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

That's too bad. It'd be best if everyone could get along, of course, but at least that sounds like you mostly make things work.

Maybe someday it'd be possible? But it'd probably take a long time and lots of work, it sounds like.

My role in anything is short of nonexistent. I am not much of a people person and do not spend a large amount of time with people to begin with. It is not verily something that concerns me.

[It wasn't exactly that he wasn't concerned, but that he wished to not be involved. What happened in New York was not something he had bargained for at all.]

Perhaps, but it is ludicrous. I have no interest in his fanatic words. The massacre of many for this supposed greater good is nothing but ridiculous.

But it's still nice not to have to worry about it here?

Oh, so it's that sort of thing...? I can't imagine why someone would want to do something like that...

I didn't worry much about it before. I spend more time among creatures than people. I study them, you see. So my interactions with people as a whole can be rather limited when I am out in the field. I don't really have to worry about it when I'm in the deserts of Egypt or the forests of China.

The idea of rising up implies that there would be war. Many would die. I cannot see it going any other way. He is rallying people through their discontent of a caged life. People become increasingly frustrated in captivity just like that of a creature. It would not be abnormal for people to want to lash out when they are emotionally charged. His words speak of a life without hiding and the idea that we are seemingly superior. That is at least how I take it.

I do not know what is his aim other than what we know he has spoken nor do I wish to become more acquainted to know.

[He's just a no name wizard who's specialty is the knowledge of creatures. What could he possibly do to end up in closer proximity? Pft. Crazy talk.]

That sounds like fun, actually. The traveling to study animals, that is.

People don't realize that if they start a fight, things will probably get worse, huh. I mean, it's different when there's no choice, but it doesn't sound like that's the case...

It's wonderful! Incredible. Rather breathtaking. Lovely things they all are. The idea that they are nothing but profit or to be killed is ridiculous. They all have their own unique features that make them wonderful in their own way. I'm trying to educate my brethren. They all could really do with being much less close minded and more aware that there is more to a creature than dangerous claws or teeth.

[Oops, there he goes.]

People like that don't care for the costs. They very much assume the costs are little in the grand scheme of things.

Have you seen the wyverns here? Where I'm from, the only wyverns and dragons we've run into were sent or trying to attack us, but here there's tame ones that people can even learn to ride on!

I guess that comes back to the whole rude awakenings thing huh.

There are wyverns here? Wonderful. Do you know where they're located? Where they most commonly nest? I'd love to study the differences in species from world to world. It would be good to know a location that they commonly flock to. To be able to study them in their natural habitat would be best. There's a lot you can learn. Their usual patterns. Eating habits. Mating rituals.

Also, yes. Dragons are rather territorial. Some more than others, but that does not mean they aren't tamable. I was part of a program involving wrangling dragons, actually. They're rather beautiful creatures. Well, I imagine they are a little less beautiful when they're trying to kill you, but even that is gorgeous in its own right.

People and politics and all of that are dreadfully too complicated for my tastes.

I'm not sure where the wild ones can be found, mostly I just know the ones that hang around the bathhouse. I guess the owner took a couple in and they ending up having a lot more... Maybe he'd know more though?

I don't know if the ones in my world can be tamed though, someone we had to fight once was commanding some with some sort of powerful magic, but usually they're just wild...

You think so? It sounds like the animals you study can be pretty complicated too, though.

Bathhouse.

[There's a pause as though he is looking around for something and too preoccupied to finish his words.]

I will have to immediately see to this man so I may know more about what they can tell me. Wyverns. Wonderful. I had hoped to be able to research some creatures while I'm here, so this is a very pleasant tidbit of information. Thank you.

I do not agree at the use of magic to use them for the whims of other. [The distaste is probably obvious.] They are not tools to further our needs. They are their own being. Living and breathing.

They really are not so complicated. I don't think they are, no. They are living creatures with their own ways of living. We think things are much more complicated when we don't know much about it, but they're really quite simple.

Haha, should I tell him to expect you to drop by sometime?

Well, if someone doesn't know much, that means there's a lot to learn, right? So even if it's not complicated it's still, well, a lot, I suppose.

