memepatheias | Test Drive: December

Entry tags:

*test drive

Test Drive: December

— TEST DRIVE: DECEMBER —

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 25 November and Applications (Canon | OC) open a week later on December 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.
Enable Me/App This Pls. Talk about your app plans or look for a cast HERE!

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 same committee of natives that decided to tackle Halloween have decided to take on the winter holidays of Otherworlders as well! After interviewing several Otherworlders to acquire some grasp on the traditions associated with these holidays, the committee determines that many of the typical winter festivities just aren’t up to snuff with what they like to see in Verens. So after running away with some ideas and getting the locals involved, there are all sorts of new and unusual winter activities popping up around the city! Which one will you give a try?
1. Tree Toppers: At various locations throughout Verens, there are massive, fully decorated evergreen trees standing tall for the public to enjoy. However, there are more to these trees than meets the eye, and should you approach, you will see a placard among the boughs: climb to the top of the tree, and snatch the crown at the top to become Winter Royalty! Sure enough, the trees are topped with crowns made of real gold, but reaching the top may not be as easy as you think. The trees are several stories tall, and they are not particularly stable. Perhaps you need a partner to spot you, or maybe you’re racing to the top! Either way, it’s going to take some effort to reach the crown.
2. We Won’t Go Until We Get Some: Groups of natives have taken up caroling and arrive at your door to serenade and ask for some figgy pudding. The thing is, they are relentless. They will not leave until they have received some figgy pudding, so if you don’t have any on hand (and why would you), it’s time to take a trip to the grocery store and whip up some of the requested dish. Hopefully you know how to make it...or find someone who knows how, quick! Those carolers are getting awfully hungry, and it’s getting late...
3. Elf on a Shelf: Through the course of their “research”, the committee learned of toy-making elves, though they seem to have conflated their understanding of them with another creature from folklore. They have taken imps from the forest, dressed them up in cute red and green costumes, and set them loose in the city, claiming that whoever captures the most “elves” with be rewarded with a giant rocking horse. Some of the “elves” will hide and thus need to be sniffed out, but others still are far more mischievous and are likely to get into your cabinets and drawers. Oh, dear...perhaps you’ll be earning that rocking horse, whether you wanted it or not.
• Prompt E: The recent death of an Arehtei has prompted some people to believe that there may be some Arehtei who have yet to come back, or have yet to be discovered. As such, a team not at all enforced by the local government are going around encouraging others to join their cause: find new Arehtei.
1. Make 'em Talk: As most Arehtei are like giant animals, the group has captured all kinds of creatures from all over the world and are trying to see if certain emotional reactions will make these creatures talk. Arehtei talk, after all, so it would only be natural for the undiscovered Arehtei to be capable of speech. Perhaps you come by the petting zoo or perhaps you were asked by a member of the team to help out. Your task now is to make the creature before you speak.
2. The Monthly Rituals: The various emotions represented by the current living Arehtei are all well and good, but what about emotions such as Hot and Cold, Rich and Poor, Alive and Dead, Woke and Lit? There are apparently so many other emotions that don't fall under the spectrum of what the current Arehtei represent, and the group is now hosting a ritual at the park in hopes of summoning new Arehtei. People attending the rituals are partnered up again and they have to make their partner feel these new emotions. For your efforts, you are given a cup of either peppermint mocha or raspberry iced tea!
3. Emotional Effects: Maybe even summoning the long forgotten Simpathis, Arehtei of Apathy, might help. Despite the destructive effects of the lack of emotion, people are encouraged to turn off their emotions for a minute or two in hopes of the emotion drops in people's crystals to help the Arehtei in some way. After all, feeling certain emotions make the emotional state of the world tilt in a particular manner. Should there be a lot of apathy, then the Arehtei of apathy might (re)surface and bring some balance! Just watch out for people suddenly making the ground shake. The glass you're holding might suddenly break, or perhaps the street you're walking in might suddenly lose all its colour.
• Prompt F: Life in Empatheias is generally a peaceful one, but it's also important to be perpetually prepared for any kind of emergency. The Verens General Hospital has issued a half-day mandatory First Aid course for all of its citizen. The staff are aware that these kinds of classes tend to be boring for most people, which is why this one will come with some exciting twists! The first thing everyone will notice is that all the training takes place outdoors. To be precise, it's a forest that looks more like a boot camp. Remember, attendance is mandatory!
1. Stayin’ Alive: The first course is a classic CPR course - you and a partner are given an instruction book on how to resuscitate a person, then apply those skills on a dummy. That's what seems to be the case for most pairs, but some others won't be so lucky! It turns out that some staff members will shoot poison darts from afar. If you're hit, it's your partner's job to either suck out the poison, or run back to the supply cabin for the antidote. This is the REAL test! Isn't it thrilling?
2. I Will Survive: The second course is another much-needed skill when it comes to saving lives; namely the fireman's carry. Once again, you're paired up with a partner, but this time only one has to do most of the work, while the other has to do their best to play their part. What does this course involve? It's an army-style obstacle course, where one has to carry another person through various obstacles. How exciting!
3. How To Save a Life: The final course involves performing emergency surgery. Don't worry! The surgery is performed on a test dummy, of course. With the most basic training instructions (which is completely inadequate for this task), you and your partner are tasked with surgically removing the dummy's kidney and replacing it with a fresh one from your medical box. Work slowly and carefully together... and don't panic. Seriously, don't. The staff have also released some monster snakes nearby, just to add to the excitement. Stay calm, and the creatures won't sense your presence. Alternatively, one partner can fight them while the other one works on the patient. First Aid has never been so blood-tingling before!
• Prompt G: Make your own! It could include music and/or jump ropes.
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

