avalaughs | TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 6

Entry tags:

TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 6

Check out the OOC intro meme for this month to say hi to new players/characters!

{ QUICK NAV }
Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary

⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️

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. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, but seems to be focusing on coordinating a band of mossatees to help rescue any wayward new arrivals. Mossatees are a special Avalonian manatee that is green in color and has what appears to be a patches of grass or other short plant life growing on its back. While some are fully green, many sport blooming flowers or fairy circles of mushrooms.

If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. Those with animal magic may get their info from the manatees, though may notice that they're really overly friendly and have zero concept of personal boundaries. Everyone may notice they have no concept of personal space, as they will happily run right into someone's belly for a snoot squishing. 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.

*Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players.

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, a pair of earbuds, and animal-themed ponchos and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was recently enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of 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. Which given the fact that it's pouring down rain in April? Not ideal. You were only given ponchos, not rain boots.

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.

Unfortunately, due to a bee infestation and massive amounts of rain, the hot springs of the Red Springs are not available this month! Instead, an underground salt cave is offered as a way to relax and unwind. Gather around in the rejuvenating, dimly lit caves and breathe in the relaxing effects of salt crystals. Feel the sand between your toes, or if you don't like sand, try one of the many pools with tiny garra rufa for a fish pedicure. Or, lie down in a recliner and stare up at the "stars"-- magic sparkles in the ceiling that move to spell out single-word concepts you may be experiencing. (Maybe you're relaxed? You might get something like "Chill." Find your relaxation buddy hot? Just be careful to look away before the stars spell "Thirsty" to the whole room.)

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.

As it turns out, a mythical land that's been around for a few centuries has a few things in common with many modern worlds. It's got the internet, and games have evolved a little bit past hoop trundling and draughts. April, being the traditional month of mirth and games and lots of rain making it hard to have fun outdoors, is the time for Camelot City Gaming Convention, affectionately shortened to CameCon. Come into the large convention center located in the south part of town, get dry, and check out some of the awesome things to do.

A ⦿ Couchless Co-Op

Fighting games

NASTAR Racing Game

rhythm dance game

Grand Theft Automation

really

B ⦿ Arthurian RP in your Arthurian RP

LARP as their favorite Knight of the Round Table

rock-paper-scissors-magic

dress-up

props that will magically give you sword skills

picnic on the concrete floor

C ⦿ It Figures...

A convention isn't a convention without a little shopping. Come check out what cool games are upcoming in the exhibit hall, buy figurines of your favorite game characters (or.. new ones you've never heard of since this is a new world, but are still cute and/or kick-ass), and most importantly, check out the cool magic you can apply to them. A spell available for purchase in the convention hall that's popular this year is Recipe: Figure Anima, which makes your figures move in place and say popular lines as if they're an actual, miniature version of the character. It's recommended you practice while you're in the convention hall though so figure experts can help if things go.. awry. People have been known to have their own emotions influence the spell, and sometimes toys have started taking on the attitude of the caster. There's nothing quite as tragic as your favorite angelic game character telling you they're gonna kick your ass because you were in a fighting mood. So OOC. Maybe you can find someone who's a little better at magic to fix the problem?

Of course, when the rain breaks through and floods the exhibition room, there's a lot of mass hysteria as people scream and climb up onto tables, trying to protect their merch above all else. Hurry, help someone else up onto your table before their ent dakimakura they just purchased gets wet! Only you can save the gamers from water! ..Or that's what you thought, until a second later the electricity goes out and you're left in a total electricity blackout in the convention hall. It may be a good idea to use some magic to try to light the way and find a way out of the flooded hall...

A ⦿ Keep Your Vines to Yourselves

overgrowth of prehensile, very friendly vines

destructive magic

without

tickle the person the vines have captured

B ⦿ Selfies with Selkies

very, very large flower

Take a trip up to the Archivist

Cereus de Anima

the Silent Shore

shirtless selkie

take a selfie

eventually

a cottage on the other side of the Pure of Heart Bridge

old man that Morganna tried to kill and save in a quest a couple of months ago

C ⦿ The Answer is No

Back in Camelot City, it seems that anyone who's been touched by the vines has been replaced by a doppelganger in their lives. They're just barely off from the original- they have all the memories, but may be slightly more skilled at things they didn't used to be, or may seem to make less ethical choices than they might otherwise. There's just something slightly off. But when people start using AOL to contact their friends and let them know they've been gone.. well, it may seem like the jig is up, or at least in question.

Those who find out they've been replaced may want to return to Camelot quickly to try to reclaim their lives. Doppelgangers will attempt to kill their original if they come into contact with them when they aren't around other people, so you may need to flee for your life if you haven't gotten good enough at magic to defend yourself yet. Around other people, the doppelgangers will do their best to try to prove themselves the real person and since they were made from the original, will have the same memories as the original character so asking questions that "only ___ would know" may not work. Eventually it will come out that the doppelgangers have occasionally wriggling vines instead of spines underneath their clothing, if you're willing to check that to see who's real, but that won't be common knowledge.