Would now be okay? I mean, I probably shouldn't have gotten up and immediately left without asking. Maybe I was being a tad too presumptuous. I do hope he isn't too against it. I don't need much of his time.

[He sure didn't think passed the idea of a new species to uncover for himself.]

A lot? Yes. Complicated? No. When it comes to creatures, you'll find that they are different, yet very similar. It is rather easy to apply previous experiences to new ones. Nothing too complicated.

Probably? As long as you're nice to the wyverns I don't think he'll mind...

Hmm, I think people can be like that too, though. Once you've gotten to know someone with a certain sort of personality, it's easy to figure out someone else who's similar, and so on.

Merlin's beard. I would never think to do anything less but completely respect them for what they are. Creatures are just as deserving of our utmost respect as people do.

There...There are rather many factors involved when it comes to people. I-I understand creatures very well. They're easy for me to understand. I...well, I don't really understand people. Well, I do. I don't though. Never really got to know a lot of people enough to discern certain personalities. To cross reference them to others. No, I'm not very sure about how uncomplicated people are.

Then there should be no problem!

Well, people seem easier than animals to me... I guess everyone's just different though.

Oh, I do hope he isn't too busy right now...

That is not a sentiment I can understand. Perhaps you could write a book about people and your understandings of them. I only manage to annoy others, so I think it would greatly help someone like me.

I can let him know you're coming.

I don't know if I'd be good enough to write a book... Though do you really think that'd help people?

That would be positively wonderful.

I'm writing a book, well I suppose was given the current situation, on creatures to help people understand them better. I'm sure there's plenty of books devoted to assisting people with, uh, people.

I mean, I can say with full confidence, that social interaction with people is not a strong suit of mine and that I find socializing incredibly difficult.

[And despite his dislike towards their mode of conversation; he's glad that he doesn't have to be face to face with others at the moment.]

Oh? That sounds like it'd be pretty interesting to read.

Would you like to do things with people more, if you could?

I would hope so. I rather people understand these intelligent creatures than try to exterminate them.

Honestly, I don't think there is much I care to do with people more. I am perfectly content with just taking care of my creatures and observing them. It's relieving that I was not whisked away from them and that I can still care for them here.

Procuring supplies for them may be a bit of a problem though...

Does that happen a lot? Where I'm from, there's animals considered "endangered" that are illegal to kill. Though some people do anyway...

Oh, you brought them with you?

I'm sure you can work something out... Maybe set up deliveries of some sort?

America's laws are quite strict to the point that there's absolutely no breeding of any kind allowed within the States. I cannot say what their protocol is when they find creatures, and I rather not know. There's a lot of ignorance and lack of care in general. Poachers. Traffickers. There is a disregard about the importance of protecting some of these creatures to the point that some of the ones I keep are very valuable in some way. Not that I care for their value. These creatures are priceless to me and I only wish to take care of them and bring them back into the world once they are ready.

They arrived with me. I would be at a bit of a loss if they hadn't. You...You could see them if you like.

I'm worried more about the creatures rejecting what is available. Some diets can be very tricky when it comes to substituting.

Hopefully your book will help with all that, then. Just make sure to give it some sort of catchy title or something so people see and think "oh, I want to read that!"

I'd like to, sure. If you don't mind.

I guess you'd have to ask around, then... I don't know much about those sort of things, especially in this world.

It's got a title. It just merely needs to be finished.

I have to feed them soon. I mean, you are free to see them whenever you wish and merely need to ask. I'm sure you're busy and can't just drop what you're doing. That would be rather silly to consider. They are here and not going anywhere. i'd never let that happen. It would be positively dreadful if they ended up somewhere else without my authorization. Not that I'm an authoritative figure or anything.

[A long pause.] ...You are more than welcomed to see them when you want to.

I'll see what I can substitute and what they'll accept. It shouldn't be much of an issue, I think.

Oh? What's it called?

What if I'm busy, but feel like taking a break anyway?

... She couldn't resist the chance to lightly tease, apparently.

Would it be more convenient for you at some times than others though?

Hopefully not. I guess if you do have problems though, I can try to help. I don't know much about getting special food for animals, but I could probably find someplace to ask...

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