Chapter One: The Arrival

Without promotion something terrible happens... Nothing!

- P. T. Barnum, circus owner

It was a clear day. The bright morning sun broke the chill left over from the night before. The merchants of the small village began opening their doors. They placed tables outside their shops with merchandise to sell for the day. The villagers were rather tall, average with an athletic build, their hair ranged all the colors as did their eyes. Although the men wore their hair roguishly long and hung wild and loose. The women's hair was long, most beyond their waists adorned with various decorations. Nearly all the villagers were humans, with several Halflings. Their fashions were simple and most wore high black riding boots.

But their routine was disturbed. Several shop owners found flyers attached to their doors. The passers-by found flyers hanging from lampposts. They stopped their work momentarily to look at the swirling images on the flyers. They had pictures of harlequins with painted faces, strange beasts, weird people with wings, skeletal women, huge men and other strange people.

A gentle breeze blew through the newly plowed field outside of town. A group of five men in the field began picking up bails of wheat and putting them into wagons. The men's appearance was similar to the villagers except their skin was a bit darker with a family resemblance. There were two older men, looking to be near middle age. One of the older men had black hair cut short. He also had stubble on his upper lip and chin. All the remaining men's hair was long and wild, and all was one or two shades lighter than the other older man's medium brown hair. All the remaining men and a young boy were clean shaven. The boy looked to be about fourteen. They all wore comfortable clothes, and all wore wide-brimmed hats.

Near the edge of the field, by the home, an older woman near middle age with three young women and another young man prepared a wagon to take to town. The older woman had light blonde hair and the four younger ones hair was between blonde and medium brown. This young man was clean shaven also with shoulder length wild hair. They had a bale of wheat and various vegetables in the wagon. When they were satisfied, they put a tarp over the produce and moved the wagon toward town.

Several pieces of paper floated down from the sky and landed on the wagons. The family picked up the papers and looked at them. They all saw different thing, images floating on the pages of strange people. Only the boy had words on his page, "Carnival" it said. They put the papers into their pockets and continued their work. The middle aged man with the short black hair, stared for a few more moments at the paper before putting it neatly into his pocket, smiling.

Sideshow Lingo used in the story:

ArenaThe large cage in which big-cat acts are performed.

Back Door — Performer's entrance to the Big Top.

Back YardThe area behind the big top where props, animals, and performers are readied for a circus performance.

Beast Wagon — A trailer fitted up with cages to carry the circus animals.

Big Cats — Performing lions and tigers.

Big Top — The main tent used for the performance.

Blues — The general admission seats, usually painted blue.

Boss Canvas Man — The man in charge of making sure the canvas goes up properly and doesn't come down short of a major blow down. Also decides on the placement of tents on the lot, and sometimes functions as lot manager for the sideshow as well.

Buildup — Putting up the tent.

Butcher — Strolling vendor selling refreshments or souvenirs.

Carpet Clown — A clown who works either among the audience or on arena floor.

Chambarrier — A ring whip for horses. Its pole is up to 5.5 m in length.

Clem — A fight.

Cookhouse— Place where circus people eat, not open to the public.

Donikers — Restrooms.

Ducat— Free ticket to the show, also known as an 'Annie Oakley'.

Ducat Grabber — Door tender or ticket collector.

Dzigits— Russian word for "Mongol horseman," an act displaying spectacular Caucasian and Cossack horsemanship. Also called "Cossack vaulting." At a gallop, riders somersaulting from the ground to the saddle, hang alongside or underneath the horse, etc.

Equestrian Director — Ringmaster, The "stage manager" of the show, in formal riding wear (top hat, red jacket, etc.) who decided and signaled the pacing of the acts. His costume, functions and whistle were later adopted by ringmasters when they became chief announcers instead of livestock-handlers.

Fleas — Local townspeople who arrive early to watch the carnival set up.

Flyers — Aerialists, especially those in flying return acts. The flyer's partner is the 'catcher.'

Forty Milers Newcomers to circus or carnival life, who (metaphorically speaking) have never been farther than 40 miles away from their home, and might very well quit before they get any farther away than that.

Framing a Show — Planning a circus production.

Galloper — Merry-go-round (q.v.) which most or all seats are horses and most or all have an up-and-down motion.

Hippodrome Track — The oval area between the rings and audience.

Jal Orderly — To come or go quickly; to pack up and get on the road smartly and quickly or set up the same way.

Layout Man — Lot Man, The lot superintendent who decides the location of the various tents.

March, The — The street parade.

MidwayIn its broadest sense, the area where all the concessions, rides and shows are located in a circus. A carnival is basically nothing but a midway without a circus, but in a circus the midway is situated "midway" between the 'front door' to the circus lot and the 'big top' where the circus performers do their acts.

Ring Banks — Wooden curbing around the ring.

Ringmaster — The show's Master of Ceremonies and main announcer. Originally, he stood in the center of the ring and paced the horses for the riding acts, keeping the horses running smoothly while performers did their tricks on the horses' backs.

Roustabout — A circus workman, laborer.

Sledge Gang — Crew of men who pounded in tent stakes.

Stain-trapeze — A mobile trapeze.

Zanies— Clowns.

Gypsy words used:

Jostumal — enemy "wishes you harm".

Foros — town (greek)

It took nearly all day for the men to complete their job. The sun was hanging low in the mid-afternoon sky, just above the tree line. They were taking the wagons back to the barn when a mist formed in the field. The men stopped to watch. Wagons emerged from the mist. The wagons were brightly painted driven by men and women with painted faces. When the last of the wagons emerged, the mist disappeared as quickly as it came. The wagons stopped. People came out of them.

