« Le Cirque de Rêves »

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

{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 » Tue Aug 28, 2012 3:10 pm

-=| Character Form |=-
Name: Ethel Cowell
Gender: Female
Birthday/age: December 13, 1892 / 14-years old

Appearance: Ethel has long, wavy, dark brownish-red hair, and deep brown eyes. Despite her dark hair and eyes, she has moderately fair skin with a great complexion. At least, this is how she "appears." Ethel actually has medium length, straight, dirty blonde hair paired with dull green eyes. With this, she has a slight tan. Yet she never appears to look that way. She always wears a silver ring on her right index finger that reads somniatores somnia and a pendant that ends in a silver sun.

Personality: Ethel is kind, smart, and loves the circus. She does not let out her emotions on others but by performing. This makes it seem to others as though she cannot feel sadness or anger, but that is not the case. She has a mysterious air about her, similar to her mentor Celia. Ethel sometimes reads, being not-necessarily a bookworm, to sharpen her wits to be the greatest illusionist though she has no intentions of becoming the "greatest illusionist". She just has a passion for her job.

Back-story: Ethel was brought into the circus at a young age from an orphanage in Munich, Germany by Friedrick Thiessen, master clockmaker and leader of the reveurs. Since then, she was taught by Celia how to create "illusions." Her original name was Edeltraud Krause, but changed it so she seemed to be English. And also, because she hated the name "Edeltraud Krause" despite its honorable meaning.

Entertainer: Illusionist
Special Abilities: Ethel can actually perform magic, thanks to her instructor Celia. Though she is technically a "magician", she makes it seem as though it is an illusion. Hence her being an illusionist.

Tent?: No

--

-=| Character Form |=-
Name: Lewis de Angelis
Gender: Male
Birthday/age: June 16, 1887 / 17-years old

Appearance: Lewis is tall, has brown, almost black, hair with dark brown eyes. He is very slender and has dark skin, but light, for an Italian. Lewis wears a plain, thick gold ring on his left thumb, solely because it looks 'cool.' Also, because it partially covers a scar running from the middle of his left thumb down to the end of his thumb.

Personality: Lewis is sweet and kind, fairly smart, but not an Einstein. Lewis is fairly laid-back, but very gentlemanly. He is not necessarily "flirtatious", but he loves to shoot girls his, possibly, award-winning smile. Although Lewis seems attractive, he has never had a girlfriend or had romantic interests in anyone.

Back-story: Lewis was recruited in London where he performed for Chandresh Christophe Lefevre at one of his famous "Midnight Dinners". He was discovered by Lefevre's assisstant Marco in Italy when he was 12 and brought to audition for a part in the circus.

Entertainer: Pyromancer
Special Abilities: Lewis can produce flames without a match or a fire starter. He just simply thinks "fire" and there they are, in his hands.
Tent? (Yes/no): Yes

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Tue Aug 28, 2012 7:33 pm

You didn't have to post the form.. xD ^

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:25 am

(( I know, but I felt like it, so I could remember everyone's stuff. xD ))

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:16 pm

XDD. I kinda remember my stuff. LOL.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 2:12 pm

It was around 2pm, six more hours until the circus started, Lewis was practicing his routine for tonight's shows in his tent. Soon he got bored and decided to go outside of his moderate-sized tent. As usual, there were barely any people outside of their tents or housing. Day was the time everyone would retire to bed until six, when everyone would start preparing for opening at eight. He sat down by the bonfire. This bonfire was special because it never went out, only once it went out, but that was almost three years ago, and no one ever spoke of it. Strangely enough, Celia, the greatest illusionist at the circus, and her lover, Marco, both disappeared that night. Adding to the reasons of why no one ever spoke of that day. It was a horrible day for everyone. Sometimes, if anyone dared speak of it, you would hear Bailey and Tsukiko giving the daring soul a brief explanation to that night. They seemed to be the only living witnesses of what happened; they never wanted to speak about it, and no one blamed them for that.
Lewis fiddled with the ring on his finger when he started to hear a sound that mimicked that of boots stomping on rugged dirt. He looked up and saw a girl with long, dark, reddish-brown hair, some of it was pulled back out of her face with a lotus flower pin. She wore a dark, crimson blouse and plum skirt that went just past her knees with brown leather boots. She also sported her signature sun pendant which was strangely tucked away under her shirt. She looked at him with her dark brown eyes, though they were wide and innocent looking, you could see her mysterious, deep look cast from them.

