lostcarnival | ⇨ EDEN

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 79 - Day 85
Where: Eden
What: Everyone arrives in Eden with their new animals forms - unfortunately, the welcoming party is a bit more intense than expected, with a ritual called 'The Anointment.' Better get this place figured out before anything gets any crazier.
Warnings: Hopefully no ritual sacrifice!

FLAME OF INSPIRATION↴

So it begins. After everyone has been given their new animal form and have had about an hour to readjust to it, the Ringmaster begins the infiltration. You don't see a lot of the specifics of the magic - all you know is that Pru's sword, the Hand of God, is somehow involved. It alone can tear through the wardings of Eden's realm, and once that entrance is made, the teleportation is instant. Everyone will find themselves in an open grassland overlooking a dense forest, with buildings and lights poking up out of the leaves. Behind you, there is a darker place - the barrens, the Ringmaster has explained. It's were the Outcasts are sent after they're banished.

You are scattered across the area as if you've been dropped in with nothing. You've been given specific instructions - act as if you have no memory besides the vague life of being an animal. None of you know each other. You don't know how you got here, you've just been suddenly found yourself enlightened. Hopefully feigning ignorance will be what the residents are expecting, as what information the Ringmaster could find suggests it should be.

Before the beasts of Eden come to claim you, you'll see the Ringmaster once last time, in the form of a giant serpent. With a nod of her head, she slithers away towards the barrens - she'll be in touch.

► THE WELCOMING: It's not long until you're discovered. The first to find you is a pigeon, who seems rather surprised. She'll ask the first few new arrivals she sees a couple questions - 'did you just get here?' 'did you meet the great Lilith?' Regardless of your answers, she'll hurriedly say she's going to go get help, and will fly away back into the forest. A short while later, an entire welcoming party of different animals will have come to greet you, sweeping out to find every straggler and explaining that you are the newest of the chosen. After they are sure that nobody is being left behind, they will invite you into Eden.

► THE GARDEN: Eden is a beautiful place. Every street, every structure, is surrounded by flowers and vibrant plant life - every bit as idyllic as its mythos would imply. The architecture is ambitious and creative, as if the residents have been perfecting the art for thousands of years, which they almost certainly have. There is the sweet smell of perfumes and incense on the other animals are you are led into the city. This is your home now, the locals will explain. You have been chosen by the Creator to serve Her cause. You will become one of the Honorable, one of Her artisans working towards the Divine Clarity. But first, of course, you must be sanctified.

► THE ANOINTMENT: On that first night, everyone is brought to a vast cathedral, covered in unknowable writings in a shining script. You are brought in through several gorgeous hallways lit with shining crystals and blue flame torches, only to emerge in a great hall built around a circular, sparkling pool of water. There are several braziers around its circumference blazing with fire, with sets of tools hanging out of them, like iron pokers. All of the new arrivals are gathered into the grand hall, and scriptures are read in the background that you can't really make out the specifics of.

You will all be made to stand around the outside of the pool, and the local animals will gently explain to you what needs to be done. To become a new Honorable, you must be Anointed with the Flame of Inspiration - that is, they are going to brand you with the metal pokers they have heating up. If you go along with it, they will burn the mark into a highly visible part of your person (they have smaller brands for smaller animals), and then cool it off in the pool of water, where you are encouraged to bask until you are comfortable again.

There are obviously a couple concerns with this. The biggest one is that it's sketchy as hell. The second one is that the brand is definitely made of medium grade iron. While the painful difference it makes won't be super obvious from the outside, long-term veterans and those with superlative fae qualities will find it very uncomfortable, and it will blister for a fair while afterward, which is seen as unusual. If your character refuses, or tries to get around it somehow, please explain in reply to the post down below.

► THE DAYS AFTER: After everyone is branded (or isn't, as the case may be), you'll be given the opportunity to dry off and head back into town. All of the fancy structures here are communal, they will explain, and you can choose wherever you'd like to sleep. There are a few buildings that are mostly empty that newbies seem welcome to hole up in, though the locals assure everyone they will be nearby in case they need help.

