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

1) They COULD but they are hesitant to do so, for obvious reasons.

2) The nature of the barrens erodes the power of the Fruit and the Flame over time, but the Serpent's venom still retains the power that she stole. So, they inject themselves with that.

3) They do. They could contact them with one of their inside people, but they don't recommend that Peridot's crew try to return back as if nothing's happened.

4) They don't know. Maybe. But the power of the Fruit and Flame doesn't seem limited to areas of Eden's blessing. At least not the version the Serpent has.

5) Not besides the usual one. Though she has been moving around a lot more than usual, so maybe that's related.

6) They can do that, yes, in exchange for the new arrival's assistance with other things. But, the more of them that disappear, the more likely it is the Twelve will say 'fuck it' and persecute ALL of the newbies.

7) A couple dozen who live out here, and more than are sympathetic within the city. Still, an armed conflict is not the kind of revolution they're hoping for.

8) They have a pretty good idea, yes. It would just be suicidal to go there, as it is.

They'll leave it off there. They've already imposed on these guys enough without offering them anything concrete in return, and Peridot doesn't want to keep pushing their luck.

The only thing left to do is to figure out a line of communication between both parties, and then see if their crew can get back into the city. Peridot would like to know what the Furies recommend, in that regard. She says they were pretty darn careful to leave the city without being seen, and were kind of banking on being able to sneak back in before they're missed.

As mentioned in 3, they are STRONGLY recommending they don't physically go back at all. There are good odds someone noticed their absence, and they'd be walking straight into a trap.

Peridot is super perturbed by this. She didn't even look like her assumed identity when she left? What are the odds that in that entire city, someone would notice a single raccoon missing?

Not that she minds staying here. She would much rather just stay with these cool rebels than go back to the city full of snooty artists. She's more just upset that her super stealthy plan to sneak out un-noticed may have had a flaw to it.

Zangetsu will mention that uh, his body is back there. He's good with leaving it there -- it's well hidden. But to that end, no one actually saw HIM leave.

Jasper is extremely down to stay here. She isn't a big fan of rebels, generally speaking, but she really doesn't like the atmosphere in the city.

Zan is free to go back if he is sure he wasn't seen, but they are confused about what Period is saying. What does she mean she didn't look the same?

After a moment's consideration, Peridot just demonstrates by changing back into a raccoon. If she's staying here, the Furies would find out soon enough anyway. She can't keep casting the bat spell forever.

JUST A HANDY SPELL SHE HAS MASTERED, she says. NO BIG DEAL.

Now, if they have somewhere in this base for guests to crash, she would be very grateful if someone could lead her there. It's been a long night.

They do have places people can sleep... though given her transformation ability, they'll say it's up to her whether she wants to risk trying to re-enter the city. They just don't want to lose the only people who know where they are.

Zangetsu will ask to have the pinkening enchantment removed so he can sneak back to Eden. He'll also ask the other Carnival folks who he should tell all this info to in order to get it disseminated properly.

Syrlya immediately suggests Lambert, of course, and whoever is during the informational rounds--but to be careful because they can't let anyone from Eden overhear what they discovered.

He's also pretty sure a bunch of them going missing is going to put huge suspicion on them anyway, but since they saw Sans was compromised it's probably better they don't risk capture between it. But they need to let everyone in Eden know that they're probably going to be under even more scrutiny if most of them don't make it back.

He's confident in his ability to evade capture, but it's probably a good idea for one of them to stay with the Furies anyway, as a point of contact, so he can stay here.

Lapis is willing to stay as well. Though she'll ask if they have any large bodies of water nearby. She'd feel a little safer if there was more she could do in case of an emergency.

She'll tell Zan that obviously Childermass should be in the know as well, and possibly Strange... IF Zan can find him.

Peridot's torn, because she would much rather stay down here, but the fewer people that go missing, the better it'll be for the rest of the carnies. Before she makes a decision, she'd like to know what the rest of the group thinks.

Yes, even you, Jasper.

Zan: Duma will get rid of the pink so that he can go home discretely.

Lapis: There is an underground lake that connects to various water features around the base. They can show her where they are if she has the ability to watercraft and needs it for self defense.

Lapis would absolutely like to be shown where, and would absolutely appreciate it.

⇨ EDEN

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