(Didienne) The Circus is in Town (23rd Board)

Subject: (Didienne) The Circus is in Town (23rd Board) Mon Jan 06, 2014 7:41 pm

Setting: Didienne, Town Square
Time: 9th of July 3709, 6.30am

The circus is the perfect spying tool for the SR as well as the DDC - let the show begin.
The circus has found its way to Didienne for one of the many shows they regularly perform in the capital of Dragons' Cove. Only this time, the setting is all the more interesting after the recent abolition of the High Council and with a Guardian Dragon or two still present in the city to keep order and organise a new authority.

Joiners:
- Zhenya and Rhynna (Artemis)
- Rimegon and Asrai (Spiritdragon)
- Silence (ElizaFlame13)
- Lusorio (Echo)
- Rhys and Ithelle (Stormkatz)

There was an almost electric buzz in the air around the city, and it likely had something to do with the recent political overhaul that had shaken the very governmental foundation of the island. With Guardians running things perhaps business would be better and regulations would be a bit more lax. In the morning fog and haze, shops could be seen opening and the night owls among the populace were just heading to sleep after a night of work, or drinking in some cases. The goal here was to find out exactly how the city was faring, stock up on supplies, earn a bit of money, and maybe get some dirt on the invaders called 'Surahnians'.

"Bloody cold in the morning. Getting up early for the sunrise was not my brightest of ideas." Silence muttered as she gave a shiver and continued walking to the square. By now she didn't feel shy walking around in her bright colors, and wearing what most would call scandalous attire. Most cases someone would mistake her for a street-walker and pay her no heed. All the better if they did, since she didn't need anyone to be recognizing her as anything else for the time being. No sign of any unusual dragons at least, but that didn't mean there weren't eyes and ears accompanying every wall in the enormous acropolis. The city itself was stunning in the fresh morning light, if she wasn't worried she was going to be late, she might have taken a decent amount of time to admire the buildings she was passing. Soon enough she made it back to the square and not a moment too soon, the way things were going one would assume the world was going to end. Tents were being fastened into place and flags were flying every which way to Tuesday and roustabouts were scurrying about like headless chickens.

"What in blue blazes in going on here?! There shouldn't be this much commotion over set-up!" Immediately the woman rushed over and hurried to finagle things into place wherever such action was needed, only to find that the reason for all the rushing was no reason at all. The help was just ecstatic for some reason over being in the capital. She'd yet to see any of her fellow performers out and about, but that would likely be put to route with the ever-brightening sunlight illuminating the city. For the time being she planted herself on a stack of wooden crates and watched everyone go rushing past with varying amusement. The real action would be coming all too soon.

Ahh another city, life was good! Rhys was grinning to himself, sat amongst the mass of poles and canvas as the tents started going up. The whole circus knew he couldn’t help lift the great big things into position, but he did stand and give pointers. He couldn’t stay still, all the hustle and bustle made him feel at home. As he passed through a different part of the set-up, he noticed Silence, and walked over with a smile on his face. His eyepatch and scarf were a garish shade of pink today, with a tiny heart, diamond, spade and club stitched onto the patch in dark green thread. His favourite set was still in his pack.

“Ev’rything looks t’be going well! Ah it’s good to be back inside the stone walls.” He beamed, looking altogether more cheerful than usual. It was probably enough to make people suspicious. He had once known Didienne well though, and he felt almost as at home there a he did back in Jiluria. “Silence, d’yer know if we’re doing the usual ‘first day in town’ routine, or somethin’ special for the capital?” That there would be a grand performance that evening was beyond questioning in Rhys’ mind – he loved the first performance in each town. It drew a crowd every time, since it took them so long to make a circuit of the island that most people had no idea what was going on. Instead of reaching for his whiskey, he produced three cloth balls from ‘mid air’ (well, hidden about his person at least) and juggled to pass the time. It was always a good sign when he favoured that particular nervous tick. The tents couldn’t be ready soon enough!

---

Ithelle looked around with big, wide eyes. This was her first time staying with the performers – normally Rhys told her she had to sleep outside in a safe tent all to herself. She had been in the show herself when she was hatched – she got pulled out of hats, and people even made her disappear! It was different now she was big, but the setup was still the most exciting thing she had ever seen.

