⇨ EDEN

[ringleaders]

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.

Comments

Day 85

[hippocarnival]

In the days since they first met, anytime Yuya sees Kerubi around he'll greet her cheerfully but try not to be distracting when she's busy, but he does pay attention if he sees her making anything.

Once Yuya's had a few days of intense practice, he's going to approach Kerubi again with a satchel that seems to have been weaved by someone newer with less experience (Gongenzaka) and ask if she's got time for him to show her his craft.

'Lamechi' will be with him as well, who Yuya will introduce as the other new Honorable who weaved the satchel and the mat inside.

[betheman]

Gongenzaka will do the Octopus equivalent of a greeting bow- aside from introducing himself to an extent (Yuuya gave his name after all), he notes that he will be keeping from interrupting, as it's 'Iofi's piece'.

[npcarnival]

Kerubi will not seem super interested, but she will shake a paw and say "sure, sure." She's willing to sit still long enough for you to show her, but it better be awesome.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya will drop the satchel and set things up, then, taking a level of care with it he usually doesn't to make sure it's set up nice. Woven mat spread out, glasses set in front of each of them, glass teapot in the middle... water pre heated in a different container.

And then he puts the tea ball in the middle of the teapot and pours the water in.

Since that takes a few minutes to brew, he'll ask her how her own crafts are going. Good? Bad?

[npcarnival]

"Tch," is her main response to that. She'll say that it's being distracted by Rizo going around making everyone crazy about these useless Furies. The best thing to do would be to ignore them, in her opinion.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya saw some of the commotion, and the posters... but he won't mention if that word is familiar, since he hasn't been asking. He's just noticed there's a lot of commotion surrounding it.

"You're not worried about them? What'd they do?"

[npcarnival]

They're essentially an old cult that's been leeching off of Eden for eons. Interest in it pops up again every so often, and then everyone has to waste their time trying to make them stop causing a fuss. Essentially they are against the authority of Eden, Lilith in particular.

You can see why they are unpopular.

[hippocarnival]

Oh, yeah, he can definitely see that. Yuya asks if the Twelve are worried about them? Or is it just business as usual to get them to stop distracting everyone from crafting?

[npcarnival]

The Twelve have to be worried about them, but only because its their job to protect Eden's mission. Ultimately, though, it's only a matter of time before Lilith returns and casts the Furies out for good. Then they'll have a good long while before anyone gets up the guts to try it again.

[hippocarnival]

Is that how it's gone before? Is Lilith supposed to come back soon, or does she just show up randomly to see their progress?

[npcarnival]

More or less. They don't know when Lilith will come back this time, but usually she comes along with new arrivals. So, this is a bit odd.

[hippocarnival]

Ah, well... Yuya just nods along with that, and say he's sure it doesn't mean anything bad with Lilith. Kerubi knows her a lot better than Yuya, though--she's met Lilith, right? What's Kerubi's impression of her?

[npcarnival]

She's powerful, and that's all that really matters. They've encountered each other, though, yes. That happened the last time Lilith came around, several centuries ago.

[hippocarnival]

All that matters...? Yuya will seem confused about that. It doesn't say much about how Lilith is, when they have such a big mission for all the Honorables to accomplish.

What happened when they met?

[npcarnival]

Not much that she's going to tell Yuya about, that's for sure. It was all top secret content regarding the Divine Clarity and Lilith's mission. That's the thing she's most interested in when she shows up, obviously.

[hippocarnival]

And yet Yuya's ears perk with interest anyway. There's secrets regarding the Divine Clarity? He understood it as them just trying to achieve it through making beautiful things, so he says he can't really imagine what parts or it would be a secret to everyone else.

[npcarnival]

There are sensitive materials that the Twelve and their Scholars are trusted to work with, but no one else. Inexpert hands could risk ruining everything the Lilith has set up for them. That makes sense, doesn't it?

[hippocarnival]

He supposes. But when it's completed, everyone will find out about it, right?

He realizes, halfway through talking that they've missed the start of the tea blooming, and briefly he's distracted with pointing out it's opening up to reveal the colorful bouquet woven inside, with a white flower in the center. And, of course, the water is now tea.

[npcarnival]

Kerubi with basically ignore his question in favour of looking at the tea, sniffing it carefully as she watches what's being unveiled. She will tilt her head at the sight of the flowers, her tail swishing.

Finally, she will pick up the cup in her paws, taking a sip. She doesn't say much as she spends the next while contemplating it.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya will pour the tea for all for them once there's been ample time to watch the flower, and take a quick sip from his own cup as Kerubi does to judge the flavor in case something botched horribly--it didn't, thankfully.

And then he's totally silent and watching her reaction to see her initial judgement on everything.

[npcarnival]

"Nothing unexpected," is what her final verdict is - which is both a bad thing and a good thing. She sounds pretty neutral.

[hippocarnival]

Well, it's still a relief to know it doesn't suck so Yuya laughs a little in response. He'll admit he didn't really believe the tea itself was going to be anything close to what Kerubi can do and has seen. But he still wanted to share it with her because then it's something more than just a pretty tea, right? It brought them together to talk, and they made a moment with it, and he got to learn a little bit more about Kerubi. He sounds positive about at least that much.

[npcarnival]

She stares at him, setting down the tea.

"Are you... smitten with me, Iofi?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya almost spits out his tea choking on it.

"No! No, that's not what I--" He vaguely gestures to Gon's presence as if to indicate three's a crowd as he tries to compose himself. "I just wanted to talk! Without just being a bother... like making friends, you know?"

[npcarnival]

Kerubi is unflappable.

"You must understand how it comes across... perhaps latent urges, based on our species. It takes a while to fully shake off the wild."