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]

[And he even sounded rather extra like Yoshino. But "The Demon King of the Sixth Heaven"? Where has he heard that name before? Back whenever he went to school, he remember hearing a lot about this fellow in history class... Hold on a minute.

This guy couldn't be pretending to be Oda Nobunaga, couldn't he? There was being chunni and there was also this. Kotarou is standing there in a mix of pure awe and heavy interest too. Nobunaga's singing is also getting some attention from other diggers. Kotarou stays silent for now instead of throwing in a snarky comment.

The diggers move over to surround both Nobunaga and Kotarou in a circle as they listen to him finishing the song. Once he was finished, they start clapping and whistling! "Ohhhh... He has the voice of an angel!" and "Ahh... I feel my bones becoming rejuvenated already!" and "MUCH better than that devilish singing from earlier!"]

1/2

[konpeito_aji]

[Oh, kill him now...]

Ah no!

[BLUSHING AND THEN JUST GRRRRR---]

2/2

[konpeito_aji]

Demon King! Demon King! I said I'm the Demon King!

[GRRR! He just points to Yoshino! QUICK DISTRACT!] The echoes from the cavern are just playing tricks on your ears!

[Screw this, how fast can he run deeper into the cavern and/or cause a cave-in?!]

[QUICKLY PICKAXING THE SHIT OUT OF STUFF!!!]

[Don't look at him!]

[Listen, he's used to stares, but not like that!]

[scriptwriter]

[Oho. Cute. So it looked like he was a softie, deep down. Kotarou smiles darkly most befitting of a demon itself as he steps over to drape an arm over Nobunaga.]

Now, now. There's no need to be shy about a talent you have. You said that you were the best singer in Avalon, right?

[Kotarou was even willing to give him the title! He felt so generous right now. If one were to squint, they could see the dark (comedic) aura leaking out from Kotarou's back.]

Wasn't it fun bringing smiles and cheers to everyone's faces, O Great Demon King-san?

[konpeito_aji]

[Nobunaga has to avoid jumping a mile high at that. He's been dealing with assassination attempts since his childhood, and the two people he considers closest to him are both vassals, one of whom there's a lot of history books talking about betraying him. So arms over shoulders... not typically a thing anyone would do willingly to Nobunaga even if they were bleeding out, and he was carrying them to safety!!!]

[He grits through his teeth, kind of half-smiling back?! IS THAT A SMILE? It probably looks feral as fuck...]

Oh? Then I have just the perfect next song to sing!

[DEEP BREATH!]

[NSFW]

[Luckily the worst of the words are drowned out by his own pickaxe, but uh, you can definitely catch the gist!]

[The worst part is, he is REALLY into it.]

Does being tied up make you happy?!

[Flings his arm out wide!]

Then you're a masochist!!!

[SLAMS his pickaxe into more rocks!]

Does breaking people make you happy?! Then you're a sadist! [SMASH!]

"Ah, but I don't really think I'm one or the other!" [Feigns being wishy washy and willowy! Wiggling back and forth, before going back to mining!] The words of a heretic!

[Etc.]

[And the ending evil laugh is a little... too on point, don't you think? WHO CAN FEIGN THAT KIND OF INSANITY!??!]

MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!

[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!

[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!]

[scriptwriter]

[Now Kotarou could stop him, but instead... He decides to take advantage of this opportunity. They were doing work and actually producing crystals, so he'll be grabbing a kart and be picking up random stones and crystals that he can find. Who knew that doing such a mundane activity could turn into such fun! This was actually good business for them! For a split second, Kotarou did wonder if he could make some money off of Nobunaga's singing voice. He felt that he had the brains to be an excellent idol manager.

Maybe he'd have to consider that ridiculous idea for a future event. But right now, he's taking a moment to pile up the stones that the crowds were producing!]

Good, good! Let's keep it up, everyone! You're doing great! [A beat.] Heeeey, Demon Lord! You got room for one more song in you? After all, we should all take a break and have some water.

[konpeito_aji]

[One more song, huh?!]

[Okay! He can do this!]

[Tonal shift back to a slow ballad again!]

[But this time almost a dirge!]

Deep in the heart of the mountain
Lay men's deepest fears,
Will we find dragons, oni,
Earthquakes or death in here?
The perils of mortality
Are never done for naught
Life is meant to be lived,
No matter how we're taught.
Black mountain, what are your secrets?
Are you hiding death within?
Black mountain, do you reveal
Humanity's greatest sins?

