test drive meme ⚔️️ 23 | FINAL

[avalonmods]

 

	QUICK NAV: ⚔️️ Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary
⚔️️ View Top-Levels Only ⚔️ IMPORTANT NOTE: The sun and moon have returned to normal, but the Calamity is still visible in the sky.

 

 

ARRIVAL

The re-arrival of characters who were previously not here does not occur in the Bay this month. Instead, re-arrivals can appear at any time or place on the map as long as there is water. The Lady of the Lake is busy dealing with the situation in Atlantis (see the QuestBoard), so her magic isn’t very directed right now. Want to show up in the Red Spring? In someone’s shower? Stuck in the well the minotaur pissed in? Go for it! It’s time to get wet and wild. In fact, you could even show up underwater…

 

DARLING, IT’S BETTER

After the success at Dinas Emrys, the people of the cursed underwater town return to Camelot’s shores to offer a unique opportunity - to visit the town itself. It has only been seen in the distance before and this is the first time in many years that they have opened their gates to strangers, but all the hard work that the otherworlders have been putting in to fix the Calamity had not gone unnoticed even by them.

 

A few of the merfolk arrive at Camelot and ask people to put up notices for them. The following day they will be waiting for anyone who wants to make the trip down to the town, which they reveal is called Apkallun, and they will utilise the crown used to get everyone to Dinas Emrys to transform them into merfolk.

 

Merperson (fish bottom) - Merpeople’s singing voices are able to put people and creatures into a trance.

Cecaelia (octopus bottom) - Cecaelia can normally grant vengeance wishes, but per previous events, wish magic is not currently functioning as it should- so their primary features are the ability to ink and use their tentacles as additional controllable appendages.

Naga (serpent or eel bottom) - Naga have advanced strength and can extend their nails as claws.

 

The trip to the town is fairly uneventful, unless someone decides to wander off and gets stuck in some kelp or kidnapped by mischievous nymphs hiding along the route. Once there, it’s clear that the arrival of outsiders has been much anticipated by the town. They have put on a grand welcoming for their visitors and although many of the townspeople seem nervous to make eye contact with the strangers the atmosphere is not an unwelcoming one. Everyone is told that they may tour the town at their leisure and move about as they wish, and there is plenty to see.

 

OUTSKIRTS

It isn’t advised to linger around the areas outside the town, where the light of the lanterns quickly fades out through the water and leaves anyone straying wandering about in a murky darkness. For those more intrepid explorers, though, quick investigation of a noticeboard near the centre of the town will reveal a faded ‘dead or alive’ poster for something called The Wispmera, with a reward of twenty lavender pearls. Enquiring about it will draw laughs and puzzled looks from the townspeople, who will inform the enquirer that no one has ever gone after the creature in all the time the notice has been up. Further pressing will reveal, as they grow quiet and avert their gazes, that this beast will swiftly snatch up children who stray too far outside of the town unaccompanied. 

 

However, all is not as it seems…

 

Hunting down the creature is no easy task and the descriptions of it are vague. It’s described as a barely-mer shaped thing that haunts the area around half a mile outside of town, occasionally drawing close only to be chased off by the town guard. Some people describe it as glowing, or having a massive head, and of being able to paralyse people from several metres away.

 

Even reaching the area where the creature is usually seen is fraught with dangers, including carnivorous fish and strong water currents, but persistent hunters will eventually come across the ‘beast’. It has the appearance of a huge jellyfish with poison tendrils wafting delicately though the water around it, but a moment of inspection will allow one to note that this creature also has a mer’s tail, and is simply sitting on a rock in the dark. If one can sneak up on it, it would be easy to kill. This first option would be the easy route to getting the reward and no one in town would fail to be grateful. The second, more risky option would be to engage it in combat, however those tendrils are able to paralyse a person within minutes should they hit. Anyone who is stunned by the creature will find themselves on the edge of the town after they black out, as if someone carefully brought them there.

 

There is a third option, however. Approaching the creature with no weapons will startle it, but it will not attack. This beast is far from the terrible child-stealing monster that those in the town would paint it as. In fact it has never stolen any children at all! All this poor thing desires is to be left alone, having never done any harm to anybody, and all of the stories about it have simply been passed down over time by frightened people who did not know what they were seeing out in the dark. If the hunter agrees to not kill the creature it will give them five pale blue-coloured pearls in thanks, but this will forgo the reward from the town. Unfortunately, no one is going to believe that you saw the creature at all.

 

DOWNTOWN

In downtown, around something that looks like it used to be a fountain, a bustling market has been set up with various stands and stalls selling local produce and items. Even the native townsfolk seem to be excited about this as it isn’t a regular occurrence and was thrown together in quite the rush after it was announced that strangers from the land would be coming to visit.

 

The stalls are offering food and drink, as well as handmade wares. The food is mostly fish-based, but some care has been taken to make choices available for those people who don’t eat fish (though that selection is somewhat limited). Locally made items are made mostly of shells, stones and driftwood as well as glass, and the stall-runners will eagerly push things into people’s hands if they show the slightest interest.

 

There is one large stall supplying most of the drinks on offer. Rather than being in glasses or bottles, they come in small magical bubbles that you pop into your mouth and break with your teeth and boast a variety of interesting and ‘enlightening’ effects. 

 

• BLUE - a cool flavour almost like plain water, but uniquely fresh. Consuming it will cause the person’s skin to glow faintly for several hours.
• RED - tart with a faintly spicy kick. Drinking this will make you hiccup multi-coloured bubbles when you try to speak and lasts for around ten minutes.
• PURPLE - unexpectedly citrus-flavoured. This one causes the water being ‘exhaled’ from the gills as the person breathes to be dyed several different colours and will last for half an hour.
• ORANGE - tastes like honey and ginger. This one will cause the drinker to speak in rhyming couplets for around an hour.
• GREEN - tastes very much like absinthe. Also acts very much like absinthe. This will just get you very drunk very fast. Good luck.

 

UPTOWN

Part of the town is clearly far more… ‘polished’ than the rest. The homes are fronted with shining opals and nacre, and although the people there seem friendly enough there is a certain aloofness to them that isn’t found in the bustling marketplace or the streets around it. 

 

But no matter, that isn’t why people have been directed there. The reason for any outsider to be shown the way to this area (unless they found their own way there) is to attend a concert being put on at the theatre in honour of their esteemed guests. There is a buzz about this show, with the performer clearly being someone of some note, and though there are no posters or pictures on the front of the building everyone is urged that they ‘wouldn’t want to miss it’.

 

The lights go up, and the performer is an ethereal oceanid of exceptional beauty who has been living in the town since she was brought to Avalon as an outsider herself many years ago. Though she doesn’t sing in a language anyone would be able to comprehend the emotion that she sings with could be enough to drive those in the audience to tears. Indeed, several people are seen to be leaving before the show is even finished and once it is over the entire room erupts into raucous applause. 

 

Those otherworlders who attended the performance will be able to see beauty in everything and may find their emotions to be somewhat off-balance, making them more prone to outbursts and also to blurting out the truth to those around them. This effect should wear off after a few days, but any dreams that they have in the meantime will feature the oceanid’s singing in the background.

 

—-----------

 

THE RING OF DISP(HELL)

Part 1: Hot in Herre

As the otherworlders passed the test of nobility, the dragons reveal the location of the ring: it is hidden deep in a volcano. They are able to provide a map, but not much information about what can be expected once people get there.

 

The volcano itself is not one that the otherworlders would be entirely unfamiliar with, but it is not one that many would have had reason to approach before: the northernmost Ash Mountain, a volcano with plume-hidden bluffs nestled between Mab’s Cavern and the Perilous Desert. Though the Elphame traders are not around to offer much in the way of gear or protection this time around the dragons themselves offer to teach people a special spell (Spell: Dragonscale) which they say will protect from the heat and fumes that will need to be dealt with to reach the ring. 

 

It’s recommended to give this spell some practice due to how valuable it will be when going up towards the volcano’s summit and for the trials beyond, but be warned that overuse can cause stiff joints, inability to regulate body temperature, and chronic burping that makes it feel like you just ate a dozen ghost peppers.

 

There will be plenty of time to gather supplies and kit, though some of the more unscrupulous merchants in Avalon are taking advantage of the rush as well as the lack of traders from Elphame, and are raising their prices. Some of the gear being sold may not quite be up to the task, either…

 

Part 2: Feeling Magmanimous

Arriving at the volcano is a trial in itself. The dragons will take those willing to go most of the way, but will drop them near the foot of the mountain to let them make their way up on foot. Their reasoning for this, they say, is to ensure that everyone is able to acclimate to the environment on their way up… but it might just be that they have better things to be doing.

