avalaughs | TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 9

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TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 9

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SUMMARY: New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. There is a small earthquake during this (shaking, some things may fall off of shelves, but no structural damage) that upsets the normal arrival creatures, limiting cliff-falling rescues and sliming the water. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there.

A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival

KERPLUNK, SPLASH!

Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that.

In the middle of the new arrivals, there is a small earthquake that shakes the island and makes the waters choppy. The jellyfish are startled and release a glow-in-the-dark slime that may dye your characters' hair and skin until they can get a proper bath. The Lady of the Lake seems disquieted by the earthquake, but there isn't much to be done about it where they are now besides make sure that everyone is outside of the water as quickly as possible.

If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, as the earthquake has scared the cliff beast into hiding, meaning for July's arrivals, there is no safety net. They may need some serious help if a fall occurs!

*Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players.

B ⦿ The Caravan to Camelot

Once everyone is wrangled up to the top of the White Cliffs, the handsome owner of the Rent-a-Ride, Archimedes, will distribute smart phones, sunscreen, a pair of sunglasses, and a pair of ear buds and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of the universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go.

These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with nip bottles. Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service,

avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk.

C ⦿ The Red Spring

The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies.

If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out!

The springs are also home to a large training grounds just outside town limits, where there are teachers who will teach basic magic safety and help you discover what kind of magic you have together with other new arrivals. Try target practice, obstacle courses, meditation circles, and other ways to try to figure out just what you can do... if you didn't already have an accidental discovery on the ride there.

SUMMARY: Camelot throws a carnival to combat the warming up weather featuring "cool" foods and contests, Queen Elphame sent gifts of aquatic mounts to practice in gratitude for the offering and peacemaking with Celliwig, and the clean-up for the carnival goes haywire as cleaning implements magically seek to clean everything.

Thankfully, not every minute of Avalon is adventure and trials and rituals. There are moments of respite, and moments to have fun. This July, for example, locals have decided to invite everyone to what they're calling the "Cool Down Carnival"!

A ⦿ Cool Carnival, Bruh

behave like a penguin

Margaritaville Pair Challenge

giant schooner

(Recipe) Hangover Moveover

B ⦿ Surf New Turf

aquatic mounts

Alpacapies: Cousin to the much more violent water horse fae the Kelpies, Alpacapies have been mistaken for baby loch ness monsters on more than one occasion given their penchant for sitting with just their hump and long neck above the waterline. They can be ridden in the water and tend to bond with people who are polite to them upon greeting. They will assist in combat by spitting water at their enemies or kicking with front legs, but they may shake you off if they need to deep dive to gain speed for an attack. They do not have back legs, only a dolphin-like fin. For some reason, they're really impossible to take photographs of.

Mossatees: You're familiar with the mossatee already. A special breed of manatee that grows flowers and moss on its back like a miniature garden. They blossom in the spring, and their backs can be very comfortable. They're a little clumsy and tend to run into things, both accidentally and on purpose, so it may be a bit of a derpy ride if you and your partner choose a mossatee. They also just had a lot of children, so part of riding with them will mean protecting their young on the journey. They're not good in combat and will prioritize defense.

Deinosuchus: A Cretaceous crocodile that gets up to about 10 meters long. It's huge and carnivorous and very well could eat you if you piss it off. It is fast, but has to take a lot of breaks. It will also terrorize in a fight. The fae recommend bringing it a goat or some other similarly sized meal to get it on your side if you want to go for this one. This pack is the only one left, transported by fairies to Avalon long, long ago, so you'd better not let them down.

C ⦿ Clean Up Chaos

As people head out for the second day of practice with their mounts or recover from a crazy carnival experience, things around town... seem a little off. It seems like someone tried some experimental magic after competing in the Margaritaville challenge feeling particularly benevolent. All around Camelot, cleaning utensils have taken on a life of their own. Brooms are sweeping customers right out of restaurants, sponges are scrubbing up dishes and chasing down patrons for the most public sponge baths of their life, and the local woodland creatures are assisting in picking up and taking away anything that touches the floor that ought not to be there. Some are even hopping up on residents to do their hair!

Whatever the source is, the only solution is to either destroy or scare the cleaning supplies off to the woods before they take over the whole town! A little magic should help, so why not test out the magic you've been working on since arriving in Avalon?