In the days that follow, everyone will be welcome to explore Eden and find their bearings, and begin to discover what gifts the Anointment has bestowed on them. Whether or not you were good at a creative pursuit before, you will find yourself filled with inspiration for something - any artistic talent will do. It's like a creative talent will have been born in you overnight, or like an existing talent of yours has been boosted to near perfection. This effect will last as long as the characters are in Eden unless you are told otherwise.

You won't feel the need to eat, but there is breakfast available, if you'd like it. The locals are very courteous, though they seem a bit confused. Something about your entry seems to strike them as different than usual.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Shortly after the naming ceremony, Syrlya will be going to any nearby honorables to ask them about the architects: how often they come and talk to the animals of Eden, what they're like as a whole, etc. He's trying to get an impression about their involvement with Eden itself. Do they come to direct things a lot or are they pretty distant, and closer to Lilith?

They come to plenty of stuff, but they are pretty busy, so they don't tend to pay a ton of attention to new arrivals until their skills become noteworthy. They will show up for certain rituals and events, especially if its part of their specialty, but it's not really considered appropriate to hassle them directly for information. There are plenty of Honorables that can answer questions for you.

Makes enough sense. Are there honorables who tend to take greater leadership rolls he should look for? And if someone did want to talk to one of the Twelve, if it was important enough, would they come to this same place? Or somewhere else?

Well... Rogzi is, like, Bezaliel's right hand man? Man Bezaliel is one of the Twelve.

Rogzi just kind of breaks up disruptive behavior for everyone.

Harah is the owl that is in charge of the library.

What kind of authority figure is he looking for? A priest?

Maybe? He won't pretend to be sure, but if the Twelve are usually too busy then is there anyone else who kind of leads the honorables to finding divine clarity in their stead? He's new to this whole enlightenment thing, obviously, so he's not sure how much of this is a concentrated effort.

Not really - you're just kind of supposed to start working your way towards Divine Clarity on your own, because too much guidance would just set everyone on the same path, theoretically. You can go to church ceremonies at noon and midnight every day, though - there is a cycle of Honorables that gives lectures there and they are usually pretty inspiring.

Well, he will keep that in mind ans thank them for their time before setting off. He's gonna need a different approach to this.

Which means time for some eavesdropping. He'll hover around the cathedral, making little illusions and ostensibly interested in the lectures while trying to catch anything from that or nearby conversations that sounds notable about the Twelve, the mirror, or the new arrivals.

While waiting for the noon ceremony to begin, Syrlya will overhear a macaw and a vulture gossiping about the newbies. They are trying to keep their voices down, but the macaw is pretty loud, and isn't doing the best job of it.

The macaw is mostly talking about how weird some of them are, and is asking the vulture if they think it might be the influence of... well. You know what they mean. The guys they aren't supposed to talk about.

Like, no offense to them, but this whole process has seemed off.

The vulture doesn't seem super interested in talking about that, and will eventually excuse themselves to fly away and sit in a different part of the cathedral.

After the vulture leaves, Syrlya will approach the macaw before the ceremony starts and asks in a low, inquisitive tone that he couldn't help but overhear, but is their arrival strange? They made it sound almost worrying.

It's easy to feign ignorance when he doesn't know how things usually go.

The macaw will mostly sound super caught off guard that they were overheard, and will mostly respond with sputtered apologies and assurances that they weren't trying to be rude.

Really, don't worry about it! It's almost certainly no big deal.

Syrlya doesn't look so sure, and expresses concern that they mentioned someone could be influencing them--is there someone working against the divine clarity they're trying to achieve or something?

Weeeeelll.... More like a few individuals have a problem with the way Eden is run, and couldn't be reasoned with, so they try to come mess things up for everyone.

Those sound like people he doesn't want to tangle with. How would he identify them if they do come, and are they usually kept out of Eden?

They mostly hide in the Barrens as far as anybody knows, along with all the... well. It's gruesome stuff. No need to dwell on it so soon.

That dreary looking land past the edges of the city, right...? He saw it while flying.

When that's confirmed, he'll thank the macaw for being honest before settling in for the lecture.

⇨ EDEN

Gardens post day 81

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject