TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 18

[avalonmods]

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⚔️️ View Top-Levels Only ⚔️ IMPORTANT NOTE: The calamity is visible in the north area of the sky from all locations 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, and normally the mossatees would still be helping this time of year... but it seems like they haven't shown up. Instead, a very helpful band of octopi have joined the cause. They range in size, from large enough to scoop three characters out of the water with their plethora of wriggling tentacles... to a band of tiny,
palm-sized baby octopi working together to try to heave a single person out of the water. No matter which you get, they all seem to have unique personalities, but animal mages may note that as a species, they all seem to think of the otherworlders as fun little playthings. These little otherworlders are so funny. 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 and rain. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console. 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, 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.

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It's time for the phenomenal annual Camelot City Gaming Convention (CameCon). As you well know now, a mythical land that's been around for a few centuries has a few things in common with many modern worlds. It's got the internet, and games have evolved a little bit past hoop trundling and draughts. The large convention center located in the south part of Camelot is a good place to get dry and this year, with relationships repaired between Elphame and Camelot, is busier than ever with fae attendance up by the literal boatload! The ship raised, repaired, and gifted to Elphame last summer was used as a cruise ship to shepherd nerdy fae down for the con.

A ⦿ Becoming a Legend
	Without the massive audiences required to really run MMORPGs, Avalon is much more a fan of couch co-op style gaming. Though most games are available on mobile devices throughout Avalon when they are released, there's nothing quite like coming to CameCon to utilize the gaming stages for everyone's favorite fighting games. Multiple players at a time can plug in their phones and connect their accounts to a light magic-based illusion stage (powered by multiple light mages at a time, once a year only!) roughly the size of a basketball court. This year's primary game feature is the Knights of the Round Experience. Immerse yourself in an illusion of Camelot back in King Arthur's day. Explore the original castle, go on quests issued by mythical figures, participate in the Battle of Camlann like you and your gaming friends were there yourself! (Maybe be a little jarred by the fact that Arthur's voice is a little different-- they couldn't get the King to voice a video game, okay?) Choose your favorite
Arthurian legend level to run through with friends and strangers. And when you're done? Get some merch! Check out the cool figures of Merlin, Arthur, Morganna, Lancelot, Guinevere, and more! Or, have your game avatar printed to have a figure of  yourself to take home and commemorate the experience! That's right, you and your friends can have figures of yourselves made to keep the adventure going back home. Or, you know, find an advanced alchemist to animate it for you and really take things up a notch.

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B ⦿ Cosplay Conundrum
A big part of the fun of conventions are the outfits. Cosplay is in this season and lucky for you, Feldspar the Tailor is here! Feldspar the Tailor is a fae-folk who loves nothing more than to travel around in his cart and make certain that everyone is dressed for the occasion... even if a little magic has to be involved to get you there. Run into his cart (not hard to miss-- the horse changes colors every few minutes) and your character will have Feldspar putting an arm around their shoulder and enchanting your character's clothes to match a character or person of legend he thinks you'll find something in common with. (On an OOC level, dress your character as whatever character you want as long as you aren't breaking the fourth wall.) It's kind of a Cinderella thing, so everything will go back to normal at midnight.   Yes, everything. As it turns out, it's not just magic clothes. Any pets will be transformed into the mascot character associated with your character's cosplay.
Nearby items will be enchanted to become the associated props. You won't gain powers or anything, but part of the magic does compel you to experience a bit of soul-bonding with your cosplay character-- which in this case means if the character you're cosplaying is easily angered, you'll find yourself easily angered. If the cosplayed character falls in love easily, guess who is going to be hot for whoever they talk to? It seems to only be one major trait at least, so your whole character's personality won't change.. but it's definitely going to be something wildly annoying.