 

With everyone loaded up it doesn’t take long for things to start becoming difficult. The heat rises swiftly around the travelers and there is very little movement in the air to offset it. Foul-smelling gasses rise up from vents and deep, narrow chasms along the edges of what appears to be a lightly-trodden path, if one could say it is a path at all, between slow-moving lava flows. What vegetation there is at the base of the volcano quickly gives way to the occasional tuft of dry grass and sickly-looking tree that has dared try to grow in this location. There is the constant, unsettling sensation of being watched despite the land around them appearing utterly bereft of any fauna.

 

Going too near to the edge of the path, woefully under-marked as it is, will put all but the most sure-footed in danger of slipping on the loose, shale-like ground beyond and sliding off down towards one of the oozing rivers of molten rock snaking their way down the side of the volcano. ‘Dragonscale’ won’t be enough to keep anyone from injury if they hit it, so watch out for each other!

 

A half day’s journey is what it takes to reach a mark on the map which seems to show the entrance to a large tunnel system, and though the entrance itself will be a tight squeeze for some it opens up initially into a spacious cavern that is somehow several degrees cooler than outside. 

 

No doubt a few people will want to make up a camp and get some rest here. That’s probably a good idea. Beyond the cavern itself are several dark tunnels, shown on the map as Labrinth y Brenin, and some preparation is advised before heading into those passageways…

 

Part 3: Turnkey Toasted

When everyone is prepared, the final and most vital part of the expedition can begin. It is advised to take some kind of light source into the tunnels, as once the glow of the base camp is left behind the darkness is almost absolute. It quickly becomes hot and stuffy as progress is made through the winding passages and anyone who decides to lean on one of the walls to take a breather will quickly realize why - the tunnel walls are warm, almost hot, as if molten rock flows not too far behind them.

 

Occasionally the tunnel opens into small open spaces, like pockets in the mountain, where lava flows slowly in lazy rivers below the path as it precariously bridges over and edges around it. It might be tempting to linger in these spaces, where the pressing sensation of several hundred feet of rock above and around you is not so keen, but lingering for too long will have an unpleasant side-effect.

 

The fumes rising from the lava in these small caverns can cause powerful hallucinations, driving people to see their worst fears - real or perceived. It will be up to those who remain unaffected to make sure that their companions make it to safer ground, where the effects will wear off after a few minutes. Until then, it will be up to friends and strangers alike to make sure that those who are under the influence of the toxic gasses don’t cause harm to themselves or others.

 

Finally, hopefully without too much incident, the final cavern is arrived at. This is a large space, refreshingly cool despite several waterfalls of molten rock rolling slowly down the walls, and the ceiling glitters with geode clusters. In the centre of the cavern is a transparent, locked box inside which a simple ring can be seen. Underneath the box is an inscription.

 

You cannot prove, but you always know:

The apple falls, the wasp stings, a friend comes, the keys turn.

 

But what does this mean? The number of lava-falls in the cavern match the number of required keys to open the box, but surely the instructions can’t mean what they seem to?

 

Close examination of the falls will reveal the faint glint of gold behind them - the pieces are indeed behind the molten rock. Though it seems impossible, those who put their hands through the lava with faith that they will not be harmed will find that rather than burning, they only feel a pleasant warmth as the lava-fall parts around their hand and arm and allows them to pluck the key piece from behind it. Without faith… well, why would you stick your hand in lava if you really think your hand will melt off?

Once all the pieces are gathered by the faithful (and brave), the box can be opened and the simple ring is no longer quite so simple-looking. It can be taken without further trial, and the only task that remains is to make it back to base camp without accidentally falling off a bridge.

With the final item retrieved those who ventured out are free to return to Camelot, where they will need to hand the ring over to Merlin so the final preparations can be made to end the Calamity once and for all.

 

---

 

 

 

• This is the final "test drive meme," to welcome returning characters and wrap up the journey to get Lancelot's Ring of Dispell. • Anyone may reply to any threads or start top-levels. Whichever you prefer! • If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt. • Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here!

Comments

Questions

[avalonmods]

Re: Questions

[tempredmental]

For people coming back, do they have any of their stuff from before? Or are they starting from scratch?

cecelia ardenbury is back baybee - ota

[sighsheavily]

arrival.
first-come, first-serve entry

GADS-!!

[turn left and all of a sudden...you're here? where's here? this is not her office, this is...

someone's residence? whose? what???]

...

[she inhales sharply, holds it, and exhales slowly to vent out the shock. right...magic nonsense against her will. what is it this time? while her ears burn to listen for sounds of life nearby, she clears her throat and raises her voice, speaking in a pleasant lilt:]

Was it someone's wish I appear here? If so, I'd appreciate the host to make themselves known.

---

outside, camelot, what the fuck did you guys do to the sky.
ota

[it's... it's right there. high overhead, plain as the view it had been through the eye of a telescope. but then, when she was Ambassador, it was still necessary to use that lens to see it well - now it's...

this isn't good.

keep it together, Ardenbury.]

Pardon-- [with her chin lifted and her demeanor curt-yet-professional, she turns toward someone on the street with an outworlder look about them.] Yes, excuse me. I have questions. Do you have time? If not, guide me to the Ambassador, if you please?

---

rings of disp(hell).
ota

[Lady Ardenbury is not particularly dressed for an expedition, but she's hardly let that stop her before (and it's hardly the time to be shopping, is it??). once she's gotten the skinny from perusing the network, speaking to people, doing her damndest in all manner of dealing with people, Cecelia finds herself at the foot of Ash Mountain like many others.

could there be anyone looking more vexed and grim about this whole thing? possibly. most likely - she is one to seal away her emotions behind a flint-set expression, but her brow is knit as she reviews the Dragonscale spell yet again. no more laments about her missing catalog of spells - it's business time.

...and it's frustrating. being so stripped of her full potential makes this bitter work, and it conveys more plainly through the familiar at her feet - a fawn-sized unicorn flinching and flickering with each attempt to master the spell.

she likely needs a break, but far be it from her to decide.]

---

[the climb is not kind, and while Cecelia's in no state to make demands of the mountain, she does rather wish the ground itself would be reliable.]

Ah-!

[the loose, shifty stones give way under her foot and pitch her sideways, threatening to throw her down the side of the mountain completely if she's not caught.]

---

Here.

[at the encampment outside the tunnel system, Cecelia approaches someone looking rather worse for wear, holding out a waterskin.]

There's plenty. Drink up.

---

[Cecelia's lineage boasts the might of red dragons, yet her bloodline means next to nothing in the face of Avalon's furnace: all that power and immunity to the heat and poisons of the earth was stripped from her, and so she can only struggle, just as the others do.

it's hard. she's not built for endurance tests like this, short and delicate as she is. maybe she shouldn't be here, maybe she should've stayed back and made a bid to support the king and his council directly. but her pride, her fear of rejection from her worthy posts...it dragged her this far, didn't it? it'll have to drag her the rest of the way.

she wavers, hugging her arms to herself as her pace slows, likely interrupting the pace of those behind her. glimpsing at the singed, frayed edges of her skirts gives her pause and...almost cause to laugh, but she can't waste the breath.]

---

[Cecelia barely bats an eyelash at the unpleasant suggestion. hand? in lava? this was child's play before Avalon, and she's decided it shall be likewise today. as an elemental mage here it's only fair! she gives her familiar a sharp look before lifting her chin defiantly and stepping forward, steeling herself in the face of obscene heat.]

Let this be my last test, then. Should I have any merit here in this land at all, it may as well be for this.

[because if she's to be a failure of an ambassador, she may as well succeed as a fool who melts her hands off...

...but she doesn't. she finds, after holding a breath with a note of fear, that there's nothing to fear of this heat. it's...almost like home. she exhales and proceeds to grab the golden key, withdrawing it from the falls and turning back to the party with a triumphant glint in her eye that she can't hide even in wanting to.

still, we have to keep it professional here:] Shall I gather the others, or are you quite capable of doing likewise?

wtf sky prompt

[rustyhonesty]

[Jean's on his patrol, but he definitely has time with how slow things are. Besides, what else is a Knight than a walking fancy info board, really?]

Sure. Ask away.

Don't fall please

[eightfoldfiend]

[Yuber is mostly keeping to himself as he climbs upward, silently wishing for his own more reliable teleportation magic. If he had his usual power, this whole ordeal would be over.

It is frustrating... almost as frustrating as watching the mortals walking around him, knowing he can't sate his cravings on their screams.

It is while he is thinking about screams that someone nearby shouts and for a moment he wonders if he's imagined it. He twists around and sees the familiar form of Cecelia losing her footing.

Quickly, he teleports to her, appearing beside her in a swirl of black smoke.]

Tsk!

[He reaches out to grab her arm.]

Watch your feet.

Oda Nobunaga (RETURN of the Demon King) | Ikemen Sengoku | OTA

[konpeito_aji]

Arrival:

[One minute someone's making tea, or in the shower, and next thing you know, there's a full plate mail clad samurai from 1582 pulled out of the teacup or shower head.]

