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

Welcome Feast

[afoolshope]

Minato was surprised at the offer. It seemed no one else had been inclined to make room, but he was grateful nonetheless and set his plate down which was nearly overflowing with all kinds of food. His church grim sniffed curiously at the pink furball. "Be nice, Kuro."

What do you take me for?

Still, the grim did nothing more than sniff and then meander under the table lay down at Minato's feet, looking nothing more than a big black dog despite the wisps around him.

Minato nodded to the other teen. "Thank you."

He also slid some fruit onto the pink thing's plate in thanks as well. Honestly, all the familiars really weren't a bother to him. The only real shock, he supposed, was seeing them out and about so casually. He was used to not seeing anything supernatural unless they were called. Still, it was nothing too difficult to get used to.

[phoenixwiz]

“You’re welcome. It looks like there are all sorts of people and familiars from various worlds, the dining hall is becoming a tad bit crowded, doesn’t it?” Harry tells the other teenaged boy; he’s pretty used to being many Opening Feast and End of Term Feast back at Hogwarts, so it feels a bit like home to him.

He also is grateful that he gave some fruit to Rose as well, she happily squeaks as she blissfully munches them in joy with her vegetables. If he’s paying attention, he could be seen giving a faint smile.

“So, what’s your name and where you’re from?” he then asks the blue haired boy, “I’m Harry, I actually grew up in Surrey, but I was in Scotland when I got to Avalon with Rose, my Pygmy Puff friend, joining me in the water.”

[afoolshope]

"Seems like they prepared for the influx, though," Minato commented dryly, taking it all in. It didn't seem like there would be anyone eating on the floor any time soon just yet. But it was getting close.

The little noise the creature made only pulled a small, soft smile from Minato. Kuro was actually happy to see that. Feeling like he was "caught", Minato quickly hid it by digging into his own food.

"Mm," He finished chewing before answering. The boy was from the UK, then? He had to mentally switch gears for a moment since they said their first names first, right? "Minato. I'm from Japan. I was at Gekkoukan high school in Iwatodai when I ended up here. This is Kuro, he's a church grim."

[phoenixwiz]

He definitely agrees with Minato: the people here were definitely prepared for such a big arrival of strangers like them coming to their world, how long will they be here is another question for another time.

“Minato, it’s really nice to meet you and your friend over here,” he replies in return before asking about Kuro’s species form, “Pardon me, but what’s a church grim? Is it a species I never saw in my Fantastic Beasts textbook before?”

[afoolshope]

Minato could only look at Harry in slight confusion. Fantastic Beasts textbook? Was that like a Compendium? "I wouldn't know, it's not a textbook I'm familiar with."

He could at least explain what a church grim was, though. He took a moment to take a bite of food, handing some to Kuro as well. "They're creatures that protect churches, usually a specific one that they were killed at. Usually it's black dog, like Kuro, but I think they can take on any shape. That's about all I know, we don't study a lot of Western folklore in Japan."

[phoenixwiz]

Church spirits, huh? That’s what Harry could get from what Minato is talking about. Still, there are always new things to discover everyday. It also sounds like Minato is familiar to the concept of familiars in his world.

“You have something similar to familiars back home?” he asks him before taking a sip of the Butterbeer-like drink from the goblet, “Back in my world, we usually have owls, cats, and frogs, although there was someone who had a snake for a familiar.”

He is being cautious not to give away anything related to Voldemort too soon to be safe while he is reeling in from the recent Battle in Hogwarts. He is pretty interested in hearing his seat mate’s thoughts.

[afoolshope]

Minato shook his head, unsure of how to explain the concept of personas to someone who seemed to be from a more magical side of the supernatural than he was. He stopped eating to sip at his own drink, some kind of fruit juice, and he sat back a little as he mulled his next answer.

"What you would call a familiar, what this place would call a familiar, was not unlike what we had back home," He started. "But they were called Personas and unlike Kuro, mine were me, and I am them. Kuro is not me, he is his own person. Personas are our personality given physical form. In psychological terms, a persona is one of many masks we wear to get through our daily lives. How we act and speak to one person is different to another. What I and my friends could do was bring that to life, but it was only during a hidden 25th hour of the day between midnight and the next day. We called it the Dark Hour."

Kuro sat up, looking at Minato intently. The familiar knew a bit of this already, being bonded of course, but it was the first to hear the details.

"Everyone has a persona, even you," He said. "But only a select few have the potential to summon it. Those with the potential could see the Dark Hour, but then you were also susceptible to the shadows that roamed during this time. You won't need to worry about it, though. The Dark Hour is gone now."