A ⦿ Panic at the Disco
	Once you're through the day and have seen all the nifty stuff developers are working on (the worlds may be ending, but they have faith you all won't let that happen, and no ideas how to stop it themselves so they're going to keep on keeping on) the traditional way to wind the night down is with a bit of food, friendship, and staying up all night with a bunch of strangers you just met in the hotel lobby. Or attending one of the late-night dances that get thrown. Bodies in motion, a red-cup laden pop-up bar, flashing lights, a fog machine, and all your favorite nerdy hits being played by a DJ so loudly that you can't actually hear anything are bound to happen. Party hard, and maybe avoid that sketchy-looking fairy who's handing out unlabeled lollipops. (Or don't, we aren't your parents.) Later during the party, there's a shock as an orc dressed in silver bell bottoms (his favorite character is from a 70's based game!)
loses his temper and sends the bouncer flying across the room with a hefty punch. In a rage, he's fighting anyone who comes near him now. What do you do? Try to calm the orc down? Run or hide? Distract him and draw him away from the party so other guests can escape? Or do you fight him directly? Seducing the orc or joining in his fight are of course options as well.. really, this situation has a lot of ways to resolve it, and your character is going to have to figure out how.

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It's been nearly a month and a half since the Fisher King was raised from the dead and disappeared from anyone's knowledge. Hiding is not something easy to do when your curse affects the world around you, though.

A ⦿ Springtime for Skeletons
What keeps the Land of Rot, well.. rotting? Turns out, it was the Fisher King's curse. Without it to keep everything looking dead as a doorknob, things have started to get... a little odd. The zombie population has started losing its spunk and most of them have become just, well, regular corpses-- which make great fertilizer for plants, and the April rains have brought a fresh sheen of green to the once cracked desert ground, small ground plants growing over the former zombies. Grass, weeds, small flowers, moss, and small shrubberies have started appearing all throughout the Land of Rot. Beings that weren't stopped from dying like the zombies from the curse are still around though, like the enchanted skeletons cast away from necromancers past, and even they have started to see a bit of plant life return to them. There are more than a few skeletons
that rested on the ground only to have flowers sprout through their skull, giving them the appearance of rather gruesome flower crowns and other leafy adornments. Less dead creatures that found their livelihoods there are causing bigger problems, like the Fogueria, who are leaving scorched trails like crop circles around the freshly grown grasslands. Those who follow the trail will discover they all seem to have settled into the Dragon's Graveyard to avoid the rains under the shelter of the gargantuan skeletons.  This land of death had been a suitable environment for the dead, and with plants growing over everything, the wards are taken down as well. With the zombie population almost obliterated, this does allow the creatures from within the Land of Rot to disperse. Creatures like the banshee head further north, to the Unnamed Marshes, whereas Swamp Slimes head toward the Growboro's Forest rapidly overtaking the former Lestari. Of course, some of the residents like the Walking Skeletons head right for Camelot, prompting a call to battle at its border. Anyone who can fight is asked to help cut down the skeletons and separate the defeated ones into piles of like bones so that they cannot reform. Those who aren't good with a sword or blunt weapons may consider relying on magic for this one- there are plenty of ways to blow a florally decorated skeleton apart with a good spell!

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B ⦿ The Battle of the Fisher King's Forest
	Many know the the Forest of the Fisher King as a vibrant, lively place with a glorious measure of carnivorous and dangerous plants and creatures. Not dead-- but simply adapted to thriving off of the dead. It fared much better with the loss of the Fisher King's curse than the Land of Rot had. At least, that's how it started. It appears that creatures from further north have come down and started invading the Forest of the Fisher King. Mothra himself would have trouble dealing with the ensuing damage that has started happening within the forest because of the twelve-foot-tall Feral Frogs lassoing Titan Pelicans with their tongues and knocking over trees as they attempt to defeat them in a battle for territory. There's a cadre of Marsh Drakes trying to take out the smaller creatures around the area, and Cattails attempting to take out the plants that cause hallucinations as their plant-based nature makes them immune to the spores.
As a result, the Archivist has had to close up shop. He used his own powerful magics to seal off his Archive and protect its contents from the unexpected battle. He took his pocket-sized steampunk-dressed gnome to flee to Camelot to make his plea: "Otherworlders, please! You are needed to investigate what has caused this sudden invasion!" All he knows is that the invaders seem to be led by Tiddy Mun, an elderly man no taller than a three-year-old child, but wrinkly with his body front covered by a matted white beard. It doesn't make any sense! Find out what's happening and placate the invaders so that they don't destroy the whole Forest of the Fisher King! Characters can attempt to reason with the creatures they run into, break up the fight if they thing they can survive it, or... you know, accidentally get caught up in the perils of the Forest of the Fisher King and end up being hypnotized by a snake or made submissive my plant spores and swallowed whole by whatever runs into them first. It should be noted that the invaders will not harm otherworlders unless they interfere with what they're doing-- which, if your character is careful enough, will become obvious: they're harvesting resources like food and wood. There's definitely more than meets the eye here.

