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

A2| Nier: Automata | Kinetic & Technomancy

[yorhaberserker]

Arrival – A: Soaking in Your Arrival

A2 cursed and spluttered when she plunged into the coldness. She started swimming to the surface of the water and once she broke she treaded in it, looking around and trying to get her bearings. “Where the fuck am I?” She grumbled, her silver white hair floating around her in the water. The place didn’t look remotely familiar. She spotted the shore and started swimming towards it cussing under her breath the whole time. As she crawled onto dry land she looked back towards the bay, seeing the strange glowing creatures. “Should have tried to use those.” She told herself.

The android took note of all the other people that were coming ashore and smirked a bit. “Well, looks like I’m not the only one that showed up here.” She had never seen this many organic lifeforms outside of animals and she was shocked to see humans, among other types there. She went to the waters edge and decided to reach out her hand to help one of the other unlucky sods that was struggling to get out. “Hey, let me help.” She offered. She had more than enough strength to pull people out if they needed it.

She then started to follow the rest of the people up the staircase. She had no fucking clue what was going on, but then she felt something rub against her and she paused, seeing a strange two tailed cat next to her. “What the hell is this?” She asked. The nekomata looked up at her grinning. It was walking on its hind legs and was wearing a veil of some sort. “That water must be messing with my circuitry.” She muttered as she finished making her way up with the rest of the other wet individuals.

Arrival – B: Caravan

She blinked when she was handed the phone and the strange ear buds. She looked up at the man questioningly. This tech seemed both ancient and rather unusual. She then moved over to the “Shit Box”, opening it and there she saw her weapons. “Well fuck. At least I have these.” She said as she set them to her back. She had no idea where to stuff the strange phone or earbuds. It wasn’t like what was left of her clothes had pockets. She mulled around and wandered up to one of the other arrivals. “Does anything he’s saying make sense to you?” She asked them. Her butt length silver white hair sticking to her body. It was a little strange for her to try to make conversation, since she’d been alone for quite a long time, with the exception of other YoRHa units coming after her, the deserter.

When they were instructed to, she started into one of the carriages and looked around at the others that were in there with her. She was still in awe at seeing so many organic, humanoid beings. She was sure that they all had their own stories. She was game for playing nice. Since it seemed they were all in the same situation. She glanced at the phone from time to time. Was she really going to be using this piece of tech? She set it down on her lap and looked out the window. Not trying to be rude, she’d be more than happy to talk if she had anything to say.

Arrival – C: Red Spring (taking a dip)

A2 looked around the room that was offered. She didn’t see who her roommate was going to be, but she chose a bed, setting her swords, phone and earbuds onto it, claiming the one she could at least go into shut down on when she was ready. But what she was looking forward to was taking a dip into the hot springs. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a hot bath. Androids really didn’t need baths, but they did feel good when one had the luxury of it. She didn’t think that there would be any machines coming at her here, or executioner models, so she felt safe enough to at least go for a soak.

When she got out there, she slipped off her heels and her ripped velvet camisole. It looked like it was at one time a part of an outfit, but that had long since gone away. She then slipped her shorts off and set them aside, going into the water. She sighed feeling the warmth, it was amazing. It was clear that her body had seen better days, since her seam lines were visible and there were parts on her where her chassis was exposed, the black carbon fiber in stark contrast to her flesh. She sat down and leaned back with a sigh. She closed her eyes, relaxing, though she was still alert to her surroundings with her auditory programming. She was a soldier after all… though the thought of that made her give a sarcastic little laugh to herself. More like a sacrifice for better models. She cracked her eyes open when she heard a sound coming towards her, to check what or who was approaching.

C: Red Spring

[gladiia]

Her impossibly large lance would probably have best been left stowed inside a room. Her opinion on these rooms were that, while kind, she was still more used to her cramped quarters. Still, she never fully trusted anything, and certainly not free lodging. For that reason, she kept all her belongings with her as she investigated this area.

She heard rumor of a hot spring, which for most would work as somewhere for land dwellers to relax. Not her, however. As she mostly lived in the ocean, non-salt water bodies were an entirely different beast. Not to mention she retained her clothing.

Strolling out to the spring, clothed and with her weapon, she seemed utterly unfazed by the looks she received. She supposed when she was looked at as a monster for so long, getting such looks was part of the gig. That said, a few people looked like they wanted to explain to her the rules, but were too afraid to speak out against the woman. This left Gladiia to her own devices, as she assessed the small pools of water, with blatant disregard to anyone who might be occupying them.]

