TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 17

[avalonmods]

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⚔️️ View Top-Levels Only ⚔️ IMPORTANT NOTE 1: For the month of March, magic is acting unstable! Magic fuck-ups are at least twice as likely to happen, so new characters may find it harder to do basic magic.  IMPORTANT NOTE 2:The sky is not normal anymore! The calamity is visible in the sky as of February's event.

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 chilly 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. The water is cold, but not enough that you can't handle it on your own. The Lady of the Lake is nearby, but seems to be focusing on coordinating a band of mossatees to help rescue any wayward new arrivals. Mossatees are a special Avalonian manatee that is green in color and has what appears to be a patches of grass or other short plant life growing on its back. While some are fully green, others sport small flower blossoms that haven't yet grown in or various types of mushrooms. Green mages will be able to note that the plants growing on its back seem to give off "surfer dude" personalities.
If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. Those with animal magic may get their info from the mossatees, though may notice that they're really overly friendly and have zero concept of personal boundaries. Everyone may notice they have no concept of personal space, as they will happily run right into someone's belly for a snoot squishing. 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.

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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. 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 a special feature for warm winter drinks like hot apple toddy and butter beer. 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.

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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. Newcomers get free inn rooms for their one night stay on the way to Camelot, containing two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and movies. Don't want to relax in the room? Take a dip in the communal hot spring. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly. 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, but... Hm....

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When everyone arrives it seems like during the siege on Camelot the training grounds were absolutely trashed!

A ⦿ gArBo HuNgErS
	With everyone focusing on recovering Camelot main and the bulk of the resort facilities at the Red Springs, the training grounds at the Red Springs have gone a little neglected.. at least enough to be taken over by a band of local decay sprites. Now, these fairies aren't what they sound- they're not dead, they're little garbage sprites. Perfectly harmless, they often go around picking up trash from natural habitats. They look like garbage bags and bins with googly eyes.  However, the Red Springs's magical attributes combined with magic going a little haywire have caused them to go a little off. Right now, their googly eyes are flashing angry colors that should come with a seizure warning straight out of an old Disney cartoon. They're not just picking up trash, they're eating everything!
What's more, they grow in size each time they eat something new, so some of them are already big enough to swallow an orc! Don't worry, the trash goes into a hammerspace to decay over a long period of time, so if you get swallowed, there's still a chance for someone to get you out... which they can do by fighting the decay sprite. Decay sprites can suck things up similarly to Kirby, though they do not gain your powers, so finding a way to keep your feet on the ground with magic should be your first step. Beware though, defeated sprites will spin in a circle and fall over, and everything they've eaten will spill out onto the ground... so you're going to have to clean it up yourself.

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B ⦿ Slightly Shabby
The state of Camelot isn't exactly great when everyone arrives. It's been ravaged by siege. Things are broken, scattered, and though many of the buildings are still standing, most people are focused on things like taking care of kids, rebuilding, or rerouting the new arrivals since the inn is not available right now. The castle rooms are already pretty full of people whose homes got trampled during the siege, so new arrivals are going to have to find their own place to live. Thankfully, some tag-alongs who came down from Nicnevin with the Elphame traders have got the solution! It's the Wink-Wonk Dream-Donk: a ball you can press the button on and it will suck you inside for a state of stasis! Good dreams guaranteed! Side effects that the mystery helper doesn't mention are that you can't get out on your own, someone else has to press the button, and you'll have warm, vaguely submissive, fuzzy,
kinda clingy feelings toward anyone who lets you out. Though acting on it can be fought with strong enough willpower, it's certainly going to get you and a stranger much closer than you planned a lot faster. It looks like you may have gotten caught up in some kind of dark web experimental product... oops.

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The start of the month begins with the usual March rituals like the Lesser Banishing of Frost Fairies before flowers start to bloom throughout Avalon. Once things start to get cleaned up, some Camelot citizens think of ways to get Camelot back to its normal glory.

A ⦿ Running of the Moon Rabbits
Doing the Lesser Banishing of Frost Fairies often attracts Moon Rabbit kits. These friendly small rabbits do eat a lot though, and it's important right now that the youngin's are nourished without depleting Camelot's food stores.  Thankfully, the Moon Rabbit Kits love to play tag. So throughout Camelot, people have started playing a massive game of tag. The rabbits will chase you around, so the goal is to chase people and head out toward the Broceliande to get the Moon Rabbit kits out to nature where they're intended to be. Per Camelot rules, if you're touched by someone's magic it is considered as being tagged-- so hands or spells will count as a tag.. just be careful, magic is a little unbalanced right now! Be careful not to step on any of the little rabbits while you run!

