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

[hegemonwings]

[ byleth shakes her head at that, quickly. she reaches for flayn's hand with her right, where the ring stands out. ]

No. You and Seteth did stay with the Church when I threw in with Edelgard, but... you were his priority. [ she's... going to move past the tangled feelings she has about seteth. her uncle, she realizes now, distantly. none of that is the point. ] I met you both in battle, and... by that point he was finally having doubts about Seiros. The two of you quit the field and left the Church and Fódlan behind.

[ aaaand her tea is here. nice. byleth spoons honey in, before taking a sip. ]

You remember things differently.

[notcethleann]

[Flayn breathes out a sigh, and when Byleth offers a hand, she takes it, clutching it tightly. She presses her other hand over her chest in a loose fist. Of course, there is the question of what the professor would have done had Seteth not given up on his sister, but Flayn does not want to think about that. It's irrelevant, because it didn't happen.]

I...I am so very relieved to hear that. I do not think my father knew what Seiros had done to you. Several times after you arrived at the monastery, I overheard them arguing over things she would not tell him. Please, Professor...do not judge him too harshly. He has only ever wanted to preserve what little family we have left, and I believe that he feared so much change happening all at once.

[She smiles slightly.]

And you are my cousin, are you not? I always felt that you and I were connected, somehow. I am so glad that I was not wrong.

[She gives Byleth's hand a light squeeze and lets go, taking a sip of her tea before she nods.]

Quite differently, yes. You stayed with us, and fought with us when Edelgard's forces attacked the monastery. When you returned to us after your slumber, Claude and his Golden Deer had reunited there, and we joined forces with the Alliance to fight back against the Empire's invasion.

[There is more, much more, but Flayn pauses there to give Byleth a chance to take it in. How did things turn out so...so upside down, in the Fodlan this Byleth seems to have come from?]

[hegemonwings]

I have... long tried not to. [ she believes she understands seteth's reasons, even if she thinks they have long since stopped justifying anything. ] I may have my... difficulties, with this family. Our family. But they have never been with you.

[ even when flayn split from the black eagles to stay with the church... that was something she could understand. maybe if byleth had made more of an effort, she could have been swayed, maybe that could have gotten through to seteth sooner, maybe—

byleth takes a sip of her tea, trying to dismiss that thought. but she stares, as flayn begins to explain her own recollection. ]

... That... doesn't make sense. [ byleth says at last, clutching at the pendant and feeling her heart beat uncomfortably hard beneath it. ] I wouldn't have stayed with that monster. I wouldn't have abandoned El when she needed me most.

[ a slip of the tongue. ]

[notcethleann]

It warms my heart so to hear it. Perhaps...perhaps someday, the three of us may be able to dine together again, as we once did.

[Flayn's eyes widen to hear Byleth's response. She watches the way the professor's hand moves to her pendant; thinks about the ring sitting prominently on her finger. A conflict of emotions plays out on Flayn's face for a moment, resolving into dismay.]

Professor, is...is that how you truly think of Seiros? Certainly, what she has done to you is deplorable, and I disagree strongly with the path on which she has led Fodlan, but...

[But she is family, too. Flayn sighs. It's likely difficult for Byleth to understand just how horrifying the thought of losing even one more of their family is for her and for Seteth, without the experiences they have had.]

In any case, I am quite surprised to hear that you felt close to Edelgard even then. Our house spent little time with the Black Eagles, and I recall that your friendship with Claude was rather close, was it not?

[hegemonwings]

[ ... what.

what?

her mind races, trying to think of what she might mean here. she'll... circle back to that thing about seiros, even if it sets her teeth on edge. ]

... I taught the Black Eagles. Edelgard is my dearest friend, [ technically true ] and... Claude and I were never close.

[ friends, maybe, by some way of looking at it. but not close. there's something colder in her eye as she goes on, back to the initial question. ]

Well. She demanded I murder Edelgard in the Holy Tomb, and when I refused, she said I was just another failure—that she would tear me open and take back my heart. She took her true form right there, and would have killed us all where we stood. She put me at the bottom of the Airmid during the battle for Garreg Mach. When we demanded Seiros's surrender on the final day of the war, she had her knights burn Fhirdiad.

[ byleth's eyes take a piercing, analytical cast. there's a clarity there, in a way that there rarely had been at the monastery. her voice... trembles, here and there, as she goes on, but she tries to maintain steel there. the archbishop is not a favored topic for her. ]

Seiros was a mad, ancient beast who would burn the world and rule the ashes if it meant she stayed in control. I have no kind words left for her.

[notcethleann]

[What? Flayn stares at Byleth at this description of her aunt, shock written plainly on her face. But first things first...]

No, that is... In the Fodlan I know, you chose to teach the Golden Deer, and thus that is the class I joined. Claude values your friendship quite highly. The two of you have led the Alliance and the Knights of Seiros together in the war against the Empire. Professor...it seems we have arrived from two different versions of our world. And I...

[She looks down, hands making fists in her lap, holding back tears.]

Burn Fhirdiad... It seems that the Seiros you knew lost herself completely to madness. In that case, I cannot blame you for leaving us and waging war against her, much as it hurts my heart to think of her that way.

[She shakes her head and looks up again.]