Many pardons. I am just as confused as you are. [Probably. He definitely doesn't sound like it!] If you'll just point the way to the door, I'll see myself out. [He bows, and he's in such a state, he might even bow into you. Oops? Maybe he IS a bit frazzled after all!]


[Underwater he is a naga. Of course he is. NobuNAGA, get it??? Yes.]

Downtown shopping:

[Nobunaga is of course, used to craftsmen and the bustle of trade that reportedly was so chaotic and busy it made Babylon seem calm and reasonable in comparison. But that's how Nobunaga wants it. People having the luxury to focus their time and passion not on survival, but on production, on arts, craftsmanship, trading is basically the epitome of motivation for his dream.]

[This is, unfortunately for him, mistaken as a desire to buy, and it takes almost no time for him to be overwhelmed by aggressive salespersons. Another thing Nobunaga has never had to deal with because... well, first and foremost, he was a psychotic Demon King that most people with common sense avoided, secondly because he'd ever needed to go buy things for his own pleasures. Having generals, vassals, an entire army, and a large assortment of people doing things FOR him meant that such a "normal" thing was largely out of his hands as even a considered possibility normally.]

[Anyone who knows of his ruthless violent psychotic reputation might want to help just to make sure he doesn't do anything like that.]

[Or point and laugh, whichever.]

BUBBLES!

[They look like candy... so you KNOW the sugar fiend is going to try every single flavor.]

[Which is why he's glowing blue, exhaling rainbow, DRUNK, hiccuping, and rhyming. Damn, that's a lot.]

This is nothing to regret!
My fun hasn't even started yet!

[Oh dear. Another hiccup. ((ooc: can avoid colored font, just let me know, it'll be there in SPIRIT))]

Quest: Holy Mayo War

[He kind of remembers something about mayo. Yes. This is...]

This is not mayo. [Hiccup.] What is this travesty?

Uptown Singer

[Just what everyone needs: an overemotional Nobunaga. This can only end well. He was stoic through the whole performance, and even after, just politely applauding, but now he seems a bit misty and somehow even more melodramatic, and that's already not a particularly unusual state for him.]

I just... you don't understand... Konpeito... it can save the world... [Wibble.]

Quest: Monkey Business

[Nobunaga is trying to talk others into helping him.] You can have all the credit. I just want a pet monkey to name it Hide and see if he gets along with his namesake. [Nobunaga no...]

Arrival (Cafe Edition; Have a shocked barista (Lord) Harry)

[phoenixwiz]

(So Harry is just minding his own business with making a customer’s order of Bergamot Lavender Tea at Helleste Cafe as usual. It should be have been a normal work day with Rose napping on the top of the deli display and Hedwig quietly napping on the branches. But as he fills up the teacup with hot water, pop goes the Demon King out of said teacup much to Harry’s own shock.

This surprises him a lot since the last time he saw Nobunaga, he was just chilling around while he was solving the stonehenge puzzle at the Celliwig trials, or was it the time he saw he and Zuko having a training session. Regardless, he vanished some time later and Harry didn’t knew what happened to him for months until now.)

Um, oh yes, I’m also so sorry for that too. I was just making some tea for a customer earlier. As for the exits, um… There is a staff exit right at the back of the cafe but you can use the main entrance as well.

Dolce | Rune Factory 4 | OTA / Returning! (cw: campy horror for arrival)

[dolcedeleche]

Arrival:

[The second she comes out of a bathtub faucet, Dolce knows there's only one thing to do.]

[Renact the bathtub scene trying to be a pink slime monster with her pink hair long and wet in her eyes like another certain spooky girl crawling forwards about to eat or tickle (worse than devouring) or dragged into the afterlife: whoever is unfortunate enough to be poured in on.] Ah yes, I forgot ghosts could do this too.

[Underwater: she is a typical merfolk.]

Drinks

[She's only adventurous enough to try the orange one, and that leaves...]

Oh no, if only Pico was here
It would make her really cheer.
That's just as well
She likes to yell
And no one needs to know
I should be quiet, though.

[Help...]

Post-Concert Honesty

[Well without Pico, there's an upside? No one is around to take advantage of her lack of tsun tsun protecting her honest squishy center. Have a 180 Dolce being cute and wholesome if you wish?]

Volcano and dragons:

[Far be it from Dolce not to help when it's required, and a "little" thing like a volcano even dragons don't feel like dealing with, is not going to stop her from doing her best. It's just going to require someone else to be "the leader" because she's not the pro-active type. She will work very hard on practicing the spell, and helping others perfect it, and getting past the scaling of the volcano.]

[She'll even help with the final part, if you're too scared or fragile to do it yourself.]

[There is just ONE catch.]

[Dolce's typical sense of "humor."]

[Every few minutes or anywhere particularly tricky she says alarming things like:]

Oh... I can see all the ghosts of the fallen. [Cups a hand to the long pointed ears.] They say turn back now or end up like them. We should keep going.

[Is she serious? WHO CAN SAY.]

Arrival - nudity ment.

[colchismagecraft]

[After a long day, there was little Caster liked more than a nice hot bath. A chance to rest and recover, gather her thoughts, and prepare for an evening of scheming. And so it was that she was lying peacefully in the water, washing shampoo carefully out of her hair-

Hm, maybe a little more hot water was needed. She'd been in here for a while, after all.

What she wasn't expecting, was that as soon as she turned the tap on, something- no, someone- that was distinctly not water came pouring out right on top of her! In a style that was honestly more in keeping with something she herself would do!

Don't mind the witch shrieking and quickly calling on her dark magic to cover herself up!]

Eek-! What in Hecate's name-...!

Sokka is back, back again (Elemental/Technomancy)

[bendless]

Arrival

[Did you intend to take a shower just now? Well... the shower seems to bring something Very Different to the shower floor. That is one (1) Sokka. A very confused and now wet Sokka.]

Okay, what the... did someone with Kinetic magic or a fae prank teleport me or what the heck?

[He definitely wasn't here, wherever this was, just a few moments ago. He was definitely at his Avalon "home".]

Sorry that I got you involved in someone's prank....


Network

un: boomerang-guy

what do you mean my channel and all my followers are gone?! how can they do this to me! I worked really hard on it! maybe I need to utilize my magic and bring it back.

Darling, it's better...

[Sokka, being the curious (currently octopi/cecaelia) person he always has been, has of course tried the various drinks the stall in downtown after arriving there. Current list goes as such:

1) glowing skin
2) his breathe is 'exhaled' in rainbow colors
3) he's... unfortunately "drunk"

Not to mention he also has the orange crink in his hand, ready to take a sip of it but failing to do so when he's busy babbling at the nearest merperson.]

Sho... I said "what the" when I appeared in someone's shower... Can you believe it? I was dragged back here from a shower!! You'd think after all the time... I spent helping I'd get a better entrance?? But noo... always the comic relief!

[It may be better to save the poor merperson from a babbling Sokka.]


The Ring of Disp(Hell)

[It's time for preparations to go to the Volcano. Sokka is both excited and terrified about this, which means he's definitely practicing the spell as much as he needs to until they really need to go.]

... why did I always have a hunch I'd somehow end in a volcano, again, one way or another. I just knew it would happen.

[Whether it was here or back home. He just had a feeling.]

Wildcard

Sokka can be dragged into any shenanigans outside these prompts, as he will be in both underwater and volcano areas and around Camelot after his shower arrival.

Volcano

[dolcedeleche]

This isn't your first time? [Dolce isn't surprised. Traveling through volcanoes isn't unheard of in her world, but she is curious. And maybe it will help to hear stories of it happening before.]

Raven Branwen the returnee deadbeat mom (Dark/Blood)

[ensuredsurvival]

Arrival

[Raven is lucky (?) to end up in the Red Spring. It's a nice arrival, except...]

At least let me undress myself before dropping me into a bath.

[Might as well undress now and relax since she was given the opportunity. She puts her clothes on the side and sits down properly.]

And if someone is nearby, feel free to explain what's going on now.


Volcanic camping

[Raven is definitely in favor of resting before heading into the caverns. It's a dangerous place already, going in unprepared is like you have a death wish. She can be found preparing some tea. Yes, tea, even in the hot blazing area they are in.]

Do you want some? I have herbal and berry tea flavors. Good for nerves.


Wildcard

Raven can be dragged into any shenanigans outside these prompts, as long as it's in Camelot proper or at in the volcano prompts.

Volcano

[dolcedeleche]

Thank you very much. Ginger, if you have it.

Are you all set on learning the spell or just taking a break?

[Dolce is straight up knitting. When in doubt... knit.]

[It's a weird thing though, because without Pico around to make things for, she has no idea what to make. She was going to make something fire dragon volcanic protection themed... and she still is, but it feels weird to do it without the subject here to model it.]

Homura | Senran Kagura

[crimsongirl]

1. Arrival

[It had been about a year since Homura went missing. Truthfully, she had no idea where she was all this time. One minute, she was testing out the new outfit she painstakingly formed by herself. The next, she was gone, and now, suddenly back in the water. Seconds passed before she slowly opened her eyes…and they hurt. She shouted, the soap now getting into her mouth.

