Hullo hullo!
Would the circus have any room for a clockwork magician/engineer in its ranks, or is this thread now closed to new characters?
Image: can't get this blasted thing to work right! Here's a link until further notice. http://www.deviantart.com/art/gentleman-379220932
Name: Arno de Lunae
Gender: Male
Age: 132 years, 7 months, three hours and 12 minutes old. Appearance 20.
Role in the Circus: Clockwork Magician
Magic: Unmoved Mover (Telekinesis) - Arno's power is slight, almost negligible in comparison to most of the other performers of the Cirque. His ability to move objects with his mind cannot be extended beyond the lifting of a few pounds. His prior career as a clockmaker has been put to use in designing fantastic contraptions for use in the Cirque, turning them into themed tents for guests to enjoy, winding them up like precision music-boxes with his mind and letting them loose to endear themselves in the guests' imaginations.
Current Attractions - The Clockwork Menagerie (A collection of brass and iron fantastical creatures available for younger guests to interact with; dragon is down for repairs; Ages 3+)
The Tsarina's Ball (Guests and entertainers alike can step onto a classical dance floor, the clockwork automatons moving with grace and precision in a flowing waltz; Ages 16+)
Reason for joining Cirque de Noir: Traded his soul for his lover's life to be spared in the Great War. The lover has forgotten Arno existed, moving on after surviving the trenches.
Past Life: Arno is the eldest and only son of the de Lunae family of Alsace Lorraine. Once famed clock makers throughout Europe, their pieces can now only be remembered and treasured by eccentric collectors and museums. Arno was raised in the family trade along with his younger sister and showed real promise in carrying on the family work. He left for a formal education in engineering in Berlin around 1908, followed by a kind of work-study in Paris after graduation. Returning home, his family was surprised and shocked at what he had become.
Arno's combination of German mechanical efficiency and Parisian artistry led to the creation of a revolutionary line of watches for sale. But his new intended raised the most eyebrows. Otto Hollenzern, a strapping blonde-haired young man from Berlin, was presented as nothing more than a close friend of Arno, but the family quickly saw through the facade the two put up. They sat too close, smiled at each other too quickly, and locked eyes for too long. Arno and Otto were tolerated, but not welcomed as a couple in the workshop.
The two were able to make things work until the outbreak of the Great War. Otto was recalled to Germany and Arno quickly lost touch with him in the chaos of the war. The de Lunae family was forced to leave everything behind in its flight to Paris, quickly becoming destitute as centuries of family wealth was overrun and plundered by the German army. Late one night in August, 1915, at approximately 11:34 in the evening, Arno found himself in line for a peculiar circus that had popped up on the outskirts of Paris. The young man, too frail to be considered for conscription into the French army to fight, was offered a position within the strange and wondrous circus. His only demand in exchange for the use of his talents- that his beloved Otto survive the Great War. The devil was in the details however. Otto lived, but only just. A gas attack left the young man crippled and insensate. Arno continued to send letters that Otto, confined to military hospital for the remainder of the war, could not physically answer. Otto lived past armistice day, but died 3 days and 19 hours after the end of the Great War.