TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 7

[avalonmods]

✨ Greet new players on the OOC intro while apps are processed HERE! ✨

{ 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, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that. If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at 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. *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 and a pair of special ear buds (the supplier was out of the regular ones) 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. 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. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out! 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. After the new arrivals come in, they'll find that this month they came in on the middle of a rather tumultuous time... people are arguing and debating about a future decision to be made. King Arthur recently tried to negotiate with Celliwig's people to open the doors to Camelot, but they refused, and the people have been left with a decision: 1. attempt long-distance, slow wooing of Queen Elphame via the Elphame Traders of the next couple of months, 2. attempt to prove a balanced and deeper understanding of the need for both pure and impure hearts by suggesting an acceptance of trials from Celliwig, or 3. band together under Camelot's flag to invade Celliwig. Celliwig is a place of communication between Elphame and Camelot that bypasses the need for weeks of dangerous, often fatal travel, so the choice is very important in regards to how Camelot both presents itself to the fae people in the future. To that end, people with strong beliefs about particular choices have arranged gatherings to draw people in to hear their perspectives on what the choice should be. A ⦿ Honey Over Vinegar A wide variety of people have sided with this group, including the Elphame Traders, as cutting Celliwig off from them would mean a much harder journey each month to the city of Camelot. (Though commerce always does find a way.) This group is hosting a Tree-Picking Tournament! Of course, the trees to be picked are out in the farmlands, and members of the lobbying group will be giving people free one-use Farm Totems to get to the tournament. The trees in this grove are a little different than normal trees, however. For one, they don't bear fruit. This is Camelot's cookie orchard, composed of special fairy tree hybrids that grow a variety of sweet treats on their branches instead of fruits. There are your usual chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies, but also little puff-like wedding cookies on bushes or checkboard cookies blossoming out of stems instead of flowers. There are even some trees that have clusters of miniature French macarons! The best part, at the end when you turn in your cookies for the count and get your participation prize (and bonus pamphlet about how slow and steady wins the race), you can totally keep and eat them, so be careful not to drop them! How you get them down from the tree is up to you, of course. Try some magic, or maybe just some regular old tree-shaking will do the trick.. just be careful you don't accidentally knock down any wasp nests. Those stings will hurt bad! B ⦿ A Balanced Approach The party of people who want to try to woo Celliwig over to smooth things over see this little political gathering with cookie-based bribery and quickly fashion their own event to make sure the fanfare isn't all for just the one idea. To gather people in to hear their side of the story, this group has decided to host a bug catching contest! Head out into those flower fields between Camelot and the Red Springs that are now thriving thanks to April's plentiful rains. Whether you use a net or figure out how to use your magic to get the bugs, it's how many you catch, not what kinds you catch that count-- so make it fast and make it plentiful! And at the end of the day, what you choose to do with your captured bugs is up to you. Crush them or free them, keep them or eat them, whatever it is you want to do... ultimately, all moral choices are valid, right? So let's go along with what Celliwig wants! Don't forget that May is the season of the frog, however, and you'll be in competition with a variety of sentient and wise members of the Frog Tribe, a group of bipedal frogs who live in the southernmost part of the lake and come up to the flowerfields to stick their tongues out for some delicious bug treats. They have no problem sticking their tongues right into your captured bug nest, hopping on heads to steal your catches, and do all kinds of crazy interferences like snipping belts and tonguing ankles to trip people. You may want someone to watch your back for this event, lest you get done in by a hopper. C ⦿ A Show of Strength The more war-hungry citizens of Camelot seek to go to war. This whole issue will be over if Celliwig itself isn't the one in charge of communication and it's just made directly between Elphame and Camelot, rather than having a mediator who refuses to mediate. They believe that a show of strength is the only way to solve this problem, and as such, they'll be demonstrating that the greatest rewards come from strength by organizing an expedition to a cave at the base of the Ash Mountains. Taking a path squarely between the Dusklight Woods and the edge of the Lands of Rot to the base of the Ash Mountains, this expedition will lead into a cave known as the Giant Cave. It's a pretty on-the-nose name, since it really is a big cave. One of the cool things about this cave is that it's filled with geodes. Those who have enough strength can use provided pickaxes and drills to dig up their own crystals and gold, both great for jewelry and enchanting. In particular, there is a large amount of: • Rose quartz: dark mages can make their love spells much more powerful and healers can use this to enhance spells that soothe anxieties and self-doubt • Amethyst: siphoners increase the potency of counter-curses and light mages will find this stone makes their hard light shields stronger than ever • Agate: strengthen cognitive abilities like post-cognition for a clearer picture of what happened by enhancing perception, and death mages will find they're able to extend their possession times by about 30 minutes by using an agate to stablize their aura • Moonstones: will increase navigation as a traveler's protection for kinetic users-- no longer will you risk tripping over a rock while going at enhanced speeds, or can be traded to fairies to potentially bring down a steep price to something more reasonable • Black tourmaline: a crystal that shields from opposition/negativity-- for technomancers and elementalists, this means that technology is more likely to side with them over another technomancer, or elementalists will find that when using opposing elements, theirs will come out stronger-- like water vs fire, electric vs rock, etc. • Hematite: can soothe blood, leaving it a good tool to enhance animal and blood magic-- animals may trust you more readily by having a calming effect on them, and blood mages may find that they heal more readily after using their abilities • Boji stone: alchemists will find that this is a good stabilizer for for particularly volatile potion combinations, and the properties of this stone leaves green mages to sense new types of plants they haven't yet encountered in passing, even if they're not looking at them It's not particularly a contest in this case-- you can keep and use what you want, and this show of strength has given you more power than ever, so why not consider the same concept for how to deal with our unneighborly neighbors in Celliwig? It may be sweaty business, but surely hitting some rocks will show you the value of strength! With the surprisingly tame day in the Giant Cave, one would think that the Ash Mountains were something of a safe place. No one really bothered the travelers, but that's because no one had been home at the time. as it turns out, the Giant Cave is home to a giant... douchebag of a minotaur. Not a giant, despite the name. His name is Simon and he doesn't like to share, and now that a bunch of people have gone and taken his rocks (he didn't even know there were crystals inside, nor does he do anything with them). Now he has to take his revenge, regardless of not knowing who actually took the crystals that were never really his to begin with, they just happened to be in rocks near where he sleeps. A ⦿ A Stone's Throw from Revenge The minotaur is a very instinctive creature, and his instincts say that the people of Camelot, the nearest settlement, are the ones who need to be punished for this. He uses his superhuman strength to drag huge rocks and boulders all the way to the north-east edge of Camelot, seemingly for no reason, until he's got practically a wall built. At which point he starts picking them up, spinning, and then vaulting the rocks into Camelot's buildings. You may find yourself inside of one of those buildings and scrambling to check if everyone and yourself is okay, or perhaps you're rushing out to stop the minotaur from throwing another. Either way, it's a sudden attack and you're going to have to act fast. Trying to attack the minotaur will be difficult, since it has superhman strength and durability, sharp horns atop its head, and can smell you coming from a mile away. Get creative, and stop the minotaur before it's too late! B ⦿ There's Safety in Numbers Once the minotaur's attacks stop, it flees to recover its wounds, promising it will come back to destroy Camelot once and for all. It's a time for reprieve and to help clean up the damage. Use your magic to help clean up broken buildings and structures, or heal and help others who were injured in the sudden, mostly unprovoked attack. Many of the uninjured citizens will be going around town and providing drinks, towels, and cups of noodles to those who are helping out. Because of the impending threat of the minotaur's return, it's recommended that otherworlder's use the (Recipe) Buddy System spell. The way they explain it, it's a spell designed to alert your buddy if you're in danger and lasts about an hour. The way it actually works is you must be touching your buddy in any way at all times for the next hour. Unfortunately, it seems like the volunteers sharing the recipe may have missed that it was created in a kindergarten class, not for adults. C ⦿ Gross Thankfully, the Buddy System wears off before the Minotaur is back for round two. When the Minotaur returns, the castle has since gathered forces to the edge of town to defend it from another attack. It's unclear where the Minotaur went to get healed, but whoever he went to apparently had some advice, however, and the instinctive minotaur gave into a different instinct for part two of his revenge. Rather than go right back to his pile of rocks, he instead travels the day to get to the southernmost part of Camelot and barrels into town unopposed, as most of the troupes are where they had thought he would come from again. After all, minotaurs are not known to be big thinkers. Instead of violently destroying this time, however, the minotaur instead heads straight to lowertown's well-- and takes a pee in it. It turns out, not only does he have a giant-- ahem, but he is a giant dick as well. Now the entire lowertown has to be evacuated due to contaminated water up to other areas of Camelot. Many people who live there are relocated to live in extra castle rooms. After all, Minotaur Urine is known to be incredibly potent and stinky. Mages who are able to handle the smell are asked to come help perform a ritual of water purification for the lowertown's water system. This ritual involves multiple groups of people performing synchronic magic, a magic type that requires you to be in perfect sync with your partner. Draw a special ritual circle with four candles at equidistant points. Chant a spell in sync with your partner, and blow a special powder made of ground jasper, charcoal, and rosemary into the center of the circle. It will be drawn into the candles' flames and with enough people doing this, all impurities will be removed from the lowertown's water and dissipate into the atmosphere. KEY POINTS New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there. There is a vote pending for Camelot and each side of the issue is trying to engage otherworlders to their side of the vote. The slow/steady approach is hosting a cookie harvesting tournament from a grove of cookie trees, the middleground group is hosting a bug-catching contest, and the group that wants war is hosting a mining expedition. The mining expedition aggros an asshole of a minotaur, who throws rocks at Camelot. Driven away, the townspeople try to help by distributing a spell called "Buddy System" which binds two people together, not realizing it was intended for kindergarteners. (Oops.) The minotaur returns and pees in the lowertown's water, so a ritual of water purification must be performed because it's gross and stinky. The minotaur is still at large. **** The above key points are a new feature we're going to start including on TDMs and Events. Since it's new, the format is still fluid, so please let us know if you have any feedback for this section here. It should just include brief summaries of each prompt to make parsing information easier and more accessible. The original prompts should still be read and referred to for complete information and details. **** 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. • A poll will go up a little later this week regarding the mentioned voting, which should be answered ICly by each character you play. The poll will remain open through the 15th so that newly accepted characters may also vote if they choose to. •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. • 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

