TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 10

[avalonmods]

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary ⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️ 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. 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. 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, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. (Though.. given how hot and muggy the weather is this first week, maybe you might want to ask him to toss you right back into the lake where the waters are still cool.) *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 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 recently 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 whole coconuts filled with tropical drinks and topped with tiny umbrellas. Strawberry daiquiris, pina coladas, margaritas, mai tais, and more... all frosty and in the spirit of keeping you cool during the sunny month of August. (Naturally, virgin editions are available for the underaged.) 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: The first attempt at using the mounts to travel en-masse up to fae territory is filled with problems: mandrake sprouts caused by recent murders drumming up requests to dig them up, two titanic creatures face off in the lake and catch characters in a maelstrom, and a mysterious underwater town with a strange curse being good neighbors with a last minute save... at a slight risk: becoming a merperson, naga, or cecaelian for a little while. With communications with Elphame in Celliwig disrupted by specters and Arthur temporarily decommissioned, the Hall of Mirrors is temporarily off limits for cleansing rituals. Celliwig has encouraged people to return to Camelot for the time being, which is just as well with all the newcomers flooding in. Last month's new arrivals through the old guard got an introduction to the new aquatic mounts and there are now plenty of people versed in how to handle and work with the magical alpacapies, mossatees, and deinosuchus. As scout parties head out further, there are a few problems that they've run into that need a helping hand from Camelot's otherworldly population. A ⦿ A Mandraconian Task Just as volunteers are asked to bring supplies for the journey to fae territory, a series of grisly murders involving strung up corpses appears around town (see this month's quest, "Not-So-Good Morning" for more details), and the dripping blood and fluids of these corpses seeps into the ground to give birth to strange, leafy plants that sprout leaves in all directions at once. They're small, and the locals seem weary of them, but ultimately they're breaking up pathways and making them into trip hazards... the locals recognize these plants as mandrake root, which is known in different cultures for... very different things. The mandrake root is a cursed plant that screams in a way that curdles blood enough to kill small creatures if they're too close and make a grown person go deaf. The reason anyone would pull them up however... well, their magical properties are astounding. It is said that Joan of Arc carried one in her possession to give her the power to take control of her own fate. Some religions claim that it has the ability to restore a person's fertility, and before clever manufacturers started using the name for tomatoes, Islamic tradition called the "apples of the jinn" and cause strong bouts of lust. Needless to say, a good many people are cautious about pulling them up, but more than willing to offer a fair sum of money to a newcomer who can get them out of the ground. The cause of their sprouting may be tragic, but there's no way that you're going to make it through town center with trip supplies without getting pulled aside and asked to help harvest the mandrake roots for a pretty penny... or maybe you're interested yourself. Either way, it may behoove you to practice a little magic with a friend to try to get them up. B ⦿ Clash of the Titans Finally everyone has gotten going and a mixture of brave Camelot citizens, Celliwigians, and otherworlders have headed back to Albion's White Cliffs to take off with their mounts (and partners... you're going to have to ride with someone, there aren't enough mounts for everyone to get their own!) and things are going well. It's about two days into the waters of Lake Avalon that things start to send a chill down your spine. Back on land, even for the first two days there, the weather had been hot and sunny, a beautiful summery start to August, but as the party starts to approach the southern banks of Dinas Emrys, they see a gargantuan beast run at bewildering speeds off the land and straight across the surface of the lake. The creature appears to be some kind of centipede formed of black clouds and lightning that illuminates its exoskeleton from inside of its body in deep purple and blue hues. Each of its legs kicks up a titanic wave headed straight for the party of explorers as it charges towards its target, what appears to be a tsunami wave containing a dark, shadowy figure emerging at least twenty stories above the water. The only part of it that isn't black are the blank, soulless eyes. As the lightning bug monster charges what some may recognize as an umibozu, it crashes into the tsunami wave and all three fall asunder... which is bad news for the traveling party, as the waters are now extremely choppy and lighting up with charges of the centipede's lightning. The result? As the two monsters dive down below the water, a maelstrom forms in their path and starts sucking everyone down! C ⦿ Fresh Waters Anyone who manages to escape the maelstrom will find that their mounts aren't moving forward this time around and are heading back where they came from, even with lost supplies. You may find yourself having to switch mounts with others nearby or talking to a strange beachball on the back of the alpacapie that's carrying your ass back to the White Cliffs... Or if you weren't so lucky, you may