⇨ 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

[periphrasing]

At this point Peridot determines that it's probably safe enough to reveal herself, and clambers out from her hiding place with a sigh of relief. "That's because I'm up here," she says weakly, and drops onto the floor.

[chronosynthesis]

That's... awfully trusting of the rodent, just releasing them on the word they aren't hostile. Syrlya deliberates, but with others revealing themselves he decides to fly down and drop the glamour to reveal himself.

"Are you an ally of the Serpent, then?"

[moonfang]

The box with apparently nothing in it but tooth marks (and what looks like.... a burn on one of the walls? what happened in there) shifts a bit as a still angry, but invisible, Zangetsu swims out of it. They finally found someone intelligent down here and he can't blow it just because he wants to. He also may have injured himself slightly trying to get out. Slightly. He retreats to the shadows to watch.

And sulk.

[npcarnival]

Zan, when attempting to swim out of the box, runs into an invisible wall where the gap left by the 'lid' is.

[moonfang]

BONK.

"FUCK!!"

Hearing spirits might be a little easier than seeing them...

[stompadour]

Jasper clonks her head into the same invisible wall immediately, and snorts in indignation.

"What's going on here?" she demands.

[mirrortide]

Lapis, on the other hand, gets up to try and get out, resulting in a loud ass 'THUD' from a bear head hitting an invisible wall due to too much excitement at seeing that SOMEONE IS OKAY.

It doesn't seem to stop her too much? Probably because polar bears have thick as shit skulls. But also she's quick to goingto start pounding on that invisible wall. Just with massive paws this time. She has to get to Peridot.

[npcarnival]

"Oh, I see," the rat says faintly. "So I was in a lot of danger just now, huh?"

Then people start running into invisible walls.

"Stop that, there's a wall there! I'm going to open it, but you all have to make yourself visible first. How am I supposed to trust you like this?"

The rat crosses their arms. Looking at you in particular, Zan.

[moonfang]

Zangetsu glares at the invisible wall.

"..........."

Quietly, he admits in a voice that sounds whispery and ghosty to the rat, and just kind of defeated to his carnival compatriots.

".... I can't. It's permanent."

[npcarnival]

"What??" the rat asks, sounding incredibly unconvinced. "No way!"

[chronosynthesis]

"We have no intention of being a danger to you, provided you do the same for us." He's not worried about the rat himself, anyway, but who might be working with him.

He cranes his neck to look over to Zangetsu's box. "And he is a.. spirit right now. He left his body in Eden--think of it as his talent."

It's better for Zan himself to give details, though, because Syrlya doesn't know more than that.

[mirrortide]

Lapis, helpfully, slams the lid again. Loudly.

[npcarnival]

"If he left his body, how did he do that?" the rat asked, pointing at the scratches and scrapes all over the inside of the box.

They huff.

"Look, I'll open these ones..." The rat moves over to the console and presses some things that result in Lapis's and Jasper's walls glowing softly and then vanishing. "But I can't let some kind of invisible terminator just wander around our base!"

[periphrasing]

Before the wall disappears, Peridot gets up and flies over to Lapis, since the bear can't come to her. She's not even aware that Lapis is specifically trying to get to her? She just wants to be close by in the hopes that it'll calm her friend down.

"You really only would have been in danger if you'd tried to hurt any of them," she says blandly. "If you had, I would've wrecked you."

[moonfang]

"Like he said, it's my talent! I can leave my body behind and travel as a soul. It's no big deal!"

It's kind of a big deal.

"Fine. If you want to leave me in the box, whatever."

[chronosynthesis]

"He is an ally of ours, we will need him released eventually." He moves over to check inside Zan's box, and... yikes.

He turns back to the rat again. "You said you are acting as security--for who?"

[npcarnival]

The rat seems confused.

"Um... the Furies of Eden, obviously?" they say, then pause. "Wait, I thought that was why you were here?"

[mirrortide]

In the not so distant background Lapis is absolutely getting out of the box.

And just grabbing Peridot and hugging her tiny bat body to her awful massive polar bear one. Smoosh.

[chronosynthesis]

"Oh, it is." He perks up a little. "But they do not speak much of you in Eden, I was not sure what to expect. We're new arrivals."

[npcarnival]

The rat sighs wearily, sounding very put upon. They turn back to the console, pressing a button.

"Okaaaay, I'm calling for backup," they say. "Duma? Can you come to the decontamination chamber? I found something in the wastes..."

[stompadour]

Jasper shoots a disgusted sneer in Peridot and Lapis's direction. Gross.

[periphrasing]

Peridot kind of has no choice but to Be Hugged, but she's not really complaining either. She's definitely blushing under all that bat fur.

"Duma? Who's Duma?" she queries, pricking her ears forward.

[npcarnival]

The rat doesn't end up having to explain, because 'Duma' appears on their own. A puffy white bundle of clouds appears in the air, and a sea turtle leisurely swims out of it.

"Yefefi, I was having the strangest dream this morning... and I thought..." The turtle stops, staring. "Oh. This is worse than I thought."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya raises a wing. "We mean no harm, and we are not here on behalf of the Twelve--only ourselves."

Because being called 'worse than they thought' is already discouraging, and he's not inclined to turn back into rabid animals. "We followed the Serpent here."

[stompadour]

"Tch," says Jasper, eyeing the turtle. "You're the rebels, right? How about you tell us what's really going on with this place?"