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

[deliveryhawk]

"I think I get it, kind of like when the bird disappears, I don't feel the same tingling in my veins like when he's around." If that makes sense, to Takao, it makes sense; it's like static kind of, it goes louder when the night sparrow is there.

Right! Then don't make him laugh.

"That's a lot of words for a simple thank you, Mr. Fancy." He teases, flashing a playful smile and poke of the tongue to that wink.

"I wonder if we can find one, maybe some wizard can magic one up, you think?" Even if he hates cats, something lucky has to be better than nothing. Losing that part of his daily routine and the safety blanket of his lucky items to boot is going to be hard, and Takao is worried about him, a fact that shows when for the moment, he is talking about it his brow furrows with real concern. At this point, he'd sport the rabbit ears and tail if it would help.

"What would someone do to make me need to drop a tree on them?" Though it would look badass, Kise is right. This is why Kise is a good friend, even if that thumbs up would have Takao snickering while he was yelled at.

[dvine]

"Yeah! There's like, a bit of a difference, I suppose." He'd know more if he'd sit down in a library and studied but Kise and studies just don't go hand in hand. He'd go if someone made him tho...

"I am just stating the truth!" Kise's finger pokes Takao's side and grins back.

"Wait, an item that can magically give luck? Is that even possible?" The thought of that suddenly gives him uneasiness and a hunch that if it's possible, Midorima will try to enchant every single item with luck.

"Um, well, chase you to hurt you? Who knows what types of people are around here. OR on wild animal. Like a boar! Or wolf! Maybe bear!"

[deliveryhawk]

"I did not miss school, this place is going to make me study again." He can already tell because there is just too much he does not know here and if he is going to keep him and his friends safe.

"Hey! No fair." He wiggles, Kise's fault for poking his side, he's ticklish okay!

"I bet there is, I mean, there's magic, has to be some way to make some kind of permanent lucky item." Though if they find it, maybe just give Midorima the item before he goes and does exactly what Kise is worried about.

Then he slowly gets wide-eyed, there is definitely a little terror in his eyes. "Okay, new rule, we only go out in pairs, I do not want to become bear food, I'm too cute to die that way."

[dvine]

"Do we have a choice? Can our familiars teach us?" As always, Kise will try to skirt around studying and school if he can. Midorima can probably "bully" him into it, but that's something to think about later.

His fingers stop tickling him, but Kise grins playfully all the same, in the "I can do it again" manner.

"Yeah. He hasn't been all closed off because of the lack of items yet, so hopefully we can come up with something." Or not. Maybe if there's nothing to tell him the list he will think less about it and just acquire popular lucky things?

"No one goes alone anywhere outside of the city. After that jackass put up the fake quest on the board, I'm finding it hard to accept anything that comes by." The boy who called wolf situation and all.

[deliveryhawk]

"I think they can, but he's going to make us study." Or at least he'll make Takao by studying himself which will encourage the point guard. Not that he is bad at it, but it's more fun studying plays the other team makes than books, but hey it's magic so maybe it will be fun. Either way, he'll be studying or helping Midorima study, so Kise is going to get dragged along by one of the two. Sorry Kise, but they both care about you a lot at least!

Takao side-eyes him, the look is meant to be reprimanding but the twist to his lips and the glint in his eyes makes it all too playful. Do it and he will tickle back, then there will be a tickle war in the spring!

"At least we can work together, everyone else is going to think it's no big deal." It's nice, having Kise who understands Midorima's little quirks and how to help when things get rough for the shooter. They can hope, knowing Midorima, he is going to go overboard somehow, the lack of a horoscope is only going to make it worse.

"Deal, we should let everyone know, I think Kuroko's the one we need to worry about the most, he's a wanderer." He sighs, thinking about that stupid quest and how he got lost in the woods, leaning back in so his head rests on Kise's shoulder, drawing comfort from his friend and the closeness. "You know I got stuck in a time loop, had to have some grumpy guy help me find my way out cause of that stupid quest."

[dvine]

Kise slumps back against the wall of the onsen and sighs. Studying... well, at least this thing will have a practical approach too so it won't be AS boring. Books- he really hates them. He doesn't want to spend hours reading them. Midorima will definitively make him do it. Takao you traitor, you should get him out of it, not enable Midorima!

"Yeah... we need permanent residence. Inn is nice, but it doesn't feel, uh, I dunno how to explain it... safe? Secure? I dunno, it feels as if we're overstaying our welcome there and they'll kick us out soon."

Kise laughs, "Ah yes, Kurokocchi really does like to snoop around and get into trouble." He tried going 1-vs-5 against some bullies. Thank god Kagami and he were there to lend Kurokocchi a hand. "I heard about that time loop thing. Apparently, it was a scam too? A fake request."

[deliveryhawk]

It can kind of be like studying basketball, since they will be able to get out and try it on for size, actually practice what they are learning not just take stupid written tests. He will make snacks while they study and give post-study cuddles or shoulder rubs as compensation for his traitorous ways. Because he all too often enables Midorima.

"Yeah, it's not ours so they can just boot us out at any time like if a bunch of newer people comes we could end up on our heads."


"Yup, it sucked I walked in the woods for hours." He sighs, leaning back in comfortably against his friend he turns his head and gives Kise's cheek a kiss with a smile "But it's over now, your familiar stopped freaking me out and we can finally relax."

[dvine]

Except it's not basketball and Kise will complain after sitting still and reading the same page for an hour. Oh well, Takao is used to people complaining- GoM is very spoiled. They grew up, but they are still spoiled.

"We should look for an apartment for rent or a small house when we get the money.

He grins broadly when Takao plants a kiss on his cheek and returns the favor by pressing one to his. "Yeah. Sorry about her. Next time just ignore it. She just likes the shock value," Kise laughs and closes his eyes to relax. Mental note- don't fall asleep, no matter how tempting it is.

[deliveryhawk]

He is very used to it and the spoiled way of being that the GoM has; he is more than ready and equipped to handle two of them; Kise need not worry. In the end, he'll end up spoiling in his way, the way he does Midorima.

"That should be the first thing we get; then we don't have to worry about where to stay."

"I've never seen boobs, kind of hard to ignore." But for now, he is just going to smile at that return kiss to his cheek and settle there on Kise's lap. He definitely should not fall asleep, but for now, it's warm, snuggly, and comforting, so he is not moving.

[dvine]

Kise usually only needs attention. Like a puppy in a way. Don't leave him alone for too long.

"Yeah. And after that we can save up to buy our place." But they can handle that down the line.

Kise chuckles, head leaned against Takao's as he rests, "mmm, well, it was an illusion so you didn't really see them. It's like... seeing a picture in adult magazines." If that's any consolation.

[deliveryhawk]

Takao is good at giving attention, Kise does not have to want for that except when Midorima is being a brat, but Takao can balance his attention between the two.

"I like the sound of that, all of us in one spot, then we can always know everyone is safe." Though it will probably have to be Kagami moving in next door versus under the same roof since the other does like his space.

He chuckles at that, closing his eyes and relaxing into the comforting hold and warmth of Kise behind and beneath him. "Guess it's a good thing I ended up more into guys." Maybe a little, since he is not looking to complicate his romantic life any more than Lunatia did so he has no intention of seeing any girls naked now or in the future.