« Le Cirque de Rêves »

Subject: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:00 pm

First topic message reminder :

{Sydni's role-play}
This roleplay is based off my favorite book, The Night Circus.

-=| Storyline |=-
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque de Rêves, and it is open only at night.
It is the year of 1905, and you are an entertainer at Le Cirque de Rêves, the Dream Circus. The circus travels to a new town, country, or even continent every week. Though, this is not your everyday circus; there's something strange about it. Possibly the fact that the performers are not your everyday performers either. Most possess magical abilities.

You are trained to be the best entertainer you can be and make Le Cirque de Rêves as memorable as possible. In the midst of this, something is not right with the circus. Maybe it's because Friedrick Thiessen, leader of the rêveurs was murdered. Maybe it is because of the oppressive heathens of the circus, réalistes. Maybe it is just your imagination. Anything is possible in the Circus of Dreams.

-=| Types of Entertainers |=-
Pyromancers: These people play with and can produce fire, of any color. Whether it's juggling balls of fire, shooting flaming arrows, or just spawning fire, they do it.
Contortionist: These entertainers have superhuman-flexibility. They can bend themselves into a box, form a human pretzel, etc.
Illusionist: These people can produce unbelievably realistic "illusions". They can even give themselves false appearances.
Animal-tamer: These people tame animals to perform tricks. (i.e., panthers, bears) Their secret is their obedience charms.
Fortuneteller: These performers can tell others their futures by use of a crystal ball, tarot cards, palm readings, etc. (There is only one. She is an NPC. maybe if anyone wants to be her apprentice?)
Acrobat: These entertainers walk the tightrope, swing on the trapeze, etc. They can actually perform magic that defies the laws of gravity and enable levitation.
Dancer: These people are usually foreign. They entertain by dancing with ribbons or performing dances of different cultures unique to them.
Manipulator: These people can manipulate or distort objects, animals, and sometimes people. They can do things such as make a cup bigger or change someone's face.

-=| Performances |=-
You can choose to have your own tent or to just have little shows around the circus grounds. Each have their own benefits. Tents allow you to always have a place to perform. While with just appearing anywhere, you have to find a clear, open area to entertain. On the other hand, performing out in the open allows you the opportunity to be more spontaneous.

-=| NPCs |=-
Non-playing characters. These characters are people part of the storyline who can be freely be controlled by anyone. Though some NPCs are 'taken', you are allowed to have relationships beyond friendship, if you wish. Also, some NPCs are dormant, meaning they serve no purpose besides giving you a back-story because they are gone now.

Name: Penelope "Poppet" Murray
Gender: Female
Birthday/age: October 14, 1886 / 18-years old
Appearance: Long flaming red hair and blue eyes
Back-story: Born into the circus. Her parents are animal-tamers as well, though with big cats such as panthers and snow tigers. She brought Bailey into the circus, thinking there was something special about him.
Entertainer: Animal-tamer (kittens), Co-owner of the circus
Special Abilities: Can see the future, usually from looking at the stars
Type: Active
[Is always referred to as Poppet. Keep in mind that she is a the love interest of Bailey, and twin of Widget.]

Name: Winston "Widget" Murray
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: October 13, 1886 / 18-years old
Appearance: Short, bright red hair and blue eyes
Back-story: Born into the circus. His parents are animal-tamers as well, though with big cats such as panthers and snow tigers.
Entertainer: Animal-tamer (kittens), Co-owner of the circus
Special Abilities: Can read peoples' pasts
Type: Active
[Often referred to as Widget. Keep in mind that this is Poppet's twin.]

Name: Bailey Clarke
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: Unknown, 1886 / About 18-years old
Personality: Kind and sweet, especially to Widget and Poppet. He loves to have fun.
Back-story: Born and raised on an orchard/farm in Concord, Massachusetts, Bailey never felt like he belonged there. Until one day, he was dared by his sister Caroline to sneak into Le Cirque de Rêves, where he met Poppet. Five years later, the circus went back to Concord, where Bailey met Poppet again. Yet this time, Bailey leaves with the circus never to return to Concord again. He always felt the circus was more home to him than anything, even before eloping to join it.
Entertainer: None: Owner of the circus
Type: Active
[Keep in mind he is the love interest of Poppet.]

