memepatheias | 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

"Well, I can try..."

She means it when she says she's just learning. Oh, she's starting to get some results by now, to be sure, but it's nothing particularly big or flashy. Not yet, at least.

But even so... She takes a moment to concentrate, focusing on some of the easier to muster emotions, internally redirecting and channeling that energy, then finally directing it into a more controlled form... Then with a practiced hand gesture and suddenly mischievous grin, there's a sudden brief put powerful blast of wind hitting Lancelot square in the chest.

Granted, it's probably not strong enough to knock a Servant off-balance, but then again, Ritsuka wouldn't have done it if she thought it could actually hurt him.

Enough to knock him over, no. But the surprise alone is enough to at least make him sway like it was a real danger for a second. It may not have been much by Servant standards, but it was more than he was braced for, not knowing what to expect. It could have been anything!

Once he resettles, automatically lifting a hand to his hair to push it back into place—like it's not already kind of a mess—he regards her again with wide-eyed interest.

"—And you did that only with your emotions? Nothing else?"

Edited (idk what I did there) 2018-11-25 07:09 (UTC)

"Yep!" Ritsuka replies with a grin. "I don't know any magecraft or anything, after all."

And even when she's wearing her Mystic Code, she's limited to the preset spells it contains. Suffice it to say, she's pretty thrilled with being able to learn dunamis here.

It's an incredible display. Even for something so simple and brief, it's unheard of to accomplish it just by feeling hard enough, and knowing how to direct those feelings. Ritsuka's pride in it is both obvious and contagious; Lancelot can't help but smile back.

"You will rival our Casters, given enough time to practice. How is it done? You simply . . . feel?"

As cool as it is, that does also sound dangerous.

That's... quite the compliment to say, even if it's possibly meant a little as hyperbole, and Ritsuka's face reddens a little. Fortunately, however, Lancelot's question gives her a convenient distraction to focus on.

"Sort of... You have to learn how to recognize your emotions and the energy they produce, then how to control it. Figure out what sort of effects it causes normally and then find ways to copy or change them, and only make it happen when you want it to."

"I see . . . "

Filler while he thinks that over; it does make sense. And it's both an exciting and intimidating prospect. What a way to be raised, in a world where you had to have that awareness from an early age! He holds out his own hand thoughtfully and stares at it, as if something magical might poof off of it right here and now. It doesn't, though.

"What did you think of—no, I suppose that's more personal a question than I meant to ask."

Well, now he has her curious, whether that was his intention or not.

"What did you mean to ask, then?"

She's more than a little curious what he almost said, too.

He never manages to quite stop himself in time from making the implication, and he should probably start trying harder, but well, he's curious too, so:

"I was going to ask what emotion you brought up in yourself to make that happen, and how. It isn't my business, but I admit I didn't have anything else in mind. I'm curious, you see. About both my Master, and about what I myself might have to do when I begin to learn."

"Ah, I guess I don't mind..."

It's not like it's really that personal or anything, or at least nothing that any of her Servants wouldn't probably already be aware of.

"Dunamis uses the energy emotions make, but instead of it just getting released all at once, you channel and keep it inside, so you can control how it's released and what it does. What sort of emotions work best is probably different for everyone, but for me it's easiest to think of things like how glad I am to have everyone who's here around and such."

It may be a bit sappy, sure, but it works.

It's a pure-hearted kind of answer, and it makes him soften into a smile again. What had he expected, really? Well, you can never know. Even his Master surely harbors darker emotions, and those might be useful in their way, too. But sappy is a good word for this. It's hard not to hear it and feel uplifted.

"A kind-hearted answer. I'm happy to hear that such things give you strength. I'm also glad, Master."

"It's always been easier to keep going with everyone's support," she says simply. Their world might not have dunamis to give form to that strength, but she's still always drawn it from that same source. How else did he think she'd managed to keep fighting against such impossible odds and enemies, time and again?

Test Drive: December

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