avalaughs | TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ I

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TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ I

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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.

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Arrival - A

Donovan was helped to the shore, his bright pink jacket as soaked as the rest of him, but somehow the water just made the jacket seem even pinker. Or maybe that was an illusion brought on by the perfectly rational expectation that the jacket could NOT be THAT pink normally.

"Well!" he said cheerfully. "I always did like to make a splash! Usually my wife says that my jokes are all wet but usually she's dripping with sarcasm, so maybe I'm not actually all washed up after all? I'm shore I've still got a few more good years in me yet." He grinned and offered a sodden hand to whomever he was, in theory, talking to. "Nice to meet you, I'm Donovan."

Welcome Feast - B

Donovan wasn't just playing along with the Jester. What had started as playing along quickly became a joke-off. The older man in the bright pink jacket was clearly having fun. And he was clearly aware that the Jester was the professional here, so the Jester got to be the star. Which meant he was cracking just enough jokes to hold his own, and leaving clear openings for the Jester to take. After he bowed out, reading the audience that it was the right time, he grinned and looked for an open seat.

"I'd ask if this seat was taken, but if it was, they clearly put it back when they were done with it. May I use it until it is taken again?" he asked whoever was sitting near an empty chair with a grin.

“Boy, there is a lot of water-based puns you have made, huh?” Harry meekly tells the older man as he takes the handshake while a small pink Pygmy Puff is sitting on his shoulder, shaking nervously from the cold, “Harry, nice to meet you too, Donovan. So did you find out what your familiar is? I didn’t expect to get a Pygmy Puff for a familiar upon arriving, but that’s fine though. Oh, don’t worry, she won’t hurt you at all, mate.”

The poor teen wizard is still soaking wet from the deep plunge into the water, although his jacket doesn’t look too soaked after he squeezed out water from it. He just hopes that there are extra clothes to be found for everyone to change into sooner rather that later.

"Don't know yet, but I'm sure that it'll be something at least somewhat familiar," he said with a grin. "Nice to meet you, Harry. If you like water puns, just wait till you sea all the ones I have not used yet. Most people who are wet behind the ears in the ways of puns, however, generally ask for a waiver." His smile was nearly as bright as his jacket.

Harry had went through one of the worst times in his world with a hidden magical civil war, deaths, destruction, and Voldemort’s soul destroyed in every Horcrux (including himself), so maybe some puns could lighten his mood right now.

“I don’t mind a really good joke at all,” he politely replies, not knowing how wonderful Donovan is making puns as an art; still, a change of pace is appreciated, he will be willing to sit through the pun master’s puns.

"Well, there is a trick to humour that you should keep in mind then. A good joke is wonderful. A bad joke... is better." He grinned and tossed an arm around Harry's shoulder if he allowed it. "Have you heard the joke about the sky?"

“Okay, never heard of jokes involving the sky before, Donavan. Mind sharing some?” he tells him, considering he has his dad’s broom flying skills and played for Gryffindor’s Quidditch Team, he suppose it won’t hurt him one bit.

Damn, he really wishes he could have his broom The Firebolt right now, but the he remembers that it got smashed during the escape from Little Whinging. So fire those puns away, Donavan!

"Actually... they might be a little over your head." he winked. Did you hear about the cloud who was king for a day, though?"

“Uh... No,” is all what he can squeak up, man, this Donavan is really clever enough to joke around even with the people finding themselves stranded on the beach situation they’re all in.

"It was a fairly short reign." He grinned. Yes, yes he was. He would joke while people were dying too. Sure, he'd be in there fighting to save lives and defend. But he's be as quick with his wit as with his sword. "Do you know why people look up to the sun?"

“Hm, let’s see, is it because the sun shines so bright they can’t look away from it,” Harry tries to guess Donavan’s next riddle, sorry, he is not the Master of Riddles, please teach the guy your ways, Pun and Riddle Master Donavan!

He grinned. "It is a shinning example, isn't it?" he said, acknowledging proudly how close the kid got. "Do you know the joke about the jump rope?"

“Alright, does it have to do with it going in loops forever that it never ends?” Harry asks again, wondering if he screwed it up big time.

"Nah. You know what? You can probably skip it." He grinned. He has a million of these. "What did one eye say to the other?"

“Eye, eye? Because they’re all eyes?” he sheepishly replies back, that kinda makes sense, he thought to himself; although he does know that he might be wrong too.

"Aye aye! I like that one. But just between us, something smells. Speaking of, why is the nose in the middle of the face?"

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Honestly, Misumi had been watching the whole exchange with delight. They both had really great improv skills! He could appreciate that.

So when Donovan asks for the chair, Misumi is so eager to offer it that the pun almost flies right over his head.

"Yeah, you ca-- ha! Ahahaha!" It catches him then, and he breaks down in giggles. "Hehehe... put it back..."

Apparently that's so funny that he's nearly crying laughing.

Donovan grinned and turned the chair so he could face the kid while leaning forward on the back. "From your breezy attitude, gonna guess you're a fan."

Oh no, this is too much! Misumi has to double over with his giggles for a moment to try and catch his breath. It's a difficult thing.

"Aaaaah! Stop, stop, you'll leave me winded!"

He can try his hand at this too okay?

"A good joke is always a gas," he agreed.

Whew, okay, Misumi. Just treat it like a skit! He manages to get his giggles under control and even looks smug as he delivers his next pun.

"I gust you'd be right about that. Buuuut~ I think we're just blowing hot air at this point~"

"Hey, don't you rain on my parade here. I am the reigning king of puns, weather you like it or not. But, I've got my Axe, if you've got a wind instrument, we can blow them all away."

That's so many! Misumi is in awe!

And he actually looks uncertain for a moment, wracking his brain, trying to figure out what to respond to that with. But it's only for a moment before he lets out a laugh and his bubbly demeanor returns to him.

"Ahaha! I give, I give! I haven't practiced puns enough!"

Something he'll have to correct at some point.

He grinned, and if not stopped, would ruffle Misumi's hair. "Punning, like any other art takes practice before it seems natural. Happy to help however I can, lad."

Misumi actually looks pleased with the hair ruffle, so it absolutely lands. He beams and rocks from side to side gently.

"Hehe! It feels totally different from improv! It's hard to think that much and keep talking smoothly! You're really amazing~~ ...ah!"

He suddenly digs around in his pocket and pulls out a small rock that is roughly triangular in shape and holds it out to Donovan.

"Here! A prize for beating me at puns~"

He chuckled and grinned. "Thanks, as gifts go, this really rocks!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ I

Donovan Deegan | Dominic Deegan | Warning for BAD PUNS

A for Arrival (Bring Out the Puns!)

Re: A for Arrival (Bring Out the Puns!)

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Welcome Feast!

Re: Welcome Feast!

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lol holy hell I needed my wife's help for this one...

You're... welcome?

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