[colchismagecraft]

Wh-

[On one hand, mission success? He seemed happy to give her his stash of jewels for her work?

On the other who on earth was this and how did he know her true name??

As opposed to his smile, her expression was utterly stunned. It didn't sound like a lucky guess, either, if he knew of her tendency to collect gemstones like this for her magic. And...he seemed happy to see her?

Sorry, Gawain, she's very confused. It's not like Gareth told her that there was a version of her in Chaldea after all]

How did you know that-?!

[Medea, maybe don't get defensive if you want shinies?]

[loyalbreed]

I see.

[ Gawain watches, adjusting taking note of the manner she responds. The way her voice seems questionable. As well as the manner of which she finds herself dejected overall by his over friendly regard. A hand outstretches and presses upon the sweat soaked abs of his chest. ]

My apologies, I had been under the impression you held memories of Chaldea much like myself. Then I presume you know not my name? Allow me to introduce myself then- I am Gawain, son of King lot and Lady Morgan Le Fay! A Knight of the Round table; so you can imagine my happiness that I am granted leave within Avalon!

[ Gawain is sparkling, clearly within his own comforts of the world. ]

I know of you from my memories of Chaldea, though I know not why I have memories of my time as a servant there.

Re: Key Points Feedback

[vrepit_no]

Thank you very much! These little summaries are awesome.

It might be helpful to have this at the head of the post, instead of the bottom, and to perhaps have each summary linked to the portion of the post where that particular section of prompts start. That way if people read the summaries and want to only go to Minotaur Mania, they can click on that link and auto-scroll down to the appropriate reading material instead of having to go find it themselves.

