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

Rita Mordio | Tales of Vesperia | Elemental/Alchemy

[blahblahblah]

[A | arrival and Red Spring]
[Rita is no stranger to traveling. She is a stranger to how she arrived in this place: dumped unceremoniously into the bay. But she could manage that much. She had (just) enough decorum to haul herself out of the water, shake herself off, try to dry out her cloak a bit, and stomp up the stairs. Her reclaimed belongings were acceptable - between the eclectic scarf and the Necronomicon (probably not the real thing, but she wasn't about to argue the point) she would be set if she managed to get her artes functioning somehow. Until then she had to make do with what she did have, which was this... new magic she'd have to learn. Whatever. The trip to the springs, thus, was spent largely in silence, aside from her mumbling, fingers twitching as she tried to make sense of what little she knew, maybe figure out if she could transfer some of what she already knew from her magic artes. She'd have a lot of work to put in to be at all confident in this stuff.

Once they reach Red Springs, she figures she'll be best served doing Yuri's usual thing: walking around, trying to gather information, maybe figuring out where she's supposed to be spending the night. She doesn't have the patience to do that forever, though, and she winds up back at the inn before too long and without much to show for it. Scowling, she decides to take a break before she tries to see if she can still throw fire with the sheer force of her anger, opening the door to the room. She doesn't mind sharing, really, she did that on her trip across the world already. Hopefully her roomie doesn't mind that she's in a bad mood; if she gets a strange look, her immediate reply is-] What are you looking at? Got a problem?

[She does also hit the training ground, intending to figure out if whatever magic she's got will let her channel her artes. It turns out that, yes, it actually kind of will. But it takes a fair bit of concentration to shoot out even a single fireball, and after some practice to make that consistent, she walks back to the city proper, sulking a bit.

...this does not stop her from visiting the hot springs that evening. Rita's done this exactly once in her life - also with Yuri and Estelle and the others - and she's not going to pass up a chance to go without spending the absurd sum he'd coughed up then. It's probably the only time she's relaxed all day, as she slides into the spring in a towel. She's feeling so generous she won't even explode the first person that bothers her.]

[B | show of strength]
[As much as she wanted to see cookie trees, Rita couldn't help herself - she saw "advocate for war" and "crystal cave" and knew that was her scene. So she'd set out to join the expedition to the Giant Cave. Now that she's here, she's like a kid in a candy store, browsing the clusters of geodes and debating what to do with herself. But it's not long before she's slinging a pickaxe over her shoulder and setting to work. She's a fair bit stronger than she looks, having grown stronger during her travels, even if she's not as strong as she used to be when her bodhi blastia was helping. So it doesn't take her terribly long to come up with a number of geodes, which she stuffs into the pockets of her cloak after she cracks them to see what's inside.

Once her pockets are starting to get full, she realizes she's feeling a bit generous, and if she sees someone struggling she makes her way over.] Need an extra hand? [She might look surprisingly imposing holding that pickaxe...

Rita will also be interested in trading to make sure she's got at least one of everything, so she might be peering over people's shoulders as they see what they've mined up.]

((Shout at me at eternities if you want something else or have questions!))

[arrival and red spring]

[justwatchmeburn]

[Yang is in the middle of cleaning her robotic arm—resulting in the odd sight of it laying across her lap as she uses her normal arm to clean it with a shammy—when Rita comes in. She looks up at the young woman, and before she can even get a word out, she's met with something like that.]

Well, sorry for reacting to the person who just walked into my room. Are you a newbie here or something?

[blahblahblah]

[That sure is her arm lying across her lap, okay, sure, cool-] What the hell kind of blastia is that? [Then she realizes what she's said and flushes for a second.] I-I mean! It's... what is it? [One more beat.] Yeah, I'm new, what of it?

[justwatchmeburn]

[Yang stares for a moment, before laughing and simply picking up her arm and reattaching it.]

It's not a blastia, or whatever, it's just my arm. Lost the other one a while back, thought I'd replace it, you know?

[She's going to ignore the last part, in the interest of hopefully not quarreling further.]