Name: Lucette Mehra
Gender: Female
Birthday/age: March 3, 1876 / 28-years old
Appearance: Long, straight, black hair and brown eyes. Her skin is slightly dark.
Back-story: Asked by Marco to be the fortune teller of the circus
Entertainer: Fortune teller
Special Abilities: Can read peoples' futures without the use of "materialistic" ways.
Type: Active

Name: Marco Alisdair
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: Unknown / About 30 ~ 35-years old
Entertainer: None: Lefevre's exassistant
Special Abilities: Can produce 'magic'. Put a spell/charm on the circus so that no one physically ages or dies by natural causes.
Type: Dormant

Name: Chandresh Christophe Lefevre
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: September 9, 1847 / 57-years old
Entertainer: None: Ex-Owner of the circus; Holds NO memory of being part of the circus
Special Abilities: None
Type: Dormant

Name: Nathan Scott
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: Unknown / 16-years old
Appearance: Nathan has light blonde hair and dark blue, almost midnight, eyes. He has fair skin and a birthmark on his face that looks a coffee stain on his cheek.
Personality: Nice, but can sometimes have a short temper
Back-story: Nathan was born in Cambridge, England. His family was not very wealthy, and soon died of an unknown illness. Nathan was on the streets when a man in a grey suit found him, brought him to the circus, and he was trained as an acrobat since.
Entertainer: Acrobat
Special Abilities: Unknown
Type: Active

Name: Celia Bowen
Gender: Female
Birthday/age: Unknown / About 30-years old
Appearance: Strikingly beautiful- long, dark, brown hair. Green eyes. Tall, skinny.
Back-story: Love interest of Marco; rest- Unknown
Entertainer: Illusionist
Special Abilities: Can do magic. Taking on Widget, Poppet, and Ethel as apprentices.
Type: Dormant

Name: Tsukiko
Gender: Female
Birthday/age: Unknown / About 35-years old
Appearance: Japanese- straight black hair, brown eyes, pale skin
Back-story: Performed for Lefevre back in the circus' and the Midnight Dinner's haydays.
Entertainer: Contortionist
Type: Active

-=| Means of Being Discovered |=-
Someone can be 'discovered' and brought into the circus two different ways:
1. They are asked to perform at one of Chandresh Christophe Lefevre's Midnight Dinners.
2. They audition in London for a spot in the circus; only took place from, 1884-1886.
Other than this, performers can be in the circus by:
1. Being found performing in the streets.
2. Are asked to elope with the circus and run away from home.
3. Born into the circus

-=| Character Form |=-
Name:
Gender:
Birthday/age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Back-story:
Entertainer:
Special Abilities:
Tent?(Yes/no):

-=| RULES |=-
1. Deaths are allowed.
2. Do not use others' characters without their permission.
3. All characters (excluding "clients") must wear black, white, and/or silver. "Too much white and people assume they are wedding gowns, too much black and they become heavy and dour." Characters do not have to stick with two outfits; they can vary with each performance if you wish.
4. Everything in the circus is black and white. Food, clothing, tents, animals, everything. Although you can get away with grey and silver.
5. When a character is not performing, they must wear casual-clothing. This means do not stick to black, white, and silver. You are free to wear any color you wish.
6. Keep in mind that this takes place in the early 1900s, starting at: February 1905.
7. You are allowed to bring characters outside of the circus into the circus. They must possess some sort of talent that benefits Le Cirque de Rêves.
8. You are allowed to make no more than two characters who are not members of the circus. These people are called rêveurs; they usually spend their free time following the circus to wherever it goes. You can identify these people by what they wear, which is pure black and white, with one splash of red such as a scarf, a rose in the lapel, or a tophat-band. If your character is a reveur, in the "Entertainer" section put
"None: Reveur". Also, a reveur will most likely not have a "Special Ability". They just really love Le Cirque de Rêves.
9. Entertainers are not allowed to perform their "talents" on other people. Such as, manipulating someone's face hideously or "tame" a client into being your butler/maid. This obviously excludes fortune tellers.

