TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 8

[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 ⚔️️ SUMMARY: 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. 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. (Though.. given how hot and muggy the weather is this first week, maybe you might want to ask him to toss you right back into the lake where the waters are still cool.) *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 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. SUMMARY: Merlin has a Plan B in case Camelot failed the trials: raise a sunken ship and offer it to the Elphame Traders on their way out in exchange for permission to travel their waters. Characters prepare for ritual magic to raise a sunken ship and travel underwater at the empty Camelot docks to gather ritual ingredients for it. After they've done all they can, Merlin sets up a little beach party with a bit of master magic for anyone who came along for the trip. After arriving, people may have heard about recent events-- the people of Camelot voted against war and to instead accept the trials of the people of Celliwig. The trials are now concluded, and a good number of people are emotionally exhausted and taking time to recover. Word from Celliwig has not yet arrived, but across multiple social media platforms, including AOL, there are clips of Merlin's cryptic addendum to Arthur's announcement along with notes that the meeting date was delayed a couple of days due to the awful weather and a need to rest after how bleak the trials were to some people. With people down and out, it won't hurt to have the new arrivals pitch in and learn a thing or two. "Lucky me, we've got a decent group. Celliwig's out of our hands now, but what isn't is a back-up plan. Vote was close enough I figured we'd have enough people to get a head start. Celliwig is closer and much less dangerous to deal with, we'd be able to communicate much faster with the faeries' queendom. They're not big on internet. Big followers of the Old Ways. T-L-D-R, we can't just text the queen and ask if drop-bys are on the table. We'd never make it past the leviathans without permission, so here's the plan: There is a... fixer-upper of a vessel sunken about a hundred yards from shore tossed out from Bermuda. We tried to build docks here forever ago, but you can guess the Bermuda triangle spitting out stuff in the lake all the time didn't go great. We just keep it up for visitors now, but there's plenty to explore in the immediate area that we can magic back into business." A ⦿ Shipwreckers He goes on to explain that the fairies value items that were once lost and refound, so step one is exploring the shipwreck with fellow magic users to find what amounts to a scavenger hunt list of items from the ship. He sets everyone off with a quick spell that essentially transforms their clothing into swimsuits that best fit their preferences and personality-- that means no one's going to get a swimsuit that makes them horribly uncomfortable, he's not harassing anyone. After that, magicians will be directed to use their magic to get down to the ship. It's not as convenient as underwater breathing and not as easily sustainable, but there's definitely different ways to go about it. Light magic users will find they can create a forcefield above the surface of the water and go under the water, though they may run out of oxygen quickly. Elemental users can find they can create a similar bubble by pushing water out of the way, though may run into the same diminishing air without a more advanced elemental user already in the game who can pull oxygen out of the water or an alchemist who can create chemical reactions to generate oxygen. Animal mages may be able to convince local lake life to help push bubbles along, and healers will be instrumental in healing oxygen deprivation if anyone stays under too long! (Note: If two characters can't create a bubble, you can put in a third NPC to do the bubble while your characters handle other roles during the search.) No matter what, make sure you bring someone who can watch your back. Rumors have it that the Fuath are harassing anything that comes near the area. Fuath are intangible spirits that may present as giant humanoids at about 8-9 feet each, but with the mane and tail of a yellow horse, with no noses and keen eyes. They hold grudges against anyone who takes advantage of their surroundings, even if not their own, and will come to attempt to throw those who try to take from the ships and flying through the air to land somewhere else in the water. Be very cautious about using names around the Fuath, as though they do not speak in human tongue, they have a particular ability to draw people and animals in using names that makes them very difficult to escape once you've been found. They've been known to turn familiars against their partners. They can be deterred, dissipated through attack to buy you time, but they'll keep coming so get in and out of the ship as fast as you can and definitely stick to more combat-heavy magics like dark and cognitive mages! *Note: These magics are all examples of ways to use primary magic, but feel free to get creative with your character's magic if you think of something else! B ⦿ Hoist the Flags Once all the ingredients are gathered, the ritual is underway! With the mementos from the ship, swim to a protective circle formed at the top of the water by Merlin that will keep the Fuath out. There, you need to take whatever item you gathered from the ship and try to find someone with a similar item. This "sister" item will allow you to pull the essence of the item up from the ship. It takes a load of people to raise a whole ship, but pouring your magic into the item and chanting the spell will cause the ship to resurface and restore itself to its original state before the crash, using residual memories from all the different items on the ship. Of course, finding a partner with a matching item while swimming around could be a challenge, especially if you don't get along-- it may take a while for everyone to get on the same page. It certainly won't clean up all the algae and kelp and wayward flopping fish, it brings the ship back to a livable state.. and