[blahblahblah]

Sure. Replace your arm. No problem. [Rita shakes her head hard.] I knew someone that had an artificial heart... it's like that, right? Something happened to yours, you got a replacement... it's probably not magical so it needs maintenance. [She has no idea if the old man's heart (cardiac blastia...?) needed maintenance, but she'd certainly never taken a detailed look at it. She's happier for it.] Uh, don't feel like you have to tell me any more. I'm a researcher, it kind of comes with the territory, but I can do the research myself too.

[justwatchmeburn]

[Yang blinked a few times.]

Your mind goes a mile a minute, huh? [She laughs.] I guess it's like an artificial heart? I've never really had the opportunity to compare. And it's fine, I don't mind if you ask me questions.

[A beat.]

I'm Yang, by the way.

[blahblahblah]

Yeah. Can't turn it off. Don't really want to, either - it keeps me out of trouble. Or in trouble, sometimes. Anyway, I... might ask questions later, but right now that's not really what I'm worried about. I've got all this... this to deal with first. [She gestures outward, apparently meaning "all of the things".] I was out trying to ask questions, but either I'm asking the wrong questions or I'm just bad at gathering information. [And now she remembers she was mad earlier; some of it leaks back into her tone, but it's not like Yang's done anything to earn it. Which reminds her-]

I'm Rita.

show of strength

[granmaster]

[ He was used to heavy lifting, seeing as being captain of an entire ship led him to carry a lot more cargo from time to time. But even he couldn't deny the saving grace of someone coming over and helping out.

Especially because the geode he's currently trying to pry out was being stubborn. ]

If you don't mind. I need to get this out but nothing seems to be working. [ Gran has a gut feeling that it'd be useful, and he doesn't exactly want to give it up. ]

[blahblahblah]

[Rita nods at him, glancing down at the geode after a second. Her trained eye from all those ruin expeditions is trying to parse the best angle, and she walks over to crouch down for a better look.][She reaches for a hand drill and gently carves one side out, a look on intense focus on her face for a second. Then, looking up at him:] Okay, try now. [Her calculations assume the rock in Avalon isn't dramatically different from back home, which... may or may not be a valid assumption to go in with.]

[granmaster]

Right. [ And so he does, using a the back of a pickaxe in order to pull it out. He manages to get it out with a grunt, smiling in relief. Finally! ]

Thank you so much. I don't think I would have ever figured it out. [ He's normally not the one doing the digging, which makes the captain respect his crewmates all the more. ]

[blahblahblah]

You'd have gotten there sooner or later. The nice thing about pickaxes is that if you keep using one in the same spot, eventually you shift something. It's a toss-up if that means you get what you wanted or the whole wall comes down, though.

But anyway, you're welcome. I might as well help if I'm having a good day, right? And that's kinda what all this is in the first place. Bringing people together.

[granmaster]

I would prefer to make sure the wall didn't come down on anyone, but you do have a point. I suppose I just couldn't find the quickest way.

[ He does nod at her words-- bringing people together felt great. ] Are you done collecting the crystals you need? I can help you, if you want.

[blahblahblah]

Eh. It's part of the experience. Having a wall decide it hates you in particular is a rite of passage for ruin diving.

I think I'm okay - I don't know what I need, I'm just kinda getting stuff together for research. If it turns out this stuff's useful to me, I'll organize a trip to come back. I don't have a whole lot of space for rocks in the inn anyway. Thanks, though.

B - Show of Strength

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin is currently taking a break, sifting through some pebbles and broken rocks and plucking whatever crystals and shards he can from the stone and pebbles. He holds one particularly nice specimen; hematite, up to inspect when Rita catches his attention.]

Hm? Sure, the more hands the better. I've got a pretty nice haul I need to start getting back to my forge.

[He gestures to what amounts to about ten full buckets of various crystals.]

[blahblahblah]

[She recognizes that stone! Rita starts to say something before she catches sight of the buckets, right as he gestures to them.] Oh, whoa. That's a whole lot of crystal. Wait, you said forge?