-=| Locations |=-
So we know where we're at, where we're headed, etc. Don't want confusion. I'll have to update this every now and again! We might not hit all of these dates. Sometimes we can jump days, weeks, months, or years. Depending on what happens. When we're not in a city, we're on the circus' magical train traversing to the next city. (If -- is between dates, that is when we skip over time.) (!!!The week in RED is the current one!!!)

----1905----
Friday, February 10 ~ Monday, February 13: New York City, New York
Tuesday, February 20 ~ Saturday, February 25: Montreal, Canada
Monday, February 27 ~ Friday, March 3: Nice, France
--------
Tuesday, March 14 ~ Thursday, March 16: Vienna, Austria
Sunday, March 19 ~ Wednesday, March 22: London, England
Monday, March 27 ~ Thursday, March 30: Tokyo, Japan
Friday, March 31 ~ Monday, April 3: Wuhan, China
--------
Wednesday, June 7 ~ Saturday, June 10: Sydney, Australia
Monday, June 12 ~ Wednesday, June 14: Mumbai, India
--------
Thursday, September 21 ~ Sunday, September 24: Constantinople, Turkey
Wednesday, September 27 ~ Friday, September 29: St. Petersburg, Russia

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:29 pm

"Good job!" Scarlet said staring at her hand the whole time. "It didn't get worse so far!" she smiled before continuing "I still don't feel the pain, so it was successful."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:36 pm

"Thank you. That's truly excellent!" Ethel responded loudly.

Widget was walking by one of the housing tents when he heard people shouting, probably girls. He walked in and asked, "What's all the rukus?"

Ethel's expression went back to neutral, but she had a fair flush in her face, "I was just practicing some things Celia taught me, Widge."

"I see," Widget said, raising an eyebrow. "She was a good teacher, a shame that she's gone."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:55 pm

"No problem~" Scarlet said before Midget (Bestnickname) came. She listened quietly to their conversation and nodded.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:59 pm

"Scarlet was helping me immensely," Ethel said. "Though I must say it frightened me to so, considering neither you, Poppet, I, even Celia, could restore things other than ourselves. Animals were the worst."

"Quite so. I always wondered why that was." Widget said and turned towards Scarlet.
"Hello, Scarlet," Widget beamed. "How is your fire-work coming along?"

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:05 pm

"Could be the old folks never learned how to do in their time, but thought nothing of it and just kept passing on their talents.." Scarlet muttered. "Decently well, but I keep burning my hair. Ethel just fixed it a few moments ago which is good." she said.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:12 pm

"That's grand," Widget chimed. "Ethel has not be much for practicing her 'illusions'. Well, I best be going now. Bailey, Poppet, and I need to discuss some business matters. Such as where we're going next. Seems as though it will be Montreal, Canada. Good day, misses." Widget smiled, tilted his nonexistent hat, and headed out of the housings area.

"He seems to be in a good mood today," Ethel mused. "Such a strange eighteen-year old, do you think not?"

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:15 pm

"Yes, he seems to be child-like or what not. Hard to believe he's older then some of us here," Scarlet agreed. "I wonder what got him in a good mood today."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:20 pm

"I am not so sure," Ethel shrugged. "I agree. He is somewhat to an older brother to me. Physically, he's four-years older; mentally, four-years younger." Ethel casually smiled at Scarlet.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:26 pm

"He's immature, but I don't really see him as an older brother. Well, I don't really see anyone was an older brother to be honest," Scarlet shrugged. "So, what now?"

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:30 pm

"Not necessarily. I can see where you are getting at, but it is simply not true. I agree, he is very childish, but 'immature' is not the word. He can be very mature," Ethel stated with the same expression as earlier: neutral, mysterious, deep. Her eyes softened as she spoke, "I am not sure. Oh, I left Lewis at the bonfire, maybe we should see what he wants to do?"