Gran | Granblue Fantasy | Alchemy + Elemental

[granmaster]

[ i ] soaking in your arrival

[ Gran had fallen from much higher heights. It wasn’t hard to right himself up during said fall. It came with the job as the Grandcypher captain. The fall into the water was less expected, not to mention the jellies that helped him to shore... He was more used to jellies like those attacking him instead of helping him.

That alone was hint enough that something was up. ]

Ah, geez, I got water in my armor... [ But right now getting dry took precedence. ]

[ ii ] red spring (training grounds)

[ After getting dry, as well as learning as much information from Archimedes, the only solution was to try and understand whatever he could about Avalon in general. But first, came the magic.

Hearing that everyone here got magic, that alone made Gran brim with excitement, even if it wasn’t visible on his face. He’s always wondered how Io managed to do magi, and now it was his chance to try it on his own! So now there he was, sword in front of him, trying to figure out where to start. ]

There has to be an easier way to do this exploration thing... [ Because he had no idea where to start. ]

[ iii ] the honey is bitter today

[ The thought of tree picking made Gran’s heart hurt— he hasn’t seen Vyrn around this entire time. Where was his little red dragon? But he shook it aside— if doing this would ease tensions between warring states, he could push aside his need to find his friends for the time being. He was sure they were safe, for now.

It was safe to say that he didn’t expect to find sweets in the trees. ]

H-How...? I thought only fruits grew on trees. That doesn’t make sense.

[ iv ] a storm of stones

Whoa!

[ Another rock dodged, and no closer to soling the problem. He was one of the unlucky ones, finding himself in one of the buildings that was decimated by one of the minotaur’s stone throwing. He managed to get out in time, but the matter of the fact was that it wasn’t stopping, and he wanted to do everything he could. ]

Think, Gran, think! There has to be some way to get close... [ It was hard to do so when things were being thrown his way, but he was damn well going to try! ]

Wildcard!

[ If you want to plot something with me please don’t hesitate to PM me or HMU on plurk! (divinereaper) ]

bailey morello | oc (aefenglom crau) | healing + death

[polterguide]

splash!
[Bailey has enough time to let out a yelp before they crash into the water, and they only flail for a few moments before they drag themself to shore. The faun looks more like a drowned rat than a sheep, hair plastered to their forehead and tail drooping, but the curling white horns are unmistakable.

They look back at the lake, and the Lady, and are... Confused. This doesn't seem like Aefenglom, and it definitely isn't the Underground, so... What the hell? Are they somewhere else, or what?

They run a hand through their hair, sighing, before they pause at the sight of a cat that's... Not familiar in appearance, but familiar in presence.]

You have to be kidding me.

[Why are they so unlucky? First they have to deal with wet fur, and now they have to deal with another spectral cat?]

network;
[Seems like Somewhere Else is the answer, as Bailey is given a phone - an actual phone! not a pocket watch! - and told to settle in for the ride. They manage to restrain themself for about five minutes, before pulling out the phone and typing out a message for the network.]

un: cherrypit
So, I'm new here, and I know I'm definitely not the only one. Before this I was in a city called Aefenglom, in a situation kinda like this. Show up somewhere weird and magical that wasn't your home, that sort of deal.

I know it's probably annoying to ask, but I was wondering if other people from Aefenglom are here, too?

[A pause, before. Fuck it. They need to know for sure.]

Especially Red Wine.

That's all for now, though! Thank you to anyone who might have answers.

cookies?
[They don't understand what they're voting for, yet, but they get the feeling that working together is going to be much better for everyone. So, time to do what Celliwig wants and go to the orchard!

They're not expecting the trees to be fruiting cookies, though. There's a pause, before they shrug. This might as well be happening! And it's not like this is the strangest thing they've encountered so far - turning partway into a sheep still kind of takes the cake - and they're honestly curious over how this all works.

They pick a variety of cookies, tucking them in their basket and humming. They're putting their height - a full six and a half feet - to work, reaching for the highest cookies they can. They offer a smile to anyone who's nearby, as well as a question.]

Do you think these cookies go ripe? Like real fruit?

[Ripe... Cookies..................]

