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

[scriptwriter]

[If one were expecting the crowd to run away in terror... It's quite the opposite! In fact, the audience (except Kotarou) was getting hyped. They were getting pumped and cheering along as Nobunaga continued to sing along. This was the first time that Kotarou ever felt like he stepped into a concert. They're so encouraged by Nobunaga's singing that they begin to slam their pickaxes into the stone walls! They were actually getting more motivated to work.

"I wanna be tied up! and "I'll become a masochist for his sake!" and "I don't know who this man is, but I'll follow him to the depths of Hell and then some!"

Someone had to play straightman here, so it had to be Kotarou. He knew that he was a small tiny speck compared to most people, but this was ridiculous!]

WAIT WHAT?! WHEN DID WE GO FROM OPERA TO HEAVY METAL!? AREN'T WE CHANGING GENRES TOO FAST?!

[He sounds like his manager now... Kotarou points his pickaxe at Nobunaga.]

Hey, hey! Don't go turn people into perverted things, okay?! We gotta keep some order around here!

[lonelylittlebear]

[If she heard that bit about worlds being destroyed, she's probably shut down completely

You weren't born here either? I wasn't the only one?

[This revelation is..."comforting" isn't exactly the right word for it, but the closest thing we have]

But why? And why me? I'm nobody special, I've never done anything important, what could I help with?

Not the Metaverse

[tantailizing]

Zidane's at the beach for personal reasons relating to the arrivals so he saw the arrival struggling to get out of the water due to their heavy coat. Either they're coming from some place cold or just like heavy jackets, but that was going to be hell waiting for it to dry out.

And he walks over to help out.

"Hey Sophia, I'm Zidane. This is the Bay of Avalon where everyone's landed so far."

'Humanity's Companion' huh? He'll circle back to that in a bit.

[scriptwriter]

No... It's my first day around here too. And I still feel like a fish outta water.

[This worked out fine for Kotarou as he was a good mix of extroverted and introverted. He could keep up a conversation through sheer curiosity and determination alone, but he had enough common sense (most of the time) to know when to drop a subject.

He decides to lean back against the wall himself. It was nice to have someone around to just vent your thoughts especially whenever they were in the same boat as you. He didn't do that enough whenever he was in Guardian and at school.]

All of this is really strange. One minute I was giving it my all for something important and the next minute... I end up here and learn that we've got a whole mess of worlds to save. I dunno if they've got the right guy for the job... I'm not exactly hero material.

[lone_horse]

[ Kiryu nods to the first, and to the second part of it, because he can certainly understand that. He's lost some awareness, can't feel the heat of battle like he used to. It's disorienting, given how long he's been a fighter. He thinks, in the end, that the capacity to heal and the magics that he's learning will be even more useful in the end, but it will still require an adjustment.

To the second part, he opens his eyes and sits up a little bit. There's a seriousness to his tone, but also a gentleness.]

There's no such thing as 'hero material'. Being given the opportunity to come here, to aid in saving not just one world but multiple, is one thing, true. But it's up to you what you make of it.

The only 'right man' for the job is one willing to do the work, to put his life and his dreams on the line for others. Whether you are that man or not is your choice.

[konpeito_aji]

[He did. He totally expected everyone to run away or at BARE MINIMUM SHUN HIM LIKE THE WEIRDO HE IS!]

[He doesn't know whether to love this place, or hate it. Oh well, let's go with love. EVEN IF HE CAN'T HANDLE THE RED FACE. BADASS DEMON KING. BLUSHY TICKLISH COOKIE MONSTER. Fuck!]

[OKAY!]

[MAKE UP SOME NONSENSE NOW!]

When I say Pick! You say Axe!

Pick!

[Axe] PICK! [AXE!]

[If Kotaru was worried about the genre change... it's going to get a lot worse.]

Trying to find the stones!
To convince the fae we mean business!
Amethysts, moonstones, rose quartz,
Show me what you've got!
Is that just a normal rock?!
[Dramatically shakes his head!]
No no no! Not good enough!
I want black tourmaline that shines like a woman's eyes!
Agate like the blood of the mountain!
Make that iron shine, we'll defend our right to exist!
A miner's life might seem hard, but all I know is bliss!

