TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ I

[avalonmods]

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival KERPLUNK, SPLASH! Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. You'll definitely see other new arrivals plopping in. If you can't swim, a red-headed woman known only as the Lady of the Lake will drag you to the shore if she doesn't spot someone else near you helping so no one ends up drowning. She's a little busy casting directive magic to make sure everyone lands safely and playing lifeguard, so if anyone attempts to talk to her, she'll tell them to head up to the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. 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 earbuds to everyone before getting them settled in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and give them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go. These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with nip bottles. Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service, avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk. C ⦿ The Red Spring The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies. If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. 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. A ⦿ Get Fresh Upon arrival in Camelot travelers are ushered to a large set of wash rooms where they can clean up and make themselves presentable for the Welcome Feast. They are informed that once the feast concludes there will be an announcement on where they can seek lodging and how to begin their magic studies. B ⦿ Be Merry After they freshen up, travelers are led into the main dining hall. The decorations range from simplistic to a little more grandiose, it is likely everyone will find something familiar. A modern mash up with a medieval flair. The jester makes his rounds, perhaps he has a joke or two to tell, go ahead, give him a listen or perhaps volunteer to participate in one of the jester's shows, like knife-throwing or hypnotism. Within the crowd of staff there are mummers, a juggler, here and there dabbled through small troupes perform mini skits, perhaps they’ll perform a well known verse from a traveler’s world or tell a tale of fancy from this realm. C ⦿ Eat Well A banquet is prepared with food that while all “rustic” in appearance are usually a version of modern dishes ranging from basic roast chicken and veggies to Korean-Mexican fusion and French patisserie. The drinks are much the same; while served in old fashioned goblets, they are drinks modern travelers will be familiar with. Have a seat, meet a new neighbor, find a roommate, maybe a new or old friend? Talk to the person to your left, your right, across from you. Mingle, enjoy the food, the music, it shouldn’t be long before the information promised is provided. Till then take your fill and get to know your fellow travelers. You've been here a few days now and have gotten a chance to settle in, find a place to stay, and Camelot's citizens have decided that you've been here long enough to start living your life again. Well, your new life. A group of citizens have decided to give everyone their first quest. "Hear ye, hear ye!" a man in chain mail with a tablet with his statement typed up on it declares to a crowd from atop a pedestal. There are two other citizens around him with phones to post the video to AOL later to make sure the word gets heard ye all around. "Those with magic, we beseech thee! Findeth us a grail most holy hidden in the depths of the Brocéliande! This holy grail is known to grant thine wishes three, a most noble quest for noble souls! Great reward will come to those who find it and proclaim at least one of their wishes to find the great Excalibur for King Arthur!" This is the first you've heard about King Arthur, and it seems curious that he hasn't yet shown his face around town. It also seems strange that this guy is speaking like he's stepped out of a bad period piece, and probably should be the clue that this is more or less an attempt to haze some of the newcomers by sending them into the forest... but no one is telling newcomers this. It's better to get them out there and start praciticing, after all. A ⦿ Lost, and Lost, and Lost Again The Brocéliande is well-known around Camelot for being a forest that's both bountiful and mysterious. Oddities are known to happen that may never happen again to the point that even if something weird happens and you can't prove it, most citizens will assume you're telling the truth. Which is what makes it peculiar when you keep passing the exact same locations over and over again, as if you've been traveling in circles or reaching the end of the map in a video game and coming out the other end. You're stuck in a space loop. The only way out is to successfully find the one difference in each loop five times in a row and collect it. Maybe it's a strange frog, a crystal that wasn't there before, a small wooden step that doesn't lead anywhere, or some other singular item, you've got to find what stands out... pick the wrong item, and you'll have to start your five count over again, and again, and again... B ⦿ Grail, and Grail, and Grail Again!? If you either missed the space loop or managed to get out of it, eventually you'll come to find one of... quite a few copies of a grail with holes in the side placed throughout the forest. They look like they might be good for draining noodles, but that's about it. Though they're spread out, it's entirely possible you'll find more than one, but each of them are placed in situations where it's impossible to get to by normal means. You'll have to use magic! It may be hidden in a bird's nest at the top of the tallest tree, inside of a hole in a rock with bars that prevent you from reaching in (perhaps an animal friend could reach it), inside a boiling pond, or inside the body of a bear fir... there are a load of possibilities, and now's a chance for you to try out your brand new magics! Use one of those samples, find something from the bestiary, or come up with your own adventure to get your hands on that less-than-holy grail. C ⦿ A Quest Completeish Or it would be, if you could ever find the guy who announced it... The AOL posts have since been deleted. You may end up spending a lot of time trying to find the guy. At this point, citizens will start telling you that you shouldn't take quests unless they're on the quest board or else you're going to get scammed... that's definitely an olden times themed noodle strainer. If that doesn't make you give up, or perhaps motivates you to find the guy to kick his ass, you'll have to head out to the farmland and chase them through a cornfield. (Be careful not to get lost, it's a maize in there.) If one of the boys are caught, they'll explain they were just testing you-- and hey, you got a free addition to your kitchen! If pressed, they'll apologize and give you a bit of money for your trouble. It's not much, but it'll get you at least a meal.