She was going to learn how to tell fortunes – the others thought she’d be great at it, given she was a card dragon, but for now she was just there to enjoy the big city. It was so… busy! More so than she had expected actually, despite her daddy’s storied about the place. And all the people seemed stirred up. The dancing squiggles had done something big and exciting not so long ago, and the same squiggles were shifting and moving about now, but she didn’t understand enough about the fate lines to understand what might be happening in Didienne from them.

There were interesting smells everywhere – she could tell that they weren’t far from the main market, since they always tried to get the performance tent set up somewhere prominent. She couldn’t wait to get out there and explore!

It was cold this early in the morning, but that wasn’t the only reason why Zhenya shivered slightly as she looked around at the all-too-familiar square. Being in Didienne always made her feel slightly uneasy; as far as she knew, her family had never visited the circus, but that could always change. Perhaps she should be ready to see them again, six years down the line, but somehow she couldn’t bring herself to face up to what she had been- especially not when all the rest of the circus were there, who didn’t know about when she’d been an avian. Of course, technically she still was, but she didn’t feel like it anymore.

Either way, now wasn’t the time to mope about it. The rest of the circus didn’t know anything about her past, and she intended to keep things that way. Shaking her hair back from her face, she glanced about Didienne. They’d heard all sorts of implausible rumours on the road- the guardians had killed every councillor in the city, the people had revolted and burnt down the palace, the Surahnians had invaded and taken the city. She wasn’t inclined to trust any of them- the latter in particular sounded too good to be true- but the one thing which was consistent in every report was that one way or another, the High Council had fallen. Just what she had always wanted- and yet, the city didn’t seem to have changed much. She could still see evidence of crime all over the city, but perhaps things looked slightly different; not in any way she could put into words, but there was a different atmosphere.

That might affect business, whether the Circus’ primary intent of putting on a show, or the slightly shadier dealings which went on inside closed tents, but right now if they wanted somewhere to sleep and perform, they needed to set up regardless of the situation. Standing from where she had been perched on a crate, Zhenya shaded her eyes to look skyward, where Rhynna was hovering with slow, heavy wingbeats to support part of the framework for a tent while several people worked below to slot the poles together. She waved up at her dragon with a smile before dusting herself off and jogging over to where some of the others had assembled- namely, Silence and Rhys.
“Alright?” she greeted them, scanning the labels on the crates which were stacked up before taking a crowbar which was leaning against one and using it to pop the top off one crate. “I guess we’d better help set up- want to give me a hand?” Making a face at its slight dampness, she began to pull out the canvas of a tent from the crate, spreading it out on the ground ready to lash onto the framework once they’d set that up.

Ah, the city! The crowds, the smells, the children playing merrily in the streets! Surely there was no better place for the circus, and this year it would be bigger than ever. Lusorio had an even more jovial stride than before, peractically skipping with gleed, a thick sheaf of fliers clutched in his hand. Advertisements, of course; though in big cities like Didienne, he always preferred having street performers out and about to tell the citizens of their arrival; tasters of the spectacle to come. And even better, rumors of dissent and upheaval were in the air; people would be wanting a break from all of the political hubbub, and what better than a giant, fire-breathing bear on a ball to alleviate that!?

Now if only they could get one of those.

After slapping a few posters on walls and light posts (a bit haphazardly, some ending up upside-down), the clown grew bored and simply tossed the papers into the air, wishing them good fortune as the fluttered away in the breeze. Maybe someone would stumble upon one they may not see otherwise and pay the gold they may have so unwisely saved! Skipping back to the tents, he hooked his arms around the nearest two souls Rhys and Zhenya, and pushed down on them hard enough to swing his legs up, laughing like a toddler. Well then, hurry up! I think I left some of my things at the bottoms of these boxes, and I want them back!"

Rhys grinned when Lusorio returned, and sprung up from his seat. He immediately wished he’d been a little less energetic when his back threatened to click, but managed to land on his feet with only a slight grimace, which his glaring choice of accessories probably covered anyway. “Isn’t it wonderful? I’m sure we’ll be set up soon, the boxes are emptyin’ fast. Y’should keep yer stuff with you though, if it’s that important.” Rhys gave a wink and produced a shiny coin and a string of scarves from his sleeves to demonstrate his point. Everything he owned was somewhere in his dirty old coat, patched up tens of times in various mismatched brown material. It had four visible pockets, four inner pockets, and three secret ones, and it was perfect for a magician.

