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

Joker was hard to miss right before they left for Eden, being a big walking rainbow. His presence doesn't confuse Yuya, but he perks up all the same before rolling a couple of the flowering teas over.

"The missing posters? Yeah, I saw them." He didn't get a lot of explanation from other Honorables, though, and they mostly seemed really nervous. So he only interprets them, genuinely, as missing posters. "It's kind of worrying... I didn't think there was that kind of danger in Eden. Maybe they got too close to the border?"

"Maybe." The Ringmaster didn't seem worried about disappearing... but then, she's their boss for a reason, and has eaten at least two different highly powerful supernatural entities. Joker keeps himself calm about it as he lowers his beak down towards the teas. Can birds actually taste things, now that he thinks about it....?

"Still, if there's a kind of danger, it would have been nice ta hear about before we were left ta our own devices. After all, no one wants ta end up another poster, do they?" Carefully, he dips his beak in. He has a tongue, he knows he can do this. Just.... Give him a second- shit he thinks he got some in his nostrils. He pulls back with with a slight shake of his head.

Yuya nods. "I tried asking about them, but everyone told me not to worry. But we weren't warned for anything, either, so I don't really know what I'm not supposed to be worrying about."

He thinks he's pretty obviously new, so he's not sure why it doesn't warrant an explanation... even a 'don't go out to the Barrens, you'll die' or anything like that. It's very strange.

His train of thought is a little derailed, though, as Joker tries to... sniff? Taste? The tea balls.

"... Uh, you don't eat them that way. You put them in water."

"....Is that how they work?" He's never tried that before, let him tell you. The world is an amazing thing. Now to see if he can just... manipulate it with his mouth then.

This is fine. He'll figure it out. They're all good.

(Yuya please help your boss.)

While Joker is trying to manipulate the tea ball, however, he speaks around what he manages to get in his beak. "Although, apparently everyone knows where the missin' folks are anyway."

Yuya watches Joker struggle with the tea ball, wondering if he should just tie it back in one of the shaping cloths so he can actually carry the thing. Here Yuya thought having paws instead of hands was bad enough.

"They do?" His ear fold sideways briefly. That could mean a couple things. "Like... they know what happened to them?"

At least paws have claws attached to them. Joker has talons, sure, but he can't exactly balance and hold things at the same time if he's not actually flying. For now, however, he'll just... persevere as best he can, while still trying to talk at the same time. He might drop this a few times, it's fine.

"They know where they went, at the very least." He pauses to reconsider his method of ball handling. "And there's only one place where yer guaranteed to not be found, at least around here. Right?"

"I... guess?" He assumes Joker means the Barrens, but he remembers what was described about that before and he's a little unsure anyone would willingly go out there--it sounds like they don't exactly maintain their sapience, but maybe that's a better alternative? Why would the Twelve care so much, then?

"So what's up with them?" Joker's implying he knows, right?

"No clue." Yeah, sorry, Yuya. But Joker will take some satisfaction in finally getting the ball into the water, so he finally eases back to give all of his attention to the conversation at hand while the tea steeps.

"People don't really wanna talk about it." An 'open secret', as it were, which means it's one of the more annoying types around. "Still, it's gotten everyone really worried. I wonder if anyone can really work on their art while things are like this?" Not that he really cares about art, of course, but they're still in a public place. He has to stay a little bit in character.

"Well... what else are they going to do?" That's their main ambition, and all the time in the world to spend on it. Evebn if it's not their best, Yuya doubts it'll stop them.

"Nobody's said anything when you asked? They know we're new..."

"Sit in a corner and panic?" It's a half idle suggestion as he inspects the water he put his tea ball into. There are two kinds of people in the world, when it comes down to it: those who use times of crisis as inspiration or motivation, and those who gnaw on it like a dog with a well worn born. It's hard to tell what the majority of Eden falls into, not without further information.

"It'd be nice if we all could find out soon, and tell our fellow new faces." He glances up at Yuya again. "After all, none of us want ta get in trouble, right?" Hopefully the implication is obvious enough.

⇨ EDEN

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