Two people walked toward the family. One was a tall, wiry man with a black top hat, long flowing cape, formal black suit and a cane. The other man was almost as tall with a lithe build and long, straight silvery white hair that flowed behind him. He wore black pants and a mid-calf length black coat, what appeared to be a white shirt beneath, high hard black riding boots, fingerless gloves and appeared to have no weapons.

When the two men were close enough to the family, the man with the top hat had a cynical smirk on his face and looked like an undertaker. He had a wild mop of curling black hair beneath the top hat. He bowed low and made a dramatic wave of his hand. The other man merely bowed his head to the family. He had vulpine features with amber eyes, his ears were pointed. His silvery white hair reached nearly to mid-back.

The man with the top hat straightened. "Buna ziua," he asked in Balok.

The brown haired older man nodded his head. "Buna ziua," he said in Balok.

"Buna ziua," the man with the top had said more confidently.

"E'Roess," the middle aged man with short black haired said in Sithicus.

The other middle aged man with brown hair moved his head slightly in his direction. The black haired man lowered his head slightly.

"E'Roess," the elf replied.

"My name is Tindal, and this," he waved a hand at the elf by his side, "is Lucian and we are from the Carnival."

"My name is Carlos Perez," the older brown haired man said. "This is my brother Chico," he motioned to the older black haired man. "And my sons Mario, Marco, and Juan." He motioned from eldest to youngest.

"It is a pleasure to meet you all," Tindal bows low and waved his arm flamboyantly. "Is there a town nearby?"

"Yes," Carlos said. "About three miles down the road. It's more the size of a large village." He pointed in the direction where the remainder of the family went in the morning.

"We were wondering if we might set up our Carnival in your field for a few days so that we may entertain and amuse your community and restock our supplies in your village."

"Of course. But there is a better place. About a mile down the road there is a clearing surrounded by trees," Carlos said. "There is a stream there where you can water your animals. The trees are safe. You shouldn't have any trouble. It's also closer to the village."

"Thank you, kind sir," Tindal said and made a ticket appear in his hand. "Take this Ducat, a free ticket for you and your family to enter the Carnival. It also comes with a free concession. We will be ready for business by tomorrow at nine in the morning."

"This is Borca, correct?" Lucian asked.

"Yes it is," Chino said almost smiling. Carlos tilted his head toward his brother.

It didn't take the Carnival long to get to the clearing. And it was perfect for their needs.

The clearing was large and somewhat oval. There were dense trees lining the north and south sides. There was nine hundred and fifty feet from the north set of trees to the south set. There was a one hundred and fifty foot break in the trees to the east that led to the road and a hill to the west high enough so one couldn't see over it. There was eleven hundred and fifty feet from the opening to the hill. The hill rose about a hundred feet before descending about fifty feet on the other side. After reaching the clearing the Skurra checked out the area over the hill. There was about a hundred feet before an almost impassible outcrop of rocks. The area on the other side of the hill was perfect for the Skurra. Because tonight was the night of the full moon and the next was the lunaset, when the Skurra re-applied their makeup.

"Let's ready the March," Lucian said.

The Troupers cheered. The Scurra stood silently, as usual.

"We'll go with the same order as the last town. This is Borca, so we might want to downplay our arcane magic users. Elthryn? Raphael?"

Elthryn and Raphael stepped forward.

Elthryn Winter, the Wraith, Lucian's right hand man, was a tall, handsome Kartakan, clean-shaven with shoulder-length hair. His skin, hair, and eyes were all shadowy gray, thanks to the Twisting.

Raphael was an older man. He had an average athletic build and was rather tall. He was bald on top with a ring of short grey hair around the sides and back of his head. His neatly clipped mustache and beard was also grey, with some black still remaining to either side of his chin. Other than his hair, the only other betrayer of his years was the crow's feat at his eyes. Despite his unworn features, his hands betrayed a life of hard work.

"Yes, Lucian," said Elthryn.

"Elthryn you'll be in charge of the security for the March. Raphael, since you're Borcan you go along. If there needs to be any change to the Carnival setup, make sure you tell me the minute you two get back. We should have the outer ring of wagons, the Galloper and the Donikers's ready when you get back. Also try to see the layout of the town. We'll send people back into town after the March and the set up to get the supplies. That way if we have to Jal Orderly, we'll have our supplies."

"Of course, Lucian," Elthryn said. He smiled and went to get ready.

Raphael bowed his head and walked away.

"Tindal," Lucian turned to look at him. "You're going to be Ringmaster, so put the formal riding gear on with the red jacket. You'll lead the ground procession."

"Yes, Sir," Tindal said with an exaggerated bow. Then he left to go to his wagon.

Lucian looked around. "Raja?"

"Here," came a voice from the back of the crowd. A lithe short statured man approached. He had a trim build. His skin was a medium olive-tan with dark brown eyes. He had short, straight black hair with a glossy sheen. Raja Singh, the Hideous Man-Beast, was no beast. He walked proudly up to the group, his head held high. On one side of him was Silessa, the Snake Mistress. The beautiful elven woman wore an elegant blue dress that clung to her and a large python wrapped around her shoulders like a stole. Her arm was interlocked with Raja's.

"Prepare one beast wagon."

"Yes, Sir," Raja said.

"Will you want to go along?"

"Not necessary," Raja said.

"Silessa, you'll remain," she smiled. Then she and Raja walked away.

"Brothers?" Lucian called. The Blade Brothers stepped through the crowd. "You're in the March." They turned and disappeared through the crowd. "Stoltz," Lucian called next. Eight men and five women of ages ranging from 12 to 50 stepped forward. "Get the Stain-trapeze ready. Give the crowd a taste of the Trapeze."

They all snapped to attention and danced off through the crowd.

"Zanies!" several Skurra and Troupers stepped forward. "Get your slap on. Send in the Clown."