lostcarnival | ⇨ EDEN

Entry tags:

⇨ 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

Reira has done well to keep herself out of trouble here. Part of it wasn't even intentional- pain tolerance and a slight changeling edge meant that she got through the branding without much of a noise, and really it's hardly a surprise for someone to ask if Searing Iron hurts. The Honorables expected pain.

It was the excess of pain and blistering they didn't expect. But Reira had taken her brand solid to the back, made little sound, and simply hung off the edge of the pool a while from that point on. If anything the Honorables probably thought she was more worried about being alone- and even that could be expected. It'd be a bit before someone taken from the stage of wildlife where they would be so carefully held in another's embrace adjusted, no doubt.

And adjust, Reira does. She's been learning how to fly on her own, figuring out walking on her own...and gathering all sorts of junk for her art while she's at it as well. Hobbling along takes her relatively far, until eventually she comes to see...lanterns.

Reira's walking goes a bit slower as she peers around- part of her wondering how useful these would be for her own pieces, but most of her being quite entranced by all of it.

Eventually she's going to try peeking inside one. Literally, she sticks her head past one of the designs to sniff and peek.

She's small enough to do that, for a number of these.

He was wondering about that for a while and being one of the first to get branded, he had taken his own in stride. Last time pain and suffering became an issue, Reira had taken quite a nasty effect from that. This time though he had no sweets or bon bons to offer her. Any of that was stored away in his body for the moment and he couldn't produce something like that out in the open.

He had kept an eye on her for the most part but he was also keeping a dangerously low profile for someone as social as him usually. He barely talked to anyone in carnival at all except in passing and strayed especially from those that remained suspicious of breaking order in his eyes.

As large as he is as a wolf compared to her tiny bat, his power to choose still keeps him ever silent and he's right behind her. He hadn't revealed himself to her earlier and he doesn't know who she is. When she pokes her head in, she'll find herself enveloped in his warmth and kindness, his feelings of generosity pouring outwards. He's not happy, but he's not angry either. He's actually rather calm right now.

"Careful not to burn yourself."

Out of a number of people, she is probably doing quite well to stay under the radar suffice to say. Maybe she should try doing some eavesdropping later. Later though, when people are more concerned with others, or something.

Reira's nose twitches, and she herself gives a full body twitch when Tyki speaks-it's a bit odd to surround yourself in all of the feelings in a lantern, and then realize there's someone who actually owns the feelings somewhere behind you. "AH-"

She pulls her head out quickly. She recognizes the wolf- she thinks, and the voice she certainly does, but naturally they can't use Those Names so she refrains.

And instead- "Umn... I'll be careful. I just wanted to see what it looked like from the inside, where all the light is." Makes quite a difference. Very bright.

His head lowers and the rest of him follows to sit down on the ground and provide his own presence now that she's examining his light. He's bringing himself down onto her level so she has time to inspect him and the glass lantern he has to offer.

There is a hole up top where the flame is allowed to coax and oxygen is allowed to filter in to keep it burning. From there small pieces of glass more polished than the others refract the light through the designs. On the inside towards the center, small carnivals animals are carved at the tiniest of ratios. They aren't perfect but spread wide from the light and shadow, they give way to bigger pictures more situated to be understood as animals themselves.

"Good, I believe one burn is enough already."

"Mn?" It takes her a moment to realize what Tyki is even referring to- she swivels her head a bit, trying to examine her own brand mark. The act is decidedly futile however; with the brand covering much of her back, it's fairly tricky to see. Eventually she gives up and focuses on Tyki. "Oh. Umn, I guess it hurt a little...but the Honorables with the sticks said that was normal and that the water would help...and it did, so it's not bad I guess." She certainly didn't scream. Or cry, anyway. She did sniffle, but for once that's something they'd expect.

If anything it might have been more odd if her pain tolerance hadn't been slightly sabotaged by faerie influences. "Everyone here had to do it anyway, so it seems important."

Indeed, literally every Honorable has that mark. So.

