TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 11

[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 Atlantian Saury. Similar to Pacific Saury, these small fish don't have much lift power on their own... but contrary to their saltwater counterparts, Atlantian Saury are known for forming schools of thousands thick enough to lift a person right out of the water... as long as they aren't scared of a few fish flip-flopping out of the water and slapping them in the face with their tails. Animal mages will find they're very chatty, and very fast talkers, and very sensitive to each others' feelings. Insult one of them, and the whole school will start screaming and crying together. 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. In a deal with Camelot's farms, the drinks are honey-based-- mead, tea and honey, even healthy ginger shots with a dash of honey to take the edge off. (Naturally, virgin editions are available of any cocktails like the Bee's Knees 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: We return to Lestari to collect small creatures called fairy coins that look like stars, using a special bubble bar that allows flight but may have side effects such as truth-blurting or burping bubbles. Side quest: save some kids from some ancient giant bats. With the dangerous battle apparently waging on in the waters just off the coast of the island's west peninsula, the attempt to travel through Dinas Emrys is temporarily delayed. With Arthur back on his feet after a month of recovery, Merlin is working in the background on finding a way to get the travel party back on track. It's fine, since the autumn equinox is on the horizon anyway and there are a lot of preparations to be made. A ⦿ Fizzy Lifting Bar With the path to Lestari routed and still fresh, another caravan heads back up there, this time a group of Elphame Traders (sorry, they're sold out of goods, so you still can't buy again until the end of the month) who are assisting in the preparations. The Elphame Traders are paying anyone who makes the journey up there with them to head into a special place called a bubble bar that only opens up once a year, before the autumn solstice. At the bar, there are large tables with mideval-looking devices filled with vials of colorful liquids. The liquids are labeled with different flavors, like baked potato or bubblegum or something called gn'ooOOoo, which is reminisicent of the way that bumbleberry pie smells when you bake it but somehow doesn't taste like bumbleberry or pie. (It's a special kind of dwarven flavor.) It's no drug, don't worry-- it's magic. From the bottom of these wonderful flavors comes a tube and a replaceable mouthpiece (the traders will provide a disposable one for each person) and you're to take a deep breath in to feel the flavor overtake your whole being, then for about an hour afterward (you can refill as needed), you'll find yourself breathing out bubbles.. and flying. Have fun for a little while with this fizzy lifting bubble and get any hiccups (literal or figurative, as flavors can sometime change into something much weirder before changing back or can sometimes have the side effect of making you blurt out truths to the person you're talking to. The side effects will fade in time, even after multiple stops at the bar. B ⦿ Stars in Your Eyes Once you get past the initial side effects of the bubble bar, your temporary flight can be put to good use: gathering stars. More specifically, a special kind of living rock. They're about the size of a medium-length pinky finger nail and shaped like stars. Some people call them fairy coins, these tiny stars come in a variety of colors and fly around at the top of the caverns that contain Lestari. They do not glow and aren't visible from the ground, so you may not have even noticed them the first time you were there... especially since they're quick and tend to hibernate during the summer and wake up as fall approaches. Maybe try some of your magic out to catch them-- they're pretty indestructable, so you can use any magic at your disposal to try to catch them in jars to gather for the autumn equinox. Don't worry, they won't be harmed in the process! The Elphame Traders will explain they're kind of like magic batteries that have the ability to pass through veil and guide the dead from the underworld through Avalon and on to other worlds from the autumn equinox through the month of October. The variation in travel times is why so many cultures end up with their days of the dead passing near the world at similar, but not the exact same times. What they will emphasize is that there's a big gold prize for the person who catches the most of them.. so don't be lax in trying to compete to catch more than your neighbor! ..Just be careful not to catch them in your eyes, as they like to magically hide in reflective surfaces and can only be gotten out by telling a lie to someone you like.. a repulsive act that will scare them out of your eyes and make you a bit less, well, starry-eyed. C ⦿ Minor Side Quest Fairy coin eggs are laid deep within the rock, so don't worry about disrupting them-- they'll hatch for the next year once it cools down enough for winter and live through they life cycle uninterrupted by groundfolk interference. It's important to note because you will need to forage for something else while you're flying around up at the top of the cave. Well, not