The Seiros I knew did not do those terrible things. I...suspect she viewed you as her last hope, and when you refused to harm your friend, she lost all reason. I know there is nothing that I could have done to stop her, but nonetheless...I wish to apologize on the behalf of the Flayn you knew. Had Father not insisted upon leaving Fodlan - or had she found the strength to defy him - and had she known of the Agarthans and all their horrors then, I truly believe that I would have fought by your side.

[hegemonwings]

[ the ice slowly leaves byleth's gaze as she sees the effect this is having on flayn. of course, this isn't easy for her cousin either, is it? silently, she curses her lack of delicacy, and not for the first time.

the description flayn gives of her memory stops her for a moment. the gears grind to a halt. she likes none of what she's hearing. so, obviously, she's just going to file that away for now and agonize over it later. ]

You have nothing to apologize for.

[ they have no responsibility for these other selves, just as they have no responsibility for their family's sins. and... agarthans. she's given pause at that term, it's not familiar, but... it isn't hard to guess who she means. ]

... If you mean those who slither in the dark, I wonder about that. [ this is something she had accepted as a necessary reality, even if she had hated it. but from the outside? how might it look? ]

Edelgard never called on them after the Holy Tomb... but we lacked the strength to deal with them. We both hated it, but they had us all at swordpoint. [ she gestures with one hand, taking a sip of her tea. ] We defied them too openly when we took Arianrhod, and they destroyed it along with the garrison we had left there. If you had joined us, I know we would have done all we could to protect you from them, but... there would be a target on your back. And from the outside, I doubt that their involvement looked good. [ even without demonic beasts or agarthan mages taking the field for the empire. even with them fighting for the kingdom as well. ]

[notcethleann]

It...did not. Particularly once we learned of the monstrous things they did in Hrym and Ordelia, in the Empire's name. I would give anything to somehow...go back there and save Lysithea and her family from their awful fates.

[Lysithea...it weighs heavily on Flayn's heart, knowing what she does about her friend's past and future. And it frustrates her desperately that even she, the saint who heals, can do nothing to help. She closes her eyes briefly to let the feeling pass.]

But we did learn of Edelgard's plight, beholden to the Agarthans' plans as she was. You are correct, they are the ones Hubert called those who slither in the dark. He left a letter for you and Claude, to be delivered if Enbarr fell, explaining the truth and pointing us to their lair. We, too, witnessed the terrible destruction of their javelins of light, but it was Fort Merceus they destroyed.

[hegemonwings]

[ she doesn't care to think on the outcome flayn is describing. especially the parts that go unspoken. so again, a noncommittal sound of acknowledgement, before she circles back. her eyes briefly go down to the ring on her own finger, a grounding reminder. ]

... They were responsible for what befell the Hresvelg children, as well. [ byleth's voice comes very quietly. this isn't her story to tell. she won't tell details. ]

The method was different. The goal was different. But Edelgard and I... we were the same, Flayn. [ both carved open and given power by monsters trying to make human puppets. both using the crest of seiros as kindling for the crest of flames. one meant to be a goddess, the other meant to be her downfall. both the apparent culmination of a long line of attempts. ]

That's why we fought. No more children like us. [ obviously, there are a great many other phenomena of the church's society they wanted to topple. but none are so emblematic, to her mind. ]

[notcethleann]

The Hresvelg children...I recall that Edelgard was not originally the Imperial heir, but I did not know what had happened to her siblings. Ah, but her hair...

[The same white as Lysithea's, and her eyes a similar shade as well. It never occurred to Flayn to compare them before, but now that she has heard Lysithea's tale and now this, it seems quite obvious in retrospect.]

How many others did they torment so, that none of us ever learned about? Oh, Professor...how I wish we all could have joined together to defeat them.

[She opens her mouth to say more, but abruptly realizes that telling this Byleth where her counterpart ended up in their united Fodlan seems almost cruel. She snaps her mouth shut again and takes a bite of her pastry to distract from it.]

[hegemonwings]

[ part of her is curious, and she almost asks—but byleth thinks better of it. flayn is far more guileless than her father and aunt ever were, so if she's holding something back, it's likely for her sake.

and byleth has never been one to pry, anyway, with people she likes. so she simply nods, taking a bite of her own pastry. ]

In a perfect world, perhaps. But we lived in the broken world our family made. There were no good options left to anyone. [ even so, she's never once regretted her choice. ] What do you mean to do, now that you're here?

[notcethleann]

Indeed, there were not.

[Flayn sighs, then puts on a smile. If one smiles, one will surely feel better.]

Yes, enough of this gloomy conversation. Let us speak of brighter things. We are here together, now, and that is most important.

[She takes a sip of her tea, thoughtful.]

I confess, I do not know! I am still learning about all the wondrous things here, and meeting so many interesting people. There are so many possibilities that I cannot even fathom them all.

[A twinkle makes its way into her eye, then.]

Though there is one thing I shall absolutely pursue, now that the world is my oyster. And that is a romance of my very own!

[She sighs, wistful.]

Do not think that I have failed to notice the ring you wear, Professor. If you have married, I simply must know!

[hegemonwings]

Best of luck there. [ she smiles again, as she had when she first took her seat, and... ah.

ah. ]

... I am... not married, no. Engaged, I think, [ byleth you're either engaged or you aren't ] though nothing is official. [ she finds herself feeling oddly self-conscious about this. ]