Pick! [Axe!] Pick! [Axe!]

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga points to her bear.] They do magic through you. The familiars.

Not everyone has to be nobility or the top of their hero class. No one is useless unless they choose to be.

Sometimes simply being alive is enough to save others.

What do you like to do?

rofl forgive me while I still figure out how powers translate to magic

[hiketeia]

[It's instinct, to protect others. To stand between them and danger. That Diana's not as sturdy, apparently, as she's used to? Well, it doesn't matter. She'll figure it out.

They're both okay. That's what matters.]

A few bruises are fine. That could have been a lot worse.

Prompto Argentum | Final Fantasy XV | Chocobo familiar - Healing & Blood

[shotgunman]

[OOC: He's been here before, but I'm changing up powers.]

Arrival

Oh c'mon!

[Prompto shouted to the sky, sand kicking up in the process from his kick. He sighed loudly, slouching with a soft whine. It had been what? Like two days since he got back? Not like anything changed though. Noctis was still stuck in the crystal, the world was going to shit, maybe being stuck here where time stopped was the better option. But he also remembered, just before he left, Ignis and Noctis had also left. Was Cor still here?]

Kweh?

[He gasped, turning to see his familiar. Aw, she was still here! He quickly made his way over to her and pulled her into a hug. He pressed his face into her yellow fluffy feathers. At least she was still here.]

You have no idea how happy I am to see you, girl!

Kweh!!

Red Spring

[Prompto sighed as he rested his chin on his arms, the steam of the spring curling around him. He was rest his upper half on rock, still thinking about the fact that he was in Camelot again. How wild was this? And he was pretty sure his powers were different, alchemy hadn't been working while he was in his room. So, now he had to figure out what he got now.

He looked up at the evening sky, it was really nice out here though. It was a natural darkness, unlike on Eos.

He heard a sound and lifted his head to see who had arrived, giving a slight wave to them. While they had to undress for the spring, his wrist was still covered by a small towel he tied around it. Improvisation at its finest!]

Hey there! Hope you don't mind the company, just got here.

Honey Over Vinegar

Gaaah!!

[Prompto was one of the unlucky ones that accidentally upended a wasp nest and he was currently running for his life. That was, until he nicked himself with a wayward branch and in his panic, the blood flowed and... created some kind of bloody shield in front of him? Prompto didn't at all understand what was going in, except that the wasps were still trying to get at him through the shield.

It was kind of only natural for his sharpshooter tendencies to kick in and his blood formed little needles or something and straight up shot at the wasps straight out of the sky. Eventually, they were all gone and Prompto's eyes widened further as the blood abruptly splattered the ground, leaving him with a bloodied arm, kind of anemic, and just two seconds away from entering a panic attack.]

Wh-Wha...?! H...How d-did I...

[He couldn't handle this, this wasn't a thing before?!]

Wildcard

[Honestly, all of these prompts are great so if you wanna do a different one, just let me know!]

[melonlord]

"Yep."

Toph had her own piles, sorted into 'geodes with empty spaces inside', 'geodes with solid minerals inside' and 'rocks'. She'd get someone to help her identify which crystals she had later. Together, the two piles are smaller, but it does look like her focus paid off.

[OOC: I'm cool with either winning, or we could flip a coin.]

[hiketeia]

Diana is, honestly, just going to try to roll with this weirdness. It's been a long day.

"Usually you feel tired," she replies, sitting down at the edge of the bed and starting to work loose one of her boots. "Drained. Not as energetic as you were in the morning."

D

[konpeito_aji]

[This is going to make someone, somewhere's head explode, but Nobunaga looks at the cookies... and looks away.]

No... I... thought we'd be giving them to the fae. So I might have eaten... several. Hundred.

[THE DUDE LOOKS WAY TOO OLD TO HAVE DONE THAT BUT HE'S A DUMBASS.]

I'm kind of sick of them now. [Checks his... pulse? He doesn't know what to check. CLEARLY.] This must be my pancreas fighting back. Well played, worthy foe.

