⇨ 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

⇨ UNDER HOLY GROUND (RESCUER MEGATHREAD)

[osteothropy]

So, hello! Maybe you've just joined the party. Maybe you've just gotten rescued by some weird animal you've never met before, and broken out of that garden prison. Lucky for you, after you get out into the tunnels with your new rescuers, there is a point of guidance.

Unfortunately, that guidance is a scary looking skeleton dog.

For those in the know, they will recogize one of Warden Sans's three skeleton dog familiars coming to find them after their successful caper. They will chase you down and bark for your attention, basically being a pest until they get you to follow them. Once you've done so, you'll eventually be reacquainted with a much larger skeleton - scorpion - wolf: AKA, Sans's scary monster form he takes on every so often.

He's waiting for you to arrive, hunkered down, with some knocked out Scholars nearby. He looks over the new arrivals, for a moment, before rumbling out an unnecessarily intimidating:

"Hi there."

[krunmacula]

Pluto is intimidated. Saying anything else would be a lie, after all. She's never seen something like this before; she's never seen a normal wolf before now, after all, at least not in person! She's lab-grown, lab-raised, never stepping foot on a real planet and certainly never seeing something like this, even in people's narratives and memories.

But intimidation certainly isn't enough to stop her now. Especially not after she's spent the last thirty minutes on the run - she's only just getting a second wind, stumbling towards a wall and resting her weight while she catches her breath. Once she's certain she can actually get words out, and that she's not going to say something she regrets, she smiles wide and gives a cheerful little wave. "Well, hello to you too! Are you my knight in shining armor for today?"

[hippocarnival]

Yuya comes up right behind Pluto, also catching his breath before he pads around her side to look at who else is here. There's a face he was hoping for that's missing, and his expression starts to crumble as he looks over at Sans.

"Did anyone find Gongenzaka and the others?"

It's a last bit of hope after Yuya accidentally led Pluto down random tunnels for way too long.

[osteothropy]

"Nah," Sans says to Pluto, his skeleton wolf face doing little to get across his emotions. "That's this guy, here." He nods at Yuya, sounding a bit cheeky.

And then, to Yuya:

"Sorry, kid. The room where you smelled him last was the only evidence we have. They must have been moved somewhere else... with any luck, one those Architects will be able to tell us where."

[textsfromhotland]

And then there's Alphys, still a small yellow rabbit with stupidly long ears.

"Uhh... do we really want to ask the Architects at this point? I don't think they like us all that much anymore."

[fortuneglass]

Carly is floating along their way in hummingbird state, leading yet another imprisoned behind her. "Whooo!! Okay, that's some of us..."

And...what are they talking about? Architects?

"Well, some of them are on our side, we know that much!" Carly chirps. She looks to Sans. "Ah...actually, if you're the one saying it, you must have proof of who that even is, right..?"

She is getting ahead of herself however- she looks to the one behind her. "Well. As you can see, we're one step closer~!" As he can see, there's a very large skeleton who forms the answer to 'what did you do to the honorables' as well.

[hippocarnival]

Still being covered in fur means nobody can see Yuya blush about that knight in shining armor comment as he shifts on his feet. He moves closer to Sans to try and overhear his conversation with Papyrus.

"Did they get the mirror?" There's a slight impatience to his voice, but getting the mirror would mean more focus on finding their friends and getting out of here, so he's concerned about it at least that much.

[apaintingdarkly]

"Yo," is all Dark says as he slows to a walk, shoves one hand in his pocket and lifts the other lazily in greeting. He's not really interested in hanging around longer than he has to, but he needs the bird at least to show him the way she came in.

[exaomori]

"A cool guy, huh~" Even in the foul mood she's been in since the branding won't stop Shura from teasing, though she drops the playful tone quick enough when she turns to reply to Alphys.

"If even one of them's sympathetic, it'd make our lives a whole lot easier. No reason to run around like idiots when we can just ask for directions, y'know?"

[osteothropy]

With Yuya listening in, Sans has been taking a moment to answer his radio. This looks kind of ridiculous, because it mostly amounts to this huge skeletal beast floating a tiny radio next to their head and gingerly pressing in the button with their claw.

"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!"

"Nice," Sans says from his side of the radio. He glances around at the captives that have been let loose - it seems like they've got just about all of them. "Things are close to wrapping up down here. Probably." He glances at Yuya. "Bad news... no sign of the carnival captives so far."