so much forage as get out of the rocks... it seems like during the first visit, someone brought their fairy chameleon familiar along with them and it crawled up into the ceiling to have a brood of baby chameleons. Unlike real chameleons, these magical reptiles will change colors to match literally anything they come in contact with, and as babies let out a rather pungent smell to scare away predators... And that happens to have woken up giant bats the size of people that have been flying around and scooping up pets and small children and taking them up into the rocks. While you've got that gift of flight, why don't you take a look around for some of the misplaced children and pets. The people of Lestari didn't even know those bats were up there, and they seem pretty primitive... even animal mages might find them speaking caveman-style and focused on nothing but base animal instincts. Oh, and they have 6-inch fangs and even bigger claws. Take a partner so you can fend off their captors while one of you takes care of the captive! SUMMARY:Those in Camelot help prep for the autumn equinox by gathering the ashes of the dead for a ritual to bind spirit guardians to characters via tattoo brands. Other volunteers act as personal genies for those willing to host guardians. Those close to Camelot will not be without preparations to make, whether they took the trip to Lestari and came back later or stayed the whole time. There are a couple of tasks that will take.. well, quite a few types of badasses. The first preparation involves the binding of ash to mages to create spirit guardians for the dead. While the fairy coins act like batteries for the magic that lets the dead pass through the veil, spirit guardians are needed to direct them to the correct worlds.. or in this case, to welcome them to Avalon and direct them back to the underworld safely. The universe outside of this is frozen in time and space, there's nowhere for them to go, and that means things could get dangerous when the solstice rolls by if things don't go as planned. Which means they need as many mages as possible to volunteer for this.. somewhat painful process. A ⦿ The Fighting Badass (CW: Undead creatures, destruction of remains) The first ingredient needed to raise spirit guardians is the ashes of the dead. Since they can't wait around for current ashes, a group of people will be sent out to the Land of Rot for monster-slaying. Capture an undead creature and bring back its remains to the giant cauldron roiling away all month in Camelot's town square. Be careful- undead creatures tend to pop back up even after you slay them more than once, and the trip takes more than a day, so you may have to spend all night waking up to make sure that your skeleton hasn't started crawling out of your backpack to gnaw on your arm. The remains will have to be burned in Camelot's crematorium until it turns to ash and can be placed in the cauldron, so you've got an arduous and tedious journey ahead of you. B ⦿ The Pain-Tolerant Badass (CW: Branding/tattoos) The next part of the preparation involves the removal of what appear to be pitch-black eggs that glow hot like coals from within the cauldron after it stirs in the ashes of the dead. Volunteers will be asked to act as hosts for the spirit guardians. Volunteers can lie face-down on special obsidian slabs that have been laid out around the cauldron. Others who are less brave are welcomed to use iron tongs to remove the eggs from the cauldron and place them on the backs of those who lay on the obsidian, then cast whatever magic they have on the eggs. This will cause them to crack and their insides to ooze out and sear a tattoo into the backs of the person they are placed upon. The designs are representative of some facet of the person they have bonded with. Though the process itself stings like only a burning hot tattoo can, after a couple of days, those who volunteered will find themselves immune to pain until the autumn equinox. C ⦿ The Caring Badass (CW: Consensual submission) The other two badasses have been through a lot, and no one can deny that the kind of person who can see someone go through things like that and be willing to be a shoulder to lean on is their own special level of badass. Anyone who isn't bearing a tattoo can volunteer to be a caretaker-- a special spellbound servant who is required to fulfill any need, like a personal genie, for a person with a tattoo for the duration of their shift (one day per person)! Those who take on this role are given special privileges for the rest of the month and can essentially get free meals from any restaurant in town for their sacrifice. It is voluntary to be spellbound for this position and none of the special priests around town are unclear about the terms-- anything needed means anything. Absolute refusal will result in the spell being broken to prevent non-consensual practices, but will unfortunately result in the person you are caretaking for losing their bond with the spirit guardian, resulting in return of pain reception and yield no reward in the equinox. This makes it important that guardian hosts don't push it to anything too abhorrent to their caretaker. Though you may not know each other to start, you'll undoubtedly come to trust each other by the end of the day and assure the spirit guardian it is in a place it belongs. 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