[He doesn't regret Mount Hiei, in spite of everything, but somehow putting it to song helps. WHAT he doesn't know! Just helps!]

[scriptwriter]

[With the slow ballad, the crowd slows down as well with his song. Kotarou couldn't help and reflect on the lyrics. Maybe there was more to this guy than being a hot-headed chunni... It'd be something worth asking once they got some downtime.

Once he was finished, Kotarou claps his hands in a round of applause. The other diggers couldn't help and follow suit by clapping as well. They're going to be walking over to thank Nobunaga. There's going to be lots of formal bowing and they'll be trying to shake his hands and ask for his autograph!]

Alright! Nice work, everyone! Let's all go get some water and chill out for a while.

[konpeito_aji]

[His autograph...!? Okay...]

[It doesn't even look like Kanji or Hiragana anymore!]

Ahhhhh it's good to stay in shape after all the cookies.

[He still lays with his back on the ground. Ultimate chuuni despite being nearly 50.]

[scriptwriter]

[Kotarou quirks an eyebrow before fetching to get two water bottles. One for him and another for Nobunaga. He'll lean down and press the bottle against Nobunaga's cheek. There was no way that he was just going to let him waste away in a cave.]

So just to be sure... You called yourself the "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven", right? You're really that Oda Nobunaga or are you just a fanatic pretending to him?

[konpeito_aji]

[Chugs!]

[LAUGHS!]

What kind of idiot would pretend to be me? [He said this about the dopplegangers too!]

[And sits straight up, suddenly interested.] Are you from Japan's future? [He's met a LOT of future Japan/Earth timelines, okay okay.] What did you do there?

[scriptwriter]

Are you sure that it's okay to tell you? I don't wanna screw up a timeline or anything.

[That was an interesting question... Maybe he wasn't completely delusional, but Kotarou was still into the chunni angle. He decides to sit down in front of him.]

If you're curious... I was part of an organization called Guardian for a while. Are you familiar with supernatural creatures? Like youkai, demons and all of that stuff?

[konpeito_aji]

Yeah.

[POUTS KIND OF!] That just proves you can't mess up my timeline.

My timeline is already diverted. Or the history books got it wrong. Akechi Mitsuhide didn't set the fires at Honno-Ji in my timeline, and magic is definitely not real.

[SIGHS AND POUTS AGAIN.] Ah! But please continue!

[scriptwriter]

[He sounds a little bummed out about a lot of things here. Kotarou almost feels sorry for him. But this would make explaining things a bit easier at least.]

I'm a Hunter who seeks creatures like that out to protect humanity. Though things have gotten little more complicated asides slaying monsters and the like... But has anyone informed you about modern day technology?

[Hearing this should be pretty interesting.]

[konpeito_aji]

[Opposite! He loves it on Avalon! He's kind of JEALOUS of other timelines, but also hates the one where he fucked up so Akechi had to do what he did etc. etc. It's long and involved.]

[And at that description, Nobunaga SPARKLES AND INSTANTLY GOES TO HIS SIDE! SO INTRIGUED!] Truly?! [THAT'S WHAT HE WANTED TO DO! With hunting oni and shit, but they were FAKE!]

Yes! I've heard about the voyage to the moon, the robots powered with people inside them, drone warfare, space warfare, and bombs, and a lot of computers, and a little bit of AI! [AI!!!!!!!]

[He fucking loves technology. As you can probably tell. OBVIOUSLY.]

[scriptwriter]

[It's so sudden that Kotarou couldn't help and pull back a bit. He seemed to be really be invested in him... Though Kotarou wouldn't be surprised if Nobunaga lost interest in who he was as a person. Kotarou saw himself as weak, small and pathetic... He knew that he could pull off some incredible things when his back was against the wall. But he still wasn't a hero.]

Y-yeah... I used to call myself the Earth Saving Hunter. But I don't really think it's too impressive compared to something huge like "Demon King of the Sixth Heaven".

[Still, he decides to focus more on the technology side than himself. He seemed to be far more interested in that.]

It's a lot to take in, but humans really have advanced far in life. There may be a time when we have to leave the planet since the Earth's resources aren't unlimited. But that's gonna be far off into the future.