[colchismagecraft]

[The calmness he showed in the face of her defensiveness was appreciated- and as soon as he mentioned Chaldea, that... well. It was enough to settle the flare of emotions in her.

It made sense of some things, and raised more questions. Did that mean Gareth knew of her true name? She made a mental note to ask about that, later.]

So that's it.

Lancer- Gareth never mentioned that I had existed in Chaldea... but I have been told a little of it. Of the Servants here in Avalon, she's the only one who holds memories of that organisation. Mine are simply of the Holy Grail War I was called here from.

[As far as she knew, anyway. But given Archer remembered the war they were in, she assumed he wouldn't have that in his memory either.

Still, introductions were in order.]

A pleasure, Sir Gawain. I- most know me here as 'Caster', but as you already know my true name, I won't object if you choose to call me as such.

...It does baffle me how you all give your identities so freely like that.

[loyalbreed]

Gareth is here also!? [ Gawain is most gladden by this statement, as it were despite the circumstance. Being told they must practice magic and help their worlds from falling apart. Avalon is a place of refuge and safety, akin to a blissful paradise. So to him to hear his sister is here, he is in much thanks.]

I am under the impression we are no longer servants - in a manner of speaking. Although our summoning here working much different, akin to the system of Chaldea and the organization therein.

[ It was here he figured, they were working to solve the issue akin to a lostbelt. Rather that, it was his only comparison and that he were summoned here collectively for his being rather then his capacity as a magic familiar. ]

Otherwise I would not carry my name so outwardly to nonmagus about us, it delights me I can live once again as I were alive at Camelot. Do you not feel as well? Also, fret not. If it would do you well to call thee Caster. I shall do as much.

[colchismagecraft]

Yes, she is. As is your precious King.

[Given how openly she'd seen Saber talking to Gareth, no harm in mentioning that, either. She didn't intend to bring up the history they'd had as opponents in the War, Medea couldn't be sure at this point how he'd respond to hearing about that.]

But you're right- we're human, here. Ageless but alive. And the Holy Grail War has...ended. It takes all of us a little getting used to.

[A falter, there. However much time had passed, she was struggling to accept that.

As such, it was something of a relief that Gawain didn't object to referring to her by her class, all the same- whilst she'd given the invitation of using her name to a handful of friends and family in Avalon, the other Servants made her particularly skittish, out of habit.]

...It feels as if I'm the only one who hasn't, though. I'd- yes. I'd appreciate that, if it didn't trouble you to do so. Thank you.

look you knew this was coming | network

[judgementor]

[The arrival had been irritating, and being unceremoniously dumped into wet, salty water with a sudden need to breathe that he's not had for over a year and the loss of a number of abilities that could have stopped him hitting the water in the first place doesn't leave him in the best of moods.

So perhaps it's for the best that he doesn't see Bailey just then.

It's later, when he's adjusted a little and is coming down off the utter elation of having a pulse and necessary breathing and a body temperature above lukewarm that he's skimming through this new network and comes across something that makes his heart jump.

Aefenglom.

Red Wine.

He fumbles the device in his haste to reply to that oh-so-familiar username, skipping over a text and going straight to a video response.]

Bailey?

Honey over Vinegar

[konpeito_aji]

You can get candy apples in town. [Mouthful of cookies, and still picking more!]

Not the Metaverse

[konpeito_aji]

"I am Oda Nobunaga," he bows -- barely. "Welcome to the isle of Avalon. We are trying to keep the worlds from being destroyed, you can speak more with Archimedes or go see the destruction at the World's Edge yourself. What does 'humanity's companion' mean?"

Network (Video) | UN: Konpeito_Oni

[konpeito_aji]

All the sweets! There's cookies on trees, candy apples, apple pie, pumpkin pie, don't try spinach pie, that's not sweet, although it's still tasty. Chocolate isn't best in tea, no matter what anyone tells you, and don't try the coffee, it's very bitter. [And it made Nobunaga even more hyper and murderous, which is not good for anyone.] But chocolate "brownies" are phenomenal.

Wait, can you eat human foods? That might be important. What species are you?