From within someone’s filled up bathtub, Homura raised her head, shouting obscenities while spitting out whatever soap was being used. Smelled really good, but the taste and burning in her eyes was definitely not worth it.]

Fucking hell, what dumbass stuffed the damn pool with soap!? [She paused. Wait. She had footing. The lake wasn’t that shallow. As her sight began to return, this seemed more like a bathroom…

….
………
…………….

Yeah, she was now looking at the other person awkwardly, her face red.]

….I swear, my mom didn’t make me do this.

2 .Reunion - locked to Caster

This was the path she chose now, having to hide her identity from others. Not because of her embarrassing entrance, though she made sure such news would NEVER see the light of day. Rather, it was all to avoid one of the few people who knew about her. With so many people coming back here, Homura didn’t believe her time here was permanent. How could she when this world was falling apart? Best to just do what she can to help from the shadows and take care of the stone giant while here. It was better if Medea didn’t know her daughter returned, just to have her vanish again.

So while traveling with the group of people, she wore a cloak to cover her outfit, remaining silent mostly throughout. There were many groups of people here though, and Homura had thought her mom simply stayed home. Didn’t make sense to her why Caster would suddenly showed up.

And then the Servant did appear, the two crossing paths near a pathway on the mountainside. All Homura wanted was to take some time for herself, and seeing her mother, she froze up. The wind pushed back her hood at the worst time possible too, revealing the all too familiar hairstyle and tanned face.

Her secret was out, and all Medea had to do was turn her head to see a certain young girl again in shock, trying very hard not to cry and run back to the woman who adopted her.

3. Camping/Reunion with Friends/Actual Intro:

After her identity was out in the open, Homura ended up joining Caster’s team. One could easily find her sitting down, meditating…or trying to, since her face was red, and even with her eyes closed, there was a noticeable twitch. One of two things could happen:

If she didn’t know you, she’d remain silent unless prodded. Albeit looking awkward and grumpy still, as if waiting for something.

If she did know you, upon being approached, she would suddenly open up and exclaim: “Look, I’m sorry I put up a disguise! It was stupid, my idea was dumb as hell too, so just…just yell at me and get it over with already!”

She looked more embarrassed than mad. Still, at the same time, also a bit apologetic, considering her earlier attitude to others.

4. Lava Touching

The task involved sticking your hand in lava to get the item, that’s all she needed to know. Some of her companions seem to hesitate on it, or at least build up the courage. Understandable, it was lava after all. Yet Homura just suddenly stuck her hand in and pulled out the pieces with little effort. Already being good with fire, she assumed out of everyone there, she stood the best chance and should just stop dancing around the issue. Instead, the heat was oddly pleasant.

She turned around to a likely bewildered group, and blinked in response. “...What? I got impatient. Not my first time around lava anyway.”

She expected many questions about all of this.

[ooc: also feel free to hit me up with ideas if none of these work for ya.]

Reunion - lmk if this works?

[colchismagecraft]

Medea hadn't paid too much mind to the rest of her travelling companions- not even sparing a glance to their hands to check for Command Seals, that was a change- as she made her way up the mountain. The older her perhaps wouldn't have bothered with a mission such as this, but since Avalon had proclaimed her a hero... well, it had more of an effect on her than she wanted to admit.

Whilst she spotted the other cloaked figure on the mountainside nearby, she didn't recognise her, not at first.

But the wind was getting more and more intense, making her own hooded cloak billow around uncontrollably- and then she looked back. Even with her hair blowing in her face and eyes, Medea recognised the girl immediately.

Her precious daughter.

Medea's hurried, desperate steps forward weren't careful- please, please let Homura remember her, anything else would be too cruel!- and as light as she was and as much as her cloak caught the wind, she found herself staggering. Her ankle twisting just as that bit of loose rock at the side of the path fell aware beneath her.

"A-ah...!"

Chris Lightfellow Has Returned | Suikoden III | Elemental/Siphon

[ofsilverflame]

Arrival-Red Spring

There's a bit of a commotion when some bathers' relaxing spa day is interrupted by a knight in full armour bursts from the water, gasping. This is not an experience Chris particularly wanted to relive.

"What in blazes?!" She attempts to wipe the water from her eyes, with more leaking out from between the gap in her armour. "Wait, I need some answ...ah, there they go." She sighs as the bathers flee, their soak interrupted.

Nothing left for it, Chris clambers out herself. "Why am I...in the Red Springs?" What's going on?

Homecoming? [Closed to Rinea and Mamori]

It feels strange, to be approaching the place that, from her point of view, had been her residence only yesterday (or what seemed like it), but Chris needs only look to the sky to become painfully aware that time has passed. She lost her footing somehow and left Avalon. It seems she's arrived back just as matters are coming to a head, but before she can do anything else, there are some loose ends she needs to address, first and foremost. A dear friend she needs to see.

She approaches the house she and Rinea had shared with some trepidation. Is she still there? Or has she also...no, Chris won't entertain that unless she absolutely has to. Perhaps if her friend from Rigel has moved on, the new owners will be able to tell her where to go. But it feels strange to be approaching the place as a stranger.

At the door she stops for a moment, breathes in and out, and then...knocks thrice. And waits to see who answers it.

Magnanimous

Chris thought she knew heat, but the farthest reaches of the Ash Mountains are proving her wrong. As part of the group attempting to reach the ring, she's done all she can to prepare in the short time she's been back, and the Dragonskin spell is helping, but only just. It can't help with the roughness of the terrain, which makes for slow going.

She's doing her best to keep an eye out, and lucky thing to. Whoever is ahead of her has misjudged the path. Before Chris can shout a warning, they-you-lose your footing and are about to take a tumble, before Chris' hand grasps you, keeping you from tumbling over and injury.

"I've got you." With effort, and your assistance, she manages to haul you back to safety. "An immensely treacherous path. Are you all right?"

Later, once they've found a place cool enough to make camp, once Chris has had time to get out of her armour to relax a bit...or she would, if she wasn't trying to tend to the others. If you're trying to rest, you might find a skin of water being offered.

"There's some water to spare, if you need a drink." Last person to check on, then she'll get some rest herself. Promise.

[silvergarden]

The dwelling is still well-kept and lived in, it seems. The little garden between the house and the shed seems to be in the middle of replanting. The front porch is swept and decorated with vases. One of the front windows is open, allowing flowers on the sill to spill outwards into the sun.

At Chris's knock a cheery and familiar voice inside the house calls "Just a moment!" before the sounds of shuffling and footsteps can be heard as the occupant puts aside their task. When the door finally opens, Rinea-- because of course, it's Rinea-- looks just as well as Chris had left her, wreathed in smiles and dressed primly in the long sort of skirts she'd always favored.

Her smile is quickly replaced with shock as Rinea registers who she's looking at, though, and she gasps.

"Why-- Chris!" Hug incoming!

Yuber | Suikoden | Death/Kinetic

[eightfoldfiend]

Arrival: A fountain in Camelot

[Ripples burst across the edge of a fountain like bullseye glass and a figure dressed in solid black rises violently from the water.

Yuber stares around him, wild-eyed. He knows where he is before his mind says the word "Camelot".

Someone owes him answers so he will reach for the throat of the nearest person.]

Making Camp

[During the middle of the night, those who made camp in the chamber might see Yuber leaning against the earthen wall with his arms folded over his broad chest, watching the tunnels ahead.

At his feet a skeletal dragon the size of a wolf lies curled, twitching its tail. Whether it is sleeping or not is hard to tell.

Yuber slept earlier, much to his own annoyance. Normally he doesn't need sleep.

Now he stands guard, waiting to hear any signs of trouble, hoping to hear any signs of trouble. It's been too long since he's had a good fight.]

Guard Duty

[ofsilverflame]

"You're more likely to hear something coming before you see it."

Chris approaches, out of her armour but with her sword strapped to her belt. She was finding it difficult to rest so decided to take a patrol of the campsite. And who does she find on guard duty...but, she knew Yuber had come back, same as she had, and that he had always been motivated to try and find the cause of the Calamity during their first stay.

Why him, and not any of the others though...Chris tried not to let that bother her.

Keeping her eyes on the tunnel, she does offer a waterskin, in case he's been neglecting his needs as a human.

Akechi Mitsuhide (Return of the Sneaky Fox) | Ikemen Sengoku

[damn_kitsune]

Arrival: Red Spring

[You were probably just enjoying your time in the hot spring. Relaxing without a care in the world. That is until a fully armored samurai emerges from the water right in front of you! Hope you have something to at least cover yourself with nearby!]

Well, this was unexpected. [Mitsuhide frowns as he looks around. That's when he notices that the Spring wasn't empty. He bows to you.]

My apologies if I startled you. Apparently, something interesting is going on.



(Mitsuhide's underwater form is a merperson with white and light blue scales.)

Downtown: The market!

[Marketplaces were always a good place to judge the local economy of any town. And even though this one was underwater, the concept remains the same. Seeing everyone bustle, or rather, swim about, proved that. Though he learned quickly not to look too long at any of the wares for sale, as he found some of the merchants to be rather aggressive in the sales technique.]

That is an interesting piece that you are practically shoving in my face. [He says one particularly aggressive salesperson, though the smile on his face was anything but friendly. In fact, it was outright threatening.]

But I think that person over there will be more interested.

[And he gestures to the next otherworlder who happens to be nearby.]

Bubbles!

[Mitsuhide doesn't have a sense of taste at all, so he first only observed people's reactions when trying the bubbles. Thus he quickly learned that each color had a different effect. Now he knew which to avoid before trying them himself.

[At the moment it was giving off a faint glow after having a few of the blue bubbles, but he also had a few green to share with someone for later.]

Quest: Cyber Bullies!

[After taking the potion, Mitsuhide tapped on the first suspicious email on his device, if only to test out if the potion really worked. Soon he appears in front of the sender, with a sly smile on his face to hide his shock.]

Well now, what do you have to say for yourself, hm? Don't you think it's rather rude to send curses in such a way?

Quest: Knight at the Museum

[konpeito_aji]

It's been a long time since you and I fought back to back in the dark, hasn't it?

[How long? Before the Ikkou-Ikki. During one assassination attempt or another, on one of the very rare occasions Hideyoshi wasn't around to beat everyone, including Nobunaga, to defeating everyone before he could do anything.]

Are you worried we might be rusty?

[That's a joke. And in return Mitsuhide usually says something about Nobunaga's paranoia or being betrayed etc.]

[Still, you always make sure your weapons are in fine working order first.]

Toshirou Hijikata | Gintama (Primatica CRAU) | Current Charater

[mayoninofukucho]

1) Darling, it's Better (Outskirts)

[Hijikata didn't really want to visit Apkallun. The lake people were outstandingly kind to the outworlders, having saved and sheltered them last year and aided them in getting to Dinas Emrys this year, but after spending days on end with an octopus bottom twice he's kind of had enough! However the dangers of the lake eventually compel him to accompany the trek, even if he doesn't cut a very knightly figure with his lamp-equipped helmet and "fashionable" waterproof backpack to carry provisions and some magical items in.

Once in the underwater town it's only by chance that he notices the worn 'wanted' poster. After gathering more information on the Wispmera he quickly resolves to find it. He can't let a child-snatching monster terrorise these shy but gentle people! So he sets out, equipped with his swords (the belt they're tied to is the only part of his uniform he's still wearing in his current form, kept in place above his grey-greenish tentacles thanks to his lower body's girth) and his elemental- and death magic (who's to say that the mysterious creature isn't a ghost of some kind?).

Luckily he found a companion to go with him while the other guests enjoy the marketplace and the lake people's hospitality, because the area beyond the town's outskirts turns out to be dangerous. Hijikata ends up having to use his water magic to redirect a strong underwater current that would have swept him away otherwise, and on one or two occasions only his lightning magic is convincing enough to scare large fish with uncomfortably sharp teeth away.

It's after several hours of searching that the two adventurers finally spot an entity that matches the townsfolk's vague descriptions. They take cover in a kelp forest and observe the presumed enemy.]

It has a mermaid tail... or is that someone else's who's being digested by it?

[Creepy!! He has half a mind to take advantage of the creature not having noticed them yet and take it out by surprise. Attacking in an ambush isn't his normal modus operandi, but is it really worth the risk when this thing can paralyse people with its long tendrils? He doesn't want to end up as its next meal!]


2) The Ring of Disp(Hell) (Turnkey Tosted)

[Honestly, Hijikata didn't expect them to make such fast strides in their efforts to avert the calamity, but it seems that after the odyssey of finding the Fisher King and weakening Excalibur with his curse the trust between Camelot and Elphame solidified to the point where King Arthur and Queen Elphame (specifically the latter) felt able to lay all their cards on the table. They made great progress throughout summer, procuring the ouroboros' eggs and the phoenix' heart... so now only that mystical ring is left. Whatever the plan is for the items, he has no idea, but he feels the confidence all around him, and it has infected him too.

He practises the Dragonscale spell with restraint before the expedition, and while it makes him feel oddly heavy he also feels like his skin could withstand any kind of extreme temperature like this. On the day of the flight he's ready - even the supply shortage didn't affect him, given that he already had everything he needed and stuffed it into his Inventory-Slots-enhanced camping backpack. His latest encounters with dragons reduced his animosity to the point where he's content to ride on the red dragon's back along with his fellow adventurers.

The ascent of the volcano proves difficult and challenging, and Hijikata missteps more than once despite all care, having to save himself with his wind magic at last second. At least he's not the only one, and he ends up grabbing a couple of people before they can fall. Once they all reach the cavern a long rest is desperately needed.

When the adventurers are ready to proceed into the tunnels of the Labrinth y Brenin he hands out torches and magical fire - not an ideal light source in the already hot volcano, but unless the light mages are able to provide for everyone it'll have to do. As they pass a gap in the dark tunnels that lets them view the slow streams of lava far below he turns to wait for someone who paused before reentering the narrow passage.]

Are you coming? You don't want to fall in there.


3) Quests

A ⦿ Holy Mayo War

[No one could have been more delighted to see a mayonnaise stall open on the marketplace than Hijikata! He eagerly chats with the vendor, overlooking her puzzled face at his mention of mayonnaise fairies, and is more than ready to pay the high price for several jars... until the vendor invites him to first sample the different varieties she created. A moment later his yelling can be heard across the market.]

You!! What do you-- hic-- think you're doing?! This isn't-- hic-- mayonnaise!! It tastes like-- hic-- shit!! Are you trying to make a mockery of-- hic-- us mayonnaise lovers?! Huh?!

[This sure escalated quickly. He's shaking the fae by the collar and has already drawn his sword too... he may or may not be demanding seppuku as the only suitable punishment.]

B ⦿ Knight at the Museum

[Of course chaotic evil doesn't sleep, not even now that they're getting so close to being able to avert the calamity! Hijikata is pretty pissed off that some mages have nothing better to do than turn armours at the museum into mauling machines, so naturally he turns up there at dusk. Seeing another outworlder nearby he skips the pleasantries.]

I take it you're here for the knights too? What's your game plan? I'm not a siphoner, so...

[He pats the hilts of the swords at his belt (one long, two short). He clearly intends to brute-force his way through this.]

C ⦿ Shining Armor

[Malous in the heart of the foggy marshes isn't exactly Hijikata's favourite place on Avalon. The creatures that live in these swamps are so dangerous and creepy!! At the same time the mushroom fae that also dwell there greatly aided everyone in finding the missing Fisher King, and as usual he simply can't let the matter rest, so he sets out... admittedly without much of a concept of how to deal with the armour. His primary plan is to engage it in combat, be it by sword or by magic, blow it apart and seal each piece in a container before it can put itself back together. It's a pleasant surprise to run into a fellow quester all the way out here.]

You've got to be here for the armour as well. What's an armour doing in the marshes, anyway? It should've sunk at the first misstep!

[Well, Hijikata, maybe it was just careful! And with no body inside it doesn't make for an attractive prey for the creatures in the dark water.]

D ⦿ The Lost City

[Hijikata has a certain fondness for the Lady of the Lake, not least because she retrieved his sword for him when he lost it in the lake well over a year ago (never mind that she also put a spell on it... one of these days the first words spoken after someone is struck by the blade will be something weird, and then he'll realise). As such he tackles her ask of escorting the Atlanteans while they gather supplies outside of Atlantis, even though he has to enlist an alchemist friend's services first to attain the Potion of Underwater Breathing.

It's goddamn weird to be underwater in his normal human form (this time he's wearing the wetsuit he bought along with the mining-helmet-like thing that provides some light underwater), but at least he's not the only land-dweller who took on the job! As the Atlanteans harvest clams he and his fellow quester watch out for merrows.]

I've been underwater way too many times this year. Do you actually enjoy this?

[Otherwise why would anyone else have picked up this quest... unless they also want to please the Lady of the Lake, or are maybe interested in the mysteries of Atlantis?]

E ⦿ Jerry Jello (OOC: He's not actually doing the quest, but if anyone wants to meet teenage Hijikata, here's your chance!)

[Despite Hijikata's bitching about his many aquatic adventures he went ahead and commissioned another Potion of Underwater Breathing for the purpose of visiting the town of Bucca off the east coast of Avalon. Well over a year ago he helped exterminate a bunch of man-eating nudibranchs that endangered the town's peaceful eel naga population, and with the outworlders' return home appearing within reach now he wants to check up on those lake people one more time.

