Carpet

Carpets (often also referred to as Dolphins) are living cloth entities that help the player progress through levels.

They are known by a variety of names, some of the most popular of which include:


 * Cloth Creature
 * (Cloth) Dolphin or Dolphin rug
 * Cloth Ray
 * Flying Carpet
 * Kite
 * (Little) Dragon
 * Manta

Developers called them "kite" or "fish" in the prototype phase.

Occurrence
Carpets are first seen in the Pink Desert level, and are common afterward.

The Carpet(s) in each level:


 * Pink Desert: Step by step released by the player. Flying in groups, caged into the tower at the end, freed after the vision, flying the player to the next level.
 * Sunken City: joyfully and rather fast joining the player at the slide, helping to find a symbol, groups of carpets; freeing the Carpets in the Rest Area will enable them to free the flyers.
 * Underground: Only one leading Carpet, see Community names. It will wait for you at the end of a section, then fly on. It gets eaten by the first War Machine.
 * Tower: Once they are released they fly around the Tower in the goo / fog. Mostly you will see a Carpet fly alone.
 * Snow: Poor creatures, on entering the level you see one falling from the sky. Probably frozen to death. Right after that, one gets attacked by a War Machine and also falls down. During the level some more Carpets will fall from the sky, you can see Carpets circling in the sky at the Patrol Field (black), last appearance is between the Patrol Fields and the Seaweed Valley (the long way between rocks, camera view from above).
 * Paradise: They will freely fly all over the level, but not further than the Whale Pools.

Appearance

 * They have a folded cloth head, and three tails trailing behind them.
 * Generally, all three tails will be the same length, with the middle-tail being thicker. The only exception is with the first carpet, who has a longer, narrower middle-tail.
 * They are usually completely red with amber lines along the sides, and will glow with white symbols when touched, similar to other cloth creatures.

Behavior
Carpets are very playful and interactive. They will:


 * often dive in and out of the sand; this, combined with their trill-like chirp, is why they are often called "dolphins";
 * try to lead a player - and lift them - to important places; in fact, they will often pause and wait for the player (or players), facing toward the player(s) and chirping at them;
 * in the Pink Desert level they are often leading the player to places where other carpets are to be freed;
 * chase each other / play catch;
 * tightly circle around each other in Paradise at the Jellyfish Pool (also called "kissing Carpets");
 * interact with each other in other ways.

Interaction

 * When near a player, they will often circle around said player, recharging that player's scarf. Sometimes, they will pause in a specific place, and lift the player(s) up when the player(s) come near them.
 * Some carpets that seems to be stuck or frozen will be freed if a player chirps at them (Pink Desert at the tower, Snow).
 * If a Carpet touches you or you the Carpet (which usually requires flying) it will glow and recharge your scarf.

Special cases
Certain Carpets play special roles or express different behaviors compared to the general "population". Those were given special names by the Journey player community:


 * Longtail is the first carpet you release in the PD and the carpet that gets eaten in the Underground in the Ambusher Room . It has a visibly longer, narrower middle-tail than the others. Seems to be a sort of a "group leader".
 * Frederick is the Carpet that carries the player to the top of a dune. Note that, if with another player, two carpets will come to carry the players to the top of the dunes; it's unsure which one is Frederick in that case.
 * Lorelei is the carpet in the Sunken City.

You can take Lorelei to the pit at the end of the level. See Bring a Carpet to the pit.

Gallery
More carpet screenshots from various levels:

Trivia



 * The lonely carpet in the snow, hiding in an abandoned war machine part will only be released for the companion that chirps at it.
 * If the other companion does not chirp it, it will remain inside until it hides for the chirping companion, then the carpet will fly to the hiding spot. If the player that didn't chirp it yet, chirps for it now in hiding, it will come outside for a moment.
 * It will also only circle around the companion that chirps at it.

Quotes
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