1

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga wonders if it's coincidence, fate, or just very unlucky (?) of everyone that he was in the region to check on the horses and find out what it would take to get more bred (Yes, he knows it takes years for foals to mature, listen once a world conqueror; always one!) -- so he sees Sakyo annoyed at his own familiar. Well, it still probably is better than when he challenged his own familiar to a duel.]

That's your familiar. They help keep you alive in this crazy realm. Welcome to the Isle of Avalon.

[A pause. He's forgetting something. Something obvious. What is it? Candy? No wait... Introductions!]

[A small bow is given.] I'm Oda Nobunaga, Demon King of the 6th Heaven. [Whatever that means.]

Bitter Honey

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga has a mouthful of cookie, because even if they were meant for the fairies, he's a nearly fifty year old warlord running around with the enthusiasm and curiosity of an absolute child.]

Magic.

[Nom nom nom.]

fingerguns

[cumulonimrod]

[Meanwhile, Felix is toiling miserably close to the ground, a mere 5’1” that makes reaching up for the cookies on the tree something to be embarrassed about. They’re stubbornly straining, but about to give up and ask the tallest person they can find if they can assist them instead when an unexpected voice comes from what seems to be that very person.]

Huh? Bailey?!

[GOODBYE, COOKIE TREE, they have to jog over to the satyr. What little progress they’ve managed to make is dropped to the ground.]

Bailey! Wait — why are you even taller?! Get those furry shoes off right this instant, it’s unfair to me specifically!

Cookies

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga is up in the tree. Because OF COURSE HE IS. And eating a cookie. One of these days he will remember these are supposed to be fairy bribes to smooth things over.]

They seem ripe enough.

They probably do go bad though. Best get to them before summer makes the weather hot.

Kiryu Kazuma | Ryu Ga Gotoku/Yakuza | Healing + Kinetic

[lone_horse]

Arrival

[ Suffice to say that while Kiryu loves the water, he is not in the best mood at being dropped into a bay with no warning while wearing his suit. He adapts quickly, though the drag of the wet fabric is troublesome, and avoids the giant jellyfish as best he can since he prefers to handle huge aquatic life with a speargun if he's going to meddle with it. All the same, he gets to the surface, only to be greeted by... well, he'd say a dragon but it's a rather small dragon. At least for the moment. Silver-scaled and sinuous, about the size of a large house cat. He'll end up walking out of the water with the creature curled up on his shoulders, his eyes catching on the golden claws.

He can listen to instructions, watch and learn from those around him and follow the herd. He'll 'check the shitbox' and get his things: his bag, his phone, a set of extra clothes, and a couple of crumpled pieces of paper that wouldn't mean anything to anyone but him. Then it's following again, listening, taking in the situation and deciding that for now, he'll watch and observe until he's in a carriage and... well, at least he can get himself a glass of scotch. He definitely could use it.

Once they get to Red Spring, he's more than ready to have someplace to settle down for the night. Being assigned a roommate doesn't trouble him; he's spent too many years behind bars to be troubled by someone else in his space. He can be polite and respectful but he won't spend much time in the room anyway. Instead, he's off to the training grounds to learn what he'll need to learn in order to utilize what abilities this place provides. He's not surprised to find out the kind of magic best suited to him; on the contrary, he seems pleased and the trainers won't find a more dutiful and focused student.

He'll check the spring a few times for signs that would tell him he isn't welcome before he makes his way down there to enjoy the waters. He'll definitely be enjoying this as long as he has access to it; these old bones need a little more care than they used to, after all.]

Vying for Votes

[ Kiryu isn't sure which one of the approaches is the smartest, when it comes right down to it, but he knows which one of the events he intends to go on: the cave expedition, as it seems the most likely to be dangerous given the names of the places they'll be traveling near and what he knows about caves and mining. Besides: hitting things with pickaxes sounds like a rather cathartic activity at the moment. He'll probably try and dig up all kinds of gemstones, as he's the type to think of helping a group instead of just himself, but he can appreciate how helpful the rose quartz and moonstones are as he continues to work on his own skills.]

