Trinais

~~~The Harlequin's Shadow ~~~ A Supernatural Circus RP

Yes indeed @Orior!

Divine Hijinks

Parry kept himself out of the fight for the moment, watching and waiting. The spider-demon held the struggling Celestial captive, but for whatever reason the Celestial wasn't fighting back. Oh sure, she was struggling against the creature's legs, but she wasn't trying to get in closer and use her own powers against it- something that should've been easy when the spider lost one of its legs.

Something was off here. Very off.

When it dawned on Parry, it was almost too late.

"Riki! Duck and roll!" he shouted, fumbling in his bag for his own sword.

The Celestial in the demon's grasp vanished like a mirage as it raised itself up on its hind legs. The stinger on the demon's thorax protruded toward Rikive, dripping a clear and slimy liquid before firing off like a dart toward the charging Asgardian.

~~~The Harlequin's Shadow ~~~ A Supernatural Circus RP

You came to the circus like any other spectator. How could you not, especially after everything your friends told you! A true circus, like in the movies. Tent poles and wire acts and magicians? Not at all like the modern circus your parents took you to as a child- a few animal acts and a tight rope walk in a sports arena.

No, when you arrive at dusk like everyone else in your group, the place was so much more than a festival of carnies.

The tigers and wolves that walked the paths with an animal tamer would play with children like puppies and kittens. The acrobats walked on lines so thin, they might as well have been walking on air. And the magicians never did anything so mundane as pulling rabbits out of a hat or sawing a woman in half- the coat that transformed into a phoenix was so much more impressive than all that.

But what hangs over your head was the walk home. When you saw the performers fighting for their lives in the back alleys of your city. The animal tamer bound and destroyed a creature made of darkness, a mighty dragon. The acrobats moved stealthily along the rooftops as they dueled with dark shadows of humans. And the magician went toe to toe with a dark-robed figure as each summoned waves of fire and shadow-

And then you woke up. 6AM. Alarm going off.

Time to go back to work. Back to the land of the mundane office worker.

Life went ahead and played tricks on you again, making you want things in your dreams you could never have. Could never hope to have. Maybe tonigh you'll lay off the Corona before bed.

But as you pass your local diner on the way to work, you have a flash of deja vu as you spy a colorful group of individuals through the window...

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So I just finished reading "City of Glass" after re-reading "The Night Circus" last month, and I've been kicking around the idea of an otherworldly circus for a while now.

Without further ado, I give you...

~~THE HARLEQUIN'S SHADOW~~

~The Premise~

Your character is a performer in an paranormal circus. Long ago (or maybe not so long ago) you were offered a place by The Keeper as a performer. What The Keeper offered was too tempting to pass up- immortality, power, a chance to see the world.

What The Keeper demanded in return was your servitude. For The Keeper is in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with an ethereal rival, known only as The Harlequin. Wherever the Harlequin goes, its performers spring from the ground and gnaw on the psyches of the humans there. What the Harlequin wants and why are mysteries you might just find out, but the Keeper will not tell.

As a performer in the Circus, your immortality and power is fed on the awe and adulation of the witnesses of your acts. You must always be moving ahead, innovating, and creating new shows to sustain your power. To fail means your contract with the Keeper will be voided, and you will be returned to the mortal world- penniless, left behind during the passage of time, and vulnerable to whatever deprivations brought you to accept your contract in the first place...

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Thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Interest?

Prototype CS

Name:

Sex:

Description: Picture or written; animu or real.

Date Inducted: Rather than "age," when was your character invited into the Circus by The Keeper? For reference, the Circus has been around in one form or another since the Italian Renaissance.

Role: Clown, Magician, Fortune Teller, Lion Tamer (or the Tamer's Lion, if so inclined...), what does your character do?

Offensive Power: What can your character do against the forces of the Harlequin in battle? Try to keep yourself from getting all-powerful- your character's power should be linked to the awe they inspire in the audience.

Biography: A short, 2-5 paragraph biography. Chiefly, why was your character inducted into the Circus? What was s/he willing to trade for this power? Did you demand something in return for your service to The Keeper?

Other: Anything you feel like adding. Orientation, nationality, nervous tics, factoids everyone should be aware of when interacting with your character.

Audition: Please post a 2-4 paragraph "audition." The subject of which being a mundane audience member viewing your character's show in the circus.

Divine Hijinks

Eager as Rikive was to remain undetected, Parry was doubly concerned with his current predicament. Whoever this Celestial was, he/she/it had a purpose for being here. On the surface, probably hunting this demon down and eradicating it from the city. But underneath that it was entirely possible she was here to find Parry and bring him back to the Nether.

Where he could potentially face consequences for going AWOL. So... to help or not to help? That was the question.

So while Parry reached into his bag and offered Rikive Winterthorn by the hilt, he withdrew his Dawn Blade and held it at the ready, letting Rikive take the lead on this one.

