avalaughs | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"My mother would rather I wasn't born," she snapped. "And I will continue to live until I can have my revenge on that idiot. IT was love and it made me stupid, and it is over and he will suffer until I break that pride of his and make him realize what he missed out on and that he will never EVER have a chance to be in my life again. He will beg on his knees for forgiveness for wounding an innocent young heart, for killing love. For stealing my life from me and my ability to want to be loved. He destroyed me, so I will destroy him, I will make him join my mother in wishing I was never born."

Her evil laugh was everything one might expect from a villian bent on galactic conquest, her grudge spirits joining in.

"Uhh..."

So what exactly did you say to that? Luz thought she was just having a casual conversation with a relatively older teenage girl, and it had now devolved into her openly cursing love, her mother and the guy that had burned her in the past. How exactly did you bring the conversation back on track?

"Well. Clearly you're working on some things. But maybe you'll...not feel so bad about giving your heart pain? We can only hope?"

Hey, she wanted context!

"I will only feel better when I destroy the idiot! And even that can't get back the wasted years!"

That was a LOT.

"Would it make more sense not to 'destroy the idiot,' then? Just so you let go of potentially bad feelings that are manifesting themselves negatively in your headspace> J-just an idea."

"And let him get away with it?" And let him keep doing it to other idiots like she had been? "Never!"

"Well, I guess you COULD seek revenge, but it's not going to do much for your mental space, is it? Look at your familiar. Feelings like that have a way of bringing out some bad decisions."

Luz could say this now, of course, but a little while ago she had some rather strong feelings about a certain witch who almost killed her.

"It'll do wonders, once he is crushed!" Given the bad choices she's already made in her quest or revenge, however, she was not going to respond to the other part.. Nope.

Seriously, how did their light hearted conversation go in this direction?

"Right, well I...hope you're able to work through all of that. Revenge is a pretty heavy thing. Might be something you want to give time. I mean, who knows? He might die!"

That was something Eda would have said, but really, anything to get out of this revenge hole they'd dug for themselves. It made her think of how she felt about Lilith after she'd captured Eda just a little while ago, and those weren't feelings she was happy about having at the end of the day.

"I haven't seen any fairies yet though. So do you have the small type in your world, or are they human sized?"

"Good. I hope he does and that he rots in **** for eternity where he belongs!"

But at the question of faries, the dark aura, the grudge spirit, all of it is gone and she is shining once again. "Corn is people sized. Actually he's always just a little taller than I am." Exactly as much taller than she was in Guam as Mr. Tsuruga, but he explained why, so it made sense.

Edited (icon had the wrong Kyoko. ) 2020-11-20 10:38 (UTC)

"Right, rotting," Luz said nervously, glad to leave that particular subject behind.

"Cool, so there are faeries human sized! That has to be better than those big toothed sprites in the Boiling Isles. "What can they do in your world?"

"All sorts of things!" she exclaimed, excited. This was her favorite topic, after all. "They can fly, even without wings. And Corn gave me a magical stone that eats bad feelings! And he used his psychic powers to take the voice and face of someone I know, because as an adult he can't fully be perceived by humans! And they can create illusions and read minds and everything!"

Now this she could get behind: after all, she definitely knew what it was like to feel that excited about something.

"That's a lot of cool stuff! I mean, I'm not sure about reading minds and things, but you can definitely use those kind of powers to help make things better!"

That was what the Corn guy's aim was, right?

Not even a little what he was after.

She nodded so fast that it looked like she had no bones in her neck. "Uh huh!"

That was what worried her. At least with Eda, her intentions were clear and she didn't make anything come easy, not ever. This Corn guy sounded like he was definitely stacking the deck so Kyoko would do whatever he asked.

"Whoa, that's some head banging. So what, he just really likes being your friend, is that why he does these things for you?"

"Corn's always been a great friend to me!" she said cheerfully, but then like a plug was pulled, her cheer vanished. "But he told me that he was under a curse. All those years and I never knew it. I never knew he was suffering. He just listened to me and cheered me up." She looked down at her hands. "I was able to finally help him, but I’m not pure the way I used to be. I wonder... if it was enough...." she said, looking up at the ceiling, eyes distant and sad.

"Maybe you need to talk to him about it? Also, why were you not pure enough?"

Great, you totally have Luz dragged up into your craziness.

"He's a fairy. It's hard for him to be in my world. I'll have to find him here..." she said. As for the other... just the thought of it sent rage swirling around her. "That jerk absolutely didn't steal my first kiss! The actor's rule of the heart applies! That wasn't a kiss! It wasn't! It was just an idiot being cheap and thoughtless! That's all!" she insisted. Loudly.

"Oh. Good luck then! Maybe you'll find him somewhere!"

And it looks like they were back in angry world again.

"I mean, it's just a kiss, right? Kisses don't really measure purity, o-other stuff and adult situations tend to be the factor."

Don't make her say it!

Flush. Flush. Flush. Explosion. Yeah, Kyoko is broken from not even wanting to think about that.

Okay, so out from THAT subject and Kyoko...still seemed to be seething.

"So uh, what does this fairy look like again?"

TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ I

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