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga only finishes cracking and sorting them, and doesn't bother counting, he can tell at a glance! "You win!" He laughs... and collapses on the floor of the cave on his back, still laughing a little too booming and dramatic for something so mild! "Well played, worthy foe!!!"

Honey!

[konpeito_aji]

Oh. Blood magic.

[Heads on over, swallows his mouthful of cookie and then looks at the woozy looking guy.] Want some healing?

[melonlord]

Toph grins back. "I'm still the Greatest Earthbender of All Time." She does offer a bow, as one would do an equal. She can be gracious in victory, especially given she's met plenty of people who can't stand losing to her. "Toph Beifong. Nice to meet you."

[konpeito_aji]

Nobunaga would get up to bow back, but he really doesn't want to, he kind of overdid the nonsense, as he usually does with most things.

"Oda Nobunaga, Demon King of the Sixth Heaven! Likewise!" Is a European handwave good enough?

"Earthbending is from your world? Not just here?"

Edelgard von Hresvelg | Fire Emblem Three Houses | Dark & Blood

[flame_emperor]

Arrival

The plunge into the water had been terrifying and bewildering in equal measure, but the balloon jellies had been quick to come to the rescue, buoying Edelgard back up to the surface. Once she'd managed to get in a few gulps of air, and take her bearings, more jellies have lined up to provide her with a walkway to shallower water, and the beach beyond.

It just seems to be taking her a great while to make the crossing. She's trying to remain as composed as she can while she makes her way from one jelly to the next, but there's still a ways to go and...she does not like to be this far out on open bodies of water. It's not well-known that the Emperor of Fódlan does not know how to swim, so she's...taking her time. Answers can come later once she's on dry land.

Caravan

At least the ride is more pleasant, once she's drier and has some of her personal effects back. Though this is hardly an opportune time to be whisked away from Fódlan. There's the rebuilding of Fhirdiad to see to, food and shelter for the people displaced by the fire, the continuing reintegration of both the former Alliance and Kingdom territories to the Empire, to say nothing of preparations being made, quietly and subtly, to bring the fight to Those Who Slither...but of course, given the situation, perhaps time is the one thing she suddenly has in abundance. But it's still frustrating.

Though perhaps not quite as immediately as frustrating as her new companion, a shaggy wolf spirit that is intent on sharing the seat with her...and to use her lap as a pillow. It's making it difficult to try to figure out the smartphone when it keeps trying to nuzzle her hands.

"Hey, please...stop it. I'm trying to work. Please..." After a moment, she finally has to give up and put the phone down so she can give the wolf some much-wanted attention with a somewhat frustrated sigh.

"There. Is this what you wanted? Fine...have it your way, then."

Rocks Are Thrown, We Might Die?

The library Edelgard has come to is a fairly large, multi-storied structure. She's hoping some research into the lore of this world's magic might help, as well as to study the history of Camelot and its legal structures, traditions, and laws. Needless to say, she's been building quite the pile of books.

There's a particular tome she's after on a higher shelf, but regrettably being as small as she is, it's just a bit out of reach. Happily, she's not the only one in the stacks so she turns to you. "Pardon me, could I beg a small—" she doesn't finish the question, as you see her eyes go wide and suddenly she's just tackling you instead with a cry of "Get down, now!"

At the far end of the aisle was a window, you see. And Edelgard could see the enormous boulder sailing through the air towards the library when she turned to look at you.

She's small, but strong, and succeeds in knocking you down just in time, using herself as a shield. The boulder crashes through the wall, smashing apart the shelves and books as it carries on its trajectory further into the building. Fortunately, you hit the ground just in time and avoided being hit.