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B ⦿ Eggxacting
	With the streets clearer and Camelot finally starting to look more like its former self (albeit a little sparser) a culinary wizard has taken to trying his hand at a kind of magic that should help to quickly decorate the city and encourage floral growth. Using a wild combination of animal magic and green magic, the wizard created a special brand of eggs he's calling Oeufs de fleurs. He's selling them for a low price (hey, he does need to bring in some income to afford his expenses) for everyone and new arrivals get half a dozen OdF eggs for free! Just make sure that you follow the directions and there won't be a problem! The directions included with each pack of eggs states: 1. Blue eggs should only be thrown at night. 2. White eggs should only be thrown at day. 3. Do not eat them. More information is available on the chef's Instagram page, of course, but that's all that's included. The further information lets you know that blue eggs are
photosensitive and will turn into bear firs if thrown during the day, but if used correctly will blossom into moonflowers at night. The white eggs react to the moon and will grow into 60 foot tall trees if you throw them at night... but if you're throwing them during the day, they will become beautiful morning glories that only blossom during the light. Lastly, foolishly eating a flower egg is known to result in latent hanahaki disease. If you don't love someone now, this may appear at any point in the future when it does happen. It can only be cured by a skilled green mage. These eggs do expire, so make sure you use them by the end of the month!

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• All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, as the events within are considered game canon. • This post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads and may start their own logs off-post, 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 usually 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

[ragingblossom]

[ It'd be a lie to say that her blood wasn't starting to rush a little. If this were a for real fight, a life or death battle her adrenaline would be kicking in for an entirely different reason. But it's just a spar, neither of them intent on actually killing one another. She might not know how far Magnai was willing to go but he'd invited her not to hold back, and she expected he'd grant her the same. If things got hairy she'd call for a stop.

In the meantime, game fucking ON.

The rattle of chains was warning enough, distinctive and hard to miss, but Sakura had no intention of shying away. She had to get close to land a hit, no matter what, and disarming him was unlikely- improbable at the very beginning of this match. She took her chances and scored what victory she could.

She was admittedly surprised by how sturdy he was, as if he'd just... absorbed/i> those two hits. She was very sure they landed, after all.

A quick reaction saw one of Sakura's hands raise to try to catch the chain around one arm rather than her entire body as she moved to leap back a bit, making sure to keep her other arm free if she could. ]

Oh, don't you worry, I'm just getting started! SHANNARO!

[ The exclamation is accompanied by her free fist aiming for the ground at their feet, rather than at Magnai. When her fist connected the ground fractured beneath their feet, broke into chunks with enough force to hopefully push a tactical retreat but not small enough to cause any rolled ankles or broken bones. ]

[sunappealing]

[He grunts as he’s forced to give ground to her attack, wobbling briefly as he just caught the edge. He pulled the chains both to bring her in and to readjust his direction, and swung his axe roughly where he would presume she would be pulled to. It was enough shift in momentum for him to regain his footing, but the strike with his axe would be clumsy. While the chains kept his opponent close, it left him with only one hand to swing his axe, and even as strong as he was, that was rather difficult to manage with any accuracy.

That was more or less the point with a large axe though. He’d hit something eventually, he just had to bite his time and conserve energy.]

Sorry for the delay!

[ragingblossom]

[ Ultimately her distraction doesn't have the fully desired effect, but it's just enough. She has to drop her concentration on her body reinforcement for a moment to cast a kinetic spell, just to dodge the brunt of the swing of the axe so it wouldn't do serious damage. As it is, there's no avoiding it completely. Magnai's hold on her with the chains see to that. Try as Sakura might she can't break free from their grip, and is drawn into the range of the swing.

She manages to turn at the last moment, change the angle of the point of contact so the blade doesn't cut through anything important. She blames herself for not mastering her skills better. She's still not close to where she was back home with chakra.

The red of her blouse parts in a thin line and darkens where the blade made contact, but if she's in pain it doesn't show on her face as she seeks to shake the chain loose and claim a bit of distance after those first two exchanges.

At least he doesn't appear to use poison. Still, time to reconsider. Maybe she could turn the chains against him and draw him into her? No, that would be giving him a free opening, if she could even actually budge him by force. Her best bet was probably speed.

Sakura smirks a little and straightens, invitingly. ]

eh it's a TDM, it's for funsies I'm not exactly fast with it either

[sunappealing]

[He pulls the chains back and wraps them around his arm before once more taking his axe with both hands. He even takes a step back out of courtesy to allow her to get back on her feet, essentially giving her the first move. This was proving interesting thus far, and far be it from him to turn down a good fair challenge.]

You shall have to work harder than that to best me. Hold back at your own risk, for I shall not insult you with naught less than my best.

[He rolls his shoulders a bit to remain loose, but then takes up a more combat ready stance. Once more waiting for her to come to him.]

lmao Oh it happens to me all the time. It's a rather embarrassing problem.

[ragingblossom]

So long as it's agreed we're not trying to actually maim or kill each another.

[ She won't give excuses, that she's reliant on a source that no longer exists in any tangible way, or that her own newfound magical limits have put severe limitations on what she can do. What would be the point? It would just be whining. No, but holding back is the last thing on her mind and it's all she can do to keep her frustration over her dampened strength and speed.

Frustration will only trip her up, though, so. Speed it is. She should at LEAST be able to manage enough, even at a fraction of her speed at home, to keep even with him.

After deliberating for a bit she makes her move again, this time charging in and navigating the terrain for a series of quick blows, aiming for strategic points- vital points if she can. No deadly force, but enough to incapacitate. ]