Their True Name
Aristide Cosismus Memoli

Their Stage Name
The Invincible Man

Their Appearance
Aristide stands at 5’10”, with a lithe, muscular build, sharp green eyes, and flowing dark hair grown out to his tailbone. His skin is light, brought to a healthy tone thanks to exposure to the sun, and oddly flawless despite his years working for the circus- something that he attributes to his power. He’s wildly expressive, face flitting between anger or content or satisfaction oftentimes within the hour, and leaving him very much an open book.

Even when not performing, Aristide has a flair for the flamboyant in his outfits. He weaves hairpins and bits and pieces of gold and metal into his hair, wears coats lined with fur, and silken gloves. He wears shirts left unbuttoned just so in a way to show off the peak of his chest, fine leather trousers, and, even without counting his hair accessories, wears a gaudy amount of jewelry. Rings, necklaces, bracelets- he even keeps a ruby earring stuck to his earlobe.
When on stage, however, it gets even worse. He tends to go completely shirtless, tight pants (to show that there are no tricks, or so he claims, even though it’s clear enough that he just enjoys showing off), and body paint depicting odd sorts of patterns across his chest.
The jewelry stays, though.

The Date they Joined the Circus
December 2nd, 1844

The Act
Oddly enough for Aristide’s...rather eccentric personality, he possesses the power of healing. This ability allows him to not only heal others, but himself as well, offering him an enhanced regenerative ability that’s kept him from meeting a shallow grave in the dirt more than once. Due to being the direct source of his own healing, Aristide’s regenerative abilities are stronger than his healing- allowing him to heal at an astonishing rate. That isn’t to say that his healing of others is anything to scoff at, however. If the body can heal it, Aristide can induce it, at the expense of his own energy. He can’t restore the nerves of a damaged spine, but he can heal gashes and broken bones with ease- although if the bone isn’t set, it will heal in a...less than pleasant way.

Aristide puts this power to use in his act often as “The Invincible Man”, repeatedly letting himself get shot, mauled, maimed, burned, and other various stunts- only to come out seemingly without a scratch. He tends to experiment often in his act, taking a certain pleasure in having so many eyes on him at once, watching his every move.

His compulsion is that he has to follow through with any and all promises that he makes.

Why they Joined the Circus.
To escape from the life he once had with his sister, to become a person who was allowed their own will, and to get his hands dirty and live it up until he was ash and bone.

Their Biography
The Memolis were a family that flourished in the city of Lucca, Italy, long before Italy had even come to exist. The household was well-off, consisting of several children, and an apparently loving set of parents that, while showing favoritism to some sons and daughters over the others, were still loving nonetheless.

However, while they were loving, they were most certainly not the most...gentle towards their children.

Neither Elizabeth nor Aristide speak much about what their home life was like. If Library is asked, she’ll either shoot the question down, or rattle off completely irrelevant facts until the questioner gets bored. If Aristide is asked, he’ll immediately become temperamental and moody (at least, more so than usual) until the subject is dropped. One thing is for certain, however- the heavy scarring on Library’s body says quite a bit. The most they’ll confess is that they weren’t the favorites of the family, that they were often left to their own devices, and that the circus offered a far better environment than what their home once was.

Their Connections
Aristide tends not to have many friends within the circus grounds- partly due to an inclination to keep people at a distance after so many have been lost, and partly due to the fact that he is, put quite bluntly, a bit of a prick. He’s loud, incredibly vain, and has a ruthless streak about a mile wide. Those who do manage to earn a soft spot in his eyes are often the targets of insults and jeers as much as most others, although he does tend to back off (albeit while huffing), if they end up visibly upset. He tends to prioritize these soft spots more than his other teammates.

Him and Library have a bit of an...odd relationship. They tend to throw barbs and insults at each other on a regular basis, and slow little to no affection to each other. However, Aristide can regularly be found nagging Library to eat or take care of herself, or bringing her meals in between complaints of how helpless she is.

Their Audition
“And we present to you today, the one, the only, The Invincible Man!”

Library couldn’t help but roll her eyes a little at that. She sat among the scores of the oblivious, dressed in her “civilian” clothes. It was her lunch break, and seeing that she rarely actually ate on a proper schedule, she had decided to duck out to watch a few of the acts while she was free. It had been a good few years since she had seen some of them, and it seemed like it could be interesting to see how the acts had changed as of late.

However, the act currently on wasn’t exactly to her interest.