[phoenixwiz]

Well, that was a lot to go through, but he is still intrigued by the whole Persona concept, even though he has zero idea of what they are. They are like familiars but, at the same time, they are not? Yeah, Harry is definitely buying into this explanation.

“So I also have a Persona of my own as well but only a few people can summon them? That is interesting: they are essentially extensions of ourselves, right?” he speaks up as Rose lifts her head out of confusion, he then strokes her head to reassure her that Minato didn’t intend to overload her with too many information, to which she calms down and continues eating her food.

[afoolshope]

There really was no way to simplify it, not that Minato could see, and it's likely the most anyone would hear him speak as he usually doesn't talk so much. Still, he also offered another piece of fruit in apology for the amount of information that confused the poor thing.

"Yes," He answered, pulling his hand back to pet Kuro's head for a moment. At least he left out the whole Wildcard and Velvet Room business. There was no way he could explain that. "I don't have the ability anymore, not without the Dark Hour or... hm."

He shook his head. "Nevermind, it's not appropriate for the dinner table." With the image of his Evoker in his head, clearly missing its weight at his hip, even Kuro looked a little alarmed. That's what Minato did to summon his persona?

I suppose my presence is a lot more appropriate than I realized.

In more ways than one, Kuro. "Sorry."

[phoenixwiz]

Harry takes another bite onto a sausage, chewing it vigorously before swallowing it down. A part of him is telling him about what has went down in his world, but he is not too sure if it’s good dinner conversation right now.

And normally if he tries to talk to normal people about magic, he is at risk of breaking the Statue of Secrecy, but he is stuck in another world right now and magic is very common in this world, so there is no point in trying to hide too much from anybody by this point.

“I am actually capable of doing magic back in my world,” he sheepishly reveals to Minato, “Though not in the way how magic works here. Back home, we usually use wands and incantations to perform certain tasks. Some can perform magic without wands and/or saying a word, though they can be tricky without practice.”

[afoolshope]

It took a moment. Minato chewing thoughtfully as he listened to Harry. He wasn't sure why this seemed like a surprise, but it was kind was. One would think despite what he has experienced, it wouldn't be but. Here he was, pausing in his chewing to finally say, "...you're a wizard?"

Like, with wands and everything? That was actually really cool? Minato might be a little starry eyed as he waited for Harry's confirmation.

[phoenixwiz]

“Yes, I am a wizard back in my world,” he admits while expecting a blank reaction from Minato, “Except that the wizarding community I live in likes to hide everything to do with magic from most normal people: generations old grudges between the two parties die hard, I’m afraid. It’s very complicated to go through everything, but crazy things happen to me and my friends back home for the last 7 or so years.”

[afoolshope]

"Makes sense," Minato nodded. He thought it was still really cool, though, even if he wasn't exactly emoting that very well. Emotions are hard. But still, he could understand that. "We didn't tell people about what we were up to throughout last year either. People are largely unaware of anything persona related."

A hidden 25th hour is a good way to hide that.

Kuro wasn't wrong. Minato didn't argue that. "Has it all worked out in the end?"

[phoenixwiz]

“Tiring and rough since there was somebody after me for nearly my entire life and there was this big battle in my school and many have died, but it was worth it in the end, although with a cost,” he solemnly answers, “That guy I just mentioned was not the most pleasant person you’ll ever meet: something to do with immortality and blood purity, even though he and I share the same blood heritage.”

And with all the blood purity nonsense and immortality, you could say that Tom Marvolo Riddle was off his trolley in the worst way possible. Rose senses that her master is in distress that she nuzzles on his right hand to comfort him.

[afoolshope]

"There usually is with these things," Minato replied softly. He knew a thing or two about their being costs to battle. "I'm glad it came to an end for you, though."

[phoenixwiz]

Harry nods in return, taking a spoonful of the sausage, mashed potatoes, and peas and chewing it up before swallowing it down. It was not easy to fight during the Battle and he has lost familiar faces along the way, but in the end, it ended with Voldemort’s defeat and that has been lifted from his shoulders.

He also notices Rose nuzzling his right hand out of sympathy that he pets her fur in return.

[afoolshope]

It sounded like Harry also made it out alright, despite the losses. “For what it’s worth, you have my condolences for those who didn’t make it. It’s not easy but it sounds like you guys will be able to move forward now.”

Minato could relate easily enough. He lost his parents, they all lost Shinjiro, and, eventually, they would lose Minato. This world may have healed him, somehow, but it was likely not permanent for whenever he was able to go back. There was no undoing that spell.

Kuro rested his head on Minato’s knee. His bonded had accepted death a long time ago, it seemed. How terrible but sometimes life wasn’t fair. They both knew it.