[cassassin]

[ cass's expression instantly falters when she sees steph's distress and relief, and her brows knit with concern when her... whatever this steph remembered them being... practically throws herself towards her. instinctively, though, she wraps her arms around her nearly as tightly, one gloved hand cradling the back of her head.

so much about this is uncertain, but stephanie brown has lifted her up so many times. what kind of friend would she be if she didn't return the favor? ]

It's okay. I've got you. [ she never knows what to say when it matters, does she? ]

[ichoosefight]

[ It's more than enough that Cass is just here, solid and real. And if Cass can be here, then so could Tim, right? Maybe she'll be able to go back and save what's left of her world after all. It's more hope than she's had in more than a year, and it takes a minute or two for her to regain enough control that she can talk again.

She pulls away just enough to rub at her eyes with one hand, but it doesn't occur to her to break the hug. ]

I thought you and Tim must be dead! It's so good to see you again.

[cassassin]

[ she's more than content to hold her while she gets herself together. cass is... a little confused by what steph says next, though. ]

It's good to see you, too. [ even more than steph likely realizes, she thinks. ] But... why would we be... [ ah. right. ]

What's the last thing you remember?

[ichoosefight]

[ Right, she'd heard about this time travel stuff. It's probably even possible this Cass is from a different universe altogether. That should probably worry her. Maybe it will later.

She sniffles, and thinks. ]

I'd just finished my fight with Catman, and the world was still ending. You were in the hospital, and I passed out on the couch because I was too sore to make it to bed.

[ Passed out on the couch with Tim, she doesn't say, because it's unneccesary confusion to explain that they didn't end up sleeping together. ]

That was... 4 months ago.

[cassassin]

[ yeah, that'd be a whole thing to unpack. finally, though, she shakes her head. ]

I'm sorry. I know it's... hard, being alone, somewhere like this. I know how it feels.

[ clearly, cass doesn't really know what steph is talking about other than that part. ]

The last time I was home was, um... after Blüdhaven. And the Crisis. We still thought you were... [ she shakes her head, squeezing steph slightly. ]

I was somewhere else, before this. For two years. A lot happened.

[ichoosefight]

[ It takes a moment for Steph to start processing what Cass said. When she does, her own grip loosens as she stares at her friend. Blüdhaven. That was... And then somewhere else? There were other places like Avalon? For two years?

She continues to stare and the gears in her mind continue to turn. It's a whole several things to unpack, and she's not sure how she feels about any of it. There's guilt, and hope, and dread, and an odd sort of loneliness at the thought of Cass somewhere else for so long, without Steph. ]

I... need to sit.

[cassassin]

[ there's something bittersweet at the unspoken confirmation that this isn't quite the stephanie she'd been reunited with by the porter. the one who—

anyway, that doesn't matter. not right now. she certainly won't try to make it this steph's problem.

she nods when steph speaks up, disentangling herself enough for her to pull away. cass goes ahead and takes a seat, bracing slightly on the shingles. she'll even pat the space next to her. it's totally comfortable on the shingles, yep. totally.

it's not, but they've both relaxed on worse. ]

Then c'mon.

[ichoosefight]

[ Steph sniffles again, and sits. At least the angle of the roof is short enough that they don't slide off.

Mentally she goes over what Cass said, one piece at a time. She'd been brought here- not here, but taken away from their own world- while Steph had been 'dead'. She feels a pang of guilt for the grief her friends must have gone through, even if it wasn't her idea. But Cass knows now what happened, right? Two years had passed- wait, how did she find out what happened? She'd just sort of implied that she knew. ]

Two years? Somewhere else?