If he had a mirror he would help her out with that. Unfortunately he does nor does he have something he can take a picture with. The thing Tyki is focusing a lot on right now is the fact she's just a baby bat instead of a regular one. It fits into her wholesome cuteness and, like usual, he wants to dote on her. It's just that he was doing his very best not to fall into his old ways and he's being rather neutral with most of carnival except for here or there. It was natural to gain friends in similar circumstances, aka them all being branded at the same time, yet sort of try to weed his way in by doing a good job or catching someone's eye eventually. Unlike everyone else working hard to impress, he simply blended in.

He would note he didn't ask her if it hurt. He merely said one burn was enough but he doesn't comment on it, "Initiation. I think." Well, he's pretending he doesn't know how societies work.

He said burn- burns are meant to hurt. At the very least when someone says 'once is enough' for something meant to hurt, that's what it's about. "Mnn...Initiation means starting something right? I guess it started everyone's art things," the bat determines, peering up and up and up toward the comparatively enormous wolf. "You're making nice lanterns now, right?" So yes, agreed on initiation in other words. As for herself...hmm.

"...Do you have pieces left over?"

She's still a strange kid but it's refreshing in his mind even if mildly frustrating. It makes him extra careful around her. He's watching her and when she looks up at him with some tremendous height he lowers himself to nudge against her and offer her a way to climb onto him. He may as well be helpful. Mental tick to allow Reira close over many and use her as a patsy towards any 'friendships' he'll acquire here in this newborn state of mind.

"At least for those that want it. No one else seems to like my work," he responds with some disdain. It made sense though for Honorables, that had been here entire lifetimes, to look down on a new artist's work.

"I do have some bits of glass over carved out and unused. You want them?"

The bat doesn't quite realize what he's doing initially- but when she does, she is careful. Most careful not to poke too much when she starts climbing up fur, awkwardly making her way onto the wolf with focus.

It isn't until she's somewhere she can curl up and sit that she speaks. "No one? ...That's not very nice," she decides. She doesn't feel any of hers have been properly 'finished' yet, admittedly. And when they are finished, they can only be viewed at a particular time anyway. So she actually has no idea what anyone thinks of them.

(The answer is 'not much')

"Mnh... ...Will the glass make a shadow?" she asks, tilting her head from where she is. "...one that you can see?" She knows that when light hits a clear glass, the shadow can be rather pale after all. So she needs to be careful.

He doesn't raised his head and instead tucks his chin down against a paw like he's laying down and not minding her crawling on top of him. Any pain he might feel from pulled fur is barely registered.

"It's expected," comes a whisper of a tone given there were a few around him he didn't trust. But his voice picks back up now that he's not talking about social mannerisms, "They've worked on their craft for a long time. Anything we can do is small in comparison."

"I have a few pieces that are clouded if I shatter the inside enough."

Reira busies herself with getting closer to his ears. It's easier to whisper what should be whispered, when right near the ear. He can hear even the slightest thing, if she does that.

She just has to make sure to turn away from the ear when she speaks normally, she thinks. "If that was how it worked, wouldn't it mean that the new people can't ever be as good as the old people? We can probably make something better." At least she has some confidence.

"Umn... ...Shattered?" She's not completely sure how shattering clouds a piece of glass. Her voice says she's certainly curious about it though.

He's more comfortable if she's near his right ear. His left will flick rapidly in annoyance if she gets too close to it. His ears do crane gently in her direction and he'll stay as he is down low and almost like he's napping with his eyes closed.

"No, I imagine eventually you would get noticed if you did in fact create something worth inspiring others." He nods and reaches a paw forward to pull a spare piece of glass towards him. It's his first glass lantern, an imperfection really, and he'll let his paw pass through it with his claws raking along the inside. It shatters wholesomely on the inside in several cracks until those cracks disperse as well. On the inside it looks cloudy now and when the light passes through, more shadow than design flow onto the floor.