It's a couple minutes later before Sans is back at the radio 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! Excuse me, Mr. Architect Wolf, do you know where captives are held?"

Sans looks over at Shura, giving her a big doggy shrug. Looks like they might have a lead, here. A different voice is on the radio now, ostensibly said 'wolf':

"The holding cells should have been down near where the garden was... were they not there?"

"There you have it!"

Sans's seven eyes narrow warily. That's not good, because Yuya saw what looked like holding cells, and the prisoners super weren't there.

[fortuneglass]

If it was possible for a white hummingbird to go more white, Carly is doing it now.

"...Yuugo and Yuusei," she whispers, voice strained. If the Architect on the other end doesn't know...

What if one of these architects already knew there were 'traitors' in their midst?

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's heart just about stops when Saraqael mentions the holding cells, his fur bristling and eyes widening at the implication that it's where they still should have been.

"No, they weren't there," he says with a sharp edge to his voice. That's not something Sans needs confirmed, but saying out loud solidifies the truth and the last of Yuya's calmness unravels.

"They weren't down there! Where are they?!" He jerks forward, like he's going to grab the radio, but stops short of it and looks at Sans with alarm.

[osteothropy]

Sans gives Yuya a look that suggests 'yeah you better hesitate before trying to snatch something out of my hands', and then grasps the radio within his big clawed paw.

"Best case scenario, they're in transit somewhere else," Sans says. "Either way, it doesn't change out plans, which is getting these guys out of here."

[hippocarnival]

Yuya doesn't want to hear best case hypothetical scenarios. His ears fold back, and he looks back at the recently rescued captives briefly.

"I can keep looking for them! You guys are more than enough to get everyone here somewhere safe." It sounds fine when he says it, increasingly focused only on finding his friend.

[insidescoop]

"No you are not!"

Carly will interrupt that plan before Sans, or anyone else can. "Yuuya- I'm just as worried as you," she seethes, abruptly turning back into a snake to slither before the fox. "But we're needed here! Those with the mirror are no doubt already handling the matter- but this isn't the time to get split up, and you know that too!"

[stompadour]

Jasper emerges from the tunnel with Haruhi in tow, still horse-shaped but not carrying anyone on her back any more, for now.

"Warden," she says, with a curt nod to Sans. "I found this human, but not much else."

[naturalsakura]

Haruhi blinks. What an odd cast of characters. And holy crap is that a skeleton? She...is just going to go along with this. She waves awkwardly. "Hi. I'm the found human."

[apaintingdarkly]

“Haruhi,” Dark calls in greeting. Right, he was supposed to save her or something. He totally didn’t forget, he just got distracted. Now he wanders over to stand by the girl. Since they’re here and all he should probably keep an eye on her.

[krunmacula]

Pluto's been trying to keep up with all this, but, well - it's one of the first big conversations she's had since losing her powers, and it's a doozy of one! So she's rapidly losing track of where everything is, and getting a bit frustrated, and looking around when she sees Dark and Haruhi's arrivals. What timing - they've basically saved her, since now she has something she can at least sort of act responsibly around.

She wanders over, raising one hand and giving a welcoming smile to the two of them. "Thank goodness! I was hoping you'd gotten out." It's aimed at the both of them, for sure, but she can't help but playfully glance at Dark as she adds- "It's not very dashing to tell a lady you'll sweep her off her feet if you're just going to vanish, you know. You're a little heartbreaker!"

[naturalsakura]

"Oh, hey!" She greets him with a smile. "So much for our escape plan, huh. But at least we got out." Oh! "Pluto-san! You got out, too! Thank goodness." She says with a sigh of relief.

"Oh? Dark-senpai? Being a little heartbreaker, huh. How cruel."

[apaintingdarkly]

Dark grins, utterly shameless.

“Day’s not over yet. And we aren’t out yet, either, so both of you stay close. I’m sure our carnie friends will get to showing us the way sooner or later.” He says that last louder than really necessary.

[naturalsakura]

"Oh wow. You're such a hero."

Haruhi stretches her arms. "Well, I'm patient. I don't mind the wait. It seems that some of their own people were captured by the animals so I bet they're still looking." Hm. "Maybe we should offer to help them?"