a much cooler, more explorable one. Get a quick exploration of the ship and help clean up some of the lake slime before Merlin flags over the traders. Or goof around until then, and learn a sick free spell called (Recipe) Cool Firework: create a rocket firework from your fingertips. Make sure you're aiming it into the sky when you cast this spell, or Merlin will set off a Camelot totem right beneath your feet. No sinking the ship when they just got it up. The fireworks will attract the Elphame Traders, who are leaving the day after they close up shop to head back to Elphame, before the set out to leave. Merlin negotiates offering the ship to them as an offering for Queen Elphame to give them permission to travel in the Elphame territory. At that point, the ship is pulled into the docks and Camelot citizens are ushered out for the fae traders to take over the ship. C ⦿ Beach Episode Once everything's said and done it.. really only took a couple of hours, so the whole group is done around 4pm. There's plenty of time left for dinner and a good time at the beach a short walk away from the docks and the sun doesn't go down until around 9pm. Before Merlin leaves everyone to themselves, he conjures up a buffet-style table with loads of fresh food and drink, watermelons and bats for smashing. The swimsuits provided earlier wear off at midnight, though you'll probably want to leave before then since it still gets chilly in the evening, especially if you're all wet from playing with the chest full of waterguns or the beach balls distributed around the beach. The docks are nearby, so feel free to call your friends over to come hang out with you, even if they didn't help. It's a beach party, enjoy it! SUMMARY: Unseelie faeries and unseemly humans have teamed up to kidnap a small number of otherworlders in the chaos of the trials to fight in an underground fight ring. Play as a victim or be part of the squad to put an end to it if you're more good-leaning, or villains can choose to participate as audience and pay for "gifts" to be given to their favorite fighters during matches. CW: These prompts contain kidnapping, illegal and forced fighting, and inhumane treatment of fighters. Just because people are tired doesn't mean that the world stops for them... crime certainly doesn't. Throughout the start of the month, people are going missing. Exactly what's happening.. well, finding the truth out about that is going to depend on your perspective. A ⦿ Cursed Kidnapees Kidnapping victims will find themselves suddenly blinded by a spell, and then chloroformed by a floating cloth pressed against their face. (Smart kidnappers don't touch their victims if they have magic, you know!) When they wake up, they'll find themselves in a dungeon with at least a dozen other people. There's definitely not room to lay down, and sitting down as you had been propped up immediately starts you with a potentially uncomfortable view. Don't worry, someone's peeks in from a window at the top of the room-- an extremely handsome-looking man with long, wavy hair and pupils slitted like a cat's. "Let's see.. You two, you'll be the first fight of the night. Winner gets dinner, gyahaha!" It's a fighting ring. You've been kidnapped into a fighting ring and there's no obvious escape! Fight against fellow captives and monsters for your dinner and to buy time to figure out what you're going to do... At least you start hand to hand, so there's nothing lethal... right? (See Audience for more details.) B ⦿ Audacious Audience Maybe you're a less scrupulous sort and saw an invitation to this event hidden on the dark web, or got invited by a particularly sketchy friend. Either way, you've got cage-side seats close enough to chat with either fellow audience members or interact with the cage fighters. As a bonus point, audience members can spend some of their G on betting or on purchasing "boons" for their favorite fighters, such as weapons or enhancement spells. They can also bid against other audience members for special sabotages that make it harder to fight-- foot weights, strange masks, roller skates, hinderance hexes.. get creative with it! It's the biggest fight show that you can interact with your wallet... newbies may find it's a very lucrative way to make a pretty penny very fast. (As always, remember to communicate with anyone you're helping/sabotaging so you don't go past anyone's OOC comfort level.) C ⦿ Roaring Rescuers Thankfully, the fae who want nothing more than to sow discord and the greedy humans who joined in their venture are a bit disorganized. Even the beginning-level heroes among us will be able to track them down and topple them with a little bar hopping to gather information from the locals. Eventually, one of them will give up having overheard some "scary looking fellows" talking about which of the patrons of the bar looked like they'd be good in a fight before getting extra hush-hush. Follow all the leads, and you'll find yourself at an outlying, smaller-scale castle with a dungeon tower and an underground fighting ring built beneath its floors. Sneak in and unlock individual fighter dungeon doors while the fights are providing a wealth of distraction. Maybe you'll find a grateful Fogueria who casts a temporary fire-immunity spell on you to allow you to do ride them into battle to bust up the fight going on right now. There's definitely gratitude going on, regardless of moral compass, and you may find gifts of food and drink (non-alcoholic if you're not old enough) placed at your door over the next week for your deeds. 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. • We are testing out formats for key points displays, to be voted on for player preference based on what seems to work best for the most people. The other options were used here (end of post summary format) and here (start of post preview format). The format featured on this post is the last option, which will provide small summaries under the banner of each prompt set. A poll will be put up before the next event to see which format will be used going forward, so please keep in the back of your mind which seems most comfortable/makes the content more easily accessible. •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