Bullheaded Approach

[ There's no question where Kiryu is when the attack starts: at first, checking around to make sure everyone in the building he was in is okay and then he's going to be heading out to try and face the minotaur. He's definitely aware of the difference in his capabilities from before he came here to now, feels like he's starting a new game and has to earn them all back again rusty again. But that won't stop him from trying to stop someone from hurting other people.

After the thing is chased off, Kiryu will be using what he's learned of his healing magic to try and heal those injured as well as see if there are places what strength he has can be used to lift debris or get people to safer structures. He probably won't necessarily start the buddy system spell himself, but if someone asks him, he'd be more than willing to agree. Even if the actual effects are less than great. ]

3

[arf]

SAKYO-NII!

[ Taichi has been here a few months longer than Sakyo and is, also, a healer! And even if he got off to a rough start he eventually started to catch onto how to do things, and has gotten pretty good at basics. He's not ready to save a severed limb yet and he's never going to be a doctor, but he can handle most standard healing.

That said, there's nothing healing about the way that Taichi practically barrels toward Sakyo after spotting him, hoping to catch him off-guard for a hug. Tasuku or Omi would definitely catch him, and it's been so long since he's seen Sakyo (at least a year, counting Prismatica and Avalon) that he's forgotten to consider the potential consequences of his actions in assuming that Sakyo would not just dump his ass on the ground. Who cares, though, it's Sakyo?? ]

[hopethatremains]

They lost their memories?

[Which would line up with her interaction with Akira. She will bring that up when she is in the same place though.]

Okay, one moment please.

The Red Spring.

[hopethatremains]

The Metaverse.

[Sophia can tell something is wrong, but what something is wrong she cannot be certain of. Admittedly she is in a physical body but nothing smells like a Jail. And there shouldn't be any Jails because they dealt with that.]

I have never been alone. Ever since I woke up I have always been with someone else. I wouldn't be a good companion if I were alone. Or unable to assist with fighting shadows.

[hopethatremains]

[Sophia shook her head. She wasn't allowed in the last hot spring because they did not allow phones in the public baths.]

Never, I've wanted to but I wasn't allowed to last time. I've also never been naked before.

[She bounces a little on her feet, this is very exciting. New experiences all around since she arrived here.]

Diana Prince | DCEU/ZSJL

[hiketeia]

Arrival/Caravan;
It's not the worst swim she's had; even aside what she is, being raised on an island means Diana learned to be a strong swimmer at an early age. But usually she prefers to have the option of drying off afterwards, and changing out of wet armor. Such doesn't seem to be the case but at least her equipment had been kept dry, by whatever enchantment so handily placed it in the enchanted box while she got dumped in the lake.

Well, there are worse fates. And apparently, there's also transport away from the lake. Certainly Diana would prefer to be riding the horses, rather than inside the carriage, but that preference seems a poor hill on which to make a stand. Instead she'll quietly share a carriage with others, engaging in conversation when it's prompted but spending more time looking out the windows at the passing landscape. She's not sure what landmarks are important in this place; best to take in as much as possible, and sort it out later. As it is, she's got a lot of sorting out of what the so-called Archimedes had told them; certainly she believes in magic but even so, the entire situation seems fantastical.

Something outside the window does catch her attention — the Cliff Beast? An interesting rock formation? Something else? — and she lightly touches the person next to her on the arm. "Did you see that?"


Arrival/Red Spring;
The two-to-a-room thing might not be ideal, but not liking it isn't going to change things. There's an opportunity for a shower and some sleep; both are welcome after the impromptu dip in the lake. The room's other amenities don't interest her much, not unless they'll yield information about this place.

She closes the door, looking between the two beds and her for-now roommate. "Do you have a preference?"


Bull Headed/Throwing Stones;
Diana had been wandering the streets when the rock volley started; an explosion of stone and rock within her hearing, if not her sight, and the sound of screams. She'd wasted no time running toward it, shield on her arm and ready to take the impact of another rock, if necessary. The assailant seems persistent, and the volley of rocks combined with the structural damage certainly make for a hectic scene.

