⇨ EDEN PT. 3

[ringleaders]

Who: Everyone!
When: End of Day 88, on to Day 89
Where: Eden
What: The carnival breaks into two groups, as one entertains the Architect Samyaza at her festival, and the other assaults the Cathedral through a secret passageway with the intent of claiming the Silver Mirror and liberating those imprisoned.
Warnings: Ritual sacrifices.

IN GOD'S HANDS↴ Only those left in Eden and remaining undetected will be able to come to Samyaza's festival, which is an increasingly small group. It's also a dangerous proposition - there's no way to know what Samyaza has in store for her visitors, only that she apparently wants to interact with them before allowing the other Architects to act. It could work as an excellent distraction, drawing the eyes of the Architects towards the festival instead of towards the Cathedral while the attempt to claim the Mirror is taking place. For those that arrive in Samyaza's gardens, they are beautiful and well prepared, and music of otherworldly perfection flows through them. Tables are arranged with amazing works of art as their centerpieces, while the trees themselves are made into dazzling displays of color with an effect that seems to turn their leaves into pure light. Samyaza will be presiding, a hare that looks like she's made of something ephemeral, like wind of pure colour. She invites you in kindly, saying that before she speaks, she will honour you with a song... ► THE SET UP: For the first hour or so, the festival will be nothing but celebration. There are other Honorables there, but not as many as usual - the main event are you and the other new arrivals. After the hour mark, Samyaza will perform her song. Until then, threads can be made focusing on the pre-song mingling and planning. Will you listen when she sings? ► THE TWIST: There will be more happening at the festival than Samyaza plans. While she is comfortable waiting to act, other Architects are less patient. ON HOLY GROUND↴ With carnival members (and Ignatius) in enemy hands, there's no more time for hestitation. Based on the information given to her by various carnies, the Ringmaster will meet with the Furies and declare her intent to attack the Cathedral's underground during Samyaza's festival on the evening of Day 88. The Furies will agree, saying that those they have on the inside will use their influence to ensure there are as few Architects and Scholars are blocking their way as possible, but they must all still expect a fight. Furies from the base in the barrens will be coming along with this raid group, using what information they have to speed transit through the underground tunnels. They only ask two things - that after the Mirror is collected, it be used to save the lives of Hasma and the other captured Furies, before being used to repair the mind of the Serpent herself. ► THE SET UP: The Ringmaster will lead the way into the secret ruins that Childermass and the other found - the main difference is that she will smash right through the cracked wall defending the depths of the Cathedral, clearing the path entirely with her now serpentine body. Her plan is this - to draw the attention of the Architects to the surface by taking on the appearance if the Serpent, while carnival members and assisting Furies search the tunnels below to find the Mirror and the captives. ► THE TWIST: The people captured by the Twelve and imprisoned in the garden (AKA characters on the TDM) will be found, but the carnival members won't be. At least, not in the same place as the other captives. A megathread will go up for the group that goes to capture the Mirror, but you are free to NPC and thread confrontations will Scholars that are protecting the underground prison and the chambers where the Twelve held their meetings. Please report any Scholars that are killed or seriously harmed to the mods. Lambert will be leading the part of the group heading towards the Mirror, while Sans will head the group searching the tunnels for captives. Now is the time to let loose and use all your powers. It's probably best to keep your disguise to catch people off guard, but it is no longer necessary. New characters will be directed to post here once accepted.

Comments

[anti_nonsense]

Rita sighs and, without commenting on the kill him suggestion, pokes her head back in to get another look, this time using her third eye to see if she can detect anything beyond what the naked eye can see.

[prazerbutterfly]

"He's more than that," Tyki speaks quietly. "When I was stalking about the library, he had a chamber there he liked to hold himself up in. His entrance was swift, mere seconds, and ink splattered everywhere. But the minute he was gone it vanished, clean as if it never was." It was quite stunning actually and it's clear in Tyki's voice.

He too is bipedal, 'human' again, though he's able to use a smaller transformation if need be. "But Mr. Ram is right. We don't know who else is around." He's not smoking right now, like he usually does, due to sensitive noses. And if anyone small wants to perch on his shoulder for a higher advantage, he doesn't complain.

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya stays crouched down with the others, back to himself in whatever clothes the Ringmaster could provide and whatever sword the Furies lent him. Luckily his glow is a biological clock, and during the day it doesn't pulse despite the darkness.