SUMMARY: The earthquake busted some of the Land of Rot wards and zombies are attacking Camelot's farmland. Save the farm, restore the wards, fight a giant worm, and then find a mysterious marsh before getting transported back home just as mysteriously.

The earthquake on arrival day was a little frightening, but ultimately didn't seem to cause too much trouble around New Camelot. That is, until a few days later when the farmlands seem to be under attack.. by the undead!? It seems like the wards surrounding the Lands of Rot were disrupted by the earthquake near Camelot's northeast farmland. '

A ⦿ The Farming Dead

B ⦿ Of Wards and Worms

C ⦿ Wake Me Up Before You're Go-Gone

First zombies, then a giant worm... today's been exhausting! And now you're.. somewhere in the middle of the Land of Rot and you seem to have run into some kind of marsh that you don't remember passing on your way in. The water itself is murky and the only creatures around seem to be bugs, bats, snakes, and frogs. Everything seems sickly, rotting, and is pretty awfully stinky. But none of it is quite as terrifying as when you and whoever you wandered into the Land with stumble upon what appears to be some kind of old hag.

What happens next? Who knows. She screams and both you and whoever you're with pass out and wake up snuggling in an inn room. You were definitely in that marsh though, because your pants are still sopping from trudging through it... Well, enjoy the panic, maybe interrogate your neighbors, and try to find out where in the Land of Rot you were! It sure doesn't seem to be on the map... What a mystery!

MOD NOTES:
• All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post.
• If your application is accepted, you may accept TDM threads as game canon as long as both players consent. Characters may begin threading as soon as their journal is accepted to the communities.
•If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt.
• The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly.
• Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here! If you have a question about the game at-large, please head over to the FAQ.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( probably can come super close to death... or be mere centimeters away from it if all you do is pound the coldest heckin' things in the area? but link feels heartened seeing someone react in such an encouraging manner. nodding a few times ecstatically, he's not sure how the best way to drink all of this down in less than a minute...

hm.

straws? spoons? shovels? their hands??? he can at least grab the first two, the straws more like those thick bendy ones with the ridges and spoons about the size of tablespoons.

and then he gestures to them. how will you sate your freezy lust, zidane? )

Hmmm…

[Looking over their weapons of choice to go into this, Zidane decides soon to go with the straw and spoon too.]

If worst comes to worst, feel free to just pick it up and try drinking from it. I know I probably will.

[Well, not probably… he’s competitive…]

( a man of reason...! )

It's not safe.

( to do that. like, don't just pound the thing down. you can't control how much might go in your mouth! or cover yourself in it, by mistake.

still, the timer hasn't started yet. )

Um... have you had any of this before?

( there is a smell about it. sweet, but with something that tickles his senses in another way. )

Maybe not, but if we get close to the bottom, that's a option!

[His tail waves.]

This? Ehe... no, but it's alcoholic. I've seen it in the bar before.

( both eyes lock onto that tail before immediately returning back to zidane's face. staring is a little rude, right? )

Oh. ( alcohol, okay. that makes sense. and he does have someone here to watch over him, even if they're also a little inebriated in the end... )

I'm ready whenever you are.

( a few deep breaths as he grabs the straw, staring intently at the drink as if it's about to attack them. )

[No, no, this is about to end horribly if they both get inebriated. But it's too late for regrets; looks like it's almost time to start.]

Same. Get ready for the brain freeze.

[He picks up his own straw and leans closer, ready to put it in. He'd go for the spoon, but he might knock the other blonde trying to scoop.]

( no threat of brain freeze will stop him from joining zidane, opting for the straw as well--- if things seem dire, of course he'll resort to much more dangerous tactics? but for now, it's probably best he matches his partner. it'll be better for their combined pace.

as soon as the timer starts he takes a sip, and his eyes widen before he pulls off for a second. )

... sweet.

( fruity, too, which makes him double his efforts--- cheeks puffing out as he proceeds to swallow in big mouthfuls. )

[Ew, it's a bit sweeter for Zidane than his liking. There's a tang of alcohol in it alright, but he doesn't taste it so much... That's not good.]

[Maybe it's better to get brain freeze, but he keeps drinking anyway. It's a contest; the preference for savory and wheaty beer will have to wait as he does his best to drink as much as he can.]

( of course, it'll wear on link over time--- eventually tastebuds become numb and not just because of the cold. but the longer he goes, the chill creeps up his neck and travels right up to the tips of his ears before he can feel the freeze starting to settle in the back of his head.

this isn't good, especially when there's still at least half of it left. )

How're you doing?

