AVALON (Plus Pictures) and Shenlong Dragon Winner

Well, KingsIsle dropped the bomb - Avalon is here, along with new school pets, spells, level 80, new mounts, equipment, and more. Get ready, because everything is about to change... again!

The official announcement:

Avalon is a mainline, medieval world of knights, castles, goblins and dragons. It plays heavily on the Arthurian and Celtic mythologies, with fallen knights, warrior queens and quests to prove one's worth and skill. It is a land of rich, green glades; dangerous, barricaded towers; and dark, sinister woods. 

In Avalon, players will discover new clues regarding the motivations of some of the main characters in the Wizard101 universe, including Merle Ambrose and the evil Morganthe.
Eventually, Wizards will test their might by undertaking a great quest to heal the land and recover the ancient Sword of Kings.
Avalon includes:

• Six new Zones with 15 new areas to explore

• Level cap increase to 80

• 28 new (utility) spells – 4 per school

• New equipment/drops

• New level 78 pet quests (by school) 

• New pets and mounts

• New gardening levels (players can now achieve rank 15 in gardening) 

• New gardening spells and plants

Avalon is expected to hit the Wizard101 public test server later this week.

Later this week, you'll be showered with new spells, areas, equipment, pets, mounts, gear, and gardening levels. That offers the potential for many new items, too, considering there'd be no new plants between 10 and 15 otherwise.

Here's the sad news - for the first time, I won't be exploring Avalon in the Test Realm, for two reasons. One, I haven't finished Zafaria, and they've likely already pulled data from the live realm. I don't intend on doing it in the Test Realm and main realm again. Two, it'd spoil the world. At first, I thought that I'd be so overwhelmed by everything that I'd need to log on and get used to it all. I've changed my mind. Zafaria was so long that I sort of got over that excitement and desire to finish it after doing it in the Test Realm. Now, with Avalon on the horizon, I'll be forced to simply prepare in the Live Realm.

That being said, I'm also retiring to one character - my original Death. Just for now, anyways. I found that I'd spent too much time repeating things, and dreaming of owning an account that could accomplish any task, or help any wizard, but those dreams are dying slowly, and in the ashes is the realization that I'm playing the game for fun.

Avalon Photo Album - Photos Courtesy of Wizard101 Central and Diary of a Wizard (Click to Enlarge Images)

You can see the Owl and Stag mounts in the pictures, as well as some of the new gear. I'm really excited for some of the new spells! Can't wait to see what else is in store!

As for my little contest, I'm glad it ended before all the crazy Avalon news got out! The winner is...

Dylan BearBlood! Congratulations, and good work!

Thanks for reading, and see you in the Spiral!