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

[ Gil opens his eyes to meet Hyde head on in a stare, assuming that he's going to have to throw some of his royal authority around to get his way in the matter. ]

Some of them may be. I collected a great number of poisons, elixirs, and potions during my time on earth; it was beneath me to ensure all of them were labeled. The effects of the vials could be positive or negative.

[ ... a wry smirk, then, eyes narrowing. ]

But either way, it'll improve your offering.

You...

[ There's an incredibly powerful emotion building in his chest.

Were he truly Jekyll, the feeling would likely be some sort of moral outrage or disgust, a mixture of anger and disbelief... but what actually bursts out of him is... ]

That's—awesome!

[ His hair springs up with his enthusiastic reply, his perfectly combed hairstyle now in wild disarray. His glasses have suddenly disappeared from his face, and the front of his vest has popped open, revealing red bloodstains underneath.

He's shown himself, at last, completely unintentionally. He just got carried away in his excitement. ]

Oh man, do you have one that'll shut them up permanently? How about dissolve their internal organs?

[ Thanks to the emotion magic of this world, he's quite literally sparkling, like a kid who's just been given free rein in a candy store. ]

[ It was in this moment, for the first time in the entirety of the conversation, that Gilgamesh began to suspect (and cared enough to note) that something was... amiss with Assassin. He had too much presence of mind to jerk back as Hyde joygasmed, a slow smile beginning to curl over his lips in place of the smirk.

Maybe Hyde's joy was infectious.

Or maybe this not-so hidden depth to the doctor spoke well for Gilgamesh's chances of entertainment in the future. ]

That's entirely possible. As I said, I never kept track of the full collection of potions I acquired--only the most important ones. This rack's purpose is a mystery to me.

[ Hyde has completely forgotten his original goal—if he ever even had one—in the face of such potential fun. ]

Which one should I pick?

[ He's talking to himself, rather than asking for Gilgamesh's opinion, since the king has made it clear he has no idea what any of them do anyway. Grinning, the blond Berserker approaches the rack of potions, peering curiously at his options.

Which one looks the most evil? That's a kind of stupid and objectively debatable way to go about picking one, but ultimately, unsurprisingly, Hyde ends up selecting a vial full of a liquid as red as his own crimson eyes. ]

Heh...hahaha!

[ It's with a malicious, almost squeaky little laugh that he pops the seal, gleefully dumping the potion's contents into his sloppy pudding.

Honestly, it's such a disaster already, who will even notice it's been tampered with? ]

I hope they cough up a lung. Literally.

[ Gilgamesh watches with a sense of intrigue as Hyde giggles his way through the vials, selecting something as red as fresh blood--as Hyde's eyes, as his own. There's something strange here, and if Gilgamesh devoted just a little time to it, he could probably deduce the game... but he's in no danger of facing retribution for this, so it's probably easier to just let things ride, if we're frank.

The possibilities of whatever is going on here are hilarious and Gil's just going to give man a box of matches and the key to a fireworks factory. He can't be held accountable for any mishaps. ]

You'd best mix your concoction until it's presentable and offering it to the poor, desperate minstrels outside.

[ Gil's going to the window to get a good view and his glass of wine, don't mind him. ]

Oh yeah, good idea.

[ He was already too busy snickering over what might happen to the unfortunate carolers to really think through that part. Grinning, he reaches for a large wooden kitchen spoon and begins to poke and prod the disastrous pudding until he can mix the red potion into the rest of the mess.

Afterward, he grabs a tray and a bunch of little bowls, along with spoons, to start dividing the pudding into. In a smaller serving, maybe how terrible it looks will be less noticeable.

Of course, it would help his case if he hadn't completely switched over to his Berserker form, as Hyde is... not exactly the most trust-worthy looking individual. The blood stains are far from comforting, and his sharp grin doesn't help either. ]

That ought to do it! Heheheh...

[ He lifts the laden tray easily, more than happy to deliver his 'gift' to the carolers. ]

[ And so Gilgamesh watches from the safety of inside, sipping his wine as the milquetoast goes to deliver his mystery mash--which the carolers accept with tired glee. They got figgy pudding! After all this time, and all this singing, the mystical concoction was delivered... and it was going to taste like total ass, because Hyde couldn't cook for shit, and the potion that he'd picked wasn't going to help the situation in the slightest.

In fact, no matter what face journey the carolers might've gone through, after a few minutes they're going to look even greener around the gills than they were to begin with. Gilgamesh leans forward in his seat. ]

And here comes the result... [ Is he talking to himself? To Assassin? To the vaguely disapproving voice in the back of his head that sounds like Enkidu? The world would continue to wonder. ]

[ After he delivers the burnt, under-cooked, possibly poisoned figgy pudding to the carolers, he returns inside to make sure Gilgamesh knows the deed has been done.

Hyde is all but giddy with excitement, like a child for who Christmas has come early—and Gilgamesh is his particularly golden Santa Claus. ]

So are they gonna die now?

[ He can't wait to watch, through the window. Maybe they'll explode and there'll be blood and guts everywhere! ]

[ How can something be both burnt and under-cooked? The mind boggles, but Gilgamesh doesn't have to eat it, so the mind gets busy thinking about other things quickly. Gilgamesh sips his wine, watching their hapless victims through the pane as they dig into Hyde's offering--and by the looks in their faces, immediately regret it. ]

Potentially. Have patience, Assassin.

[ Thankfully, Gil always packs the good shit, so it doesn't take long for... things. One minute, the carolers are starting on a new song--one that pleads considerably less for pudding and swings back around into just plain festival, and the next they're starting to look a little pale, despite the chill in the air. One woman is swaying in a particularly worrying way. ]

Here it comes.

Test Drive: December

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