What can be found out from the old man at the Pure of Heart bridge if you choose to leave your doppelganger alone is that Cereus de anima doppelgangers can only live for a month without killing their original and absorbing the rest of their essence. However, if the original plant isn't taken care of with a special venom you can only obtain from certain creatures in the Forest of the Fisher King, the problem will just keep happening over and over until the city is overrun and becomes nothing but a breeding ground for the flower and its replicas.

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.
• 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.
• You can have any animal-style poncho you want! They are themed, not made from actual animals. No animals have been harmed in the making of these ponchos!!
• TIMELINE: The resolution to the third prompt will be in April's event! The first two prompt sets will be during the first week of the month. The doppelganger problem and obnoxious traveling and research will be occurring for the second and third weeks of the month.
• People with green magic may be able to fill something off about the doppelgangers, but may not be able to identify what it is right away. Blood mages will be able to feel that their blood feels the same as the original as they are essentially copies. Cognitive people will be able to use their magic normally except for hypnotic suggestion- the doppelgangers are immune to it, so while you may be able to find other ways to out them, hypnotizing people to tell the truth won't work this time. Doppelgangers are made from the essence of the person, so they will be able to access their phones and accounts. Note that the Cereus de Anima and doppelgangers are not fairies and cannot be contracted with. If a Death Mage attempts to possess a doppelganger, it will technically come in contact with the doppelganger's vine and may end up with more than one doppelganger depending on how many times they try it. Siphon magic can be used to destroy a doppelganger easily, however, the essence that was stolen from the original's soul may be destroyed in the process so it is not recommended as the original may start to feel as though they are no longer a whole person.
• If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt.
• The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly. Make sure to read the Red Spring section on this month's even if you're normally familiar-- the springs are closed this month, check out the alternate prompts!
• 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

Suffering is a valuable use of one's time, Caesar: it always makes the moments last, at least.

Nash is the sort of person who ignores cats, which is to say, the sort of person cats adore. He doesn't reach over, or try to pet the cat, fluffy though it appears to be. Can you pet a cat that can jump through walls? Is this what his inner dialogue has come to?

"Well, cat," says Nash, still gripping his strange oracle stone, speaking in small words, as if to a Knight of Zexen. "Kind of you to join me as I finally go insane."

Caesar would vehemently disagree with that but that's neither here nor there.

As for the cat, she simply stares back at Nash, saying not a single word in return, as one should typically expect of a cat, and that stare will only waver and flit towards the carriage's door about two seconds before Caesar makes his own arrival. Unlike his familiar, he cannot simply phase through a wall, and so Nash will find the carriage's door being snatched open to reveal one particularly short Silverberg — a tad bit disheveled from hurrying to catch the carriage before it left — giving the cat an entirely offended look.

"You ran ahead on purpose, didn't you," he accuses her like him having to run at all was wholly her fault. Maybe it was, somehow. All that earns him is what eerily looks like an eyeroll from the cat before she leaps across to Nash's side of the carriage and immediately settles on his lap.

Nash is free to ignore her all she wants, that only means she immediately must sit on him. Such is cat law.

"...useless fuzzball," Caesar follows up with a mutter before finally, finally, looking at Nash. "So. You're here. Not really who I was hoping to see but I guess that can't be helped."

Of course the cat finds its way into his lap. Of course.

"Don't worry. I wouldn't want to see the people who'd want to see me." His voice is casual and breezy, asserting control over the situation as witty banter always does. Is Nash's life a confusing mess? Probably not, did you hear how his voice didn't crack while he was fighting an ancient vampiric knight, for some reason?

Still, a Silverberg isn't a bad thing to have around. He knows Caesar has a good head on those short, slouchy shoulders. So, he can probably get some answers. So he asks the first question that comes to mind.

"Where's Viki?"

"Not here," Caesar has to, unfortunately, answer.

He hops into the carriage and shuts the door after him, helping himself to the seat the cat vacated a moment before. He's sure it'll get rolling along at some point sooner than later and he'd prefer to be sitting when it inevitably does.

"I thought this was her doing at first, too, but it isn't. If you want someone to blame, well, there's one of them."

And he points right at the cat currently sprawling across Nash's lap.

"Are you sure?"

That's what Nash says, but he believes Caesar. Not implicitly, though any Silverberg has a capable enough head on their shoulders. But if Viki were behind this, she'd have sneezed in by now. She isn't subtle. And there are other things Nash has noticed that don't match up with the Viki hypothesis.

"So the speech I got about our world being trapped in time is accurate?"

He looks down at the cat, which by now has him thoroughly trapped. He will probably die here.

There's nothing to be gained from lying about whether or not Viki was here. If anything, Caesar would have found that a far more acceptable explanation, not to mention one with a way home built-in.