The people of Bucca are happy to see him again, and he spends several hours telling them about everything that happened (they got word of the big events, of course, but they're eager to hear the dramatic details first-hand from one of the brave foreigners!). He pretty much stays until shortly before the potion's effect wears off, and they see him off with many kind words. He's actually quite emotional as he swims back up to the surface... good thing he's in the water! He doesn't think much of the tiny glowing jellyfish swarm he passes by (he's in his wetsuit after all!), but one of them brushes against his face... and that's all it takes.

The day after anyone who knows him may be confused to see him in town looking much younger - 10 years, give or take -, wearing his uniform as usual (at least he didn't shrink out of it), long hair tied up in a ponytail. He looks pretty nonchalant about what happened, raising a hand in greeting.]

Before you ask, apparently a yellow jellyfish aged me down. It could've been worse; there are some really shitty effects you can catch from differently coloured ones.

F ⦿ The Forest Grove

[So the ruins of Celliwig have, at long last, been reclaimed by the dark mages of the fallen Splendoured Court... that old name probably doesn't apply anymore now, with the appearance of the place changed from bright structures of glass and crystal to that black diamond fortress towering over the ongoing rebuilding efforts. Hijikata is quiet for once, impressed by how profound the difference is. Untypically for him, he came here not to fight any light mages opposed to the changes, but rather to try and reason with them. He's not great at diplomacy, but the partial responsibility he feels for what happened almost a year ago sits deep. Seeing a fellow outworlder here is a relief.]

Of all the things that might've happened to this place I didn't see this coming. So their big talk about balance was pretty hypocritical in the end, huh?

[They went through so many trials to prove that they united light and darkness in them, only to now realise that Celliwig itself was tipped in favour of the light back then... but this is just the nature of people, isn't it?]

G ⦿ Wildcard

[OOC: Please feel free to rope him into any other quests, light web or dark web, if you need a partner or victim (he's a weredog, in case anyone is doing the Howl in Pain quest, but he won't go down easily... unless you trick him somehow)! Also feel free to PM me or hit up my plotting post.]

C!

[konpeito_aji]

Oh... Vice-Commander. [It hits him like a ton of bricks, again. He's glad to remember, but he'd appreciate it if he could do with that the bits of extreme fog in between!]

[Speaking of which... He remembers drinking with him.... annnd the Mayo-fairy siren (that sure was a fucking thing...) But he doesn't remember how to salute.]

[It's unimportant. Probably. Maybe.]

I assume it's using hot ghost air to support itself on water like a hot air balloon, and enough surface tension to walk on mud like water shoes.

[It's surreal how Hijikata is 3 centuries ahead of Nobunaga, but Nobunaga is an obsessive information sponge about anything new and advanced technologically, the esoteric, the impossible, unheard of, and hot air balloons and water shoes did sort of exist in his time. They're just immensely impractical for every day use so almost no one uses them.]

It's good to see you're still ... [A vague hand gesture summing up the other man.]

You. [Is... that really a compliment???]

[No, but he means it as one, he's happy.]

Keith | Voltron: Legendary Defender | Elemental/Animal | Guess who's back? Back again?

[tempredmental]

Arrival

[It took a moment for things to click. His last recollection from home, and then... BAM... resurgence of memories from Avalon. So, he went looking for familiar faces, hoping to get some answers... once he climbed out of the fountain in the middle of town.

What had changed? How long had he been gone? What was the current state of things? He'd be asking anyone that looked like they'd been pulled into this place like he'd been, even if they weren't someone he already knew.]

Can I ask you something?

=====

Getting Hot in Here

[Working with his kotka familiar, Keith found he was a little rusty on his magic and focus. He was hoping he could get back into this fast, though, because this trip to the volcano was going to likely be dangerous. He was focusing as well as he could be, and, any time he got distracted or lost track, he was rewarded with a tail slap to the back of the head from his familiar.]

Alright! Alright! I'm trying! Apparently, I've been gone for a bit. Geeze...

=====

Magnanimous

[So, yeah... riding dragonback? Awesome! Keith really wanted to talk more with them, maybe ride longer, but he knew that wasn't going to happen for several reasons. One, they had a quest to finish. Two, the dragons were doing them a favor, and weren't likely to tolerate some tiny human fanboy wanting to cruise around the skies of Avalon endlessly.

So, he managed to hold back and just thank them quietly before they left.

And then, it was time to climb... Keith was pretty nimble, thankfully, though that was a bit reduced in Avalon. Part of his agility came from his Galra side, apparently. He was still glad for whatever advantages he could get, though, and would definitely grab for anyone who looked in danger of slipping.]

Gotcha. Just hang on... [And gently help them back on to the path.

Once at camp, he managed to grab a few extra waters and offered them around to others to share with a small, quiet, but tired smile.]

That was a rough climb. You should have some.

=====

Turnkey

[It didn't get any easier inside the volcano, either. It was hot. It was stinky. It was stuffy. It was hard to breathe. There were a few times where Keith was pretty sure he'd never catch his breath again, forced to stop and lean his hands on his knees for a few moments in attempts to regain some strength. The limited glow from the lava streams didn't help with lighting, and Keith had ended up making a few torches for people with his fire magic. It was better than nothing.

Once at their destination, well... that little poem kind of said it all. Keith looked around, noticing the number of keys the box needed and the conveniently matching number of lavaflows.

Okay, Keith's done some dumb weird stuff in his life, but he had his limits. Reaching into a lavaflow was definitely one of them.]

Oh, heck no.

[Really? This was the way to get it? He sighed with a groan. He really shouldn't be surprised.]

Magnanimous

[phoenixwiz]

(To be fair, Harry should have known better than to not to walk so close to the edge as he did as he cautiously walks along the mountain path. And despite his best efforts not to be so careless on where he is walking on, the close distance to the edge caused him to lost his footing and he would have fallen to his doom by molten rock river if it weren’t Keith’s help.

Now he has never met the guy before but he really needs to thank him for the timely rescue as soon as they reach the camp and he was being offered water.)

Oh gee, thanks. Thanks for saving my life out there on the path, I knew I should have been more careful with where I was stepping on.

Naoto Kurogane | Blazblue

[divinereaper]

i. arrival

[ it doesn't take naoto long to wake up when it comes to sleep. he's always been a light sleeper. so when he starts feeling something gentle hitting his head, he thinks nothing of it. but when it's constant and almost unbearable... ]

Gah, okay, I'm up!! [ he cries out angrily... only to see lush forests and the river's water rushing past his bottom half. he realizes he's in a river. why does this feel so familiar-- ]

... wait, don't tell me. [ his brain catches up quickly. ] Am I back in Avalon?!

ii. darling, it's better, downtown

Maybe I shouldn't have drank that blue drink...

[ naoto stares at his glowing skin, unsure as to how to remove it. he didn't want to be a walking flashlight. but that thought sends naoto into a thinking spiral that ends with him with his arm in the sky, humming. ]

Would I even be a good flashlight, with this odd effect?

[ a question for the ages. ]

iii. ring of disphell, part 2

Someone kill me...

[ of course the dragons make him trek the hill up towards the entrance. that's nice. he's just gotta make sure to not stress his leg out or else there will be hell to pay. so far so good, but he's gotta take frequent breaks... which do include this teenager popping off his leg and arm to prevent too much chafing. it's happened before, he doesn't want it happening again. ]

Don't even have healing magic to heal the existing scars... great. Just great.

iv. wildcard

[ hewwo im back please have fun with naoto ]

III

[konpeito_aji]

Okay. [Nobunaga no!]

[He does pause though, and literally, pause is the word, because his katana stops mid-swing.]

Wait, do you want healing or death? [THERE'S SHADES OF GREY BETWEEN THOSE TWO FFS.]

[In general this lunatic samurai is not actually part of the recovery party, he's just helping tend camp and drag back stragglers who need healing before they die or hold others back. Perhaps that's too harsh. Good thing he hasn't said it out loud... yet.]

homare arisugawa 📚 a3! 📚 cognitive/animal

[poemer]

arrival

( When the summary said anywhere there's water, magic took that and ran with it. Homare appears...

In a sink. In the staff toilets of Kaika Theatre. Well, at least they put him in the right building? Spluttering and with his always artistically styled hair a damp mess stuck to his face, his legs jutting out of the sink awkwardly as he tries and fails to find purchase on the counter to push himself out. )

— Oh, mischievous fate, a torrent on myself in an unfamiliar place...!

( What? If he's stuck in a sink he may as well make poetry about it. )

darling it's better; on the way

( An artist simply cannot allow new experiences to pass them by, and thus it is completely expected that Homare would be in line to dive under the sea and find himself transformed into a rather fancy betta fish based merman. And, for those unfortunate enough to cross his path, they will find that he is fascinated by their own new additions, swimming in circles around them with an evaluating eye. )

Hm... Marvellous! ( He's polite enough to not touch anyone, but his eyes are gleaming. All of this is going to make for great inspiration. ) The elegant, formidable form of a sea warrior.