Ethel walked over to Lewis and sat down on the ground next to him. "Hello Lewis; I am Ethel Cowell, nice to meet you."

Lewis smiled slightly back at her, but her expression remained cold and mysterious, confusing him. "How does she know my name?", he wondered. Lewis didn't seem to hide his confusion very well, but Ethel's face did not falter. "As you seem to know, I am Lewis de Angelis," he spoke trying to be friendly.

Ethel's expression finally changed into a smirk. "Oh, no, I only knew your first name," she said amused. Ethel noticed Lewis to be bemused and added, "Poppet told me. I inquired about you a couple of nights ago."

Lewis smiled and stated, "I cannot decide if I should be frightened or flattered, Miss Cowell."

"I mean not to frighten you," Ethel swiftly retorted. Lewis chuckled causing Ethel to flush slightly out of relief.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:31 pm

Scarlet sighed in deeply, she hasn't been getting too much sleep now a days. She pulled out a small brush and starting brushing her black hair seeing as she had to cut a few pieces off since they got burnt. Once she finished she lifted her necklace out of her shirt and let it fall on top of her shirt. She looked around and noticed Ethel and Lewis speaking, "..I shouldn't interrupt their conversation," she said while turning and walking away.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:32 pm

((OH SHIT WE STARTED. LOOL))

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:33 pm

(( I forgot how Scarlet looked like so I had to go BACK TO J4Tz just to see my form. LOLOL ))

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:40 pm

((LOL.SEE?!))

Lewis smiled. "So why exactly were you inquiring about me?"

Ethel shifted her weight to the other side of her body and said, "Well, I'm always curious for information. Curiosity got the best of me, and I asked. I had no particular intentions."

She shrugged slightly, yet her eyes still had a mysterious look to them. Something was off about them; Lewis had a feeling that were so. "I see," Lewis responded. "On a separate note, why are you out here in the middle of the day?"

"I should ask you the same," Ethel smirked.

"Touche, Miss Cowell," Lewis smiled.

Ethel raised an eyebrow. "Oh, please, call me Ethel."

"Indeed." Lewis said reluctantly. Again, something seemed off about this. "It's nothing. It's probably just paranoia; the circus tends to do that."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:41 pm

((LUL Lewis. c:))

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:49 pm

Scarlet sighed once again, and started Pyromancering, this time she made sure she didn't burn her hair. But yet again she failed. "FUCK. Why is it always me burning my hair? I don't burn my body but it JUST HASSS to be my hair.." she muttered.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:51 pm

Ethel heard Scarlet's shouts and quickly whipped her head around. "Oh, Scarlet," Ethel said in a soft voice, shaking her head.

"Excuse me?" Lewis asked.

Ethel focused her attention on Lewis again. "Scarlet is practicing her pyromancing once again. She always lights her hair aflame; I hope she improves."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 5:55 pm

"I feel bad for my hair..being burned constantly.. Tis' a shame.." Scarlet muttered putting out the fire.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:17 pm

"Oh," Lewis said. He only came into contact with Scarlet when they had to perform on some nights for the rainbow bonfire routine. This routine consisted of 12 pyromancers that each had a flame arrow of a different color. All the pyromancers would shoot their arrows a couple of seconds before or after each other before the clock struck midnight, exactly. Lewis usually had the red flame, while Scarlet, surprisingly, usually had the blue one. Because of this, he didn't think she was poor at her job.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:35 pm

"FUCKKKKKKKKKKK! Burnt my hair again..." Scarlet said loudly while putting the blue flame out. "Bad things always seem to happen to me.."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:36 pm

"Excuse me," Ethel announced, getting up off the ground and heading towards Scarlet. She still wore her mysterious, deep eyes, but her expression softened as she said, "Hello."