"Unfortunately," Caesar answers, "Or so that the story they're sticking to, although I can't see any angle to dragging us here for another reason yet, provided there even is one."

So, it's stupid but likely true enough.

And the cat has curled up to doze off, so, yes. Nash is doubly trapped. He will die in the carriage from an unmoving feline, rest in peace.

"Maybe it's an explanation for a phenomenon they don't understand. People find their own reasons where reason can't explain." Nash shakes his head. He doesn't know what to think, yet. "If they have magic to freeze time…"

That's an almost unthinkable amount of power. "What were you doing before you got here?"

Maybe there's a clue there.

Caesar shrugs. It could be that and he won't deny it. No point to until he turns up something proving it ultimately one way or another, right?

"I was just leaving to get the True Fire Rune back from those ruins," Caesar answers what he feels is the much more pertinent question right now. "But that, apparently, doesn't match up with what Chris last recalls, so I may be a little behind from where everyone else is from."

"Ah yes, just when I made my dramatic entrance," he says, in over inflected tones Nadir would probably appreciate. His timing throughout the Fire Bringer War hadn't been perfect, but at least he got the intel about the ceremonial site in time.

"But you're right. I remember leaving the ruins. And the Grasslands altogether."

He hadn't gotten much past Caleria, but his mission was over, as far as Nash was concerned. What could the discrepancy in the timeline mean? More importantly—

"Chris is here?"

"After that, actually," Caesar corrects but he won't expand upon it. If what Nash says is true, he's already lived through everything Caesar is about to deal with. "But not much after. Chris already filled me in on the rest."

Was sharing someone's future with them a good idea? He doesn't know but he can't imagine such a near future revelation being able to change anything in how he himself acts but it's another topic not really worth getting into. Nash has asked a question and he should at least confirm after mentioning her twice already—

"And yes, Chris is here. So is Geddoe," he adds, and then, after a second of consideration, he'll be kind enough to include, "And that freak in black that Albert had working for him. Yuber. He's here as well."

"The demon?" Maybe that wasn't the right word; Nash didn't understand, exactly, what Yuber was, besides inhuman. "I would rather have Viki."

Nash falls back further in his chair, looking up at the ceiling in either exasperation or prayer. He spends a moment sitting very still. The cat swishes its tail, but shows no sign of abandoning the post.

"Weird whatever this is brought me and you instead of Hugo, right?" If this was a sequel to the Second Fire Bringer war, why involve Nash and not Nash's boss? "I mean, the whole thing is weird. But I'm not exactly the Flame Champion's legendary companion."

Nash makes a mental note to complain about that, later. Right now, he just wants to understand what's going on.

"Yeah, the demon," Caesar won't try to figure out what Yuber really is. If the man claims to be a demon, then he can be a demon, though Nash brings up another good question and all he can do is shrug.

"I don't know about that being weird. I'm the Flame Champion's strategist and you're her weirdo stalker, so maybe it does make sense we'd end up here with Chris. Although with Geddoe also being here, Hugo showing up wouldn't surprise me, either."

Complete the whole True Rune trio, he supposes, but otherwise, even he would have to admit it ultimately seems random.

Hey. Nash resembles that remark. Still, he can't help but issue a correction.

"You know she was actually following me, right?" Right? He glances down at the cat, who doesn't look convinced. "I just mean, I'm not the guy you go to for big world-saving magic. But then, I'm not Yuber."

That didn't make much sense at all. But it can't be completely random, either, can it? All of them were involved in the last Fire Bringer war.

"Yeah, you're not. You actually know not to eat candles, for once," Caesar points out. Actually trying to deal with the aforementioned demon has been an interesting trial thus far and, of all the people he knows here, Nash is liable to be the least likely to scold him for actually talking to Yuber in the first place.

"You are not going to believe how incompetent he is at anything that isn't a massacre..."

Is it a bit of a topic change? Kind of, but so is this.

"So, have you run into your familiar yet? The only one I see here is my cat."

"What did you do, take him to tea?" Nash has a difficult time imagining Yuber attempting anything outside of a massacre. In fact, he's about to say more on the subject when Caesar rapidly changes the subject.

"Mmmmm. I've been deliberately ignoring that. Thanks for noticing."

The cat is certainly thankful, anyway. It doesn't move.

Hey, he didn't invite him to tea, the kingdom did. Or, more accurately, a party, but that sure is a story for another time. Nash admitting to ignoring the whole familiar thing has Caesar arching an eyebrow at him.

"What? Did you get something more annoying than a cat?"

Said cat turns her head to stare at him in what is a most disapproving fashion, as cats do.

Nash shakes his head. "That's like asking a lady her age. There's no diplomatic way to answer that question." Or maybe that's just more evasive maneuvers from someone who doesn't do much else. The glaring cat proves his point, though.

"What sort of creatures are they usually?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 6

Re: arrivaaal

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject