lostcarnival | ⇨ EDEN PT. 3

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⇨ EDEN PT. 3

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Can we please focus on the fae artifact, and not food?" Lambert asks, testily, directed at Syrlya and Zangetsu and anyone else eyeing up the fruit. He'll look to the wolf, head cocked as he listens to his answer. After all this time their intentions have spent being tested, they know precious little about the Architect's own desires besides being apparently too scared shitless of Lilith to risk their own lives. It doesn't leave a favorable impression on Lambert overall -- they're less like allies and more like mercenaries, and equally disposable from the Architect's perspective.

"We need to know anything you can tell us about Lilith," he frowns. "We know she's a Nephalem. We know she was using you to try and make a..." What was the phrasing from the book, exactly? "...'a being whose Light would cast no Shadow.' And it wasn't working." Obviously.

"We could help you and other Honorables you care to take with you escape from Eden. If that's what you want." His tail lashes. "But if you want more than that..." He'll trail off there and let someone else answer Papyrus' question, or let him decide for himself, since he's more intent on the wolf now.

Well that's... worse than actually just being turned into a wild animal in a desolate again. "And there are those of you who have already openly betrayed her," he muses to himself. Even if the blame is kept off the Twelve, there are already open Furies who will likely be smited.

He draws his hand back and turns to Saraqael properly. "Can Eden sustain itself without Lilith's existence? Or would be better if your people were to find a new home?"

Lambert, after all, has already offered that as a possibility. If it's their best choice, that's almost the easiest solution.

These common thieves provide you fresh food and the supplies one needs for her research, Rita. Though Tyki's never considered himself a thief as much as he's considered himself a conman who gets others to cheat themselves. But he doesn't comment as things are more interesting right now. For example, everyone trying to take a piece of that fruit catches his interest. Maybe he himself could bum one off of Zangetsu, though the monster of a man was likely to wolf it all down on his own.

Tyki personally would enjoy never starving again after previous events, and he looks towards Rita who seems to want to move closer to the mirror. Tyki himself doesn't hesitate and walks forward now that everyone seems to have permission to roam as they wish. He'll watch towards the Architect and then beside him, trying not to stand in front of the mirror directly himself, but wanting a closer look at the trees winding around it. He's not stupid enough to touch it, look directly at it, or get too close to the front.

"Given the fact the Honorables would be fine as long as they do not dwindle their own numbers, they would not need Lilith to bring them a fresh batch of animals at least. With her out of the picture, their society could flourish, or ruin itself. If he believes she shouldn't be the leader any longer, then likely setting in someone else to keep him sustained has likely already crossed their minds." The Serpent for example along with what Architects they could salvage. It was their choice either way. The true matter was how the carnival played into helping them.

"There's no way to know if Eden would hold up without the Mirror or Lilith's influence," Saraqael says. "...So my strategy is to assume that it won't. If those willing could be relocated elsewhere, somewhere they could thrive, then that's all I would ask of you."

"My other fear would be that without Eden's power, we would once again be forced to eat in ways appropriate to our biology, and that creatures like myself will be compelled to sustain ourselves with the meat of other animals. It would no doubt cause conflict, regardless of the source."

He turns to glance at the mirror.

"Beyond that, I will have no regrets, leaving this place behind..."

Rita’s gaze falls, a conflicted look on her face. As eager as she is to study that mirror, she doesn’t want these animals to lose the peaceful lives they’ve been living until now... even if that may be inevitable.

“The Fruit and Flame... how do they relate to the Mirror? Can you and the other Beasts continue using them if we separate them from the Mirror, and Eden?”

Rita draws a little closer, looking over the artifact and its surrounding trees. “And... if we’re going to take the Mirror, I’d appreciate if you or one of your peers shared what you know about it, and how to use it. We don’t want to screw around with it carelessly.”

“Then I think we have a bargain.” The only question, of course, is seeing it through. He’ll let Rita take the lead on questioning Saraqael about the mirror’s properties, then turns to Papyrus, his decision made.

“Try to contact the Ringmaster.” Hopefully she did bring a radio with her, or if she took a Fury with her, hopefully they’re paying attention to it.

“And you,” he adds, looking at Zangetsu with a frown. “You asked for a mirror, didn’t you? See if you can call Strange. Mark four points on the surface and try to get his attention.” Yeah yeah, there’s a big mirror they could call Strange in right there, but does anyone want the murder ghost to touch it? Probably not.

Orders dispensed, he’ll turn back to the wolf. “Some of us have been captured by the other architects. Others are trying to save them now—” Blissfully, he has yet to find out how that plan didn’t turn out as expected. “—but it goes without saying, if they can be retrieved faster we can concentrate more on getting the rest of you out.”

"Of course," Saraqael says to Lambert, nodding his head. "Once the Mirror is out of Lilith's reach, there will be enough confusion to allow us to reroute our efforts towards handling the other Architects. This includes releasing their captives."

Then, he looks at Rita.

"As for the trees, we've never seen them be anywhere else. But that isn't to say it's not possible. They are their own entities outside of the mirror. Araqiel has said as much."

"Ha! I don't actually care if it does anything -- they just look tasty and I'm hungry."

He's always hungry.

Zangetsu carefully plucks one of the fruits from the tree and proceeds to put the whole thing in his mouth. It tastes as good as it looks! Oh god, there's a giant pit in it, though. He spits it out and looks at it. The pit itself is kind of pretty! ... In his pocket it goes. Pocket pit. As does another fruit. Snack for the road.

And then Lambert is talking to him. He looks at his (other) boss with some bright purple juice running out of his mouth and his cheeks full of magical smart fruit.

"Mmmf? Mmmhmmph!"

He swallows the fruit, and digs in the other pocket, pulling out a hand mirror. He uses some of the purple juice on his chin to mark the mirror as instructed. Then he shakes the mirror, as if that will help.

"HEY STRANGE!"

And nothing happens!

Sorry Zan, Strange is off having adventures in another thread and not at ALL noticing anybody trying to get his attention.

The radio thing, though, that definitely happens. Papyrus offers Lambert a quick salute and pulls a radio out of... a pocket? his ribcage? and turns it on.

"Uhhh... Hello to anyone who can hear this, this is Papyrus, and we have reached... The Target. Ringmaster, we're going to try moving it, and... somebody here has a request!"

He's not sure how cagey to be, whether there's a risk of others listening in, and he's distracted by watching Zan's every movement. Don't get sucked in there, okay?

"Nice," Sans says from his side of the radio. Of course, everything else going on in his half of the scene is a mystery. "Things are close to wrapping up down here. Probably. Bad news... no sign of the carnival captives so far."

Edited 2018-08-13 17:38 (UTC)

"That's a sign of a decent leader. Lying to oneself instead of preparing is often futile. Commendable," he responds, having gained all the information he actually wanted. He squats on the ground then next to the wolf, eyeing over it and then glances at his own hand. He's still reluctant to touch it but he questions if the trees are any real threat. His power is faulty at best and he can't guarantee that he'll be able to separate the trees from the mirrors properly without either touching the mirror itself or damaging the trees.

His ears perk at the sound of Sans' voice and he cranes his head back to listen. "Good job, buddy," he says without hesitation and then goes back to his inspection, whether or not he can actually hear him. "If my power works, I could possibly severe the trees from the mirror but... it is often fickle outside of my own world." That still leaves the mirror itself to deal with. He's also concerned the trees are also related to something dangerous. It's a risk but if it'll move things along...

Edited 2018-08-13 18:47 (UTC)

"You could do that," Peridot chimes in, interrupting Tyki, "or you could let the gem with the natural metal powers deal with it."

This is half ego and half impatience talking. The longer they stand here, the more worried she's becoming over Steven and Amethyst being up at that sketchy party. They need to get a move on.

Impatience meets impatience. Zangetsu is frustrated because Strange isn't answering his TEXTS.

"Well, then do it already. I mean, who the hell knows where we're gonna put it, but who cares about that, right?"

Zangetsu shakes the mirror in his hands again.

"WOULD YOU ANSWER ALREADY, JACKASS. What the hell is he doing?"

No answer yet from the Ringmaster. At least the trees don't seem to be connected to the floor, just the mirror itself.

"I hope that the trees will grow outside of this place... but do what you must, and we will save what fruits remain," Saraqael says.

Papyrus hummed acknowledgement to Sans' status update, and waited a couple minutes for the Ringmaster to chime in... But there's nothing. He holds the talk button again.

"Well, since you're answering... Sans? We've made some friends, here, kind of. They might be able to help. Hold on a minute!"

He leans around the mirror frame, looking towards Saraqael, and raises his voice a little.

"Excuse me, Mr. Architect Wolf, do you know where captives are held?"

“Try to lift it,” he tells Peridot, grimacing. “With the trees and the rest, we can deal with it once it’s somewhere else.”

Then he looks to Saraqael. “Your power’s creating illusions, isn’t it? Can you disguise the mirror as something else, or create a convincing imitation of it? If the other Architects come back here and spot a missing mirror, they’ll start looking for us pretty quick.”

No idea if the Mirror will resist glamour on itself, but worth a shot. Zangetsu’s antics get a frown, but moving the mirror handsfree is the current immediate concern.

Peridot looks a little surprised at Lambert's suggestion of lifting mirror and trees both, but she doesn't protest. She turns back to the object in question with a determined expression on her face, widening her stance with both feet planted firmly on the ground. Then she sticks both arms straight out in front of her and flexes her claws as if she's actually physically grabbing something, reaching for the mirror with her weird metallic influence and testing to see if she can even get a grip on it at all.

Barring any weird magical influence, it shouldn't be too hard for her to pull it loose; she was lifting cars before she even got to the carnival, and her powers have only grown since then.

As Peridot is working on the mirror, Saraqael is trying to answer Papyrus's questions. Though he seems confused.

"The holding cells should have been down near where the garden was... were they not there?" If they weren't there, it's not what Saraqael was expecting.

Meanwhile, Peridot will find herself lifting the Silver Mirror from the floor, complete with trees. It's quite heavy, but she's got it for now, and even better, it doesn't seem to be doing anything wacky in reaction to her touch.

As Peridot lifts the Silver Mirror up from the ground, Strange just appears right in it without giving her any warning or advanced notice that he's appearing in the Mirror like the world's shittiest jump scare. And hoo boy does he look super worried.

"Peridot!" Oh, and everybody else! He just goes right on talking, assuming that everything's okay because 1: Peridot's here and 2: the Mirror's being lifted so this must be a heist of some kind. "Does anybody have pen and paper? I need you to take down a list of names, the party's gone to hell and back."

Welcome to a plot catch-up, Team Heist!

Lambert puts a paw to his face. Did Strange miss the fact there’s an Architect right here and he’s incredibly not helping at the moment.

“Strange, make your report from the mirror Zangetsu’s holding. We need to move this mirror out, I’m going to ask Syrlya to hide it, and we can’t do it with you chatting from it.” Well, maybe they can, but really.

Similiar to before, he ignores Peridot simply because of her tone. That's strike two in his book. He doesn't resist though when she goes about trying to move the mirror and in order to not go away he steps back and watches it ascend and move.

"You look like hell," he says to Strange, just because he can. Really, he didn't look that bad, just very stressed. "But go ahead, I don't need pen or paper." Years of having hunt and delete lists. He'll be fine with names.

Okay jump scaring the gem holding up the priceless magical artifact would be bad enough on it's own, but to then on top of that go ahead and proceed to then tell that same gem that the party two of her friends are at is apparently going to shit in a bad way? Way to go, buddy! Peridot fumbles the mirror with a gasp the first time, her tail poofing out in alarm. She grips her teeth and evens out her grip.

..And then Strange mentions the party.

"WHAT!?!" she squawks at an unholy volume, voice cracking with fear. "What about Amethyst-- And Steven, are they both okay!?"

"a-HEM."

Zangetsu clears his throat in that ridiculously loud, obnoxious way; he holds up his little hand mirror so that Strange can see it from his position in the Silver Mirror and points at it.

"I was calling you for like ten minutes! Where the hell were you?! And I swear to GOD, Peridot, if you drop the mirror..."

Edited 2018-08-14 02:58 (UTC)

"I was busy!" Strange grumbles, as he frowns vaguely in the direction of Zangetsu. He vanishes from the Mirror but a second or so later, reappears in Zangetsu's hand mirror. When he's there, Strange rattles off a list of names. Notably, it's everybody who said that they were going to the party, plus Yusei, Yugo, and Gongenzaka.

"Those are all the people currently trapped by Lilith. Bezaliel showed up at the party, with Ignatius, Yusei, Yugo, and Gongenzaka as hostages and as a show of power. Those attending freed Ignatius and almost defeated Bezaliel, when he summoned Lilith to the garden. She might not have the Mirror, but she has control over mirrors. She attacked those present and trapped them in these mirrored chambers."

It's at this point that Strange realizes Saraquel is in the room. He looks over to the wolf for clarifications. It's obvious he's got more to talk about, but he'll let other people ask questions or get in their own thoughts before he exposits some more.

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