I agree. There is something simpler about things here. Just as there was back then.

[Certainly being summoned by the Lion King had not at all been simple or relieving as far as reunions go. Chaldea itself, that's often just as strange as this place, but it can get overwhelming.

But there's something heavy about the thought, as much as he wants to embrace it, of himself and his old dearest friend, with whom he'd had . . . a falling out, to say the least, feeling like old times again. It's hard not to dwell on his guilt over how much he wants that compared to how much he may not deserve it.

And, when he picks up a bag of flour off the shelf, he's surprised to turn it around and find a fat wet toad clinging to the bag—when he startles a little, it jumps off, and before it hits the ground, it's seemingly dissolved into sparks of magic, which quickly dissipate.]

What—?!

Edited (html my old friend) 2018-11-20 05:10 (UTC)

[For him the memories of Camelot remain cloudy, merely a thing that he believes did happen, because Gawain knows himself, knows what he is capable of. It's other battles he remembers clearly though, in the Mooncell and it's given him at least some perspective. At least Gawain would like to think so.

Granted, in Chaldea where they are all supposed to work together, it's easy enough isn't it? Or at least, Gawain wants it to be. But mind and heart clash and they want many different things.

He blinks when Lancelot jumps though, raising an eyebrow.]

What is it? You're usually not the jumpy sort.

Did you not see that?

[He nods his head in the direction of the toad, but, well, it's gone. Now he feels like he's losing it! It may not technically be any stranger than a lot of this place, or Chaldea, but it was so out of nowhere . . . ]

I—am certain there was a toad clinging to this bag of flour, but it vanished nearly as soon as I looked at it. You saw nothing?

No, I did not.

[Gawain frowned and walked over to the shelf, inspecting it. But nope, no big slimy toad is present at all.

Gawain steps back crossing his arms.]

Maybe it is some of that emotion magic? Though why you would see a toad of all things...

That's right. . . . I confess I was feeling emotional. It would be an understandable time for something like that to have happened.

[After a beat, though, he grumbles, emotional in a different way now:]

A toad of all things! Is that what this place thinks of bittersweet memories?

...it's not what this place thinks, but what you think of yourself?

[And he should be offended. Or he couldn't even say something cruel.

But suddenly he laughs. Because Lancelot, a toad? Really?]

Only you would have that happen to you!

Sir Gawain!

[He has to turn his head away to hide that he's smiling too. No! Offended! He's offended here! But that laughter has always been contagious; he can't help it.]

I'll have you know I was thinking of our past days together. And so, if a toad is what comes out when I do, what are we to think of that? Think before you laugh at me!

[He laughs a little longer before calming down, because Gawain has always been easily amused. Though then he thinks a little about the serious question: why the toad?]