Divine Hijinks

Outside the back door, the scene was very different from what was in the front of the store. The quaint beachfront facade was gone, replaced instead by a generic back alley. Dumpsters lined the wall, trash on the pavement, and graffiti sprayed on the bricks by kids with too much time on their hands.

So the 12 foot tall creature hanging above the ground by black spider-webs definitely didn't fit the scenery.

The demon had given up that perfect ass for eight legs and a spinneret and stinger, covered in coarse hairs while from the waist up, it maintained the human form it held walking outside of the beach front property. In its front hands it clutched a flickering blue flame, while its front four legs held another form of prey.

A woman, blue-robed and black haired like, dressed for battle in overlapping plates. Six ribbons of white light shimmered from her back while on the pavement, a freshly polished iron blade and winged helm sat in a pile.

"Oh fuckberries," Parry whimpered.

There was a new Celestial in town. But was she hunting Parry or the Demon? Or was she looking for Rikive?

No answer to that question was a good one.

Divine Hijinks

PArry wasn't too happy to be in the vicinity of a Demon. But he wasn't happy about the rash either, and all things considered, he could deal with both. It was nice out, the sun was starting to go down, there were plenty of bodies to look at. He even got Italian Ice for the ludicrous price of 5.50 a cup, and he had to fish in his bag for cash because the seller wouldn't take cards; he wasn't in the 21st century apparently.

To top it all off, while Rikive's ice was a nice snowy mound, Parry's was a frozen snowball- the kind you could throw at someone and leave a bruise that'd show the next morning.

What he couldn't deal with was the ludicrous perv who opened his jacket in a public place. Rikive found it hilarious, and Parry had to snicker as the guy ran off.

"Holy shit. I've heard of 'Micros' before but... I kind of feel sorry for the guy." Parry frowned, watching the guy run as pool security started chasing after him. He looked at his Italian Ice ball, then at Rikive, and his snickers turned into an evil grin.

"I never taught you how to throw a baseball," Parry said, starting to walk in the same direction as the man was running. His right hand settled on the ice ball, clutching it hard. "You take the ball in one hand, like this. You rotate, then lead with the foot on the same side. Like so."

The Ice ball went flying forward, sailing across the boardwalk until it impacted on the back of the perv's skull. He flew forward and landed face first in the sand, where security promptly tackled him.

"Wanna try it-"

There was a loud crash inside the tourist shop. Parry watched through the front window as a kid went down on the floor and took a tee-shirt rack with him. On the far side of the shop, the Demon's silhouette walked through into the back of the store.

"Fuckin' demons," Parry grumbled, putting his hands back in his pockets. "Always gotta ruin a good thing."

A small crowd had gathered inside the store, someone shouting "Jason? JASON!" while on of the clerks grabbed the house phone to call 9-1-1. The demon's stench hung in the air, but Parry caught a whiff of something else. Something he liked far less as he approached the half dozen people watching as a mother hovered over a bald, pale-skinned teenage child.

Jason Moore, age 13, Stage 3 Liver Cancer. From the smell I'd peg him at a 60-40 survival rate. If the chemo doesn't do it eventually.

He fucking hated knowing all that shit about the kid. Came with the old job though, and some skills he couldn't lose when the wings were hung up.

Parry had to tear his eyes away and look back at the exit door where the demon had slunk out.

"C'mon," he said to Rikive, nodding at the back door. "Let's get a leg up. There's enough people here."

Divine Hijinks

Parry wrinkled his nose at the idea of hiding behind an Italian Ice cart like they were in some cheesy Scooby-Doo episode. The demon had waltzed into the shop, but so far no screams, crashes or explosions of dark energy followed in its wake. As far as Parry knew, demons spent all their time lusting after the essence of the living. Not buying tacky hats from a tourist shop.

"If it knows what we are, it either doesn't care or wasn't in the mood to start shit. I think it'd be best to leave it be. But..." Parry rolled on his side, then stood and hoisted the diaper bag over his shoulder, "I'd be up for getting some Lemon-Lime ice if you would too."

Divine Hijinks

It was the worst kind of dilemma for Parry. On the one hand, a demon was antithetical to his very existence- a creature that existed to consume creation rather than tend to it. His hand was all but reaching into the bag for his own blade.

On the other, Parry had hung up his wings centuries ago and was not at the height of his powers. Rikive and he might be able to subdue the demon, but defeat was not certain. Not head on at least.

"Need?" Parry said, tipping his sunglasses further down his nose. "We don't need to do anything. But... it might not hurt to follow it. Just to see what's up."

Parry cocked an eyebrow at Rikive as the demon sauntered into the shop.

"At the very least, wearing a Speedo in public like that is probably a mortal crime. Might as well be naked."

Dance in the Night - A Vampire Society Role Play

@ViolentViolet I can make up another character by tomorrow if necessary, though I prefer to go one at a time...

Dance in the Night - A Vampire Society Role Play

I actually want to kick us off at a soiree.

@ViolentViolet

Guess who's coming to dinner???

THIS GUY!!!!

Cuz, you know, I'm... like, dinner...