MOD NOTES:
• All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post. This is the first one, ignore this note today!
• 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.
• For the first month only, there will not be a quest board. Starting in December, quests will be posted on the 1st of each month for current players. After that point, quests may be used as TDM prompts in addition to the presented TDM prompts. A link will be provided as a bonus prompt option at the end of the post.
• The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM. 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

[phoenixwiz]

Fun but also dangerous is what I can describe my recent adventure was like. Including one item that messed up with my head and my friends’ heads that we had a terrible fight and one of them walked out on me because of it.

Not arguing on that either.

[phoenixwiz]

(It looks like the other guy in the room has never seen a Pygmy Puff in his world. Fair enough. He does have a lot to explain this creature to him though.)

That’s a Pygmy Puff, fluffy purring little things that are found in my world. I can guess that you never saw one before. One of my friends’ brothers once bred them as pets in my world and have some hard time fulfilling the demand once they took off like crazy.

[phoenixwiz]

Alright then, it is his turn to find it out himself.

“As a matter of a fact, yes I am. Though I got the same statement from an old friend of mine back when I was 11, but that was when I didn’t know what magic was as a kid,” he replies.

He sees some rocks a few inches away and looks like an idiot for staring at them for minutes. That is, until he is shocked to discover that rocks begin to agitate and float from the ground for a few minutes before they fall down to the ground. Yes, he actually tried to make rocks move with his godforsaken mind.

[phoenixwiz]

Plenty of them, even my school house has a main house ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, whose death day was celebrated in my school. One ghost in particular, Helena, was even the daughter of one of the school founders.

Actually, my school is located in a castle, so it’s more of a haunted castle.

[lyingthroughyourbeak]

[ He tries to wiggle out of her hug - mostly because ugh, wet - but he's obviously not as bothered by it as he lets on. ]

Right. I mean, we've been through way worse, right? We just gotta figure out what's causing all this nonsense.

[ And from there, it's smooth sailing! Probably. Hopefully. As far he's concerned, they already skipped straight past the "whoa!" and the "wait, what?" and went right to the "AAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" ]

Arrival - Smartphones

[phoenixwiz]

(It’s too sad though that the person she is sitting next to doesn’t even own a smartphone at home, but he did see Uncle Vernon using a PDA though, so he has some idea of how a smartphone functions, while being limited to what 1990’s tech can do.)

Oh hey, that looks like a smaller advanced PDA, right? I can’t say that I’m used to owning one in my world, but I can at least try.

(Then he sees her outfit, a water-drenched gown, and realizes that she could be from medieval times or a high fantasy world.)

Uh... You never heard of a PDA either?

Re: CW for super gross/body horror.