Re: C: Red Spring

[yorhaberserker]

A2 looked up at her, taking in her weapon and clothes. "Hey, I seriously doubt you need to carry that in here." She commented cooly. Why was this woman dressed when they were at a hot spring. In the things she read on the Bunker and throughout her wanderings hot springs were usually a towel or nothing at all. The android otherwise wasn't fazed by her appearance, just mildly amused.

"The water feels great after that icy dip. What's your name?" She inquired, her blue eyes watching her moving around.

Re: C: Red Spring

[gladiia]

[She knew what this other was referring to, so there was no need to glance at the oversize spear she was carrying around to deduce that. Even still, she remained flat in her expression, leading others to wonder if she actually heard them. She did, she just didn't see the point in responding most the time.]

"You may call me Gladiia."

[To say she was disappointed in the water being hot was an understatement. She rathered the cool depths of the deep ocean. While she lamented this, she would idly answer the basic questions that were being thrown her way; The formal exchange of pleasantries that was customary for these people. Though she couldn't help but notice the slight difference in this one's appearance and manner of speech.]

"Do all those on land spend their time lounging around in pools?"

Re: C: Red Spring

[yorhaberserker]

"I'm A2." She introduced herself, though she didn't use a lot of the fluffier fillers that she had heard others use. She drizzled some water over her form, keeping Gladiia in her visual.

When she heard the question she shrugged. "I really couldn't tell you that. I've not seen any organic beings besides game animals and birds. Where I'm from, humans are long gone on the moon, and androids are few and far between. Mostly just machines, constant machines." She told her. "So whether the humans in the past lounged in pools or not, I couldn't answer. I just haven't been in hot water since before I was sent down to fight. So I decided to take the opportunity as it was presented." Her answer was rather blunt. "What's your story? I'm sure you have one... like everyone else."

A

[bendless]

Sokka makes it a regular thing to check the beach for new arrivals. It's gotten him results before so why stop now. He noticed the girl looks at her familiar and mutter something, so he decided to offer some info.

"That's your familiar. They're supposed to help you with your magic."

Re: A

[yorhaberserker]

"A familiar? Magic?" She looks at him confused. "I don't think I quite understand what that is. Though I am interested if you wish to explain." She added. "I'm guessing you've been here a while? Anything I should know, if you don't mind my asking." She continued.

gee I'm late, feel free to drop this if you wanna

[bendless]

"Okay so", Sokka clears his throat. "You're in a place called Avalon and you have been brought here by your familiar to save this place and your own world. To do that, you need to learn how to use magic."

I will backtag until forever :3

[yorhaberserker]

"Learn to use magic? Can you teach me? And this thing... this familiar, what does it do exactly?" She asked, wanting to know more about her situation here. "Avalon..." She looked him over and the area around her. "I should introduce myself... I guess that's proper procedure. I'm A2."

[bendless]

"Uhh... well, it depends on what sort of magic you got. You need to figure out that first and heading out with the Caravan is a good idea for that. They give you advice. As for the familiar... it should also be able to guide you."

It really depends on how the familiar communicates, when you think about it. Some of them never talked.

"I'm Sokka. It's nice to meet you."

[yorhaberserker]

"This thing is supposed to be able to guide me?" She asked pointing to the nekomata.

Hey lady, get used to me. I'm gonna be around for a while. It said looking up at her from under the scarf.

She jumped hearing it talk then looked at Sokka. "They can talk? And it's a pleasure." She smiled at him after getting over the surprise of hearing the three tailed cat speak.

[bendless]

"Haha... yep. Some of them can. Some of them only talk with who they've chosen." Some of them alter between doing that, like his familiar. "You get to even choose a name for it as they won't tell you a name. Something about Fae rules..."

[yorhaberserker]

"I have to name this smartass?" She asked incredulously as she glanced down at the nekomata. "I don't even know how to do that. We don't name things really where I came from." She added as she looked up at Sokka.

You don't have to sweetheart, I'm still going to be around ya. The nekomata popped off. He didn't care that there was someone else around. He found all of this highly amusing.

[bendless]

"Yeah, it's not something you have to do, but you can. It's a matter of personal preference, really." Sokka named his just because it would be weird to call it just a familiar all the time. "And even if it says that, familiars do tend to leave on errands from time to time. Mine is currently on one. I have no idea what he's doing."

[yorhaberserker]

"So I don't always have to deal with it then. That's a relief." A2 said as she looked from Sokka to the creature. At least it was cute, in a strange way. "Probably doing their own thing. At least this one is carrying size if it came down to it." She looked back at Sokka.

"If you don't mind my asking, what kind of creature is yours?" She was curious, she'd admit it.