"Ah, okay," Lewis said before she left. "That was an awkward encounter..."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:40 pm

"Hello," Scarlet answered in the middle of making a small fire. "What you need me for?" she asked.

--

=| Character Form |=-

Name: Scarlet Lanza
Gender: Female [Hurrdurrz]
Birthday/age: December 24, 1890 [15]
Appearance:
Scarlet has jet black straight hair with long bangs that cover one of her eyes. Her bangs however have dark-brown highlights on them. Her eyes are completely fire-red. She normally wears a small silver necklace around her neck, and silver earrings. When she's performing she wears a silver skirt, with a silver matching top with no sleeves, she also wears silver boots that aren't very long. When she's not performing she wears dark blue shorts with a rainbow top and blue sneakers.

Personality:
Scarlet is an anti-social, she doesn't like speaking too much nor being around too many people at a time. She speaks very little, and mostly just nods her head. Despite this, she's very respectful when she speaks to people. Scarlet also has an nasty temper when you get on her bad side, so don't try getting on her bad side because you're going to regret it.

Back-story:
Scarlet's family didn't worry too much about her. They mostly cared more over her younger sister Amy, who was unfortunately killed in an accident. Scarlet envied her sister, and doesn't care if her own sister is dead or not. Scarlet's family blamed Scarlet for not caring over her own sister and drove her mad. Scarlet then ran off to the Le Cirque de Rêves, to escape all her drama. There she met an unknown Pyromancer whom shown her how to play with fire, and how to control it.

Entertainer: Pyromancer [OHOHO DON'T PLAY WITH FIRE KIDS!]

Special Abilities:
Scarlet is quite talented when playing with fire and is able to stop her flames from burning someone.

[I fucking need to remember how her personality is. LOLOL]

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:44 pm

Her expression remained the same. "Nothing; I just wanted to check up on you. You know, your hair and all." Ethel shrugged slightly, suddenly widening her eyes, "Oh, and this." She raised her hand and picked up some of Scarlet's hair. Scarlet seemed to flinch, but Ethel did not falter. Suddenly, Scarlet's hair restored to its original greatness, but it was sort of a brownish-black color. The difference was not noticeable, but it was existent. "I'm sorry," Ethel apologized. "I was still learning when Celia disappeared."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:51 pm

Scarlet flinched when Ethel suddenly touched her "W-what's with her? I can just cut it o-" her thought were interrupted when the color came back. It wasn't the best, but it made an difference. "Thank you. It's truly pretty, might not be the best but it stands out. I thank you again," she smiled gently. "I should shut up about me being able to cut my hair off with a knife.." she thought.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 6:55 pm

"It's nothing. Celia taught me some restoration. I can work way better on myself." Ethel grabbed a knife off a counter nearby and slit her left index finger straight down. Ethel could see Scarlet's rejection of the matter, but it was already too late. She put the knife down, then taking her right hand, smothering her index finger with it. Ethel took her hand off her finger; the cut was gone along with all evidence of it ever being there. "If I did that to you, it would scar, or even worse, I might open it even deeper," Ethel sighed. "I am not quite sure why that is, but it's always been like that."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:02 pm

"You can always practice on me, I can just burn the wound closed. Though it's quite dangerous, but if you need practice just use it on me." Scarlet smiled. "You should also stop cutting that fingers of yours, bacteria can still affect it..or so that's what I've heard.." she muttered.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:10 pm

"I suppose, but I'm not really a science person," Ethel smiled slightly. "I warn you, it might hurt if I did so."

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:14 pm

"It's fine, I've burnt myself before it can't hurt THAT much.." Scarlet smiled.

Subject: Re: « Le Cirque de Rêves » Thu Aug 30, 2012 7:23 pm

"If you say so," Ethel said, grabbing the knife. She sliced the back of Scarlet's hand, only one layer of skin deep, to be on the safe side. Swiftly, Ethel put the knife down and covered the wound with her hands. At first, it bled more, most likely hurting more because Scarlet's face contorted in pain. It kept bleeding, and Ethel's heart faced, but her focus did not leave Scarlet's hand. In what seemed like eternity, the wound closed up leaving a scar that you could only see if you were actually looking for it, barely noticeable.