⇨ 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

[pipers_son]

"Mmm, it really is. Even the branding was unexpected." Joker tries to ruffle his feathers, with mixed results. He's so drenched that he suspects he just looks a little ridiculous instead. Well, more ridiculous than a peacock with a rainbow tail already is, at any rate. It's fine.

"Where'd ya get yers?" So that he can maybe fuss over it later, sshh.

[dontpokethat]

"Ha, right?" It's funny because it's creepy and also hurts like hell.

"On the shoulder. More space there." And he didn't think to tell them to put it somewhere less obtrusive, like an ear. He nods toward the mark, just under where Joker is sitting, partially submerged in the pool.

[pipers_son]

"Oh." Joker pauses for a moment, a little awkward even as he tries to crane his head to see just where it is that the mark is. He suspects its hidden underneath all his feathers.

"Does it hurt or anythin'?" As in, does it hurt because some big ass water clogged bird is pressing down on it with his stupid sharp feet? Joker is pretty sure that makes him a bad boyfriend, if so.

[dontpokethat]

"No, uh-- not too badly." It does, in fact, hurt, but not because of Joker. And... he can't very well jump right to reassuring him, seeing as how they've supposedly just met. "Just need to give it some time, I think."

[pipers_son]

Joker, at least, isn't nearly so shy about it... although he likes to think he has the makings of a good excuse. "Well, as thanks for savin' me from drownin' or becomin' a duck, I'll have ta take good care of ya myself~. Just ta make sure."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko... laughs, just slightly, despite himself. "Uh... thanks? Don't know how you're planning to do that."

He's pretty sure you can't apply bandages with wings?? Unless it's your special art animal talent, he doesn't know what the rules are here.

[pipers_son]

"I'm an innovative sort." He stretches his wings out majestically. At least, they'd be majestic, if not for his current state.

"And I have a beak! I can be a caretakin' type. Do ya think they have that, here?"

[dontpokethat]

Yeah, uh... majestic, not so much. But it is pretty adorable, frankly. He's just... trying so hard.

"Ha, maybe. I guess healing could be seen as an art, huh?"

[pipers_son]

He's doing his best with what he has. It's just that, right now, what he has is a lot of wet feathers. It ruins a lot of the effect of having feathers, honestly.

"Well, it's changin' the body, ain't it?" Even if that change is only 'back to how things were'. It's the normal way of healing people instead of, say, sticking a wooden limb onto them to stop bleeding. "And the body can be art. I think that's how it works, at any rate."

[dontpokethat]

"Sounds about right to me." Yeah that works.

Unfortunately, now he's realizing that this is a rare opportunity for flirting that's even obvious enough for him to pick up on. And yet he... can't, unless he can do it subtly enough for those around them not to notice.

"Well, if you can... find a way to help, I won't complain."

Nailed... it???

[pipers_son]

It's probably a good thing that Joker has been given the rather stiff face of a bird, because it means he can't give away the whole act by the way he'd surely grin for now. It's not much of an attempt, but it is an attempt regardless. For that, he can't really be upset. Far from it, in fact.

"Well then, I'll have ta do my best!" He cuddles up against the back of Ginko's head. "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship, if I do say so myself."

[dontpokethat]

Ginko tilts his head back a little - the closest he can get to responding to Joker's affection, for both physical and stealth-based reasons. "I'd have to agree, I think."

It's only after a moment and a realization later that he gives a quiet snort. "...Kind of odd, I guess, given we'd probably never have met if things were a little different, huh."

He can't say he much likes to think about it.

[pipers_son]

That could mean a lot of things, honestly- how their personalities would mean they'd not likely have met, how England and Japan are so far away, a peacock and a goat... Well, Joker is pretty sure a peacock wouldn't have met a goat in the regular world he knows, but then again, he's not sure what peacocks surround themselves with anyway.

It doesn't really matter. Joker just flicks his beak against Ginko's ear. "Well, we've met now, so all's well that ends well~. That's what matters, right?"

[dontpokethat]

That gets a quiet snort, and Ginko's ear flickers against Joker's face. "...Guess so, yeah. Not much point in dwelling on it, is there."

[pipers_son]

"None at all," Joker decides, even as he finally settles against Ginko's back. They'll have a lot of time, it seems, to stay in this water and heal. More than enough time for him to find the perfect comfy position on Ginko's back, and think on how they'll all handle this.