find yourself waking up on a slightly different shore. An underwater shore. An underwater town, in fact. After the initial panic of realizing that you're not drowning when you wake up settles in, you'll realize that you seem to be able to breathe underwater just fine. In fact, the real panic is probably about to start when you realize that like the fine people of this town that saved you, you've been temporarily gifted gills and a bottom lower half of either a merperson, a naga, or a cecaelia. Your caretaker, a nurse of the local town, offers the explanation that the only way to save everyone from drowning was to pull them into their territory, which is cursed to turn them all into sea monsters. Not to worry though, as long as you leave before the sun sets on the third day, you'll turn back to normal just fine. ...Though, they're not really sure when that was or if they battle is over, so you should probably find your friends and any possessions you had with you and start heading toward the surface. Not too much time to explore this strange, underwater town... especially since you don't have much practice not having legs to get you up to the surface. Don't worry, if you don't make it out in time, the Lady of the Lake will come fetch you... though perhaps not in time, so you may need to spend some time back in Camelot seeking out someone to break a curse. SUMMARY:After the recent event, people need to recover and heal. So Camelot's castle opens its doors for an open house, a swap meet and poetry battle auction, and a healing circle ritual. Arthur is injured and recovering, and news has spread on social media about it. There are lots of well-wishers and gifts being sent to the castle... enough that there's just too much for Arthur to do anything with it. He needs time to recover and rest and not be bothered, and as such declares that all those who need it shall share in the wealth and generosity of those wishing him well. The abundance (Especially from guilty Celliwigians who didn't realize what was happening right under their own noses) results in a few things happening... A ⦿ Open House Camelot's castle halls open up to all those who would like to come. Invitations are sent and a feast is prepared. A huge table with all manner of foods from different cultures is prepared. The only thing they ask is that you stay out of the wing of the castle that Arthur is resting in, as he is not available right now. Try new foods made from recipes from all around the different worlds or invite yourself to use the castle's royal public baths, remodeled from more ancient styles to include cool things like old architecture mixing with jacuzzi jets and waterfall shower rooms. There's even a water slide. It's more a water park than anything... Explore the library (except for the forbidden section, which has a very powerful magical barrier preventing entry-- even trying to tamper with it could result in your character glowing colors by their mood as punishment for messing with the magic). Those are dangerous texts in there! There's even a live show with a magician! Which sounds lame, but he's more or less showing off his skills in tricks, knife skills, and has a mean comedy routine to go with it. He's even willing to teach lucky volunteers how to escape death-defying stunts... hopefully. You may want to bring a buddy for backup. Or perhaps you're more interested in heading out to explore the rose gardens or finding a place to stay for the evening... don't worry, if you've had too much to drink or simply tired yourself out, you're welcome to stay in one of the guest rooms during this open house celebration. B ⦿ Swap Meet Not interested in exploring the castle? Well perhaps you'll enjoy the open-market bazaar that seems to have set up in the courtyard. All kinds of oddities are being exchanged in the castle courtyard and you may just find something rare.. or maybe it's a piece of crap. It's hard to tell, and the chances of getting swindled are just as high as the chances of getting an antique masterpiece. There is an auction for those willing to pay more for authenticity, but auctions in Camelot go a little bit differently... to win art, you must first prove yourself worthy of art-- all bid submissions must be performed in stanza. Haikus, rap, short poems-- all are valid, as long as they follow the rules of your chosen form of poetry and express why your bid deserves the win. The last person to falter wins their right to pay their bid, with at least 10,000G upped with each poetic rebuttal. C ⦿ Healing Circle After Party It's good to take care of yourself with a little fun, but if you're still stressed, hurt, traumatized, mildly upset, hung over, or just want to feel better about yourself, consider joining in some of the local witches and wizards in a meditative healing ritual. Step one: Gather herbs from the castle gardens. They've got all kinds, but you're looking for things like yarrow, apple blossoms, cinnamon, and lemon balm. Once you've gathered your herbs, join in the silent meditation circle with an available partner. Anyone is fine, but once you've entered the circle with someone, it's very important that you do not make any noise. Silence is important, and as you burn each of your herbs with your partner, you'll find that the smoke forms a barrier that surrounds the two of you. Put your hands together, and focus on the source of your pain. You will share your emotions with the person you're performing the spell with. They will feel everything you feel in that moment, and be able to share the burden without having to speak of or share what caused this pain. With the pain lightened, you will find that the smoke lights up and dissipates up at the top. Whether or not you choose to share with your newfound partner... well, that's up to you, but they sure are going to know how you're feeling right now, and that definitely wasn't warned about when you were asked to join the healing circle. 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.