She watched as Aristide sauntered forth, giving a particularly saucy wink towards a crowd of college girls in the front before bowing front and center. With a wave of his hand, a iron maiden was wheeled to the front, left to hang open in front of the gawking crowd.

“This, my dear, sweet audience,” he announced, “is an iron maiden. Fresh from the medieval era, and as sharp as the day it was made.” To emphasize his point, Aristide rested a finger upon one of the spikes, and then deftly yanked it downwards. With a smug smile, he turned, walking up to the front-seaters and parading the wound around for all to say. Coaxing them to confirm that the wound was, in fact, very much real. Once pleased with the feedback, Aristide lifted the digit to his mouth, ran his tongue leisurely across it, and then returned to the iron maiden.

“My assistants will be enclosing me inside this little death trap for a good...mmm. Let’s say a full minute. A full minute. And when I come out, I will be in perfect health. How does that sound?” His smirk only grew at the roars of the crowd.

With the confidence of someone who had done this many times before, Aristide stepped inside, turned around, and let the other carnies shut him in.

It didn’t take long before the maiden began to leak- a pool of blood spilling from its cracks, and growing wider with every moment.

There were screams.

Murmurs, worried murmurs, or skeptical ones.

And then the minute was up.

The iron maiden was opened, to reveal a...perfectly fine, if not particularly bloody, Aristide.

Stepping away from the mess, Aristide gave a full, elegant bow, his eyes lifting up to Library as he lowered himself. In a particularly, admittedly childish gesture, she proceeded to flip him off- something that she could see annoyed him, but something he didn’t let break his stride as he soaked up the praise of the audience.

He was just so humble.

Their True Name
Anastasia Romanov is her TRUE name, but everyone knows her as Ivalyn “Iva” Hastings

Their Stage Name
The Tattooed Lady

Their Appearance
Iva is one of eternal youth and exquisite beauty. A slim nose and jawline makes her rounded cheeks and eyes stand out so much more. Standing at the average 5’ 6” and weighing in at about 150 lbs., she has the curves of a temptress. She was born with naturally curly black hair and iridescent green eyes. Often adorning the picturesque look of a pinup girl, a style she carries to this day. As times change, so does her way of dress. Her hair was permed straight when it became a fad in the 80’s and 90’s and recently as of 2005 was dyed a dark red. Her style of dress has changed moderately, only into a less sophisticated ‘rockabilly’ look instead.

The Date they Joined the Circus (The Circus began on January 1, 1634)
Mid June of 1923 (per the first picture)

The Act they perform when not on the combat team
At first, being tattooed was enough of an act, especially for a woman in the 1920’s. Eventually, as tattoos became a part of everyday modern life and adaptations had to be made for her to continue to be useful. She trained with fire breathers and professional dancers and acrobats and now performs specialized routines requiring flaming batons and lots of flammable oil.

Her act directly correlates with her powers, animated fire breathing, meaning that she can breathe fire into shapes and animals that are depicted in her tattoos.
But, she cannot conjure out of nothing and the mass of the thing or object she uses will be the same mass or volume of whatever she conjures from her ink. She must be able to see what she is tranfiguring and focus. (Air has mass and volume, but to conjure using air would require either a very small amount of air or you risk basically sucking out all the oxygen from the immediate area.) For example, if she were to be looking at a tree while conjuring an elephant, the elephant would have the density, mass and volume of said tree, which would probably be a shitty elephant. A horse would apparate better.

Her compulsions are immortality and that she has to answer all questions about her past truthfully, however she can be as vague as possible and often opts for the mystery. Having gone to great lengths to keep her past a secret, this is especially trying to her since she struggles with how to be vague and completely truthful. The unfortunate aspect that comes with immortality is that she will forever be running from her past, especially now that it is known worldwide.

Why they Joined the Circus.
Secrecy and a safe place to hide. After her move to America she stumbled across the circus. Looking as she did, and the oddity of her tattooed body, the Ringleader approached her and gave her the offer. A safe haven of increasingly interesting people and a constantly moving space. Fulfilling her dreams to travel and having all the time to do so were very alluring.

Their Biography
After her escape, she had to disguise herself completely. She fled to Japan believing it to be an easy place to hide at the time. Considering the technology of the time, plastic surgery was not an option. Her first interaction with a tattooed woman was in a Geisha study house. A woman playing a samisen had a handful on her arms. After the explanation of what it was and how they were obtained, Iva spent a few years travelling and getting her entire body covered to the point where she no longer looked the same. The best way to hide is in plain sight, right? The rest is a mystery which will be revealed as time goes on.