[death_from_above]

"No slaw but they might try to slay instead. I'm a real cut up, but the sherif is pretty sharp."

aw good

[burstrate]

Prompto gives Noctis a good squeeze before letting him go, mostly because it sounded like he had some important stuff to say. Not much could compete with the sheer relief of seeing his friend again, especially after all the anxiety of knowing he was gone and having no clue what to do about it. 'How to deal with the King getting sucked into the Crystal' hadn't been covered in the Crownsguard first-aid class.

"You spoke to Bahamut, too?! Talk about the VIP treatment! So, uh... did he mention that you might end up in a sunny destination full of weird animals? That seems like a pretty big detail to leave out."

It's not that Prompto isn't sympathetic to the people here, but they had some huge problems to deal with back home. The idea that the pause button has been hit on the entire universe is hard to wrap his head around.

[donovan_deegan]

Donovan would have bowed if his arm wasn't around the boy's shoulder. "I do love a good audience for my bad jokes."

yoooo happy to see him!

[burstrate]

Prompto notices the coeurl first, because he's all too used to fighting those and even a small one gets his hackles up. Especially one that's menacing a poor, defenseless baby chocobo!

"Hey! Don't eat it!!" He drops the camera back around its neck, quick to scoop up the chocobo chick and clutch her defensively to his chest. She peeps in protest, briefly flapping her wings before settling, managing to look affronted.

Then Prompto sees Cor standing nearby, and does a double-take between him and the coeurl, like he's not sure if he should focus on the possible threat of the coeurl or the more definite threat of looking like an idiot in front of his boss. "Marshal!" he says with a gasp, standing up straighter, then reaching up to hurriedly push his sopping wet hair out of his face as an afterthought - all while still holding the chocobo chick to his chest, in what's probably the least impressive Prompto has ever looked.

"Uh, nice day for a swim, sir?"

Re: Arrival - B

[souls_of_roles]

"Faries! Actual faries! She gushed. then her eyes went huge as something occurred to her. "CORN!" she shouted, seemingly out of nowhere. "Corn might be here!" she looked at him, clearly expecting him to be as excited about this as she was.

"OH! Are you a Fairy?"

[donovan_deegan]

"I would hope the food was flesh but maybe not so much for it to be people," he said with a grin. But then he ate duck sometimes, so who was to say that maybe on his world they didn't eat human. Nasty thought, but at least there were lots of people food puns he could make.

[cess]

Noctis presses his lips together and shakes his head after a moment. "No, he made it sound like I was going to spend some time sleeping in the crystal. Ending up here wasn't part of the plan."

Carbuncle chirps something that Noctis somehow understands is an assent, and nods a little without thinking about it, looking at Prompto. "I think what's happening here and what's going on back home are two different things."

And then, the real kicker. "Whatever brought me here took away my magic. All of it, Prompto. The ring's power, the warping, the armiger - it's all gone."

[cess]

He should tell her the reason. Not just that he's happy to see her, the way he'd been looking at her from the crowd in Altissia, but because she gave her life for him. Because Ignis lost his eyes for him, and seeing her again like this... it's almost more than he can bear.

Her head rests on his shoulder and he lets his face bury in her damp hair. Even if just for a moment, he wants the world to let him have this. A chance to finally see her again, to be able to talk with her properly instead of being two steps behind her, constantly. Her words, however, are prudent; it looks like they've almost got the carriages set up.

He gently loosens his hold on her, clearing his throat awkwardly. "Yeah, that's... probably a good idea. Don't think we're gonna get much information out here."

Even if he casts a weird look to the horses. He's used to chocobos, not those. After a moment he steps back, but then his lips twitch up a bit and he offers a hand, his tone light.

"May the prince escort the Oracle?"

[cess]

maybe a god that eats other gods, considering the gods of my world.

anyway, i hope you don't throw fireballs, if nothing else because setting the lodgings on fire is probably not gonna endear us to these people.

[ oh astrals that familiar is really cute. ]

Cute. It's some kind of... cat thing? You should ask it if it likes selfies when it's awake. And I'm pretty sure Carbuncle wouldn't mind some attention. The one I knew was an attention hog.

And, same. Sometimes I have company, but they're always complaining, or making noise and scaring the fish.