[songstressedout]

Yeah, it's pretty complicated, getting down there...

[ Even if Yuzu uses her animal magic to change herself into something that can breathe underwater, she still can't maintain something like that forever. ]

Maybe I can help? What kind of magic do you use?

[kirijo]

Elemental. I have some affinity for kinetic as well, though it's proving more difficult harness.

[ She could probably use it for a burst of rapid motion at this point, but anything sustained or precise ...? ]

What about you?

[songstressedout]

Elemental... you could probably make a bubble of air around your head then, right?

[ Though that might not be too easy to do... Yuzu wouldn't know though, since she doesn't have that kind of magic. ]

I have healing and animal magic... so I'll probably be helping people out if they end up with oxygen deprivation. Still, I do have something I can do with my animal magic.

[ Hm... but she can only transform herself into something that can breathe underwater. ]

[kirijo]

That was an idea that I was considering, yes. [ Mitsuru confirmed with a nod. ] My concern is that I might end up running out of air before I was able to explore the wreckage thoroughly enough to find the ritual agents that Merlin specified. More trips would mean more chances to run into the Fuath, and a greater likelihood of exhausting myself with each subsequent attempt.

[ Though perhaps she didn't have a better option than simply making the attempt ...

[ The other girl's suggestion has her attention, though. ]

What do you have in mind?

[songstressedout]

Well... I can transform myself into something that can breathe underwater. Maybe for you though... I could probably get some of the underwater wildlife to push some bubbles into your bubble and give you some more time.

[ She's not sure how effective that would be, but it's something, right? ]

Plus, if you run out of air, I'll be able to swim you back to the surface faster than normal, and I can heal you as well... though if we run into a Fuath we might have to run. I don't have much that can deal with them...

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru paused for a moment, considering that. ]

It might not deal with the problem of the Fuath, but it would expedite the process of searching the ship. If you're willing to attempt it, it seems like a viable plan.

[songstressedout]

Great! Now just give me a second...

[ Now that that's settled, Yuzu will take a few steps back to get some running distance, take a deep breath, and then run past Mitsuru on the dock and dive into the water. It's mostly a blur, but while she's midair... something changes and her legs are gone before she hits the water.

When she resurfaces, her legs are gone, replaced with a large pink tail with large frilly fins that she also has on her arms and on the side of her head. If you looked closely, you could even spot small pink scales on her shoulders as well.

Basically, it was mermaid time. ]

[kirijo]

[ That ... was not what she had been expecting.

[ She was impressed, though. ]

Quite the transformation. [ She says with a little smile from her spot on the dock. ] I can only imagine the practice that it took.

[songstressedout]

You have no idea...

[ Seriously, it did take a lot of practice getting partial transformations down. Still, this form would work well since she'd have her hands available for whatever happens down there, and she does have gills on her neck like this that will let her breathe underwater. ]

I won't be able to keep it up forever, but I can keep it going for a while. I'll get some of the animals down here to push some bubbles along to you, so whenever you're ready!

[ With that, she'll dive under the water—though still visible from the dock due to how brightly-colored she was, since she's not going deep. She's just gathering up some of the wildlife while she waits for Mitsuru. ]

[kirijo]

[ She had some idea. Most of her journey to Red Spring had been occupied with researching magic to further her understanding of this new tool. Her own magical affinities had been her primary focus, but she'd learned enough about animal magic to understand that a partial transformation was no easy feat ... which was all the more reason not to delay any further.