"Look out—!" She'll not be shy about diving toward another person, arm braced above her to shield from falling sections of building. Whether or not the rockfall has been diverted by some form of magical intervention, she'll still check to make sure the person she's crouched next to is okay before helping them to their feet.

She's not opposed to confronting the aggressive creature, but she'll not do it at the expense of those who would be left vulnerable.


Something Else?
Toss me a prompt, or PM me if you'd like to plot out something else! I default to prose (especially in starters) but if you prefer brackets, I'll happily match format. Yes, I'm deliberately ignoring the form of Diana's familiar right now, and her particular concentration of magic, until I suss out what would best suit.

zero | drakengard 3 | blood/bargaining

[intonings]

🌸 the red spring

[ After wandering around the training grounds in order to wreck some dummies with blood magic, Zero heads to the spring. Perhaps she would have stayed there longer but trying out her new skillset on immobile targets is boring—living targets would have been so much better. Alas, she must have got here late or something. If anything, she just hopes this keeps up so she won't have to bother with someone else's company while relaxing in the spring.

Once Zero's here, she strips down unceremoniously, leaving her blood-stained clothes where she was standing. There's dried blood on her arms and legs yet instead of washing herself thoroughly before entering the spring, Zero just steps into the water ignoring the fact that the water will get dirty.

It's supposed to be magical, right? It should be able to clean itself somehow, as far as she's concerned. ]

So this is what silence is like, huh.

[ Most of her companions are quite noisy, so it's a nice change of pace. It would be a shame if someone ruined this moment. ]

🌸 honey over vinegar

[ Zero couldn't care less about some competition and shit; if she was here to win it, it would have been already over. Besides, sticking to the rules is boring. It's precisely why she doesn't climb a try (why would she?), she doesn't shy away from kicking the tree trunk. Apparently, that is enough to make a few french macarons fall off the tree. ]

These little bitches are too sweet. [ That doesn't stop Zero from eating all of them. ] Can't meat grow on trees? Ah, right. That would be fucking boring.

[ Hunting is much more fun, anyway. That being said, Zero approaches a different tree and kicks it with a lot of force, completely disregarding if someone's here to grab some cookies or not. If there is? Whatever, they better hold on tight. ]

🌸 a stone's throw from revenge

WHERE'S THAT ASSHOLE?!

[ Zero hasn't paid attention to the Minotaur at all; as far as she's concerned, it can throw whatever he wants at the buildings, even its own shit. But when she gets almost hit by one of the boulders, she can't ignore it anymore. ]

I'm going to kick him in his stupid bullshit balls!! Where did he go?!

[ On top of being very determined to find Simon the Minotaur, she's very creative with the insults addressed to him. ]

🌸 network | un: zero

where can a girl get drunk for free around here?
also is someone really bragging about fucking a demon on this weird stupid questboard thing?

[ It's pathetic, if you want her opinion. ]

🌸 wildcard

[ If there's anything else you'd like to do just go for it, I'll roll with anything! I'm sorry for her in advance, she's...a lot. Feel free to PM this journal for plotting or find me at koohii! ]

2

[irritated]

[Hikaru is not a new arrival and maybe he should have looked at the calender more closely to realize this is when new arrivals usually come. But Hikaru just really wanted a nice bath and with his money more stable now, he was happy to enjoy himself. Usually he would have either his twin or Taichi with him but he hadn't been able to get either.

And really, wouldn't it just be Hikaru's luck to share the springs with this company. Sakyo's familiar is much more protective than Hikaru's annoying kitsune, Yoshiha, who only goes towards the komainu to sniff around in interest.]

Yoshiha, that wasn't an open invitation to go annoy it. [Hikaru tiptoes around to make himself comfortable in the springs with this guy who...Hikaru doesn't know if he wants to share this with him but it's more awkward if he just leaves, he thinks.]

Sorry she's annoying.

[hopethatremains]

"Destroyed!?" Well, she can't allow that. What sort of companion allows the place humans live be destroyed. This certainly cannot happen. So she will stop it. Or- assist in stopping it.

"It is something a friend gave me. I help people find the right path when they lose their way. Or make a path when one is not available."