( Very approved. It's a shame (for Homare) that his notebook is currently out of the picture this far under the sea. )

nicnevin

( It doesn't take long for Homare to hear tales of Mari Lywd, a figure he's passingly familiar with thanks to the reading necessary to be a creative force, and it takes even less time for him to make the choice to seek the creature out and challenge them to a battle of poetry.

Not for power, but simply as a creative exercise! )

Fellow wordsmith, art's beautiful bandwidth...! Cloaked and shrouded in eternal myth!

wildcard

( you know... ;) )

arrival

[tsumtsuki]

[ Well! Okay! Seems like Avalon's going to be wild and wacky until the last moments.

Tsumugi was using that very sink to wash his hands after working in the gardens right outside the theater - so imagine his complete and utter shock when an entire person appears in the time he was looking away to grab some soap. ] - Waugh!

[ And, of course, such a dramatic entrance can't be done by just anyone. ]

H- Homare-san? How did you- [ No, wait. How he got there is important, yes, but also ] Are you stuck?

Amy Rose | Sonic the Hedgehog | OTA

[pricklybloom]

Arrival

The only fanfare of Amy's arrival is a startled yelp as she falls, just a few feet from the air, into the Red Spring. She's in a shallower part, and really just ends up sitting in the water, but it's still enough to soak her dress at least. With a groan, she pulls herself up, shaking off the water from her hands before wringing out the skirt of her dress, and glancing around.

"...I'm back?" She knows she is, even though she hadn't quite realized she was even gone. "I guess at least I'm close to home."

Though she does wonder if her room at the inn is still available.

Downtown

Despite still getting used to being back, Amy couldn't help taking a visit to Dinas Emrys. The transformation does make her a bit of a site - a mermaid tail attached to an already not-human body - but Amy herself didn't really mind, eager as she is to look around.

And naturally the first place she stops at is the marketplace. She can't help admiring a lot of the wares, especially some of the shells that seem a bit iridescent. Finding a particular seashell necklace, she decides to try it on.

"How's it look? It's not too much, is it?"

Magmanimous

It's really not Amy's first time at a volcano, but that doesn't make this trip any less arduous. The heat prickles her skin, and she tries to cover her face as much as she can to filter out the ash and gasses. And she can't help feeling a bit nervous, for some reason, like there are eyes following her.

She tries to ignore all that, though, as they continue up. She's grateful when they find the cavern and decide to make camp there, since it's cooler in here and was a good place to rest. After taking a moment to rest herself, Amy checks around to see if anyone had gotten hurt.

"Hey...need a bit of healing?"

Wildcard

((Feel free to do something else with Amy!))

Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera (and Gizmoduck) | DuckTales 2017 | OTA

[doctorintern]

Arrival (Fenton)

[ Anyone passing by that particular restaurant might hear a bit of a commotion going on inside. There's a lot of yelling, a lot of crashing and clattering, and then suddenly Fenton bursts through the doors, his clothes a bit wet and several bits of food stuck in his hair and around his body.

He scrambles to get some distance from the restaurant, and a near stumble is enough to avoid a plate that's thrown at his head. It clatters behind him, and getting back to his feet he takes a breath, turning back to the restaurant. ]

Sorry! I don't think this is the kind of duck you want on the menu!

Drinks (Fenton)

[ Fenton had been a bit curious about the underwater city, though he can't help thinking of Della little bit. She would definitely hate this, especially the magic that granted them mermaid tails.

But he pushes down the homesick feeling for now as he wanders around the marketplace. It's all very interesting, getting to be underwater and seeing things like this up close. He's not even that particularly hungry or thirsty, but more curious about how things taste that he tries the food and drinks provided.

He's just finishing a taste of one of the bubble drinks, and is about to give his opinion of it when a hiccup interrupts him, sending lots of rainbow-colored bubbles from his mouth. ]

...Oh [ HICCUP ] boy...

Turnkey Toasted (Gizmoduck)



[ Fenton is glad for the Dragonscale spell, because he isn't entirely sure how well the suit would be doing without it. It probably would have been fine, but this close to lava, he wouldn't want to take that chance.

A part of him does regret wearing the suit a little bit, though, as they venture on and it's getting so much hotter, almost oppressively so, especially encased in metal as he is. But it's safer, in the long run, just in case things start going bad.

And while the suit didn't filter out all the fumes, it certainly did help mitigating some of it, which he's glad for as the fumes seem to get worse as they enter the caverns. He does worry about others, though, so if he notices someone struggling a little he'll wheel over to check on them. ]

Are you all right?

Wildcard

((Feel free to do something else with Fenton!))

Drinks

[phoenixwiz]

(Just like Fenton, Harry couldn’t help venturing into the underwater city, so he goes right in diving into the water. Besides, he does need a break from work, practicing weapon fighting, and from the loneliness he has been dealing with for a long while following the disappearance of many of his friends.

And like the times he was been swimming around in the waters of Dimas Emrys, his legs and clothes have been swapped for a shimmering blue merman tail, allowing him to breath underwater and swim faster in water. He was just passing by the marketplace, intrigued by the things being sold when he swims towards a familiar feathery face hiccuping bubbles.)

Oh hey. Fenton, hi! How are you doing right now?

sakyo furuichi | A3! | returning but at what cost

[revile]

( 1. ARRIVAL)

[ So, a random man has just showed up in your local body of water. Your tub? Your shower? Your sink? He is there. Well, if he's in the sink he falls out pretty easily because that's an awfully small space for a grown man to be in. But he's there. And he's very, very pissed off. ]

( 2. DARLING, IT’S BETTER )

[ Before embarking on the trip to Apkallun, a merfolk seems to be idling at the surface of the water. Maybe they're just sun-bathing? Or perhaps are taking a moment to greet the travelers? No, this isn't a native merfolk, but more-so an unhappy transformed Avalonian transplant from another world who seems to be sulking as he floats. His long fish tail half sways and wiggles under the water. ]

Unless someone gives me some prescription goggles I'm not going down there.

[ He needs glasses to see and those sure as hell aren't going to stay on very well while he's under the water. ]

( 3. DOWNTOWN )

[ Ever the stingy shopper, Sakyo's penny pinching habits never stop even off of land. The food options are at least satisfactory but other than that he really doesn't see anything to get overly excited about in this market. It seems to be a lot of hand crafted knick-knacks that anyone could do without, and yet every stall he passes by seems to have some overly eager native pushing something insipid into his hands. ]

Don't try to shill your junk at me. I'm not interested.

[ Needless to say quite a few market folks end up not quite liking this particular visitor, as Sakyo continues to grumble and side-eye all the stalls. ]

Does this market even sell anything of value?

( ooc: open to messing with any of the magic bubbles in the Downtown prompt! )

1

[arf]

[ Welcome to Taichi's underground giant big steamy bath, located under Fleur's castle. Sakyo may very well feel jacuzzi jets against him as he emerges from the water.

Taichi, meanwhile, watches him arise and immediately stands up, both arms in the air. ]

✨ Sakyo-nii has arisen! ✨

zhongli | genshin impact | returning character!

[saxum]

one ▮ DARLING IT'S BETTER: uptown/downtown

[ As you meander your way through this exciting underwater town, taking in all the sights, you might at some point come across a strange large mass that definitely looks out of place. Were it not for the human torso attached atop the mass of curled in tentacles you could easily mistake it for a lone octopus, but its clearly a person. Well, half-person. Mostly merfolk. But what are they doing all the way over there and why does it look like they're hiding?

If you decide to approach the tentacles will begin to unravel, and somehow that makes the individual's body recoil as he calls out toward you with a degree of distress. ]

Please do not step further, this is... very unsightly. I ask that you leave me be.

two ▮ QUEST: cyber bullies

[ Zhongli couldn't possibly find a reason to decline an offer to protect individuals from bullies, certainly not harmless individuals. Its such a cowardly thing to trouble others without showing your face. However there's a... bit of a problem, as Zhongli stares intently at this strange yet still familiar object in his hand. ]

While I've familiarized myself somewhat to the functions of this device I'm afraid I was not taught of this that you call "email".

[ Listen, he might have been here for a few months but he only ever learned to text. He never sent emails before. Mind giving him a quick crash course before they go off to beat up some cyber bullies? ]

Hikaru Hitachiin | Ouran High School Host Club | Return & OTA

[irritated]

1. ARRIVAL
[Wow, couldn't just put him in a lake, huh? It just had to be some puddle...which honestly isn't the most shocking thing. Not from this place anyway. Although right now his mind is racing because what the hell? Maybe he'd gotten used to not being treated like royalty but it didn't mean he'd ever be happy coming out of a muddy puddle.

But as he's grabbing onto whoever there is to get him out, he's basically growling out:] Get me a freakin' towel. [He'll manage his public image later.]

2. NETWORK
un: tenjikubotan
so is it me or is everybody just coming back?

[Like everybody seems to be having the same story? That's weird right? And his bullshit meter is going off.]