{Information for players, NO CHARACTER KNOWLEDGE YET... Character is indeed based on the rumor that Anastasia did, in fact, escape the execution of her royal family in Russia, 1918.}

Their Connections
Iva is often seen by herself reading books or interacting with Jay.She has a soft spot for horses, having owned many as a young girl. She also frequently talks and trains with Toby, seeing as she was Ivas main inspiration, and the nature of their acts require fire, however different they may be. She is often at the back of the fights, preferring to control the board, per se, from the high ground. Being very protective of her ‘family’ she will step down to fight hand-to-hand if someone is unable to break from a daemon.

Their Audition
“Mother look!” The little boy held up a small poster adorning a picture of brilliantly colored tents with “Circus and Sideshow” plastered on the top. “Please Mother, can we go? It’s only in town tonight and I’ve never been to a circus before!”
She pondered for a moment. “Well it would be a nice change of scenery and I do have a bit of extra money from this week....” The boy squealed with excitement. “I’m going to go get ready.” He hummed a tune all the way down the hall. Mother sighed and laughed to herself. Upon further inspection of the poster she noticed a few of the acts. 'Animal taming, fire breathing, and The Tattooed Lady' were just a few. Oh, look at that! How taboo for a woman!

Upon arrival to the circus, the boy could hardly contain his squeals. After buying the surprisingly inexpensive tickets, they entered into a brightly lit field filled with games and people from all over town. Seemingly, they came into a place not of earth, but a place made entirely of light.

“Look at her, Mother!” He pointed. Why it’s the tattooed lady! Mother gathered her skirts and whispered to the boy, “Let’s follow her and see what else she does.” He was eager and they took off to pursue her to a huge vermillion and white striped tent. The tattooed lady entered the back, through a secret fold to the back stage. “We have to go this way, to the entrance,” she cooed to the young boy.

”WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMAN!” The voice boomed over the loudspeakers set about the braces inside the tent. ”Please allow me to introduce to you The Tattooed Lady, here to perform a special, one-of-a-kind routine for you tonight. Without further ado, here she is, The Tatooooed Ladayyy!”

As soon as she stepped onto the stage, a collective murmuring and a few strangled gasps came from the audience. Stepping into the light, you could see that she was covered from the neck down in all kinds of animals, ribbons, shapes of all sizes and the most notable, the spear tipped chain wrapping her collarbones and neck line. She smiled at the crowd and raised her arms to spin slowly around. “Yes, get a good look folks. It’s all real!” Her voice was rich and smooth, like syrup. Picking up two batons and dipping them in oil, she walked gracefully to the torch in the middle of the stage.

The lights dimmed and she lit each side of the batons, one by one, casting a warm glow over her face and arms. To build up the suspense, she twirled the blazing batons on her fingers and in a swift movement cast one into the air. It lingered over the stage, looking like a hovering hoop of flame before it swung down and was caught between her teeth. The flame cast seperate shadows on her face, as if she were telling campfire stories. Her eyes reflected the flame so well that it seemed like they produced their own light.

The crowd was amazed by this feat and clapped lightly, as not to disturb the act. She poised herself on her toes, threw her head back and curled her opposite leg up so that her body took a ‘q’ shape. She looked like a ballerina from an Edgar Degas painting. After a few spins and jumps she turned to the crowd and used one baton to sweep over the crowd. Eyes never meeting a single person, but it seemed that she looked at each and every face.

She paused and brought the flaming baton to her lips, and… Woosh A blazing ball was cast over the middle of the crowd. Ordinary at first, but the longer she held it, the more it was apparent that it was changing shape. After a few seconds the blazing turned into a chinese dragon, curling over the crowd, about 15 feet above their heads.

Shape after shape, animal after animal, she performed as many as she could.

Nearing the end of the show, her voice rang out, in that smooth and silky voice. “Now, for my final act!” She put out all the flames, save for one. She pulled it close to her face, and puffed out six fireballs. They floated above the crowd for a moment before turning into blazing little bunnies which hopped around before dissipating seemingly into fairy dust that settled on the crowd.

By the time the dust had settled completely, the tattooed lady had disappeared and the lights had started to brighten again under the canopy.