[konpeito_aji]

What? Of course it's cooler! [Waves a hand. Also yes, he just said "cooler." He latches onto slang and abuses it.] Demon King isn't supposed to be impressive, it's a warning of idiocy! [Huff.] I guess that means I won, no one even knows enough of Buddhism to know what it means! Still weird. Maybe I should get a better title? Ara ara, but it's a little late for that now.

[And a blink. AND A NOD. Right Ledo talked about the importance of having enough oxygen and land for growing food etc.] So what's your favorite? Technology, or weapons.

[scriptwriter]

People often use the word 'Demon King' in video games and media now. It's usually something to hype up a really bad guy that the hero needs to defeat.

["Warning of idiocy"? Kotarou couldn't help and snicker at the sound of that. He didn't seem to be a bad guy. Very strange, but not at all bad. Compared to what he's heard in the history books, this guy seemed to be approachable enough.]

I like a bit of both! I'm good at using a computer, but nothing beats holding a gun. Men always need guns to look and feel cool.

[konpeito_aji]

Oh yeah! I heard that before, but I didn't understand what they meant! I think I get it now. I only got to play one videogame before and -- [MAKES A FACE!] It wasn't fun. They made me a magic user and I had a stupid staff like Kennyo's, and I was supposed to act out the part like in kabuki-- [GROAN!]

[His eyes light up about computers, and EVEN MORE ABOUT GUNS. BRO. DUDE. PAL. You are his new bestie!!!] Absolutely. So guns are really popular in the future?

I have my Tanegashima on me [SHOWS.] The kind Mitsuhide designed for the army. [PROUD BEAM! SO PROUD!] I know Bean mentioned a lot of warfare moving beyond guns and computers, but he's got a dark timeline. Alien bugs decimate all of humanity.

So did you actually get to hunt monsters? What's your familiar?

1/2

[scriptwriter]

That's not a video game, dude. That's called a play. No, actually... It's called 'Larping'. 'Live Action Role Playing' is the word!

[So they even do that around here? Kotarou had to wonder what kind of crazy world that he had ended up falling into. He was just a reflection on the moon a while ago and now he's got a physical form again and he's stuck in this world!]

There's plenty of gun otaku out there who know their stuff! I--- [Don't mind Kotarou as he gets sparkly eyed at his gun.] WHOA! That's seriously cool! I don't really have much asides a pistol on me back whenever I was Guardian. But I got a chance to use machine guns, rocket launchers and rifles!

[Nobunaga's question pauses a moment. Alien bugs killing off humanity, huh? How many times has humanity been destroyed in his timeline? It makes him reflect on a certain girl on the moon, but he decides to curb those deep thoughts for a moment.]

Yup. I hunted monsters in the forests of my home town, then I went out to deserts to hunt down monsters for the government too. And as for my familiar... [He'll take a moment to whistle to summon his familiar.]

[scriptwriter]

[And a leaf bird will come flying into the cave to start poking at Kotarou's head.]

--OWOWOW! STOP IT! DON'T POKE YOUR MASTER'S HEAD!!

[konpeito_aji]

Yeah? So what are videogames actually like?

[ALL THE MUTUAL EYE GLEAMS ABOUT GUN OTAKU. GUN OTAKU AND NERD. HE IS LEARNING ALL THE SLANG. YAY!]

[Also rocket launchers! He needs to get one!!!] Mitsuhide designed it! [He said that, but it's worth restating!!!] He's on this island too, so you can probably get him to show you a thing or two! He's the best sharpshooter I've ever known! [ALL THE PROUDS!]

[And before he can ask more about the monsters... the bird is pecking him.]

[Huh.]

[So a lot of familiars are more than just bossy then?]

Hey.

[Since Nobunaga is used to getting pecked from all his falconing and training, he just reaches out his falconing hand (left) to protect his new friend's head.] Are you hungry or just trying to convey frustration? [Asking the bird, because see also: Haguro his falcon is almost more of his best friend than Mitsuhide...]

[scriptwriter]

[Kotarou is actually a bit touched that he'd go out of his way to protect his head like that. He felt like such a loser over the fact that he couldn't really control his familiar yet.]

Wait... You can speak bird? That's an actual language?

[He's seen Akane control a bird familiar, but familiars didn't have personalities in his world. They were a lot closer to machines that did your bidding. The leaf bird makes a gesturing with its feathers to say "My master IS a moron, but I'm also kinda hungry! Got any food around, big guy?"]