⇨ 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

[hippocarnival]

All right, Yuya can agree to that. Does Ignatius have to do something to make that an offical deal, or is just agreeing enough?

He pauses, before saying that humans don't make magic that forces them to abide by agreements. Besides legal agreements, all they have is each other's word--that's why it's so important for them to trust each other and be trustworthy.

[npcarnival]

He shrugs his shoulders, and tells Yuya to just tell him, right now, that he vows to vouch for Ignatius to the best of his ability in regards to his situation in the carnival in exchange for the information Ignatius has about the Silver Mirror.

(Also living like that sounds awful, tbh.)

[hippocarnival]

Yuya bows his head slightly and repeats Ignatius' terms basically word for word, since wording is important or something.

(Iggy pls)

[whattaprick]

Lambert’s just listening to all of this, tail lashing. He’s about pushing the limits of his spell work here, and he didnt actually expect that to work ... but hey, there’s a reason Yuya’s in diplomacy and he isn’t. As promised, he stays silent, eyes half-lidded and ears pricked.

[npcarnival]

Once the deal is done, Ignatius will think for a moment, recalling important information.

He'll say that when he woke up in the cavern, a few members of the Twelve were nearby. Or, at least, he's pretty sure that's who they were. They were talking about him, and how they wanted to know what was wrong with him, that caused his body to react like that. One of them suggested that they had called for him to be brought there so that they could use 'the Mirror' to look at his soul and see if anything was wrong with it.

The other seemed uneasy, as the Mirror is only used for very important things, and bringing a random Honorable before it would be inappropriate and would contaminate the data.

They were also briefly mentioning that they might want to keep Ignatius locked away down there until they can sort out of the cause. Of course, Ignatius took their distraction as an opportunity to turn to smoke and escape into the tunnels.

He didn't have a solid direction, so he basically just slipped through some piles of collapsed tunnel rock to try to get as part away from that group as possible. He kept moving upward, slipping between broken stone, before eventually he encountered a flooded area. He passed through that water, too, and eventually made it to the surface.

He found some kind of ruin with a glowing crystal inside and water pouring out the front entrance. Then he cheesed it into the woods, so he's not totally sure where that was.

[hippocarnival]

That they don't just use the mirror on people willy nilly is kind of a relief, and it sounds like he was right that this is something almost entirely in the hands of the Twelve.

Yuya listens patiently, and when Ignatius finishes the story he'll thank him and mention he's going to repeat it to Strange and Rita so that what he said can get to people who are more equipped to scout out a cave than he is.

He'll also ask if Ignatius has been hiding this whole time? He wonders if the Twelve are still looking for him.

[npcarnival]

Oh, they are definitely still looking for him. But he's small and turn into smoke/ash, so he's been making that difficult.

[hippocarnival]

Yuya doesn't need to tell Ignatius to stay safe... but still, he really hopes he stays safe.

He starts to get up so he can go tell Rita and Strange the news, but pauses first to ask if there's anything else Iggy wants to mention or ask while they're alone.