We slowly drove, he knew no haste,

And I had put away

My labor, and my leisure too,

For his civility.

-Emily Dickinson, Because I could not stop for Death, stanza 2

Act One: Your Humble Servant

"A thousand, thousand welcomes, noble one! May Fate smile upon you and bring you to Enlightenment, and may you have joy of your visit here in Carnival. I am Najib. And I grew up in Zakhara, the Land of Fate. On a world and a plane of existence far from here where the setting of the sun does not bring dread and horror. I could tell you wondrous stories of voyages far and near, of powerful Sha'irs and their wondrous genies, of beautiful veiled ladies, of desert sheikhs, of Caliphs and Sultans their Viziers and harems, and all the wondrous things the world I come from has to offer.

"However, it has been commanded by my esteemed mistress that this unworthy one should be your guide this evening through the menagerie of the strange and unusual, the beautiful and the horrible, the friendly and the fearsome, the human and the inhuman. So come stranger and for a few coppers you can taste delights for all the senses."

The young man with the unkempt hair and newly lit eyes stared at the handsome exotic barker. He was one of those in the flyer. The one that caught his eye. They stood eye to eye. This 6' tall half-elven man in his mid-20s with dark tanned skin, straight black hair short and neat with a colorful headscarf and a well-groomed goatee and mustache.

Najib took no money from the young man with the unkempt hair.

A wave of disappointment flowed over the young man. He wanted to touch Najib.

As if sensing the disappointment, Najib put his hand on the young man's shoulder and led him across the Carnival threshold.

"This way, noble one, I need no coppers from you, for when night falls, we close our doors and send the public back to their homes. Except for you. You do not want to go home do you?"

"No, never."

"Perhaps you are looking for a new home then?"

"Yes!"

"Well, then, you are in luck, we are pulling up stakes tonight, when our mistress returns. Perhaps we can help you find a new home."

"I have."

The two looked at each other a moment.

"Then let me tell you a little about a few of our numbers. Then you can decide whether you truly 'have'.

"All the Troupers have a stage name—something to make them stand out in the public's mind.

"Let me start with something small…