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

It's true, he just keeps opening his mouth for pure undiluted flattery at anyone who stays still long enough and is amiable to listening. By this point, it's practically habit. Still, he's an artist now, and he can get away with it, right?

He tilts his head back, absolutely pleased and doing his best to show it. "Well, if yer not busy, outside with some of the sunlight would be best. I wouldn't want ta be too interruptive." Only a little bit.

When has he ever let not having an excuse stop him from anything?

The preening posture is so perfect, both in disguise and example, that Tanyuu can barely keep from laughing--she actually has to stop herself from lifting a hoof to cover her mouth. Habits die hard...

"This isn't the sort of painting that suffers from a break in the making of it, it should be perfectly fine." Tanyuu turns to look at a cloth draped on the corner of a table nearby, her magic lifting it up and over her canvas to protect the artwork from any accidental damage or dust. "There we go. Now, if you could lead the way, sir...?"

Listen, it's more fun to have an excuse for this kind of thing. Just like it's more fun to twirl around, enormous tail bumping into walls and anything else that gets in its way, so that he can start to hop away. There's a sort of fun to just hopping around like this, he has to admit....

"Pesagni, my deer!"

...A beat, and he starts to cackle like the absolute jackass that he is.

Joker, please. She lets out a brief deer-bark of laughter before containing herself, having to lower her head while she pulls her composure back together.

"A--a pleasure to meet you, Pesagni," she finally manages through stifled laughter, following his colorful feathered butt back out of the studio. "My name is Radueri."

He apologizes for nothing. If anything, honestly, he seems all the more smug as he begins to lead the way to the little area he's claimed as a studio of sorts. Well, it's a space no one was using, so it's fine.

"Well, Radueri," he says, not even pretending to not be pleased, "I'm glad ta see someone has a sense of humor around here."

"I've no idea what you're referring to," she replies with mock loftiness, arching her neck up but unable to hide the smile in her voice. "I've hardly made a single joke in my entire life!"

"Well, clearly we outta change that!" And not just to tease explicitly Ginko, although Joker has to admit that's a bonus. He just likes spreading his horrible jokes all around. "Perhaps while I'm fixin' ya up?"

She considers this for a moment, ears pricked with mingles amusement and interest. "Hmm...perhaps. There's no waste to learning!" Besides, some levity to brighten up an otherwise stressful infiltration is hardly something she would refuse.

"That's the spirit~." He gives a little skip, tail thumping along the ground with the effort of it. He has to say, with a body like this, he has a lot more respect for some of his fellow workers whose bodies have changed so severely. Tails are a lot of work.

"And who knows, it might inspire ya, right?"

Boy, they sure are, aren't they. Not that Tanyuu actually minds that much, considering her alternative.

"We'll see! You said you were thinking of using your own feathers?"

"Yeah, that's right." His tail swishes along the tail as he waggles his butt. It's probably for the better that Joker doesn't have a tail in his regular form, or at least not yet. He's outrageous enough as it is with personality and hand gestures alone. And wing gestures. Can't forget those, now.

"They're so colorful, it feels like I should at least use one, right? And I'm sure plenty of others lose their feathers now and then." Molting, and all. "So I won't have ta strip myself completely bare... but it still seems like it'll add a fun personal touch." And maybe endear himself to the higher ups, if he's lucky.

She laughs softly and bobs her head, casting an appreciative eye over the colorful array of feathers. Jewelry out of the feathers of so many different types of birds...it will certainly be one of a kind! "True! And your feathers are so lovely besides; they'll make for beautiful accents, I'm sure."

"Exactly!" Another skip and a hop. His tail goes through so much abuse with how much he bounces around; maybe it would have been kinder to have him be a magpie or something. "And people will carry it around all the time. I like it a lot better than somethin' drawn, or sculpted." Him and Papyrus had quite a conversation on this sort of thing, if anyone can believe it.

What's much easier to believe is... "Ah, up ahead, there it is." It's a nice little floral area, with plenty of meaningless columns and places for various animals to rest. He starts to head down one path in particular.

⇨ EDEN

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