Comments

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

"Yeah, I agree! But it had every two-bit wannabe bounty hunter from Seyruun to Atlas City after my hide! And yeah they do, a little bit! It's a trend, all right? I didn't ask for it!"

It works. Lina's practically incandescent with rage now. "FIFTY GOLD?! THAT'S IT?!" Somehow, that manages to be the biggest insult of all after all of the indignities she's suffered in the last...ten minutes or so. She looks towards Darin's camp, and then after a moment, scoops up the now quite dead fish by her feet, and stalks over to where he'd set up.

Muttering angrily under her breath she sits down on the sand, crossing her legs, and letting the fish rest on her lap while she produces an abacus, which she starts trying to work some sort of calculations out. "Fifty gold?! What the hell kind of offer is that?" She snorts in disgust. "I killed Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo. Twice!"

She also grabs a towel from the pile and starts trying to dry herself off with one hand as she works.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo...why did that name ring a bell?

Regardless, Darin wanders over and takes a seat across from Lina. She's already snatched a towel, so there's really no reason to fight her on it.

He does take note of the fish, though.

"You want me to gut and cook that up for you?"

A beat.

"What are you adding up, anyway?"

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

Lina's about to tell him off, she's quite capable of fixing up her own fish...but these numbers she's running are taking more time than she thought so after a moment, she simply raises her hand in a gesture of acceptance.

"...Yeah, yeah. Sure." She takes the fish and tosses it down behind her, within Darin's reach, before resuming her calculations.

"I'm calculating how much my bounty actually should be." She replies. "I rate a lot higher than fifty gold pieces, and anyone who puts a price on my head knows that! You're getting screwed on this deal, pal."

It's a weird thing to be mad about but, damn it it's the principle of the thing! Besides, it's not like she isn't just going to escape anyway. She's tenacious enough on her own and Gourry's probably looking for her already and Zelgadis and Amelia have a tendency to wander in every now and then, especially when something big is about to drop, and this...feels like something big.

"That reminds me, what's the bounty on the others? I'm guessing someone's after us for something we did together. Better make sure they're getting the right amount too."

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Darin huffs in mild annoyance but takes the fish, reaches into his belt, procures his pocket knife and gets to work as Lina continues to self-aggrandize.

But then he sees another opportunity to provoke her, because if there's one thing he can't stand, it's a haughty attitude. And boy does this girl need to be brought down a peg or twenty.

"I don't know about the others but my bounty back home was for ten thousand gold."

Which, admittedly, is true! He was framed for the murder of a royal ambassador, after all.