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:39 pm

"That is true, I'm not very good with words," Scarlet said. "Sure, he must be lonely I guess," she said.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 8:47 pm

"It is fine. I guess I get offended when people think negatively of my 'family'," Ethel laughed dryly. "I suppose so." Ethel walked out of the housing area towards the bonfire. Lewis was not there. "That is strange," Ethel bemused. "He was here when I left almost ten minutes ago."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:05 pm

"Sorry.." Scarlet muttered softly. "Hmm.. he's probably running around or something.."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:17 pm

Lewis finished setting up his tent in Montreal. The chairs were in a neat circle, three chairs deep, around his slightly raised stage in the middle. It was 3pm, on a day similar to the one in New York. This reminded Lewis of his talk with Ethel causing him to raise an eyebrow and slightly blush when he thought of how he just got up and left when she announced she would return. "Why did I do that?" he wondered. Lewis went over to the bonfire in hope that he would have an encounter similar to the previous one.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:24 pm

"DAMMIT!" Scarlet shouted causing birds outside to fly away startled. "Goodness, I need to stop burning my hair.." she said staring at the piece of burnt hair,next to the brown hair Ethel fixed. "..I wonder how's she doing, haven't really talked much to anyone.." she thought before sighing.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:29 pm

Lewis sat on the ground which was very cold from the thin, slightly melted snow from the night before. He buttoned up his jacket and pulled down his pant ends, hoping to build up some kind of warmth. Lewis noticed some grass pieces poking out through the whiteness and thought, "That's strange for this time of year, in this location."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:42 pm

Scarlet sat on the ground right under an tree, she sighed deeply. "So tired..I've been trying to not burn my hair all day.." she muttered softly.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 9:57 pm

Lewis heard the familiar sound of boots trudging, but this time through snow. He looked up, hopeful, but was disappointed. An older girl with strikingly red hair and blue eyes wearing a dark blue dress with black boots and a brown jacket. It was Poppet.

"Hello, Lewis," Poppet smiled and stopped walking through the cold snow.

"Hello, Poppet."

"Disappointed? Were you expecting someone else?" Poppet instigated, smirking.

Lewis raised an eyebrow. "No, were you?"

"Lovely defense, Loo," Poppet giggled.

Lewis blushed slightly and pouted.

"I'm sorry," Poppet laughed. "I was just walking by and happened to notice you. Please do not be offended, I was just picking on you."

"It is quite alright," Lewis reassured. "Well, I ought to go. Good day, Poppet."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:12 pm

Scarlet heard near-by chattering but ignored people speaking. She leaned her head on the tree bark and lifted her legs up so she can tug on the black boots she had on. She took the necklace out of her shirt and stared at the star shape. "Bored.."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:22 pm

Ethel was strolling along outside when she noticed Scarlet under a tree in the distance. "Should I go talk to her? It has been a while since that chat in New York." Ethel contemplated for only a few nanoseconds and went over to the large oak tree in which Scarlet sat under. "Hello, Scarlet," Ethel greeted rather softly. "How do you do?"

Lewis went back to his tent and sat in a chair in the most-outer ring of the circle. "What was that all about?" he wondered as he tapped his boots on the back of the chair in front of his. A couple of minutes later, he took out his pocket watch and took notice of the time. "17:33" he read. "Three more hours."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:34 pm

Scarlet dozed off before Ethel came and soon awoke when Ethel spoke. "A-ah. Hey Ethel, haven't talked to you for a while... I'm good, just tired."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:38 pm

"I see," Ethel said as she smoothed down her dark brown skirt and knelt next to her. "Have you been sleeping well? Staying up late? Practicing too much?" Ethel inquired with a slightly worried expression, but she was more worried than she allowed herself to look.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:45 pm

"All of them," Scarlet said. "I'm staying up more late, and not sleeping too much, and I'm practicing way more then I used to, I want to get better y'know?"

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:51 pm

"Draining yourself dry like this won't solve anything but make you pass out," Ethel responded. "I suggest you sleep until 21:00, that is when your first show is, correct?" Ethel did not wait for Scarlet's response because she knew she was spot on. "Also, try going to sleep right after your last show ends, 4:00, I presume? Aim to get at least six hours of sleep a night. Otherwise you will just drive yourself into the ground!" Ethel partially shouted and paused. Ethel inhaled softly. "I mean not to sound like your mother," she mused.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 10:55 pm

"You do sound like a mother, but thanks for the concern," Scarlet smiled then laughed a bit. "I'll do that, thanks though..So enough of me, how have you been?"