Rhys dreaded to think about the fate of the posters, but then again, not everyone could red them anyway. It was word of mouth that really brought people into the circus, and with all the fuss around the edges of their setup, there would be a queue forming before they even had the tents up. When Zhenya asked if they needed help, Rhys was off again, practically tearing about the place compared to his usual self (although admittedly he was still slow, and limping ever so slightly to save his scar pulling tight). “Yeah, we need everythin’ sortin’ out, if yer can give us a hand flipping the canvas over the top of each frame that’d be great!” he grinned, grabbing another corner of the canvas and pulling, carefully leaning right again to save his ruined muscles. He’d regret being so lively the next day, but he was going to enjoy one afternoon of not being in a bad mood.

Last edited by Spiritdragon on Sun Feb 02, 2014 2:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

Rimegon was having more difficulty with the animals than he should have been, especially considering he had been dealing with them for ages. Even Asrai was being difficult, which was silly considering he of all of them knew best how to behave. His echolalia was severely acting up due to his excitement and as such the dragon kept spewing random phrases he picked up from the crowd and from Rimegon himself. "Just calm down," Rimegon warned, watching the dragon pace around in his cage. "You're making this more difficult than it needs to be."

"Just calm down, just calm down," Asrai said, and the poor elf honestly wasn't certain if he was repeating it to himself in an effort to do so or if he'd just repeated what he'd said. Well, he supposed it didn't matter too much in the long run.

The jaguars were pacing as well and Rimegon took a few minutes to calm them down, nodding slightly to himself when they were finally calmly eating, drinking, or lying around in their cage. "I want to come out," Asrai said suddenly, drawing Rimegon's attention again. "I want to go meet people. Come on... please, please, please?"

Rimegon simply shook his head slightly, checking on the rest of the animals around the dragon's cage to make sure they weren't being agitated by his restlessness. "Not right now, they're working on putting everything up and you'd just get in the way right now," he explained, ignoring the pout that he knew was being directed at him. It was a nice town that they were in and he knew the circus wanted to make a good impression on them. Having a hyperactive dragon running around loose probably wasn't the best of ideas.

"You leave your things everywhere Lusorio!" Silence remarked with a teasing smile as she tossed him a gag or two that she'd found among her things. "You need to put everything of yours in one place so this doesn't happen every time we move; particularly not when we're coming to the capital." She fished a few more odds and ends out of nearby crates and made a pile over by the jester. Even Zhenya was in a good mood, and that was a miracle in itself. "Rhys, you old nutter, be careful!” she yelped rushing over to help straighten the canvas. She looked a tad bit worried, but soon that was washed away by a look of joy when they got everything laid straight. “Wonderful! Going to see how Rimegon’s doing with the animals.” That being said she took off and walked into the tent with a surprised sort of look on her face.

“What’s going on in here?” All she’d heard was “keep calm” numerous times and couldn’t quite tell who’d been saying it, or if it was more than one person. “Won’t do to have everyone all knotted up before people even get here.” She wandered over to Asrai’s cage and half-wondered why he was in a cage to start with since they didn’t usually keep dragons in cages. “Is this just to keep everyone together till things calm down? If you think things in here are bad you should see the roustabouts they’re dashing about like their knickers’ve caught fire. Thought maybe it’d be calmer in here but I guess that’s what I get for assuming, huh? You and Asrai look ready to scurry about like headless chickens at a second’s notice. What’s wrong?”

Zhenya simply rolled her eyes at Lusorio prancing around like he'd eaten some kind of mushroom; well, it wasn't like she wasn't used to it.
"Your wish is our command," she teased him, giving Rhys a smile of appreciation as he helped her to shake out the canvas to its full size. Times like this, she was almost able to forget that she was in Didienne; they’d all known each other so long that there was an easy, relaxed atmosphere, one which was relaxing to her.

Just as they got the canvas into something of a tangle, Silence appeared out of nowhere, dashing about in what seemed to be something of a panic. Eventually, after some fumbling about, they managed to get the cloth draped over its framework.
“Thanks,” she called to the woman’s retreating back, before starting to knot the little ties on the canvas around the appropriate poles to stop it from blowing straight off in a gust of wind.

“So,” she said conversationally as she worked. “Anybody know what our plans are? Just the normal performances, or…?” She didn’t think she really needed to elaborate; they’d all know that she was referring to their not-entirely-legal black market service. Didienne, for all that it was home to the Council and had reputedly been visited by the Guardians so recently, was still an excellent place to pick up and sell goods of almost any kind.