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

"Oh wow, ten thousand, huh? That's cute." Lina replies with a derisive chuckle. "My first bounty was for five hundred thousand, but you know, gotta start somewhere I guess. There!" Setting the abacus back, she scoots herself around to face Darin with an even haughtier smirk than before, crossing her arms over her chest (what there is of it, at least). "You go in there, and if they try to offer you anything less than five million, you tell them you're taking your business elsewhere." That whole business with Eris, Copy-Rezo and Zanaffar happened a few years back after all, and she's added a couple more notches to her belt since then.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Darin looks wholly unimpressed.

"Five hundred thousand for what exactly? Is complaining loudly and being obnoxious a serious crime where you come? And aren't bounties bad? I mean, I got mine for allegedly murdering a royal ambassador. I can't even go home."

With the fish gut, he divides it into halves, salts and seasons them, and leaves them out in the sun to dry while he starts on a fire.

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

"Hey, weren't you paying attention, porridge-brain?" Lina snarks at him angrily. "I told you. The clone of a guy I'd killed because he got possessed by Ruby-Eyed Shabranigdo put the bounty on me as part of his stupid evil scheme! Come on, you must have heard about what happened in Sairaag! It was only a few years ago, geeze." Were people's memories really that short? The entire town got blown up in Copy-Rezo's tantrum for Ceifeed's sake!

She still feels bad about not being able to stop that, especially when Phibrizzo rolled into the ruins awhile later...which was its own can of worms, really.

"And it's the principle of the thing, damn it! If I'm gonna be hunted by some two-bit bounty hunter like you, I'm gonna make sure I'm not being under-valued here!" She leans crosses her arms behind her head. "'Sides, I'm just gonna escape before you turn me in anyway, so it doesn't really matter anyway, magic or not."

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"Everything you're saying is gibberish to me. Do you still actually believe we're from the same world? For a self-proclaimed genius you're really slow on the uptake."

He sighs and stokes the small flame he's been building.

"Look, my name is Darin Altway. And I'm not a bounty hunter, I'm a master blacksmith from Kenmore, a a port town on the edge of the kingdom of Alvale. I'm willing to bet none of those names mean anything to you which kinda proves my point! I'm from a world called Anmaral."

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

Lina blinks in confusion a few times. Then she leans forward, incredulously. "Okay, why would I have assumed we were from different worlds? You know how hard it is to travel between the four worlds? It's not easy! Trust me, I'd know if I'd done it." Aside from Dark Star, and Almayce and his crew she's not sure anyone's ever successfully done it. And this guy expected her to believe it had just...happened?

"I fell into some water. It's a pretty big hell of a leap to go from that to "oh guess I'm in another universe now"!. Come on!"

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"Okay, fine. Let's follow that logic for a second. What were you doing before you got teleported above a random bay?"

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

"Packing up camp." Lina replies. "We were hoping to make town by lunch." There was apparently a restaurant that way that did amazing hotpots. "I was getting my pack together and then..." She makes a falling gesture with her hands, then mimes falling into the water.

"Which doesn't mean cross-universe travel! Teleportation spells are a thing, y'know. And it would take a lot more power to break through dimensional barriers than just transporting me even a few dozen miles or so." Though...were they that close to the water? Lina glances towards the...yeah, that definitely looks like an ocean, the ocean she just stomped out of. "...Okay maybe more than a couple of dozen but even then it'd still take a lot less power than what you're suggesting!"

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Darin scoffs as he set the fish on skewers and sets them over the fire.

"Wow, for someone who talks so naturally of demon lords and dimensional barriers, you're really close-minded."

With the fish starting to cook, he turns back to Lina.

"Ditch the preconceptions and look at the facts as they're being presented to you. I've never heard of you. You clearly have never heard of me, or anything from my world. You don't recognize where you are, obviously. Your magic isn't working which, by the way, is because this place strips you of all of your abilities. You have magic, it's just not what you knew back home. I'm clearly not a bounty hunter because I wouldn't be cooking you food if I were..."

He pauses.

"Do I need to continue or are you finally coming around?"

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

"Hey, a healthy bit of skepticism goes a long way!" Lina retorts angrily. "I'm plenty open-minded when I've got reason to be and frankly, you haven't given me that much." Seriously, this looks like it could be any bit of shoreline in her world's neck of the woods.

...Her neck of the woods! Damn it, this guy was getting inside her head already!

But she folds her arms back over her chest and gives him a stern look. "But fine, let's say you're right, then I've got some follow-up questions." She holds up a hand, and raises a finger. "Where is this world that I've supposedly ended up?" With each subsequent question, a corresponding finger goes up. "How'd I get here? Why did I come here? And who do I talk to about how not okay I am with my magic abilities being messed with? They were prodigious, I'll have you know."

She narrows his eyes at Darin. "And I'm still not convinced you're not a bounty hunter, cooking me food or not. I wouldn't be surprised if my name hadn't reached across the four worlds after that business with Dark Star."

[forgeabettertomorrow]

"Where? I don't know where exactly it is. As far as I can gather, it's a nexus point. A world linked to all others. If you're asking for some...dimensional coordinates in relation to everything, I'm afraid I haven't mapped out that far. But this place is called Avalon."

He pauses.

"Hell, I haven't even mapped all of Avalon yet. But I digress. As for how and why, well, I suppose I can give you the short version. A creature that exists here in Avalon considered you worthwhile and dragged you here to help deal with a calamity. In fact, the same is said of every other outworlder that washes up from the Bay. Me included. That creature is your familiar and it's going to be what gives you magic here. There's some sort of compatibility or something...I don't know. I don't quite get it."

Curiously, Darin's familiar is nowhere to be found at the moment.

"You can try and talk to Merlin. Arthur, the King of Camelot, is bedridden right now after an attempt on his life."

He turns the fish over. He doesn't want to overcook them!

"So, here's a question for you. Can you go for more than ten seconds without patting your own ass? You keep talking about all of these amazing and powerful abilities and honestly, the more you talk about them, the more they seem made up. You aren't the only one who lost their powers, you know. I'm in the same boat."

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

Lina makes a face as Darin fails to answer her questions adequately. "Maybe you are telling the truth. If you really were trying to play me you'd have a lot more satisfactory answers prepared, but I gotta admit, you're clueless enough to be genuine." She shrugs. However, she scowls again at his next question, and leans forward making a face.

"No, I can't and how about you don't talk about my ass, huh?" She sticks her tongue out for good measure. "And for your information, my original black magic's as real as those familiars you were talkin' about so nyyyyyyeeeeeehhhhhhh." If some powerful magical creature had summoned her here, why wasn't it showing its face and why wasn't it the most awesome thing ever? Like a dragon! Lina could be doing with her own personal dragon, especially since Filia had said no, in favour of opening up that jar and mace store. Well, Lina respected her entrepreneurial spirit if nothing else.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

You know...Darin was just about to hand her one of the cooked fish skewers. He had it in his hand and everything.

Then she decided to be a brat.

So you know what?

Darin starts eating both skewers.

[dragon_slaaaaaaave]

Lina freezes as she watches Darin hog the fish skewers to himself, one eye twitching in anger. A reasonable person in this situation might take a deep breath, acknowledge she's been difficult to deal with, and apologize, and hope that there's still enough fish skewers left to snack on if he's feeling generous after her apology.

Lina Inverse is many things, and right now reasonable is not one of them. She is, however, hungry.

"You little...GIMME MY FISH!" She growls before throwing herself at Darin to try and grapple one of the half-uneaten fish skewers out of his hand.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Oh good, now she's feral. And his hands are full of fish skewers, which puts him at a disadvantage to fight her off.

He could just give one up but that would require maturity. And Lina is not setting the best example. So Darin crams all of the fish skewers into his mouth to free up his hands so he can grapple her out of the air and keep her from going tasmanian devil all over him.

"Wff yoo nff it hoff?! Wuf if wrun wif hyoo!"