her arms behind her head.]

Thanks! Edward made it up, herself, you know. [She beams with pride and the air around them grows pleasantly warm, as if they were standing on the beach on a sunny day.]

Edward is Edward. You can call her Edward!

So you are the fourth iteration of a name from your imagination.

[the warmth, both literal and figurative, is soothing, and he smiles]

Edward, then, indubitably. ...

[he shifts his gaze to the stalls, and to the candy vendor who had initially caused his weeping. there's more there than just peppermints: lemon drops, coconut haystacks, fruit slices, gumballs...]

Would you like anything from this stall? I feel I should thank you for brightening my day, both literally and figuratively.

[Her eyes start to literally shimmer with excitement at the mere thought of food, not to mention the candy.]

Candy! [She yelps with excitement, prancing in an excited circle around her new friend.] Candy! Candy! Candy!

[the rain is decidedly gone, now, and his cloud is even turning from grey to white]

Well, I'm not one to spoil, but perhaps ...

[he digs a few coins from his pocket]

Half a pound? Or whichever measuring system they use, here?

Yaaaaaay!! [She continues her dance for a few more seconds, flailing her arms around like a wild person. Once her celebration has completed, she approaches the stall and starts picking out the delightful treats she wants, singing as she does so.]

Candy, candy. Yummy yummy candy. Do you want some? Yes you do! More for me, more for you!

[he watches her, nostalgia sweeping over him in a wind that smells like the seaside. his siblings once went shopping for saltwater taffy with him, once, and they had exhibited the same degree of unrestrained glee, especially when they had discovered root-beer-flavored taffy. the thought piques his interest, and he moves in beside her, looking to perhaps purchase a little for himself]

Have you ever had a root beer barrel, Edward?

[Edward looks up at him with big bright eyes, shaking her head.]

A whaaaat?

[She had no idea what treat he was referring to, but it sounded interesting. She crouches down, eye level with the candy, eyes surveying the possibilities.]

[he picks one up from the pile and drops a coin in the vendor's sample fee box]

A root beer barrel. Here. ... Don't bite it, it's hard candy.

[Her eyes get even wider. She reaches out one hand and plucks the barrel from Lemony's hand. She stares at it for a second, sniffing it tentatively. Finally, she pops it into her mouth. As the taste hits her, she makes a happy noise, smiling broadly. Her sunbeam returns, shining brightly on the pair.]

They're my favorite.

[that little cloud of his is even shrinking a bit, now]

I take it this means you've never actually had root beer, either?

[Careful not to let the delicious candy fall out of her mouth, she vigorously shakes her head. Shoving the candy into one of her cheeks, she mumbles.]

Uh-uh. Nothing like this on Earth. Nothing at all!

[waiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit a second]

But I am from Earth. A medium-sized city on the coast, several hours' drive from the Hinterlands.

[She frowns, thinking about this for a moment. But that's not possible. With a snap of her jaw, she crunches the candy into dust and swallows so she can properly continue this conversation.]

But there aren't any cities. Not anymore. Not since the [Her voice falls into a spooky vibrato] exploooooooooosion!

[he's initially horrified that she bit down on the candy even after he told her not to. but what she follows it up with is even worse. the ground beneath them trembles, sending some of the candy cascading onto the ground. the poor vendor has had enough of the newcomers, and snatches Lemony's money. "You! Go take your dunamis somewhere else!"]

Someplace....

[he puts a hand gently between Edward's shoulders and starts to usher her away, wide-eyed. is this true? DID HE MISS THE APOCALYPSE?? OY GEVALT.]

What kind of explosion? A nuclear bomb?

[She let Lemony lead her away, completely ignoring the quake and discourteous vendor.]

Uh-uh. in 2021, the gate went BOOM! Bye bye moon!

[but where he is from, it's likely about that time... ]

No moon? ... Hmm. What's that thing Isaac Newton said? "And since Space is divisible in infinitum, and Matter is not necessarily in all places, it may be also allow'd that God is able to create Particles of Matter of several Sizes and Figures, and in several Proportions to Space, and perhaps of different Densities and Forces, and thereby to vary the Laws of Nature, and make Worlds of several sorts in several Parts of the Universe."

In short, Edward, I believe you and I may be from alternate dimensions.

Alternate dimensions? [She stares at him.] What's your Earth like?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE: April

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