⇨ 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

⇨ MISSING POSTERS HUNG (Day 83)

[npcarnival]

On day 83, Rizo the elephant (commonly recognized as an enforcer of the peace in Eden) can be seen stomping around the city, hanging up missing person posters. There are three, each with a beautifully rendered painting of the subject.

Agla. Hasma. Soterasi.

Asking the locals about who these people are will just earn you nervous glances, and a general brushing off, with excuses about it being 'nasty business' you don't have to worry about. You'll have to press harder before getting any information. Please make inquiries related to this post beneath this top level.

Initial attempts to ask Rizo will result in him starting to interrogate you for information in return, though he won't pursue if you give up at that point.

the morning after his scan, g od

[betheman]

Gongenzaka will attempt to ask Rizo about these three once it's clear the general public are brushing him off. He states that, as someone who has only recently been granted the honor of being here, he can't stand idle when such a clear problem is at hand! Please, there must be some way he can help!

He is, sadly, still stuttering on his 'I's.

[npcarnival]

Rizo is pretty disinterested, and will make some dismissive comments under his breath to the effect of 'why would the defense of Eden trust someone who just got here'. Whatever is going on, it's apparently on a need to know basis.

[betheman]

Gon will curtly reply that they have just as much reason to contribute to the defense as anyone else! This is the place they're going to live in, this is the place where they first obtained names, skills! They don't have a reason to not help! TO STAND IDLE WOULD BE UNFORGIVABLE!!

"Would not more help be the most likely to guarantee a safe return? That is the concern, is it not? Can we not at least know where it is they were last seen?"

He speaks with far too much passion than anyone should rightfully have at this point- but that's sort of how he Is.

[npcarnival]

Rizo stares at him.

The best thing you can do for Eden right now is listen to instructions. He understands that Gon's batch has had some trouble with that. Maybe he should look within for dissension before concerning him with the business of the elders.

[pipers_son]

You bet his excessively feathered ass that ""Pesagni"" is going to come up and check out the posters as Rizo is in the process of putting them up, tail dragging along the ground and shimmering in the light. Trouble in paradise, huh?

At being told it's "nasty business", he'll just croon out a question to the locals on if Rizo himself is the one handling it in his place? Such a strong one, if that's the case, and he really won't have anything to worry about!

[npcarnival]

Yeah, basically Rizo is the main Scholar of Bezaliel in the city, and is usually the one pursuing leads about this kind of stuff. He's grumpy but really smart, and never forgets a face!

[pipers_son]

How admirable! Really, truly. He's so glad that any trouble is handled by such a reliable sort.

But Rizo is only one elephant, isn't he? And that's three posters up there. Is he doing all this work by himself?

[anti_nonsense]

Rita's been looking for Rizo! She approaches him, hopping up onto a nearby stone wall so she can sit closer to his eye level. "Are you Rizo?" she begins by asking.

The posters get her attention immediately, however, so she goes on to ask, "Did something happen...?"

[npcarnival]

Rizo will say that something did happen, but unless she has information about it her opinion on it isn't necessary. If she really knew anything, she'd already have an idea what this is about, anyway.

If you see any of them you tell him, that's the important thing.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita will promise to tell him if she does see any sign of them, but she'll comment that she's surprised something like this would happen in a peaceful-looking place like this. Is there some kind of danger she should be careful of, so she doesn't end up missing too...?

[scientificist]

The elephant is very large and Herbert would rather not get involved with the Animal Cops (or any cops) so he pushes with the locals instead. Obviously it's nasty business, but if they're missing and being searched for, equally obviously there's a story. He'd rather not end up missing himself so what's happening with these people? Is this...usual?

He's going to try questioning anyone he sees having a reaction to the posters on his way around Eden. If he sees anyone like that. He's a bit stilted but hopefully it just comes off as nervousness?

[npcarnival]

One of the locals will say that he doesn't need to worry about it, because they aren't really 'missing' exactly - everyone knows where they are, generally speaking, Bezaliel just really wants to find them. They are hiding.

See? Nothing scary at all! Now go.

[scientificist]

He can't HELP being worried, he says. Agla is a cat. HE'S a cat. And 'everyone' doesn't know where they are. HE, EIA doesn't know where they are. Should he be avoiding someplace where animals are known to go missing?

[periphrasing]

Peridot is going to directly ask Rizo about this when she sees him hanging these up, because she has no sense of shame and also seeing missing persons posters is kind of inherently alarming.

Specifically she's going to look at these, alarmed, and say something like "Missing!? Does that happen often here??"

[npcarnival]

As stated up above, this is mostly going to be responded to with brush-offs about it not really being anything she needs to worry about.

[periphrasing]

Must. Stamp down. Urge to rebel against the authority figure.

She reacts by being genuinely kind of ruffled about the brush off and says sorry, she's new here and the posters just startled her to see.

Then she squints at writings again and asks, "What's the temple of Bezaliel?"

Re: ⇨ MISSING POSTERS HUNG (Day 83)

[stompadour]

whats up rizo hope you dont miss that name

Jasper squints conspicuously to read the posters, but she has some questions. Specifically, she wants to know how large these animals are, and she wants to know where they should be best keeping an eye out for them.

[npcarnival]

Rizo will helpfully give her estimated sizes. Agla is a Norwegian forest cat sized beast, while Hasma is a horse a bit smaller than her. Soterazi is a dragonfly about the size of her hoof.

They could honestly be anywhere, so it's hard to say. That's why the posters are here.

[stompadour]

Anywhere! Are they dangerous?

[4starlowclasshero]

Missing people... erm, animals? That doesn't seem right at all! He's no hero of justice - that stuff's for those like Toppo and the rest of the Pride Troopers or Gohan - but Goku isn't going to let people go missing just because!

Of course, instead of bothering Rizo, Goku's going to go bother the locals and when giving the brush off, he'll ask harder, mostly wondering why he should ignore them if they're missing?

"If they're missing because of something they did, I kinda wanna know what it is so I don't fall into that trap, too!"

[worldlyafflictions]

If there's anything interesting to be observed or overheard by tailing Rizo beyond the shifty uncomfortable reactions from the populace, Shima is certainly going to give it a shot. He'll be most interested in whether or not Rizo retreats anywhere to consult with others about the 'missing' posters. He would probably choose to color-change or use Don't Notice Me invisibility to hide over trying to use shadows, if that makes any difference, and would likely be sparing with the latter if it wasn't necessary.

[bananaspeedrider]

Yugo takes one look at these posters and thinks to himself that he should get a feel for what the law enforcement is like around here. Especially since the locals wanna be all tight-lipped about the matter...

So he goes up the the elephant and will actually ask if that's what the animals really look like in the pictures- like the starry snowflake pattern on the horse.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Scout would like to mark if people are discussing the posters and if any specific people seem either overly interested or strongly feigning disinterest, both apparently super casually and more intently while cloaked/invisible.

After a day or so, she ventures out at a quiet hour while cloaked, finds a place that's got no one in ballroom distance, and telekinetically manipulates some supplies (like, sticks, rope, easily cleared items) to spell out "SOTERASI WAS RIGHT" (or if she thinks someone was particularly interested in one poster over the others, their name instead) to see if that gets much reaction.

[sunflowerfields]

Hinawa will gently ask around about the missing animals' loved ones. Surely someone cares about them and is worried for them? If she gets any bites, she'll try to find them to convey her sympathy.