Rimegon thought he'd gotten everything settled, but then Asrai started bouncing around excitedly once again and he realized that settled was a relative word. He'd never get the young dragon completely calm in all this hustle and bustle. Of course, once he realized who had come to see them he understood why the Shade Runner had gotten so excited so quickly.

"Yes it is," he replied in response to her question, sending a half amused and half frustrated look in Asrai's direction as the dragon flopped over onto his back and rolled from side to side, making the cage rattle.

"Knickers've caught fire," Asrai repeated cheerfully, missing Rimegon's glance entirely. "Ooh! Do you have chicken?" He was on his feet in an instant, studying her curiously.

"I really don't think she brought you chicken buddy," Rimegon said, causing Asrai to sigh and flop down on his side again, though he still watched Silence hopefully. They'd gotten better at getting along but he still wasn't overly fond of dragons, and he had to admit that perhaps some of the reason for why the dragon was in his cage at the moment was because of his lingering hesitation about the creatures. "Anyway, to answer your question, he's just a little bit excitable right now with everything going on so it's better to keep him out of the way and out from under people's feet."

Asrai gave the most innocent smile he could summon while he was rolling around on the bottom of his cage, entirely unable to prove himself capable of sitting still.

"But what's going on outside?" Rimegon asked, unable to go check for himself while he was getting the animals settled.

"Madness and chaos trying to get everything set up for tonight's opening act. Lusorio's being himself but everyone else almost seems possessed. Rhys and Zhenya are unusually happy and it's really unnerving. People are starting to gather around the edges of the grounds and I guess that's getting everyone riled. Are you alright, Rimegon? It's been quite a while since I last sat down and properly talked with you, seems like a good deal has changed in such a time." Many things had in fact changed, at least in terms of Silence's knowledge of her family. Now that she knew where practically the entirety of her family lived, sadly that was Kaionar, she knew who to write to with important updates and costly information. It was still a nightmare grappling with the idea of politics and everything else, but at that moment a loud clamor outside made her jump.

"Sweet saints above what the Hades is going on out there?!" It could've been anything really, but in the capital with tents being set up it was a recipe for disaster. The last thing she wanted to do was go look, and for now she figured it was best to stay where she was for fear of going into cardiac arrest if she dared investigate.

Last edited by Echo on Mon Mar 10, 2014 5:08 pm; edited 1 time in total

Lusorio took the trinkets happily, stuffing them in the pouch on his side. To be honest, he'd probably forget them there as well; he had the memory of a fish, and his bottomless sack didn't help that much. But, it meant that there was a surprise waiting for him whenever he jammed his hand in to find something, so he wasn't complaining. He giggled like a mad man, then skippe off, ducking into one of the tents to torment some other poor souls trying to do their jobs. The others ould probably be glad that he was hidden away, though, after what was going to happen.

What was all this noise? Not even two weeks after the upheaval of the counsel, there was new commotion about. Typhon, alongside Feronia, had been staying in Didienne ever since that day, ensuring that order be established. However, though intentions were well, the burden proved to be great; conscripts and scribes scurried all over the city, attempting to set everything in order and send messages across the island. Skeloph slipping away was just icing on the cake, and there were guards around the clock guarding Innace, albeit from a distance to see what he was scheming behind his money pile. This was no time for unnecessary commotion, but that's exactly what this was, and barely a stone's throw away from the hall!

The clamor arose from Typhon's rather sudden entry, the crowd of citizens quickly bustling to make room for the golden dragon. He glared at the mess before him, brightly colored tents and stacks of crates, each one a new headache pounding in his head. On his back, and all around him, fluttered the small dragon-like creatures called flits, his entourage, whom he whispered to as they clambered over his body, tails and wings hanging from the few who were tired enough to perch on his face and horns. After a minute of this, they scattered, back to picking through his scales, as he lowered his head to stare at one of the workers. "What is this mess? The capital has more important things to deal with than some sideshow setting up shop."

Rimegon almost chuckled but he didn't quite have the energy for it at the moment what with also running around himself. The level of chaos surrounding them was highly amusing... or else it would have been if he hadn't had to deal with a fussy dragon on top of everything else he was doing. He'd done it before but this was just insane. That was to be expected however and Rimegon didn't mind so much considering it gave him a reason to focus completely on his work to the exception of everything else.