Edelgard looks up. "Are you all right?" But now there's sounds of more devastation outside, the crash of more boulders. "Come on, we need to move." She's already on her feet. "Can you stand?" She offers a hand just in case.

byleth eisner | fire emblem: three houses | eagle | elemental & green

[hegemonwings]

🌹 the caravan to camelot

[ well, today has been full of surprises. byleth leans on a length of driftwood that had looked suitable for a makeshift cane—her injuries from the last battle may have been dealt with already, but even a few weeks out she finds herself exhausted more easily than she'd like, and weaker than she once was. she stands there in a dark suit of armor as she hauls herself away from the water, seemingly near brand-new before it became so waterlogged. already, she unclasps the cape, folding it roughly and holding it under her arm—it seems better than letting that hang heavily against her back as it is now.

she looks over the smartphone with a faintly perplexed expression, a black eagle perched on her gauntlet. she... definitely has no idea what she’s looking at. someone has at least explained how to use the earbuds, even if a lot of the whys and hows still escape her. the false pointed ears attached to the things raise more questions than they answer, but she goes along with it without any complaint beyond a raised eyebrow. two swords hang at her waist once she’s retrieved her things: one a finely crafted rapier of silver and gold, the other an almost wicked-looking longsword, apparently carved of bone. a shield that appears to match the rapier hangs from her back now.

byleth is generally good at intuiting things, but this really is leaps and bounds past anything she’s familiar with. even after getting into the (very strange!!!) carriage, she still doesn’t quite understand. perhaps this is a dream? that would serve to explain some things. it can hardly be real, she has things to get back to—her fingers go, idly, to a gold pendant of a twin-headed eagle around her neck. that, and the now-familiar presence of the gold ring on her finger, serve to steady her in all of this.

finally, she glances to the person nearest her with a sigh, placing the phone into one of the pockets of an outfit she reclaimed from the shit box and reaching for a nip bottle from the mini bar. the eagle perched on her knee squawks once to greet the other person as well. ]

Have you followed any of this so far? [ she knocks back whatever she just picked up. please help. ]

🌹 the red spring

[ now, this is marginally more familiar territory. a lot of the devices in the room are, once again, alien to her, but! inns! modest rooms and warm beds! that’s more like it. byleth finds her placement before whoever she’s been put with does, taking a seat on the bed to try to steady herself. the eagle flutters away, perching on one of the room’s light fixtures. she finds the tv remote and, curiously, presses the power button, turning it on and landing on some navigation screen. when she hears the door start to turn, she’s still trying to work the thing. what the hell is a movie. what’s a video game????

the spring confuses her much less, and is much more welcome. a pang of nostalgia for the baths at the monastery strikes as she settles into the water, letting the warmth flow through her. she sees sparks of flame flicker at her fingertips as she brings her hand up out of the water once, brow furrowing. she’s used magic before, but that’s… new. if she's joined by someone else, she likely doesn't pay them much mind if it's a stranger, but doesn't seem as if she's opposed to the company either. who knows? maybe she's a great conversationalist, actually. give it a whirl.

so, given the weirdness with the fire, she finds it prudent to stop by the training grounds to familiarize herself with this new magic. by now, she's changed from her armor an outfit from home. she’s told of her apparent proficiencies—elemental and green magic—and finds herself enjoying both prospects. fire magic is nothing new to her, after all, and she’s no stranger to using magic to accelerate plant growth. people might find her practicing conjuring balls of fire or miniature wind vortexes in her hands, or springing forth carnations and moonflowers from handfuls of soil. the eagle remains curious, largely watching byleth and whoever she is with from a nearby perch. ]

🌹 a balanced approach

[ byleth may be newly arrived and unfamiliar with the political situations here, but from what she has understood so far, she can see no current justification for an attack on celliwig. if diplomacy is a viable option, it should be followed—even if she’s sure some would be surprised to hear that from one of the leading generals of an empire that just fought a five-year campaign of unification. the roundabout dealings with the queen of elphame do sound worth pursuing, but she sees no reason that celliwig’s trials would be mutually exclusive.

but more than that? catching insects is nothing new to her. especially when the point of the catch is to land a larger one later. bait for a fish, bait for celliwig—it’s the same difference, isn’t it? she’s changed into local clothing for this, all functional in dark tones, but the rapier stays strapped to her waist along with a net. byleth looks to whatever outworlder is nearest, as she starts to tie her hair back with a purple ribbon: ]

How about we lend each other a hand?

🌹 network. un: b.eisner

[ by now she's figured out how to use the phone decently enough, at least. ]

Hello. This is General Byleth Eisner of the Imperial Adrestian Army, Marshal of the Empire and Commander of the Black Eagle Strike Force in the service of Her Imperial Majesty, the Emperor Edelgard. [ it feels deeply unnatural to introduce herself so formally over text, to use this diplomatic song and dance even here. to speak of her connection to her emperor in such a detached way. but it seems like a neutral enough way to open things, and that's enough for now. ] I realize those words won't mean anything to most of you, but if they do, please reach out to me.

[ fódlan gang sound off ]

Secondly, I hear that there are efforts underway to coordinate training in magic and combat among outworlders. I have a background as an instructor in such things, and I would be happy to offer any assistance I can. I’m more than willing to offer personal combat instruction as well.

One last thing. Do any of you know nice fishing spots near Camelot?

[ well. that’s a swerve. ]

🌹 wildcard

[ wanna do something not listed here! go for it!

also, byleth is from a few weeks after the crimson flower route. to plan out anything specific, feel free to hit me up at clockworkbrain or hexennacht#7576 on discord. ]

Rocks Are Thrown, We Might Die?

[melonlord]

WHat is Toph doing in the library? Honestly, either she's lost or she is using the excuse of 'get a book for a friend' to go wander around places. Toph doesn't really do libraries, what with the illiteracy.

Of course, even back home, 'people sending things through the air like some kind of jerks' is a weakness of hers. Just as Toph was hearing something she couldn't place, Edelgard knocked her down, and Toph might be blind, but she sure knew what a giant boulder crashing through a building sounded like.

"Yeah. Can you find my stick?" Because while Toph's memory and sense of spatial awareness is excellent, she knows darn well the boulder just moved everything around and left rubble everywhere, and even a sighted person might want aid in balance over the rubble.

She's also ignoring the hand to get to her feet. A good thing she is trying out shoes today. Shoes are stupid and keep her from feeling the ground as well, but they also protect from broken glass.

[songstressedout]

You’re hurt!?

[ Gah, of course she is... she did just protect Yuzu with only a shield after all. Well, she’s not about to just let that be... especially when she can do this. ]

Hold on, let me...

[ Yuzu will promptly place a hand on Diana’s shoulder. It’s better to have her hand closer to the actual wounds, but since it’s just a few bruises, it doesn’t matter. A healing light emanates from Yuzu’s hand, and Diana should feel any pain or injuries start to die down. ]

[melonlord]

"Yeah. It's like the elemental magic they have here, but better. Though you do get only one element." Toph isn't sure how she feels about being able to use air, water and fire yet. Well, except to show up various friends and strangers.

[shotgunman]

No I don't want any healing!! I wanna know what the hell I just did!!

[Actually yes, he needs some healing. He had healing abilities but doesn't know it yet. The blood magic was completely accidentally triggered and he seriously doesn't know how to feel about it.]

How are you so calm about it? I just shot wasps! With blood! My blood!

[He needed to sit down. Like. Now. And he was down, looking paler by the second.]

[konpeito_aji]

He props himself up on arm. "So your world has magic? I haven't seen much elemental magic, other than idiots setting themselves on fire, but that seems like something any fool can do, not something unique to magic or better. My world doesn't have magic though, I'm sure of it. Does everyone do magic in your world? Just of one element, not many?"

[melonlord]

"Not everyone. And which element you get depends on where you're from, or where your family is from. I"m from the Earth Kingdom, so I'm an earthbender and not a firebender or waterbender."

[konpeito_aji]

[That's a yes. Nobunaga just does his best, working on enchanting one of the cookies, because it's easier on his brain.]

You did blood magic.

[Does that not explain it enough?] It's magic using your force of will and imagination and thought processes, combined directly with your blood. If you get someone else to have your blood in them, you can apparently control them. There might be something about pacts with demons too, but I'm hardly a magic expert. And even if I was, I'm the Demon King, so I can't go around telling people how to do that.

[Gives him a chocolate chip and peanutbutter cookie!] Here, eat this. [Hmm, wasn't there something about iron in blood that would need replenishing? What had iron for foods? Nuts? Nobunaga has no idea, he needs Ieyasu for that! Maybe he can remember to google it later. Or if this guy freaks out long enough.]