Samatoki Aohitsugi | Hypnosis Mic

[boutdatlife]

Soaking in your arrival

"Oi! Bastard, just who do you think you're flingin' around in the water." Yeah, he's turning around and yelling at the water once he lands on the beach. The small collection of skulls that land next to him clacks around until they form into what do you know a skull shape, a deep blue light emitting from a pair of eyes as it seems to speak to him. A mekurabe as his familiar, something seems appropriate in that.

Your loud.

"And you're a pile of talking Skulls trying to be my sidekick, what about it? Huh?"

He needs a smoke, Samatoki goes to his pockets, and two things hit him as he pulls out a soaking wet pack of cigarettes. His cigarettes are wet, and his mic is gone. This is the moment he goes down nose to nose, well as nose to nose as one can with a pile of skulls and glares into a set of glowing blue eyes.

"You got magic fucker, then fix this shit!" He dangles the smokes in front of the familiar's face. The familiar does what it does and is fabled to do, stares at the yakuza. Excuse these two as they sit at the shoreline, having a silent staring contest with a pack of wet cigarettes dangling between them.

The Red Spring:

Okay, one way or another, he got his smoke situation taken care of; his familiar, however, has long stayed silent on him. Clearly, they will have some minor relationship issues to work out. Either way, the smaller skulls, forming a bigger skull, do at least seem content to stay beside the Yakuza.

He seems content to lean there on the front of the inn and blow smoke up into the sky. This is probably his third cigarette since they got out of the caravan. That was not a pleasant ride, and he is definitely not a favorite of the man who guided them here.

What does he care, from a world where words were weapons to this place that wants to make him into some fucking wizard. Sorry, that plot does not work for him, and ash drops lazily from the smoke between his lips, landing on his boot-top. He finally looks at the familiar.

"You gonna give me the damn silent treatment all day, bastard?"

Banquet:

Yeah, check, please! He is done already; it's like walking into a weird-ass convention with people in costumes. He checks out the food but does not partake, caution guiding him. At this point, he'd rather eat something Riou cooked, and that is saying something. But, if there is one thing Samatoki has in spades, it's trust issues.

The mekurabe moves into his field of vision; he has not bothered naming it; what the hell do you call a pile of skulls making a bigger skull, huh?

You should eat.

"What are you, my wife?" Thankfully this staring contest is brief, his familiar's response, brief but effective. Because right then, a roll flies from the table and into Samatoki's mouth.

The yakuza's red eyes fly wide; he attempts to spit the bread out but can't. Somehow those glowing blue eyes seem satisfied with themselves. Rude ass bastard! Only one way out of this, obviously, eat the damn roll.

Samatoki, instead, is pulling at it, trying to dislodge and otherwise rid himself of it while he mumbles curses and threats around it at the smug familiar just staring at him.

[rhiaofdruma]

I.

Someone had found a tree close enough to the waters edge that she could watch other people arrive. It disturbed her that she couldn't speak to the tree, but there was a still a comfort being in its branches. She frowned watching the blond boy with his magnificent companion. One of them impressed her. The other reminded her too much of her brother when he first came to the Druma.

The girl herself was almost invisible in the tree. Not because of magic, though. Her skin was the same brown as the bark, her hair just a shade darker, and decorated with green leafy vines. Her eyes were the same bright spring leaf green as was the clothing she wore made if tightly woven vines and leaves. Her wings might have been more visible, but they were resting on a leafy branch behind her and between the foliage and her hair, they were mostly obscured. She frowned slightly.

"That is hardly the way to talk to someone if you want their help," she said to him from her perch in the tree, green eyes narrowed. "If you do not wish to be friends with him, I happily shall."

Re: ― draco malfoy ( harry potter series )

[donovan_deegan]

II.

"Generally? Puns and a bright pink shirt," the older man said with a grin and a wink. He was... yep, he was wearing pink. There was nothing subtle about the cut or colour of his bright pink jacket. He had a plate of food himself, though mostly simpler foods. A lot of fruit and other things that were easily identifiable at a glance. He had a thin sword at his waist, and an easy smile on his face. He was old enough to be Draco's father. Or possibly grandfather. But there was nothing else that he might have ever had in common with either man, it would seem.