3. THANKS, JERRY
[Hikaru has honestly been glad to be away from Lunatia. Getting animal parts once a month and feeling way more irritable than usual wasn't his idea of a fun time. As easy as it had been to make money there, he was willing to sacrifice some of that. Even if it meant him doing this stupid quest. Mostly for some good PR because he needs to work that back up!

But when he touches a green Jerry, he doesn't notice the hyena ears popping out until someone is staring.] What? [He might sound a little annoyed sorry.]

4. ORANGE YOU GLAD?
[He'd also touched an orange Jerry and that effect wasn't as obvious since he only aged up a single year. It isn't a big change and he doesn't grow any taller. Some people are much older or much younger, but not Hikaru. Actually, he doesn't even notice it until some bar is trying to get him to come in.

And the magic here was really good about not letting minors indulge (and Hikaru had had to find his ways around that). How old is he? He's got no idea. But holy shit, he needs a drink so he's going up to the bar.]

Whiskey sour, you better include the egg and careful on the sugar. Don't skimp on the whiskey. [He knows he still looks young and he looks to the adult right next to him, smiling.] It was what my father likes! I'm curious~ [No, he was a rich kid with parents never around and servants unable to tell him and his brother no.]

1

[tsumtsuki]

[ Imagine, for a moment, that you're a gardener watering his plants. You pause for a moment in the middle of this very important task to talk to your strawberry plants and thank them for all the bountiful harvests over the past several months... and then suddenly, in the place of the very plant you're talking to is someone that, while you never talked to him much yourself, is very important to someone very, very important to you.

That's Tsumugi's current situation. He drops his hose in shock, undoubtedly (unintentionally) making the immediate area around them muddier. But that's not even close to a concern in his mind at the moment. ]

Hikaru-kun?! [ he'd just got some of his hair burned for your sake??? hello??? but oh, right, he should help him up and get him that towel he asked for - he offers him a hand first. ] Are- are you okay?

Set | The God of Calamity Wishes for Naught | Returning & OTA

[suetekh]

1.ARRIVAL
[Set is never very good at paying attention to the details. It is a quality he is learning but not one that comes very easily for him. He'll get there...one day. But that day is not today.

So as he arrives in someone else's shower that is running as the person prepares to get in, Set is getting out of it...and seeing someone else, he just frowns as he rings out his hair.]

What are you doing here?

[You're in THEIR shower, Set?]

2. DOWNTOWN cw intoxication
[The thing about Set is that being a god, he doesn't get drunk. It was not until coming to Avalon that he finally got a taste of that and he absolutely decided never again. It had been awful, being dizzy and unable to walk well. Being drunk that once was supposed to be a one time thing.

Until now. He'd just been thirsty and how was he supposed to know the green thing was going to get him drunk. Immediately, he's sitting down on the ground and groaning:] Shit, not this again...

3. UPTOWN
[Set is a fairly honest person. Lying just seems like a pain and he's not very good at it. It isn't that he'd call himself honest, just straightforward. Even if a little white lie here and there might help, Set finds it easier to not hold back.

And that goes with his emotion. He's a very emotional person though he always tries to hold that back. But after that show, with some brothers next to him, he finds himself tearing up. Which is strange because the last time he had cried was...when he had been a young prince and realized there was no point in trying when he'd never be good enough for his father.

But he'd always been good enough for Osiris and...he tries to hide his face, walking away when he bumps into your character. It's hard not to notice the tears streaming down his face.] Please don't mind me. I just miss my brother. [Wait, crap? He's supposed to be a cold-blooded murderer. Why did he just say that?]

3

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga's pretty hardcore affected by the performance too, and he's touchy even with people he doesn't like... it's just usually in a violent form, but this time, he hooks the other man's arm in his own.]

Let's get drinks and you can tell me about him.

I have... had... many brothers. [Closes his eyes and nods solemnly.] Nagamasu would like it here. He could bring a bit of class to it. Do you know they have done away with so much of the refinement of the tea ceremony? Tch...

[It's okay they can be genocidal psychos missing brothers together okay okay.]

Thanatos ◈ Hades ◈ OTA

[inevitablerest]

i. Feeling Magmanimous

a.
[Thanatos is no stranger to dragons, but he has admittedly never been transported by one before. There's something strangely freeing in it, something that he thoroughly enjoys before they are dropped off at the volcano. The environment reminds him of the hot plains of Asphodel, but with the lack of any divinity in himself to offset the heat and discomfort the entire experience quickly becomes something that makes him wonder if it was a good idea to come here. Less for himself, he realises, and more for others who might be even less able to tolerate such conditions.

With his height and bulk he tries to make sure that he walks singly along the difficult path, directly in the centre, but should someone find him moving too slowly for their liking and try to get by he will certainly do his best to move aside, but he may just need to grab hold of someone's arm or wrist to keep them from sliding off down the edge of the path towards the lava moving below.]

Careful. [Will be all he quietly says at that, as he rights the person who attempted to pass him. As the journey wears on and people begin to grow more weary, he's one of those to offer an arm or a hand to anyone who looks as if they might be struggling to keep moving.

It may only be half a day, but it surely is a difficult one.]

b.
[In the cavern where they finally find a moment to rest in the cooler air he presses his back to a wall and then carefully sits, looking far more tired than he feels in that moment but not truly caring about it. He closes his eyes and leans his head back, exhaling a slow sigh, then looks around to those still filtering in.]

Are we all here? [He asks the nearest person who passes him, and it appears that he's more than ready to get up and head back out there if it sounds like anyone fell down on the path. Who would have ever thought it - Thanatos, caring so much about mortals in such a way - yet here it is.]

You should sit. Have something to drink.

ii. Turnkey Toasted

The walls are warm...

[Thanatos slides his hand along the warm stone as the group he's with makes their way along the passageway. As one of the tallest - if not the tallest - in the group it made sense for him to take a lantern, which he holds high above the heads of his companions to light the path ahead of them. The comment he makes seems like an idle one, but the idea of the molten rock being so close by that the inside of the passage can be warmed by it is... unsettling, to say the least.

There's a strange sound ahead, like water falling yet not, and as they enter into another large cavern he is struck once again by just how much like Asphodel this entire thing is.

Much like everyone else, he moves to the box in the centre of the open space to read the inscription below it. Thanatos is no poet or riddle-maker, and he only frowns in a puzzled manner as he reads the inscription once, then again... He hums in puzzled thought and looks slowly around the cavern, catching sight of a glint behind one of the oozing lava falls.]

Hmn... they can't be serious. Do you see that, over there?

iii. Wildcard

[You know how this works!]

Jane Porter ◈ Disney's Tarzan ◈ OTA

[cantgetanyworse]

i. The Journey To Apkallun

Ah-- this is tricky to get the hang of.

[From the moment they got into the water and had their lower halves switched to something more suitable for this adventure, Jane has been... struggling a little. Something about the coordination needed to use the tail to move the rest of her body forwards just isn't quite clicking in her head (no surprise, really, when this is all quite new) and having to concentrate on breathing in the water without her brain going into instinctive panic is just making it all the more difficult.

One of her hands finds someone else's arm, or shoulder, and she immediately grips on as if they're the only thing that might keep her the right way up.]

Sorry-- Sorry, I just... would you mind, just for a minute?

ii. Outskirts

[Thankfully, Jane managed to get her bearings on how to do this on the way to Apkallun and by the time they arrive she's more than ready to have a look around. A few people gathered near a notice board near the town's entrance draws her over in that direction as well, and as soon as there's enough room for her to take a peek at what they're all looking at she reads the notice posted there with a puzzled frown.]

They don't even know what it is, and they're looking for people to kill it?

[The animal lover in her can't help but pout a little at the thought. Dangerous creatures needed to be taken care of, but... something doesn't seem right about this. She looks around for a likely adventurer, someone who seems as if they might be getting ready to answer the posting, and moves over to them with a little flick of her tail.]

Excuse me--?

iii. Downtown

[This is the kind of thing that she really wanted to get a look at when she had decided to come here. The culture and daily lives of the people here, and just how they managed to live under the water like this! The marketplace being held is a perfect place to experience a variety of new things and Jane quickly gravitates to where one of the larger stalls is selling what look like little bubbles full of coloured liquid.

She tries a red one first, spending ten minutes alternating between hiccups and helpless giggles as she produces multi-coloured bubbles, much to the entertainment of the stall-holder and several mer who happen to be around. It doesn't put her off in the slightest, and the next one she decides to try is one of the blue drinks.

Immediately on drinking it her skin starts to faintly glow, and she laughs in sheer delight all over again.]

Oh, this is terribly fun. [Jane is quick to set her eyes on someone else hovering close by, whether they look like they're trying to decide whether to try one of the drinks or not.] Oh, come and sit down! Everything is entirely harmless.

iv. Wildcard

[You know how this works!