Maybe you are just feeling awkward over it? That could be it. Though, do not take it the wrong way, but you were always like that back then.

Edited (Editing) 2018-11-21 20:27 (UTC)

What? Awkward?

[Well . . . he can't exactly deny it. His relative popularity before everything went wrong was more in spite of his inherent awkwardness than anything. He finally puts the flour in the cart, with a wistful little smile.]

And you have always been that blunt.

I just try to be honest, you know that.

[Usually he delivers the truth with a smile though? At least he likes to think so...

Is there ribbit sound coming from somewhere?]

Are you hearing that?

I—hmm?

[He falls silent to listen for whatever Gawain is hearing, but it doesn't take long to pick up on it; it's pretty unmistakable. Is it coming from the floor? Lancelot carefully steps back, trying not to trod on anything, to see what's down there—

There is a frog down there, but not the same one he'd seen before. This one is a pleasant little green frog sitting on a lily pad, even though there's no water to be found for the lily pad to be growing in. It's just sitting there on the floor. Still, even if it's not the same toad, it totally justifies having seen one before, right?!]

—That down there?

[It's a very cute frog and doesn't seem to be in any hurry to leave.]

Maybe we both have frogs and toads on the brain now.

[Gawain crouches down in front of it, as it croaks its little head ff and cautiously touches it. It somehow feels solid.]

How strange. I wonder why this one is different?

Are you saying this one is yours? Or that you might begin sprouting them yourself?

[He doesn't really want to dwell right now on the increasingly real possibility that this means that having feelings is regularly going to result in frogs. That's a reality Lancelot isn't ready to face. Of all the embarrassing things it could have been! But he crouches down along with Gawain, bracing one hand on the shopping cart.]

. . . If it is my doing, and if it is a matter of my emotional effect . . . it would make sense. I'm no longer dwelling on the past with regret. Maybe that is why this one is—cuter?

[Are frogs cute?!]

Perhaps it is you then.

[Gawain's own manifestations of emotion have been sensations and sounds, brief, but sharp. Nothing as elaborate as this.]

It is a very cute frog though!

[He gently pets it a little longer. It's fascinating actually that this one seems to be hanging around. Did the other disappear because his companion was embarrassed? Or shocked by the sight of it?]

It isn't exactly the season for frogs or toads, is it? You might be a feeling a bit unsettled yet.

Do such things depend upon the season here? You may be right. I don't know yet what shape my own feelings will take.

[After saying so, he sighs under his breath and finally stands again to check the list and make sure the flour was the last of it.]

I never thought I would mean a thing like that literally. May I ask you something?

It will be interesting to find out. You are always full of surprises though.

[He will have to step up his own efforts, if he wants to make cute little frogs or something similar.]

But this place does force one to think. [It seems like they have everything though. They just need to check out and then they can go home and terrorize the kitchen together.] What is it?

What does it look like, when it happens to you? Have you had any uncontrollable outbursts, not of frogs, but anything else?

[He heads for the checkout with the cart in his hands as he mulls on it himself, wondering if he can guess before Gawain says it. On one hand, he wouldn't have guessed any frogs on his own part (is this a French joke?!), but on the other, Gawain is nothing if not more straightforward than Lancelot is . . . maybe that makes a difference. But maybe it doesn't.]

Hmmm, well mostly it has been changes in atmosphere. Like the room becomes hot or cold. And sometimes, a loud noise comes out of nowhere. Almost more like... oh you know, vibrations.

Personally, I think frogs are more fun though.

[The lady at the checkout counter stares at them and Gawain gives her a friendly wave as he starts to unload. She's naturally captivated of course.]

Who knows, maybe I will learn about a side of me that I am utterly unfamiliar with.

Does that not frighten you to think about? Well, a straightforward man like you . . . perhaps not. I respect that honesty.

[A side of Gawain he's unfamiliar with? It's hard to imagine. But surely he would accept such a thing if it did happen.

Lancelot smiles at the woman himself and nods his head. She's probably sold a lot of these same ingredients today, hasn't she?]

Afraid? Maybe it is a little frightening. But I realize more and more that I lack self awareness at times.

[Despite her obviously being enamored, the cashier checks them out fast enough fortunately.]

Well we should get back so we can deal with those carolers.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive: December

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