[cassassin]

[ cass nods at that, resisting the urge to slip an arm around her. instead, she busies herself by undoing the latches and clasps on her gauntlets, setting those down beside her and flexing her fingers. ]

People were brought to, uh... this different America? Still had lots of heroes and villains. Sometimes people would disappear, or come back and not remember... or they'd be... different. [ she lets out a breath. ] Most of us were there at some point, in... some way, but... [ as she said. two years. and even then, it was more complicated than that. she closes her eyes, trying to keep her tone even. ] Got the cowl. Everyone let me keep thinking you were dead, for months. Had to find out from Bruce.

After a while... you showed up, too.

[ichoosefight]

[ It sounds pretty strange, but not really any stranger than Avalon. What does catch her attention is that the others were there. They still exist, somewhere, some time, connected somehow to here and now. That in itself is a comforting thought.

That train of thought is brought to a screeching halt. They let Cass think she was dead for months? They knew, they knew that Cass didn't know, and they said nothing? Why in the fuck not? ]

I wish you could have heard it from me.

[ She wishes she'd never done it in the first place. She wishes the others weren't such horrendous dicks sometimes. ]

[cassassin]

[ she had blamed herself. of course she had blamed herself. it was a situation perfectly primed for her to do that. cass had spent so long thinking that if she had just been a bit better, a bit faster, a bit smarter—

and she had had to live with that, for so long. with every bit of brutality that she'd committed while twisted by that grief. cass's expression falters, and she pulls her knees up to her chest. it still hurts to talk about this in particular, and she can't imagine it's any easier for steph. even knowing she'd survived, the guilt had still been ever-present; she'd believed she could have spared steph so much of what followed, or the worst of what black mask had done to her. ]

Me too. [ there's something heavy to her voice, something she's talking her way around. she shakes her head, finally. ] I was... there for a few months, the first time, before those two years. While I was gone... you were there. [ just their luck, right? ]

After I came back... it was more than a year before you showed up. [ she shrugs, something almost helpless to the gesture. ] Threw myself into the work. Bruce stopped living at the manor. [ because of course they got a new manor. ] Tim and I got a cat.

[ichoosefight]

[ Steph links her hands under her knees, here eyes locked on her shoes. There's so much unspoken between them, so many experiences and emotions that Steph's too overwhelmed to even try to name. While Cass had been blaming herself, Steph had been trying to remember how to be a person again. She tried so hard to forgive herself for taking time she needed to recover, for not making exactly the right decisions while delirious with pain and guilt, but thinking about how much Cass must have suffered while she was gone is like living it all over again. If only she had been better. If only she was better now.

The image of Tim with a cat draws a smile from her, and she laughs weakly. ]

You and I got a guinea pig. We moved in together after... the world started ending. [ It's been so hard to explain that to every single other person she's met here, she's going to put it off now as long as she can. ] No more manor, no more house in the suburbs.

[ No more Bruce, no more Babs, no more Mom, no more Dick or Damian or anyone else Steph ever cared about. She starts to cry again, and rubs at her eyes in annoyance. ]

[cassassin]

[ wait... she thinks she heard something about this. the dome, maybe? bruce and one of the jasons had been from one of those for a time, hadn't they? still. it's not the time to press for details, she thinks.

it's true that there's so much that's gone unspoken for so long, that cass had once begun to fully unearth with another iteration of the girl beside her. but now? it's almost back to square one. after a moment, when she can see the urge to cry kick in, cass wordlessly loops her arm around steph's shoulders and pulls her a little closer. she holds her like that for a few seconds, before: ]

It's okay. Let it out if you want.

[ there's something gentle to it, almost routine, like this sort of intimacy with her isn't new to cass. she mentally kicks herself for reacting so reflexively, but... she doesn't pull back, either. ]

[ichoosefight]

[ In a year of living together they've certainly gotten a little more intimate, though there had been some friction around Steph's decision to quit as Batgirl. She doesn't question it now. Keeping her hands around her legs, she turns to press her face to Cass's shoulder. ]

I thought I was the only one left...

[ Her voice is tiny, and it shakes. She's supposed to be happy. The weight of an entire universe has been taken off her shoulders, but it's as though all the guilt, fear and grief of the last year is crashing down on her after being bottled up for so long.