She wonders just what would be considered 'inspiring'. It's all a bit of a mystery, so she supposes her best bet is to just keep at it. Reira watches curiously as Tyki prods the glass, before shattering only the inside. As the light passes through the resulting shatter, she gasps, propping herself up somewhat to stare.

"Woah.... ...Oh..!" she realizes, blinking. "...The shadow has colour in it..."

Tyki imagines it would be something someone could only achieve right away, and thus stand out and become somewhat bullied, or something they would develop over time. Either way, it was a complicated matter he wanted no part of.

"Light is still shining through just very faintly. Either this or I could add something to the glass to create shadows." He did still have his Power to Choose.

"Umn...I think I like it more like that," she insists, nodding. "...I didn't think about putting colours in the shadows... ....but now I can do that, and it means I can make a lot of different things..!" the girl continues.

"...I just have to think about where to make it, now."

"Alright. Then I'll leave it at that," he replies with reluctant expectation. It doesn't matter if her work is fine or not. They weren't here to stay for the long term or at least he hoped not. The lack of vices were getting to him to a point he was almost tempted to go 'drink away his sorrows' like others did.

"The world is your canvas."

"Mnh! Yeah!"

That seems like it might be all for a moment. Except, not quite. "...I just have to make sure that I can get all of the materials to the canvas... ...moving things is hard sometimes," she hums, frowning. It's not really a grand revelation, considering her size though.

He lays there still like the bat on his head isn't any bother. He has a lot of fur and she could get lost in it if she moved further down than his head. He has to consider his coarse of action here because usually he'd offer a helping hand. It takes him longer than usual to speak again.

"If I'm not busy or doing something, or just so happen to be around, I can help move materials when I bring you the glass."

"You will?" The relief is already evident in her tone, though she manages to reign it in rather quickly. "Um-! How will I know if you're not about to be busy, or just taking a small break? There wouldn't be time if it was a small break..."

She's very particular about interrupting everyone's art time, fortunately.

One ear slides upwards against her when she shows her elated excitement and he'll find his grin is lost in his wolfish features when he tries. "I suppose you'll just have to come find me and find out for yourself."

He lifts a paw that was tucked against his chest and thumps it gently, "Well, that small break will just become a larger break. It's not as if I'm on a schedule." And Reira, if he's skulking around he's considered busy. She should at least be able to pinpoint that out.

If bats could pout...

Well. She's managing it, likely under that impossible magic of the area. She supposes she'll be able to work with all of that however. Including 'finding' him.

Sighing, she slowly slides her way back down from the wolf, again careful not to pull anything. "Mnh...Okay..." she sighs, apparently still at least slightly worried.

"...You're about to be busy now though, aren't you." She's pretty sure there's no way he has time to help NOW.

It would be a very cute pout.

He glances sideways when she starts to crawl down him again and his paw sets back down on the ground with an odd stillness. He understands though how hard it is to find someone here given usually one just had to follow the Tease. There just aren't any out but one and it is well hidden from everyone.

"I could make time. I don't mind taking a longer 'break'."

Oh-

"Y...You could?"

Eyes widening, Reira hurriedly puts her mind to work, scrambling across the ground to look over the 'junk' glass and lanterns she's been offered. She needs to make sure she knows exactly what to do with this, and where, and-

"O-Okay! I know where it has to go now!" she declares, nodding furiously.

He rises to his feet and stretches out casually to pop his back. There's a curve of his spin and a rotation of his head. He's not use to being so parallel to the ground and misses the height he usually gained from being so tall. Already he's nosing down and prodding at the lanterns to blow it out from within. Then he starts putting all the other pieces together. Hmm, note to self. Find something to carry all this in tomorrow.

"I don't see why not."

Well- the bat is elated, suffice to say, and she quickly nods. "Umn!! Okay! Then...this way- I can stay on the ground, if you want," she adds, hesitating before she takes off. She does have the capacity to run after all...

⇨ EDEN

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this is where I want tyki to say 'wing it' but then he wouldn't know that pun/slang and I am sad

this is the true suffering of eden

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