[Keeping her hands visible so he doesn't think she's stealing or anything, she picks up a vibrant, pink crystal out of one of the buckets and examines it. It's no blastia core, but it's pretty, and she can appreciate that.]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Sure did. Name's Darin Altway, Master Blacksmith. I just opened the place up and I want to do some research on these guys. I'm wondering if working them into the gear I forge will enchant it or at least synchronize with the matching magic of its owner.

I'm excited to get started!

[blahblahblah]

[That seems like it's a lot like-] A cross between blastia and gear... well, no, there's no core, but... hmm. That... could work... gah, don't give me ideas when I'm out here in the middle of nowhere and I can't do anything with them! [She starts out musing quietly and by the end is complaining somewhat loudly. Oops.]

Anyway. That sounds very interesting and everything I know about magical theory from home says that's a very good idea that will probably work. I also had to fight a mythical being that wanted to destroy our planet over us being too dependent on them, so you'll forgive me if I'm very excited but also very hesitant. It should... probably be fine?

[forgeabettertomorrow]

...Wait. You get what I'm talking about?

[He leaps to his feet.]

You've done it?!

That's...! That's amazing! Do you have notes?! Do you want to work together? Collaborate?! This is the best news ever!

[Sorry, Rita. He's presently scooping you up and twirling you a few times before setting you down. He's not one for personal space and he'll certainly circle around to the whole 'mythical being' thing once his excitement dies down.]

[blahblahblah]

W-wha-hey! Put me down-! [Oh, spirits, he's spinning her and he's so excited, what's going on, what did she do- okay, she's going back down, this is fine-]

U-uh. I don't have my notes, they're at home. I don't do it much, so I'm not sure how much help I'll be, but I'd be interested to see what you're trying. I'd like to believe I can help you, but I definitely at least want to make sure what you're doing isn't going to doom us all. [A beat, then quickly-] What was that all about?

B. Show of Strength

[patchricide]

[To be fair, Allura's life never lead her to do much manual labor, especially not with the aid of space-age tools. So it's not merely exhaustion that's led to her resting on the job. It's also frustration with the tedium of it all, and over not finding as many amethysts and agates as she had hoped.]

[In fact, while resting she's taken her current haul, spread it out and sorted it, with the two stones of choice front and center — and just as she suspected, those are the two smallest piles.]

[She lifts her head at the offer, as if she had just been called out.] Oh! I suppose I could, yes. After all, if my luck doesn't turn around, I might be at this for quite a while.

Re: B. Show of Strength

[blahblahblah]

I have a feeling they'll leave us behind if we're not ready to go when they are, so we should probably get a move on if you want more than this. There isn't much luck to it, though. It looks like it's just applying the pointy part of the ground until things pop out, but there's finesse to it. Nobody ever gets that. [She grumbles softly at that; she is most definitely not pouting, why would you think that?]

You okay to get back to it? I can poke around for geodes that'll be easier to get out if you need another minute.

[patchricide]

[Allura nods, rising to her feet. But as they walk, she explains...]

Right, but as you said, there's only so much time. And how are we supposed to tell which stones are hiding the gems we need most until we've already broken them open? If there's a type of magic that allows you to sense different minerals, I certainly don't have it.

[blahblahblah]

I don't know it either. So we'll have to do it the hard way. The nice thing is, everyone's going to want at least some of these, so we may as well keep breaking them open. Maybe we can trade with other people. [She's scanning for geodes as she goes; it's probably no coincidence that geodes tend to be around the same size as cores, either...]

[patchricide]

That's not a bad idea, actually. I had hoped to hold onto my surplus, just to have handy in case more of my team arrives from home... but I shouldn't need all these other stones.

[Speaking of geode sizes, there appears to be a massive one up ahead, the size of a melon. There's probably nothing suspicious about a rock like that, right?]

[blahblahblah]

I feel like we probably shouldn't take too much - other people probably use this place to get gems for jewelry and tools, and if we take it all now it'll be harder to get more later. [She doesn't even have to squint to see people taking way too much, though, so she doesn't press on it.

What she is squinting at is the really big geode in front of her.] What the hell...?