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

~~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.

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.

Anywhere! Are they dangerous?

Yes. Potentially. Most importantly, if they tell you any nonsense about Eden, don't listen to them. They are a bunch of lunatics, to be quite honest, and their opinions are to be taken with a massive grain of salt.

Jasper squints a little harder and then asks, kind of slowly, what kind of nonsense this might be, so that she can brace for it in the event that she hears it unexpectedly and it catches her off guard, obviously,

Because she isn't very good at telling people apart so far, she adds quickly -- this at least is extremely true.

It's all anti-establishment prattling, for the most part. Certain beasts seem to think it would be better if all of Eden was consumed by the Barrens, and abandoned by the Lilith's grace. As if there is anything better! Ridiculous.

Jasper agrees with some relief that such a lack of order would be absolutely preposterous (although she keeps it to herself that she doesn't think much of what she's seen of Eden's version of order so far). Why would anyone prefer the Barrens?

Because they abhor the glory of Lilith, apparently, and don't want to partake in what she has given them. They think they would be better off without her Guidance.

This stuff clearly pisses Rizo off a lot.

Jasper looks uneasy, but hopefully this can be misinterpreted as disgust with the idea of any animals turning away from the splendid opportunity she has just been given and not low key discomfort with a very relatable kind of angry dedication to a system very unlike the one she subscribes to! Boy!!!

She manages to collect herself enough to ask what exactly these people even do with themselves if they reject Lilith's gifts; do they just grub around in the dirt like wild animals? (It's really easy to get in character for this and it's making Jasper sort of uncomfortable!!)

He has no idea, really. He doesn't know about them, but he'd rather be enjoying the splendors of Eden than being back in the savanna, being significantly less intelligent. He thinks that it's ignorant to assume that they can make arrogant demands of Lilith after the gift She's given them. They wouldn't even be able to think for themselves without Her.

So, obviously, using their free thought to question her is just arrogant as hell!

Jasper just nods along for most of this, but some of it does stick out to her through her immense discomfort with how close to home Rizo's attitude is: she asks, visibly tense, what kind of demands they're making -- what more could they want when she's given them so much?

It's been a mentality that's been cropping up for thousands of years. They claim that the pursuit of the Divine Clarity is pointless and impossible - that everything they've worked towards is delusional. They claim they just want the freedom to make their own way, but it's really just a way of shirking the work She's given them.

But the 'work' she's given them is just making art, isn't it? There's hardly anything to shirk!

⇨ EDEN

Re: ⇨ MISSING POSTERS HUNG (Day 83)

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