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

[fujimaru]

[ Shame is for people who have the time to spare for that. And while Ritsuka still has things that can set her off, she's also a big believer in sincerity. What's there to be embarrassed about that? ]

Yes and no. Maybe "people" in general only care about the big things... but I don't think that makes the small ones worthless. I'm talking from experience, here.

[ In the end, no matter how much fanfare had been made about the nonsense about being Humanity's Last Master and whatever... the things she remembers most about her Servants are the little things, the bits and pieces that never made it into any myth or history book. Maybe they're things that don't match with what the living person would have liked--but there's a whole host of small details that matter to Ritsuka more than glory on the battlefield, or fighting with honor. ]

[scriptwriter]

Haaah... You're a real bundle of sunshine, aren't you? I need a pair of sunglasses now.

[Being around this girl felt troublesome... Almost like he could feel the poison in his heart being drained from him or something. It's a little uncomfortable. He had to wonder if she could even see the invisible walls built around people. Kotarou knows that painful isolation all too well. He had to guess that Ritsuka could easily make a lot of friends here.]

Coming from the smallest of the small... I think I've got a good gauge of how worthless I am in the grand scheme of things. [Hm...] If I 'sincerely' grope your boobs... Would you accept it with no strings attached?

[It's almost incredible how he could say that with a straight face in such a dramatically serious tone!!]

[fujimaru]

It depends on how you want to die.

[ She says it so cheerfully, it's like this is a completely normal conversation. Maybe it is, who knows. Whether or not she knows that there are a handful of Servants here already, she's more than willing to take matters into her own hands. She'll never be a true fighter, but she's been taught how to incapacitate a man if he grabs her wrong. ]

Don't think I can't hear those quotemarks, Pochi. I'm not going to let anyone grope me unless I like-like them, first. We've just barely met.

[ She has occasionally considered the fact that she doesn't want to die a virgin, but also, if she can take anything away from her time at Chaldea, it's that she's terrible at the concept of casual flings. ]

[scriptwriter]

Y-You really shouldn't say cruel things with a smile on your face. I-I was joking... [Ahem.] Besides, it'd feel weird to grope a girl I don't even know. Liking them should come first... Absolutely!

[Then the groping would feel even better since he'd know that they were getting off on it! Kotarou looks a little embarrassed for even bringing that up... If anything, he was expecting a punch or "You're trash!" comment thrown his way. This girl might've had a few screws loose... He's not sure if this is a good or bad thing, though. Then again, he knows plenty of girls who are like that.]

Are you really going to stick with 'Pochi' the whole time? It's Ko-ta-rou. [For all the times that he's been giving people nicknames, this is the first time that someone's thrown one at him. It's a step up from 'Fatarou' and all the other ones that Sakuya called him. Actually, no.. He shouldn't get endeared to this 'Pochi' thing. This could become a problem.]

Okay, so... Who or what are you, Nope-tan? What's your real name?

[fujimaru]

Ritsuka. Fujimaru Ritsuka.

[ He's not wrong about her maybe having a few screws lose. At this point in her career, it would probably--in its own way--more mad to not have lost a little of her mind. But she's mostly steady, and she takes some pride in not being the sort of girl who simply goes for full-on tsundere routines.

And, anyway--her body is just a body. He's probably seen better in magazines, so why be upset about it? ]

I'm just an ordinary human being, doing my best.

[scriptwriter]

[She's not wrong. Ritsuka definitely fits the 'cute, but average' body in his category. But all boobs were equal in his mind. Even flat chested girls deserved love!]

Alright then! I shall call you 'Fuji-tan' since you carry the same vibes of a kitten who needs protecting! An animal who's swims hard in the face of an ever-flowing river and you can't help but want to root for them, then you decide to jump in to save 'em!

[It's like he completely forgotten that she just said that she had swam out of a lake earlier. His memory wasn't always the best here.]

Uwaaa... My heart's throbbing a little just thinking about that!

[fujimaru]

...

[ She starts tuning him out somewhere early in that ramble. A kitten who needs protecting? Seriously? Maybe in the strictest sense he's not wrong--there have been so, so many times where Ritsuka would have been dead a thousand times over without her Servants, but a guy like this? No.

When she registers he's stopped talking, she simply puts a hand gently on his face and shoves. ]

Thanks, but pass. You've known me for like fifteen minutes.

[scriptwriter]

[Kotarou lets out a funny little 'Gwabwah?!' noise whenever he felt Ritsuka's hand in his face and ends up falling to the floor rather easily. It was a good bounce back to reality. Sometimes, he didn't know when to stop talking as a self-proclaimed skilled conversationalist.]

Gyaaaah! What are you doing ruining my fantasy?! It was getting to the good parts! [...] Wait... Fifteen minutes? It felt a lot longer in my head.

[That's because you were busy daydreaming, Kotarou.]

[fujimaru]

Don't just fantasize aloud about someone. It's rude.

[ Especially something that feels kind of... uncomfortable. Being reduced to some cute helpless thing in a stranger's mind doesn't feel any better than being objectified for her (mediocre) looks. Maybe she's not the strongest or fastest or most powerful, but she's handled herself pretty well, she thinks. She's got the scars to prove it.

While he's still on the floor, she nudges him a little with the toe of her boot. ]

Especially if there are "good parts."

[scriptwriter]

Grk! Hey, it wasn't that bad! Things weren't getting seedy or anything...

[Though Kotarou felt bad for making her feel awkward. With all of the remodeling that he did to try and change his old and depressing personality, Kotarou felt that he was still socially awkward sometimes. Damn... If only he had a better silver tongue or better looks to make conversations flow more smoothly perhaps. Those types of people were far more popular in his eyes... And he's met a lot of those here.]

N-No, I know that's no excuse. Anyway, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel weird or anything. I'm just not good at first impressions or making friends for that matter. But I still wanna do my best with that.

[fujimaru]

I dunno if you can really say anyone's naturally good at stuff like that.

[ But saying that, she holds a hand out to him in silent invitation to help him up. ]

I mostly succeed by not giving up on things. If I had my own review page, it'd be something like, "zero stars, does not know when to stop, would probably still take a hit for her."

[ The probably is important, there. No one's guaranteed to help her out, and she knows it. It's even more going to be the case here, but... well. She's never let near-certain death stop her before. Why let it stop her now? ]

[scriptwriter]

Some people are just born special. Everyone's got special gifts and talents whether they wanted them or not.

[There's weight to his words. He was born with superpowers that he never asked for, after all. Kotarou looks at Ritsuka's hand for a moment before taking it and standing up. She had quite a warm hand.... Okay, okay. Let's try not to let my thoughts go down the drain again! Man, I'm seriously no good at handling pure hearted types like this.

But not giving up, huh? He felt that they both had those in common at least. Kotarou felt that he sucked at a lot of things, but giving up was something that he was especially bad at. He just really hated dropping something halfway through... if someone was in trouble, then that gave him more motivation.]

Well, look at the bright side... That just means you've got some charisma. I'm usually on the opposite of that and I end up looking less cool for it.

[He was surrounded by so many powerful people who could take care of themselves and he was simply weak. Deep down, he really couldn't get rid of that urge to wanting to become a hero or become something bigger than himself. Even if he knew that he wasn't worthy of either of those, he still tried his best to do something.]

[fujimaru]

Yeah, and so what? Special gifts and talents aren't a personality. Being the strongest or best at something isn't going to make you suddenly lovable.

[ She's a tiny space heater, is what she is. Her grip is steady as she pulls him up, though she cocks her head at the gloomy response. ]

Even if I have charisma, it's not like I just--exist, and people like me. That's not how it works. I make mistakes all the time. That's just kind of what living is.

So, if it were up to me... I'd rather get to know the "uncool" Kotarou-kun if it means that's the honest one. Okay?

[scriptwriter]

You'd be surprised how fickle people can be. If you don't have something special, then you'll be forgotten in a week.

[There's a smile on Kotarou's face that is hard to pin down and it's hard to see his eyes. He realizes that he was slipping back into old pessimistic self. Living, huh? If he told her that was the only thing he was good at... He felt that she'd probably laugh at him. People had bigger reasons to succeed than something small like that. He'll let go of Ritsuka's hand before he realizes that he might've been holding onto it for too long.]

I hate to disappoint you, but you won't see "that guy" very often. That's not the Tennouji Kotarou anyone wants. [And it's not the one he wants either.] But something tells me that you're not gonna give up on him, huh?

[fujimaru]

Nope.

[ But she says it gently, not quite apologetic. He's not wrong, and she doesn't feel bad for that--it's more that as a person, she tends to prefer to maintain peace where possible. She'd rather get along with people or make them happy... it's just that she also refuses to budge on some things.

It'd be one thing if she believed that Kotarou wanted these changes because he, intrinsically wanted that for himself. But even if she doesn't know him that well, the fact that he keeps referencing what "other people" want or like or need in conjunction with these attempts doesn't sit well with her. ]

Maybe I'm just one of those people that'll be forgotten in a week. But I'd rather know the truth, wherever I can.