Still quiet, she starts to sob. ]

[cassassin]

[ it's all too easy to fall into familiar habits here, but luckily, steph doesn't seem to have a problem with it so far. quietly, she brings her free hand up to the back of steph's head, stroking at her hair. she holds her a little more tightly, as if she can keep her friend's heart from shattering with little more than love and will. ]

I'm here. It's okay. [ it's barely more than a whisper, as she tucks stephanie's head under her chin. ] We're out there. The world's going to be okay. I've got you, all right?

[ichoosefight]

[ She tries so hard to put the lid back on her emotions, but the moment she opens her mouth to reassure her friend another wave crashes over her. She pulls her arms up and around Cass and clings to her like a buoy in a stormy sea. Her heart had shattered a long time ago. She'd been holding it together with nothing but stubborn determination all this time.

It would have been her fault. She'd never said it out loud, barely even allowed herself to think it, but she felt it. Her world was ending, her best friends about to die, because some mysterious entity had chosen her to save it. If she hadn't quit, if she'd stayed in shape and kept fighting, maybe she would have had a chance. But all these months she's known that if she went back and had to fight again, she would lose. They were on borrowed time, at best.

Now, for the first time in 16 months, she might have an actual chance to save them.

She tries, for a moment, to put all this into words. They stick in her throat, and she settles instead to cry herself out. ]

[cassassin]

[ even now, cassandra rarely has the words for situations like this. but then, what can she say? if stephanie needs her as an anchor right now, then she'll serve that role happily, for as long as it takes. her arms tighten around steph, and unthinkingly she tilts her head down to press a kiss into her hair. what she'd experienced in that alternate reality within the other world was... deeply, deeply troubling, in itself, but there's no way to explain it to steph as she is now.

cass just holds on tightly, pulling her close. ]

[ichoosefight]

[ The kiss is a bit much, but Steph's in too much of a state to notice for more than a few seconds. Ultimately she does cry herself out, sobs fading into silent shakes, then exhausted stillness.

When she's able to go more than a few moments without breaking into more tears she lets go and starts drying her face as best she can with only bare skin to work with. ]

[cassassin]

[ cass sees the...tension? confusion? when she does that, silently cursing herself. ultimately, though, cass stays put while steph gets it out of her system, nodding and letting go in return when she starts to pull away. ]

Here. [ she pulls a cloth from a compartment on her belt, handing it over. none of this feels like enough; all of it is just too bizarre. she has questions for steph—she wants to know how she's been, what she's been doing—but those can wait. ]

[ichoosefight]

Thanks.

[ She scrubs her face dry. It takes some work and leaves her face even redder than it already was, but she does not blow her nose into the cloth. She can sniffle, like a civilized person. It's too wet to give back, so she holds it on her lap instead. ]

Sorry. There's still so much to talk about, it's just... been a long year.

How much gear did you come with? All I had was my staff, my grapnel gun and a single batarang.

[cassassin]

[ she rummages through pouches. most of what she's carried since coming here is off the shelf, but avalon has been much less intense on the crimefighting front than any of the porter cities. paracord, zipties, minor alchemical solutions and the like. finally, she just shrugs. ]

The suit, a batarang, and my grapnel. Most of the suit's tech isn't working. Lost my healing factor from the last place, too...

[ichoosefight]

[ The suit does seem pretty teched out, but Steph doesn't want to tempt herself with thoughts of coming out of retirement yet again. ]

Healing factor, huh? I've got healing magic now, but it's not much good if I can't focus on what I'm doing.

[cassassin]

[ it's all pretty standard Batman Equipment in there, really. special sensors in the cowl, comms, a batcomputer link, and ocr plus text to speech so she can read on the job.

really, as good as steph was as batgirl, she wouldn't push if steph felt she was better off in retirement, either. ]

Good for helping people, though. Counts for something.

[ichoosefight]

[ She lets out a tired laugh. ]

I've had to use it on myself more than anyone else. I never realized how many scrapes and bruises I get until I didn't have to put up with them anymore.

[cassassin]

Still can't stay out of trouble? [ cass grins at her. of course steph hasn't been able to keep still—it's something she's always liked about her. ] Gonna... have to keep an eye out.