"Nor do we know what all they are capable of. Bending reality is not something to take lightly," he whispers. Not that he's against a fight, but there's still caution to exercise before going in guns ablazing.

[moonfang]

(Deleted tag above context: Zangetsu commented that the bird is just "poems and stuff" and that they should just kill him if he's in the way. Additionally, he took out several Scholars on the way up here; they're not dead, but they probably wish they were.)

Zangetsu rolls his eyes. It would be so much easier to just take them all out. So instead he casts his soul sense out, looking for other beings hanging around besides their group and the raven.

[periphrasing]

Peridot is here as well, though she has shed her raccoon guise and is hanging out on Tyki's shoulder as a bat. Thanks for the higher vantage point, dude.

"Killing an architect probably isn't the best idea," she interjects, and though she doesn't look at Zan, yeah, she's basically calling you out, buddy. "I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone that our allies have a stake in this too."

[spaghettimonster]

"What is he looking at...?" Papyrus wonders, squinting in the room from his usual skeleton body. "Do you think he knows we're here? Maybe he's listening to us."

Other than watching Penemue's unsettling blank staring for a few seconds, Papyrus mostly scans the room for signs of spiderweb. Big proper webs, individual strands like tripwires that are catching convenient stray bits of light, anything he can see.

[whattaprick]

Easier, maybe, but counteproductive to their plans. Lambert shakes his head at Papyrus.

"This spell's pretty solid," he says, meaning the spell he's casting around them right now, keeping the conversation spilling out of their tight circle. Unfortunately, it also makes them a prime target for any single spell, since it needs them to stay relatively close. Syrlya, too, is able to keep them shielded from sight while they're grouped up like this, but once they get moving, that's a different story.

He glances at the Furies in turn, trying to gauge their mood.

"So to cross the mirror, we have to will ourselves to become our reflections," he says, repeating what they'd told him earlier and what he'd already told everyone else -- but a reminder never hurts. "Is that all there is to it?"

[atouts]

"That's what it looked like to me," Childermass speaks up, having refrained from saying much beyond when he needed to scold Zangetsu for his, well, exuberance. He hasn't opted into returning to a human form just yet, so technically still a dog but he's since shifted to his crow form.

He's been flitting around during the rush to get here, perching on this shoulder or that when needed, flying into faces and turning back into a dog to surprise and bowl over Scholars where he could. It's a strange way to do battle but spooking an Honorable into running away is his preference, even if they are just animals.

"I wonder if we might just be able to talk our way past him."

[prazerbutterfly]

It's never really minded the closeness and his power to choose can make it awkward for a lot of people if he doesn't want them to touch him. Most are still animals and it's easier to group up like that. He doesn't voice the fact that killing was the most effective idea but they were right on it not being the best idea. His hand slips into his pocket to fiddle with a round piece of metal he made out of Allen's silver medal.

"Talking is at least an option to start with," he says, implying that they could always resort to fighting after that. His ear flicks towards Lambert, wanting to hear the answer to his question. "Mister Syrlya also has a point. When one can bend reality, the possibilities are endless."

[npcarnival]

There is magic in the room, surrounding the walls and also Penemue. The ceiling mirror is also very magical. There is a consistency to the magic around Penemue that resembles webs.

There are no other souls that are detectable to Zan.

[anti_nonsense]

Rita ducks away from the room and huddles close to the group.

“I saw something,” she tells them, her voice hushed despite the protective sound barrier. “Magic... like webs, around that raven.”

With a look of urgency, she offers her thoughts: “Penemue might be the least of our problems. We’d better watch out for an ambush from that spider freak.”

[moonfang]

"Huh? No way.... You don't think the spider is using the bird like bait or something, do you?"

He looks around.

"... Either way, the spider isn't here, or... if it is, it's hiding its soul from me. The only thing I sense around here is the bird, and us."

[atouts]

"How loose are they?" Childermass asks, glancing Rita's way as he does. "I cannot claim to know how the spider's spells work but surely we would have to step through a web to activate it, do you think?"

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya lifts his head at that. "The one that muddled with Sans' mind, wasn't it? Can you tell... is it a trigger? Does it seemed designed to control, or simply ensnare or warn?"

Any of those are things they don't personally want to touch, but it'd help to know what they're about to walk into before it inevitably happens.

[prazerbutterfly]

Zangetsu has a good point, his eyes flicking from all of their discussions with some consideration. "Probably," he weighs into Childermass' question. His hand opens as a few Tease appear within his palm, flitting quietly as if waiting for orders.

"I could let a few of these loose to see what happens," he offers, that is if Rita can't discern the webbings use, "As a last resort."

[anti_nonsense]

"I can't tell that much from this far away!" Rita hisses at all the questions. "It's concentrated around him, so... I don't know. Maybe it's a binding spell. Wouldn't be surprised if she'll notice someone messing with it, though." Unless she's already gone off to concern herself with something else... but protecting the Mirror ought to be high priority.

"I can try disenchanting it, if needed... but it won't be easy, especially if we get attacked."

[whattaprick]

"Nothing about this is easy," Lambert mutters. Glancing around his companions, considering what he knows of their capabilities, he comes to a swift decision.

"Try to disenchant him first. If that doesn't work, get ready to knock him out," he says grimly. "As far as I know, mind control doesn't work too well on the unconscious, but either way we should be expect it to alert any other architects or guards around.

"Whatever happens, the plan's the same. Get into the mirror room, be ready to deal with whatever's there."

He looks to the Furies. "Stick close to Syrlya, if you won't be fighting. You're the only ones who've actually been in there before, but we can't count on all of us making it through that mirror if we're distracted."

He has at least a bit of an idea of what Rita's going to try, so he looks to her, before he lifts a paw and tugs off his necklace and the rock on it, holding it the string with its rock out to her.

"Here. Stick to the shadows and you can use this to hide until you get close enough."

[chronosynthesis]

Syrlya nods once. "I can use illusions as cover, but I may not be able to cover the entire distraction if I am keeping the rest of us hidden."

He glances sidelong to the tease. Some sort of similar construct, he assumes. "How many of those do you have?"

[atouts]

"I can go with her," Childermass offers instead once he sees what Lambert is trying to hand over. "I have a spell or two up my wing that should work to keep the bird from seeing her at least. The spider noticing anything off less so but that's the risk we will have to take."

[prazerbutterfly]

"Eh," he begins to answer Syrlya's question, "I lost count a while ago. Maybe hundreds, thousands?"

He looks over at what Lambert is offering to Rita and then to Childermass offering himself. Tyki personally loved these type of situations. A gambler at heart, it made it far more thrilling this way. "Just be careful. I don't know if I can use my power of those webs or not should we need to separate you from them."

[spaghettimonster]

Of course the Architect Armaros left invisible magical webs, why would anything be easy? No wonder Sans got caught in the first place.

"If you touch the web," Papyrus addresses Rita and Childermass, "and feel like you're turning into a spider's webcam... Please call for help! There's a lot of us here to try to rescue you."

[anti_nonsense]

Rita nods, taking the offered necklace and rising to her feet. "I'll give it a shot. Watch my back."

She slips the pendant over her neck and activates it, then steps forward into the room, stepping as lightly as she can. Relying on the pendant and Childermass for cover, she walks straight toward Penemue, then reaches out and activates her magic. Conjuring a glowing interface, she'll try to look at the magic in the webs before anything can interrupt her.

[atouts]

Meanwhile, Childermass will have moved from whoever he was perching on before to sit on Rita's shoulder instead, muttering his 'don't look here' spell as they go. It's basically invisibility, if more in a sense of altering perception than actually turning invisible. Once it settles over the two of them, he'll fall silent, focusing on maintaining it while Rita works.

[npcarnival]

As the two of them enter the room, things are quiet, and seem to go according to plan. Penemue keeps ignoring them as Rita begins examining the magic of the webs more carefully.

They don't attach to Penemue at all, and are instead swathed around the place where the bird is sitting, and hanging from most of the ceiling. The exact type of magic it is is difficult to make out, but it's something like a construct with latent enchantment effects. The floor has something like that strewn across it, as well.

What comes to mind is the idea of how a spider can sense vibrations from elsewhere on their web, knowing exactly where to go to find their prey.

[anti_nonsense]

Silently, Rita touches a finger to her tunic, using her information transfer to silently tell Childermass what she's just perceived. Maybe he can tell the others...

For now, Rita sets about using the interface to 'edit' the magic in front of her, attempting to sever the threads. Maybe that'll alert Armaros, but there's a good chance that she's already done so in walking here, so it seems worth the risk.