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

[habeusdorkus]

Nah, he just started following me around! He's a good boy, though. Plays fetch like a pro.

[...A wolf. Gumshoe thinks about that. He's never actually seen a wolf before, so it could be one, but... but his dog is so good, so--]

Maybe he's a wolfdog! That'd explain a lot. [He happily pats the giant wolf on the nose, who in turn wags his tail excitedly. This giant, hulking black wolf with fierce red eyes looks like he loves the attention.]

Your bird looks really pretty, sir. I didn't know you had one! Or are you renting it? Can you rent birds?

[jurisprudence]

That is a nuisance that, to my chagrin, I have yet to be able to shake off.

[He rolls one of his shoulders backward, as if for emphasis; the bird, being equally as stubborn as Edgeworth is himself, bobs and sways with the shifting perch beneath its claws, but doesn't fly away.

Well. At least the inanity of the bird and Detective Gumshoe's "dog" is distracting him from thinking about how sooner or later he's going to have to scale those damned cliffs. Small favors.]

Yours seems friendly enough.

[He thinks a minute, then squares his shoulders and faces the wolfdog head-on before snapping his fingers and dropping his arm to point at the ground.]

Sit!

[habeusdorkus]

Oh yeah? He looks like he suits you. He's all fancy lookin'.

[It honestly does not even click to Gumshoe that there should be any concern about a bird that is on fire. He assumes it's just fancy, like Edgeworth himself.

The wolf, much like Gumshoe, is eager to please. At the sharp order, the wolf's rear hits the ground and he sits, carefully watching Edgeworth.]

Wow! I kinda almost wanted to sit down, too. You're a natural, sir.

[jurisprudence]

[Hmmm. Well, that's something, at least. The dog wolf obeys.]

It's good to know he's trained, at least. You'd have trouble if he didn't know how to behave himself.

[He jerks his shoulder again, and this time the bird irritably seems to take the hint; with a flap of its wings, it pushes off Edgeworth's shoulder and arcs the short distance to where Gumshoe is standing, seeking a new perch on on his shoulder that will hopefully be more receptive than the last.

Which...bothers Edgeworth a little bit, somehow, but fine. Let Gumshoe deal with the bird. He'll focus on the dog, that much is easier.]

[habeusdorkus]

Aw, I don't know about that. I'm used to taking care of the dogs at the precinct!

[And then the fancy bird finds his way over to Gumshoe's shoulder, which isn't much of a bother. If anything, it's a pleasant surprise, and he sounds choked up when he says:] I think your fancy bird likes me, sir!

[He holds out a hand to the bird excitedly, as if expecting it to respond to him the same way a dog would. Gumshoe's a little confused but he's got the spirit.]

[jurisprudence]

I meant — it's more that —

[This wolf is the size of a small European car and Gumshoe assumes that difficulty handling it would be attributable to not knowing how to take care of dogs. Because his duties at the precinct can be generalized from Pomeranians to literal, actual wolves.

Still with his face a stony mask, he lifts one hand and rubs lightly at his nose, which on the surface may look like he's just dusting a little pollen. In truth, it's to make sure that the faint hint of the smile tugging at the edges of his mouth don't wind up becoming visible.

It really is, assuming one were to discard all notions of sense and rationality, kind of a really, really big dog.]

...Never mind. Keep that thing off me, as best you can. It was getting tedious to haul it around everywhere.

[Curious, how the bird's demeanor changes when it's around Gumshoe versus when it's riding along on Edgeworth's shoulder. Where it'd previously been aloof, stubborn, and difficult, on Gumshoe's shoulder it acts more like an exceedingly large budgie, claw-stepping daintily up his arm to preen its dangerous curving beak through the strands of his hair.]

[habeusdorkus]

Aw, really? He's pretty cute! Look at 'im.

[The preening just makes Gumshoe laugh, outright pleased at the assumed affection. The giant wolf behind the detective leans in a little, sniffing at the bird curiously, but doesn't nose in too close.]

I don't mind taking care of him for awhile. He's a good boy, I can tell.

[Detective Gumshoe, suddenly a bird expert.]

Oh! We should catch up with everyone else. Then we can find a phone! [And he still has complete intention of being a chatterbox to distract Edgeworth from the heights. He won't forget!]

[jurisprudence]

I'd hoped it might grow bored and disappear. It did that, earlier.

[Actually it disappeared because you were going to hit it with a briefcase, Edgeworth, but you know what. You keep right on presenting only the facts most beneficial to your position, you die-hard prosecutor at heart, you.

It's only when Gumshoe mentions the winding line of people working their way up the cliffside that some of his irritable bravado dissipates, and he's back to looking more uncomfortable with his silence than aloof from it.]

...I. [Breathe.] ...Suppose we had better. Yes.

[There is no hand railing. People are falling off the side of these cliffs. The only way this could be more anxiety-inducing is if there were an earthquake halfway up, good grief.

And yet.

And yet he's not about to lose face in front of Gumshoe, so he swallows back his nerves and starts forward to the steps, determined to keep his eyes straight ahead and pretend he's climbing stairs in a building, or a ballroom, or a courthouse. Anything where ascension is an afterthought, instead of a grim and front-and-center reality.

One step. Another.

He can do this.

One step. Another.

Eyes straight ahead, Edgeworth.]

...Detective.

[His voice doesn't shake, but it's very, very even. Measured. Controlled.]

I suppose you're going to name it? The...dog.

[habeusdorkus]

[There's the impulsive thought that maybe Edgeworth might need a hand to hold. Or something! But he knows precisely how much the prosecutor likes his personal space, and it's probably just own overprotectiveness. Either way, he's ready to be The Distraction as needed.

He hears Detective, which might as well be his first name at this point. Not that there's any problem with that!]

Yeah, I was thinking of a few names! There's already Missile, so maybe something cool like Napalm or Blackout or Jetski or something.

[Why would "jet ski" be a good name? Perhaps only Dick Gumshoe knows.]

What about your bird, sir?

[jurisprudence]

Jetski. Does it swim?

[It's kind of an inane question, but it occurs to him belatedly that he'd seen some people's animals pulling them out of the lake when they'd all first landed, so maybe it's not as stupid as it initially appears. For all he knows, the wolf did act as Detective Gumshoe's...jetski.

Lord knows it's big enough.]

As for that bird...frankly, I don't particularly care about that sort of thing.

[HE LIED, LYING LIKE A LIAR.]

Name it yourself, if you care to.