( at least he can keep his teeth from chattering??? )

[His tail has frizzed as the cold runs up his back and soon its on his neck. Cold, cold, cold is all that he's thinking as the chill settles in his head and begins that all too familiar prickling.]

Hrrrg, freeze is coming ooon...

[Nooo, there's still so much left!]

( at this rate, neither of them are going to survive? the ticking down of the timer is certainly not helping things and with the anxiety of perhaps failing a 'quest' bearing down on him...

sorry zidane.

it's going to have to be the spoon now. no straw will help them through the remainder, and even that's probably going to be pushing it. starting to heap spoonful after spoonful into his mouth, every swallow makes his eyes water.

so numb! he's probably going to regret this later... )

[UUuugh, there it is and Zidane freezes up for a second, trying to keep drinking while gripping the table. But he ends up having to stop to reheat because ow, ow, owww...]

[He just notices Link has switched to the spoon when the worst subsides... meanwhile, he's back at using his straw to drink more. Two spoons clacking away at the bowl will slow them both down.]

[Ahhh, he thinks his tail's freezing...!]

( makes sense. he'll have to do the heavy lifting for now--- tail freeze seems like a bummer? hopefully link will never have to experience how that'd feel, because what he's going through is certainly no walk in the park.

the cold doesn't subside. at least his stomach matches how big his eyes are? still, he's hitting a wall and with what looks like seconds remaining and most of the drink finished... he has to pull back.

wiping his face, all link can hope is that zidane can somehow finish the last remnants of the margarita...! )

[Ugh, it hurts, but he's going, he's going-!]

[But Link is pulling back.]

[Grabbing his spoon, Zidane's gonna go at this, shoveling the drink down, trying to finish despite his brain being frozen. No thoughts, only more ice!]

[Ow, ow, ow... But Boss didn't raise no quitter!]

( what a good boss...

still. link swallows his pride, among other things, before rejoining zidane. they've got seconds left, and he's not going to live his life here with regret about not completing the challenge!

plenty of other things to regret, tbh.

but as soon the clock hits 0, the glass is empty as it possibly can and link is ready to put his face down on the table. )

[He's doing this more automatically than anything by the time Link rejoins. Much cold, so ice, he doesn't know how he's still moving, but there's been colder... externally.]

[The clock hits zero and Zidane drops his spoon, staring blankly at the empty bowl. Decisions were made, but was it worth it?]

[He hopes so... and if they weren't, he was going to fall out of his chair.]

( even though it shouldn't be a struggle, every little scoot of his chair so that he could sit closer to zidane makes his head throb. despite their team victory, it really doesn't feel like one when moving is a chore.

but he can keep his head down the entire time. )

... we did it.

( mumbling with a smile on his face. )

[Zidane's staring at the void of the empty glass, still contemplating what they did and beginning to feel the second creeping affect of a margarita: the alcohol.]

[Now the cold is being pushed out by warm and Moguo might have to get him.]

Yuuup. We kicked ass.

[He gives a thumbs up.]

( cheeks flush from the effects of the drink starting to wear on him, every breath feels hotter than the last. )

Yeah...

( but really, whose asses are kicked right about now? link doesn't feel like moving. reaching out, he gives that thumbs up a gentle pat after missing a few times, his vision starting to swim. )

... what'd we win again?

... holy shit, there's a prize?

[What were they doing this for again? But there's the host coming over with a cure for a hangover. Also, something about one item free during happy hour?]

Sounds great...!

You think?

( he can't even think about a free anything right now, unless the 'free' is a 'free-zing' headache--- which he has! and putting food or drink in his stomach would probably be the worst thing for now. )

Cure for a hangover... what's a hangover...

Maybe...?

[Ugh, more food and drinks sounds like the worst right now.]

Y'know... waking up with a splitting headache? Everything's too bright or too loud... or both... and sometimes you hurl.

... I think I've been hit hard enough to cause that to happen...

( which speaks to the level of injuries he's sustained before. ever accidentally roll down a mountain? yeah. )

You going to be okay?

... That's a concussion.

[He's had them before, but Zidane still stares.]

Should... in a few hours? Yeah. You?

( aw beans. )

I don't know. I'd normally eat something to fix this, but...

( the idea of doing that is a little nauseating. )

... thanks for helping.

TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 9

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