Kasimir stands at a towering 6'6, although the slouch he commonly sports makes him seem an inch or two shorter, combined with his massive build and weight of nearly 275 pounds, he seems likelier to be the resident strongman than a children's magician. His hair and beard had grayed entirely years before he joined the circus, and both were worn long, but neat. His wardrobe tends to consists of neutral colors, and follows a theme similar to "Dress-Casual in August;" Often sporting his black jacket and a grey scarf over-top a sweater, paired with slacks and his boots. Although his attire is fairly modest, he uses it to hide away his prosthetic limbs. Due to his time with the circus and significant financial accumulation, he sports an incredibly advanced prosthetic right hand, and left leg. If you look closely enough, you might even notice the Tesla logo!

Kasimir Joined the Circus September 29th, 1637.

Act
The Great Volshebnik is a family friendly magician, using his contract to perform as in incredible illusionist.

Contract
Portals
Kasimir is capable of creating portals at will, which can lead to anywhere in the world he so chooses.

Compulsion
"I can never ask another to do what I myself can not."

Why they Joined the Circus.
"To be a father once more, to begin my family anew."

Their Biography
Like many in the Circus, Kasimir rarely discusses his life before his contract. However, four hundred years is a long time to keep a secret, and vague pieces of his past have been put together by the bits he has shared over the centuries.

Kasimir was born a peasant in the peak of Russian Tsardom, with Ivan the terrible just achieving tsardom in Kaimir's childhood. During the Oprichnina of Russia, Kasimir's parents were executed after his mother had denied the advances of one of Ivan's numerous agents. During the period of oprichnina and the following times of trouble, Kasimir labored as a serf along with his aunt's family. Little else is known of his earlier years, as they were likely uneventful. However, it is known that by the 1620's he had become a wealthy farmer, tending the fields of the Romanovs along with his sons. At some point between this time and the beginning of his contract with the ringmaster, his family was once again executed by men of the Tsar, causing him to abandon faith in his masters, leading him to the ringmaster's open arms.

Their Connections
Because of Kasimir's seniority over most other members of the circus, he will often lead or co-lead daemon hunts, his contract allowing him to hunt both offensively and defensively, depending on the situation. Additionally, his contract enables a circus of such a size to move on such short notice.

Their Audition

The crowd sat patiently in the incredibly well lit tent, men and women, boys and girls, people of all ages sat anxiously awaiting the nights entertainment. Suddenly, the lights seemed to explode with brightness, and as their eyes recovered from the blinding surge, there he stood.

"And now, The Great Volshebnik!" Came the ringmaster's bellowing voice, accompanied by the applause of the audience at his sudden appearance. The man was enormous, dressed in a fine brown suit, accompanied with a top-hat! His eyes seemed to glow with a warmth that would put the sun to shame, and the smile with it equally warm. He spread his arms and walked a circle around his stage, meeting eyes with each face for just a moment as his boisterous, accented voice spoke.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Greetings to all, young and old! I must warn you, what you are about to see is neither the sleight of a hand of the trick of an eye! What you witness tonight is the accumulation of forbidden knowledge and ancient powers ages old, what you witness tonight is..." The man then paused, reaching up to the top of his hat and bringing it down to his chest, while simultaneously bowing before the audience. "Magic!"

At his words, an eruption of doves began spouting from his top hat, an entire flock of them pouring out of the merely seven inch head-piece displayed before the crowd! The birds flew in brilliant, interloping spirals for several moments before diving back into his top hat. Then, for good measure, he flipped his hat on it's side displaying to the entire crowd that it was simply a plain top hat.

The crowd erupted in applause, but The Great Volshebnik held up a finger, pausing them. Suddenly, another bird burst yet again from his hat! But he seemed prepared, and caught it the moment it had escaped. With a chuckle, and an apologetic nod to the crowd, he stuck the bird back into the hat. But, as he removed his hand, it had vanished! His hand had gone missing, along with the bird! The crowd gasped, and the Great Volshebnik mumbled loud enough for the crowd to hear.

"Agh! Not Again." With a frustrated sigh, he used his other hand to toss the hat to the side. This caused the audience to burst with laughter, especially from the children. Volshebnik grinned to the crowd mischievously, as a pair of doors were rolled onto the stage by two young men.

His act proceeded in a similar manner for the next hour or so, preforming great feats of magic for the crowd, but in a manner that was humorous and entertaining. He would walk through a door on one side of the stage, and come out the door on the opposite side and appear incredibly confused, etc.

However, after the end of his act, after he had bowed and turned to walk off stage, he accidentally stepped on his hat, plummeting up to his knee! He stood back up, and half his leg was missing! With a frustrated grunt, he smacked the hat away as the crowd roared with laughter. The Volshebnik simply gave a shrug as he stood, and began hopping backstage as the audience applauded and filed their way out.