[ Mitsuru nods and dives off the edge of the pier with practiced enough form to suggest that she's done this a few times, disappearing beneath the waves for a few seconds before resurfacing. ]

Ready.

[ And, as soon as Mitsuru receives an affirmative, back beneath the surf she goes. ]

[songstressedout]

[ It really was... though again, for something like this, having her regular arms would be pretty helpful for both searching the ship for things and pulling people out of the water if necessary. In any case, she’ll come back up once she’s finished speaking to the wildlife. ]

Alright, they agreed to help, so let’s go!

[ She’ll dive under with Mitsuru, her gills allowing her to breathe underwater while numerous kinds of underwater wildlife follow after them. Whatever kind of bubble Mitsuru’s made, she’ll get some more time out of it thanks to the animals doing as Yuzu asked. ]

[kirijo]

[ As Mitsuru dives beneath the surface, the air around her head seems to come down with her, forming a bubble with a roughly foot-and-a-half radius. A bit small, perhaps, but any larger and it might begin to interfere with ability to swim.

[ Besides, with the sealife Yuzu has summoned to help replenish her oxygen reserves, it should be sufficient for a few minutes.

[ ... Something that was still, admittedly, just a tad surreal. She'd lived a strange life by anyone's standards, but exploring a sunken ship alongside a mermaid, escorted by a shoal of aquatic animals was a very different kind of strange than what she was used to.

[ Still ... there was a fanciful part of her that was enjoying the experience.

[ However, they still had a mission to complete, and the shipwreck was steadily growing closer. ]

[songstressedout]

[ It was definitely something you wouldn't normally experience. You could consider both of them to have lived strange lives... Yuzu being in a world dictated by a card game and having three facial lookalikes, but still... turning herself into a mermaid was not one of the things she expected herself to be able to do in her life.

Yuzu made sure to stick close to Mitsuru, even if her current form allows her much faster swimming speed, as they approached the shipwreck. It's fairly easy to find a way inside, though Yuzu's not exactly sure what to take back from it. She supposes that she'll just... grab whatever catches her eye. ]

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru's adopting a fairly similar tactic as she maneuvers through the wreckage. Her only real criteria is that she'd prefer to find something personal to one of the ship's passengers if it was at all possible. A teacher that she knew insisted that such items had a certain ritual potency and, while Mitsuru didn't know whether or not that was actually true, it seemed to be in-line with what she'd learned of magic so far.

[ She kept it in mind as she searched the ship, periodically looking back to Yuzu just to confirm that the other girl was alright, and after a minute or two, she seemed to find something that fit.

[ A silver-colored locket, wedged between two of the floor boards. ]

[songstressedout]

[ Yuzu herself managed to find a small ring that had gleamed a bit in the corner of her eye, even if it was a bit rusted. Honestly, even if the task was a bit simple and not exactly complicated... she couldn't help but notice the small things that's making this enjoyable.

Unlike Mitsuru, she doesn't have a bubble around her head... but the water on her eyes hardly stung at all—or even blurred her vision for that matter.

When she looks back to see that Mitsuru's found her object, she holds up the ring she found. Sight and breathing aside, that doesn't mean sound travels well underwater. ]

[kirijo]

[ Seeing that Yuzu's found something as well, Mitsuru smiles ... though that smile is brief. Not as a result of any sudden threat or any change of fortune, but simply because one of the fish that Yuzu had summoned swam by her head from behind quickly enough that it startled her.

[ She ... she was a little embarassed by that, but she recovers quickly, and points back up towards the surface. A wordless request to see if they're ready to ascend. ]

[songstressedout]

[ She giggles a bit when she sees her startled expression, showing in the form of a burst of bubbles from her mouth. Still, she understands what Mitsuru is saying when she points at the surface. They've been fortunate so far, seeing as they haven't encountered a Fuath yet.

Yuzu would like to keep it that way, since she doesn't have much in the way of offensive magic... well, besides maybe using Animal Magic to turn into some kind of dangerous sea creature, but since the Fuath were intangible... it might not go very well.

Yuzu nods and swims over, moving just past Mitsuru. ]