Circus of the Soulless

[Trinais]

Your mother and father came to you one evening, perhaps mere hours ago- interrupting your evening gaming session or homework. Or perhaps it was a time longer ago, something on the edge of memory. You have a recollection of watching a man in a white space-suit set foot on the surface of Luna. Or father returned from the Great War, a medal on his chest and a pair of fingers missing. Some of you remember further back.

But all know what came next. A newspaper clipping or an email printout or a postcard. "There is a circus in town," they said to you. "And you can get in free because you are not yet eighteen. We should go!"

And you were as intrigued as you were annoyed. That you would leave the comfort of home to see something so banal, so average, so boring was regarded as some type of punishment. But their word is law, and so you grabbed your coat, piled into the car, and arrived at the fairground outside of the city. There, planted in an empty farmer's field, sat a tent city all its own. Great spires of black and white cloth rose into the sky, taller than your school and home, with strange lights that fluttered through the air within the iron bars enclosing it.

The sights and sounds within were too wondrous and strange to give words to. Animals never seen before did tricks for the amusement of the audience. Illusions more real than any Hollywood film can pretend at sprang to life from the fingertips of stage magicians, doing battle with wicked creatures from dark worlds unseen like gladiators in a ring. Always there was more to see, more to explore, more to do.

Perhaps most strange, though, was the ringleader of the opening show. The amount of makeup and special effects it took to make this being look so lifelike and natural... it boggled your mind. With each shift of the light, he became a she, then a he again, then a she. At times you saw a golden crown, a laurel made of thorns, and what looked like a great rack of antlers. Always in a midnight black coat with white buttons, you noticed the Master following you within the circus, now and again asking how you found the performances. And with a wink toward your parents, the Master finally asked if you'd like to perform in the circus someday.

"Of course," you said, because at heart you were still a child. And at some level, you did not know what the Master was asking.

But by sunrise, you prepared to leave the grounds when, unexpectedly, you were separated from your family. None too scared, you made your way to the entrance... only to see yourself leaving with your mother and father in the family car. But it wasn't really you. It was a doppelganger. A clone. And you hurried to run after them in the trail of dust left by the tires, to tell them it was another trick of the circus. It had to be.

"No," said the stage magician as she placed an arm on your shoulder to keep you from running. "That was a fetch which holds your soul to this place. It will grow and learn and live and love where you should have. And you will never grow older or sick- but you will learn how to cast fire from your fingers, to fly through the air, to lift whole cars with one hand, and to speak to beasts- so that one day you might be freed. Because you belong to the Master now. Welcome... to the Circus of the Soulless."

Rules of this story

1. The Circus and its Master are Eternal, Otherworldly, and cannot be destroyed by your hand or the combined strength of all its prisoners.

2. Though you are a prisoner of the Circus, there is a way out. Every year on the Winter Solstice, the Master chooses one performer and allows them to leave, to return to the life of mortal humans- never to be seen or heard from by any in the circus, ever again.

3. You are permitted to leave the Circus by day, but will always return by nightfall- whether by your own free will or not. Many have tried to escape this life, but always they are brought back before they can return home.

4. Though the Master seems all-powerful, the circus is under threat from creatures beyond our world. Dark Things from beyond the edge of the woods and hills, the stuff of evil fairy tales. The Master expects the performers to defend the circus and any humans within the vicinity should they attack- but to do so in a way that does not break the illusion of the show.

5. This is a story more about the people trapped within the circus than the battles they fight against the Dark Things. Willing or unwilling performer that you are, foremost in your mind is the knowledge that- should you please the Master- you will be released from the circus.

So... any interest?

[BigBullCrocker]

Interested

[Owlflight]

Ooh, I'm definitely interested!

[LoneWolfie]

I am so interested in this. It sounds amazing.

[ListenUp]

Possibly, yes. This would make a great story though!

[Trinais]

It was going to be my NanoWrimo plot last year, but life got in the way :/ glad you guys and gals are interested though! I'll give it another day or so and make the OOC

[Esperluette]

I'm definitely game. I'll be watching.

[Mikipi]

Oh gosh, this sounds wonderful. Count me in.

[Zombehs]

Sounds very cool.

[SortOfMagical]

Oh I am so interested in this.