"But that's just food for thought. While we're here though, I plan to drink it all in so I can tell everyone back home about this place."

Re: ― draco malfoy ( harry potter series )

[souls_of_roles]

Arrvial

There were some colours that were almost a curse in and of themselves. Because there were somethings that once seen could not be unseen, they seemed to burn themselves into your eyes. The work overalls the girl was wearing was in one of those colours. The level of pink was actually painful to look at directly. The white shirt she wore under the partially open top only seemed to make the pink pop all the more.

She had been trying to wring out her sleeves when she saw the familiar. Her eyes went huge and wide and... seemed to almost sparkle. "FAIRY!" she said with the pure and utter joy of a small coddled child. Until that moment she had looked sixteen or seventeen. Her joy made her seem younger.

But for someone used to playing the bully, she seemed a perfect target. Her hair was too short to really suit her in a "pretty" way. Her work clothes were painfully bright with a patch on the chest and again on the back that actually said - wait for it - LOVE ME on it in pretty much the most embarrassing ways possible. And physically she was plain. No make up. Not pretty. Not ugly. Just... plain. And then of course was the childish way she was obviously delighted at the magical creature while ignoring him utterly.

Soaked On Arrival (Ah Shit, Here We Go Again!)

[phoenixwiz]

(It’s no Buckbeak, but Harry knows a Hippogriff when he sees one. Seeing Malfoy arguing with one has him being both concerned and confused, remembering the time when Hagrid tried to teach them about magical creatures in their third year and him succeeding in befriending Buckbeak whereas Malfoy didn’t.

At least, there is someone from his world he can recognize, even if it’s someone whom he used to have bad blood with. He quietly walks in to check on the two of them while his pink Pygmy Puff friend rides on his right shoulder.)

Erm... You need some help over here?

B

[accurately]

[ He dares. He dares indeed. ]

You're too happy about the potential end of the world.

[ Annoying... Well, Midorima thinks a lot of things are annoying tbh. Especially that high pitched noise the let out.. ]

Re: B

[souls_of_roles]

She spun to face him and grinned, clapping her hands happily. "But look what the world is!" She said cheerfully, unfazed. "And they brought us here to STOP the end of the world! That means we can help them! We, us lowly humans can help the faries! And then maybe... maybe our worlds can make deals and faries can walk around Earth! And we can make friends and live together in a fantasy land! Oh! I wanna show Moko this place!" she said happily.

Wildcard (Hello, Fellow Kinetic Magic User!)

[phoenixwiz]

Um, Hi. May I join you as well?

Enter one seemingly unassuming teenager trying to do kinetic magic too, this time with random twigs and pebbles than big rocks. The Elder Wand is currently nothing more than a fancy looking twig, so don’t expect the kid to do magic with it any time soon.)

It looks like we have the same kind of magic to work with.

Be Merry

[arf]

[ Taichi is generally freaked out but seems like he's doing a good job of keeping it together for some time. He hasn't really found anyone he knows here yet though, so he's kind of deflated by the time food comes around to just focus on eating.

That said, when he notices someone who seems both A. very noticeable and B. somewhat upset, he waits a few seconds to see if anyone else goes after him, then follows him out of the dining area. They're all pretty alone here, it's probably better not to let anyone feel alone. Or maybe that's just Taichi's need to be around people speaking. Either way, he's going to try. He pokes his head around the door frame that lead out to the balcony and approaches at a safe distance. ]

What a view, huh?

[ It's not like he knows the dude, asking if he's okay might be a bit much right out the gate. ]

[uenosama]

T-The hell are you apologizing for? You were drowning.

[He's a bit taken aback with formality (Japanese?) but nods back.]

It's fine. [He's honestly relieved he managed to get to him in time.] Let's get out of the water. [The woman that's near them is trying to pat the water from both of their hairs with her shawl, but nothing happens (when you and yours are incorporeal...)]