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C ⦿ The Unnamed Marshes
Those who head up to the Unnamed Marshes will find the marsh much less lively than it should have been. The plants are wilting despite being in the water, the animals who remain seem rather on the thin side. Fish in the water seem willing to bite just about anything that crosses their paths, so it may be a good idea to take one of the rafts that seem to be scattered about. It'll take at least two people to steer at a reasonable speed, so you may want to partner up with someone! As you explore what somehow feels like endless marshes, you'll find the rains and fog make visibility pretty impossible in the marshes and that it's hard to tell what direction you came from, let alone where you're trying to go. Maybe it's for the best that you don't know what's surrounding you. A lot of the sounds are unearthly, and you're fairly certain
you can hear the screams of multiple banshee in the distance-- perhaps this is why they flocked North when the Land of Rot started blooming. There are plenty of creatures who seem very interested in approaching the raft, though. Perhaps your character has spotted strange lights in the water and followed those only to discover that they seem to be candle-lit lanterns, drifting through the marshes in a trail. Do you follow them to their source? Or follow them to their end? Either way, strangely, you seem to end up in the same location. Will o' wisps floating around seem to be sparking up gases to light them and send them along their way, then they come in a near circle back from the other direction, the candle flickering out as it approaches before a frantic wisp approaches to relight it. It's unclear exactly what it is they are doing, but as long as you don't interfere, they don't seem to care that your character has found them. If your character attempts to stop them, they'll cast a floating spell on your character that causes them to hover over the water rather uncontrollably... hopefully whoever you're with is ready to grab you and try to keep you down! It'll wear off after about ten minutes, but by then you could be far too high to survive even a fall back into the water. Maybe there's some way to get the will o wisps to stop their frantic job? Have an idea? Submit your idea as a comment to this thread or +1 that's already been tried. There are two possible paths this can lead to later-- if any character achieves the correct solution, it will yield a different result than if no one does. In the meantime, feel free to play out your character's idea! CW: The following paragraph of this prompt contains the potential for sexually-inclined content. Please label any threads accordingly. Perhaps you run into the some of the Unseelie swamp nymphs, beautiful creatures who surround your raft and rest their ample bosoms upon the edge of it to show themselves off. They appear the gender your character is attracted to, or to asexuals they appear as themselves- transparent individuals with vaguely green light glowing through what seems to be a circulatory system. They will be very kind to characters under the age of 16 and offer to show them through the fog, as children are innocent and too young for any other purposes they may have. Adults, on the other hand... well, these Unseelie will usually approach one or two at a time, asking to mate with adult characters since springtime is physically painful for them if they can't! Agree, and you will definitely be bottom because they are looking to lay eggs. On the bright side... they'll protect you fiercely until you lay them or they realize you're not capable of laying eggs. Don't agree to what they want and, well, they'll try to turn over your raft and pull you under the water, tying your feet to the bottom with reeds with the intention of eating you after you drown. If you won't help them with one method of survival, you'll help with another. Hopefully there's someone around to help if you end up in a tough situation.

 

 

• Feldspar's spell will only change appearances. Props will not gain powers to perform the functions of the items they turn into, same for pets. • For current players: The Archivist's Totem will still take you to the Archivist's even with the Archive itself sealed off for safekeeping, but outside. • Marsh drakes are cow-sized wingless, four-legged dragons that live in marshes. They typically are greenish blue in color and are physically brutish and hunt in packs of three or more-- usually one as the distraction and two coming in from behind or the side. They have a single, thick and sharp horn protruding from their snout and  Cattails are cats made out of plant material and are named for their tails, which are identical to the cattail plant. They have sharp teeth and claws. They don't typically use them for eating as they gain energy through photosynthesis, but do use them to defend their territory. • 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

[unfalteringwall]

What if you used light magic to give the illusion of flame so that they looked like they were staying lit after they go out? 🤔 Would that put them at ease and stop the cycle, perhaps?