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

[junmai]

( there's nothing wrong with a little innocent fun now and again, right? they're in a strange world and some comfort is necessary.

but that's not quite as important as seeing what this little device does if two people want to use it. )

Possibly! ( strange little devices, aren't they? even by Tierran standards. ) On the count of three?

( one... two... three! )

[paleale]

[Yes, precisely. Sometimes you just want to appreciate the nice things when you can.]

On three.

[A quick conversation, and now it's time to see what happens. There's no way to know what to expect with something so different from the familiar, but that just makes Beer all the more curious and he's eager to press the button.

Disappointingly, it's a whole lot of nothing. Not so much because nothing happens, but because once the button is pressed and Beer disappears into it the Food Soul has no idea what's happening. Everything is still, and peaceful, and quiet...

And he's also trapped in there. Sorry, Junmai?]

god i keep wanting to throw everyone at u

[junmai]

( ...huh.

so it really is a one-per-person deal. that's a little disappointing, but on the plus side, Daiginjo now has a not!Pokeball with possibly the oldest Food Soul in existence trapped inside it.

that's got to be worth something. even if only as a memory.

he's just going to take this. and wander. and maybe, once he's bored of the city, he'll retreat back to the area of Camelot which most reminds him of Bliss and rent a little room to make sure there's plenty of privacy in case this little device does something terrible when you release the person trapped inside.

which is to say: (langa voice) what's a love hotel? )

So, how was it?

( there's a smile on his face, soft, gentle, charming, and not quite reaching his eyes which instead turn their gaze sharp over Beer's body. well, his robes. that's an awful lot of fabric.

but he looks fine, all things considered. )

[paleale]

[Sorry Daiginjo, the pokeball is not the bone zone.

Beer has to take a moment to orient himself after being released from the ball, and he looks around at the room he's found himself in. He both is and isn't surprised by where they are, but it's easy to ignore those feelings to focus on Daiginjo.]

...

[He cocks his head, humming as he considers his answer.]

Quiet.

[There's not much different to Beer, really, besides the way he seems to be shuffling into Daiginjo's personal bubble. It's a very slow approach, but he's getting closer nonetheless.]

How long was I in there? It doesn't feel like any time passed at all.

[junmai]

( very rude of it indeed.

but they're here now, and Beer's free, and coming closer (oh, Daiginjo definitely notices, but he's good at pretending otherwise), and so it no longer matters how rude these balls are. )

An hour, give or take. ( maybe give. but that's interesting. these balls seem to have relaxed an already relaxed-appearing Soul and brought him closer still.

hm. maybe he should keep one of these on hand. just in case. )

I thought we should be somewhere private, in case anything went wrong.

( what if Beer's pretty face had been ruined by this thing? )

[paleale]

That long?

[He doesn't peg the urges that have come over him as particularly odd - he's not a very high strung person, really. He's lived so long and seen so much that there are fair few things that can phase him, and he's gotten very good at seeming like he's unbothered by those things as well. Still, he feels compelled to lean against Daiginjo's side, resting his head on the other Food Soul's shoulder, wanting to be close to him.

It's nice, isn't it? To have someone near you... He really spends far too much time alone.]

It doesn't seem like it did much asides from pull me in.

[wym it can result in submissiveness and clinginess]