"I'm doing well enough all things considered," he replied with a slight shrug. "Just trying to keep out of everyone's way and deal with this fussy dragon which is a full time job in and of itself." Sometimes he felt as though he had his hands full with Asrai alone, and that wasn't even counting the rest of their menagerie. Ah well, that was what he had been hired for and that was what he was going to do. "How have you been? Busy, I'd presume." They all were, but she had to be especially. His job didn't actually entail all that much work.

The noise from outside made him snap to attention and Asrai bounce around in his cage in wide circles that took up all his space. "Wazzat, wazzat, WAZZAT!" he asked, suddenly coming to a halt and staring off in the direction the sound had come from.

"No doubt they're dropping stuff out there in their rush. Hopefully one of the tents didn't collapse," Rimegon replied, thankful he didn't have to deal with that mess. "Much safer in here with the wild animals." Asrai shot him a dirty look and he shrugged apologetically. "Okay, wild and half-wild animals."

Rhys' jovial attitude vanished back under his skin as the Guardian dragon landed. He dusted himself down, and hurried over, as quickly as his joints would allow. There was a disturbance in the city, and the Circus did receive a number of rumours, so he believed he had a good idea what had gone on, but he had assumed that the best course was to come to the Capital to perform all the same.

"I apologise for the disturbance - Typhon I assume?" He called up, forcing his tongue back into the clear annunciation that had been required of him in the days before the Circus. "We are aware of the current situation, but the travelling circus has stopped at the capital since it's founding. Surely anything we can do to provide continuity for the residents here can only help things t become settled once again?" His jaw ached, and the tight scar that split his cheek was sore, but it pleased him to know that he still had a functioning voice hidden under what had developed into a heavy accent over the years.

He had no intention of slowing the setup, and with Lusorio somewhere inside doing goodness knows what, he ushered a few nearby performers back to their duties in setting up, before whistling for young Ithelle, who he had lost track of in the hive of activity. "We'll be 'appy to answer any quest'ns, but we cannot simply leave after the journey we have taken t' come." he slipped back to his usual tone.

--
Ithelle had been playing hide-and-seek with herself in a big piece of canvass that had yet to be tied onto the heavy frames of the tents when she heard the whistle. It had a raspy kind of noise that identified it as Rhys', and she dashed out of her tent-nest as fast as she could. As she wriggled clear of the rainbow canvas, her vision exploded with the wriggly lines she had grown used to, but the most vivid was a bright yellow tree, throbbing and twisting. Something exciting must be happening!

She ran through the camp, almost knocking over one of the other performers, before coming to a halt near the Guardian dragon. Her eyes grew wide as she looked up at the huge dragon. She was only barely larger than a cat herself - the bulk of her growth was still ahead of her. "Daddy! It's a Guardian, look!" she said, pointing her nose at Rhys. She didn't quite understand that she was supposed to keep her mouth shut until the grown ups had finished talking.

Her gaze didn't drop from Typhon, and she watched both him and the dancing lines intently, until her broken ear flopped uselessly over both eyes, and she collapsed into a fit of giggles. She was faintly aware of Rhys' annoyance, but this was all too exciting for her to be calm and quiet!

Silence rushed off in the direction everyone seemed to be running from and quickly noticed a large golden dragon talking to Rhys. Great, one of the guardians she could only presume. "What gives?! We have every right to 'set up shop' here! We're not just a side show either, we're a circus thank you."

At this point no manner of dragon was going to intimidate her, not where her crazy and vibrant family was concerned.

"We have full permission to be here and it takes us two years to get to and from here on our circuit. For us to skip the capital would be horrendous for our finances too, so why are you hindering something that we've been doing on a routine basis for nearly a decade? I understand there's been turmoil in the city but Rhys is right, if you halt absolutely everything just to sweep your dirt under the rug and wash your dirty laundry the citizens are going to get unsettled. I doubt that's something you lot in power really want to happen with all the trouble you've got on your plates as it is."

Now was when the term 'harpy' was a perfect description for such a woman as Silence. Despite her lack of tact she hoped she'd gotten her point across that politics was best done out of view of the public and only to be announced when necessary. There was indeed a ton of trouble going on from what she'd been hearing about foreign invaders taking over Racksom and a pack of wild dragons demolishing a city.

He was going to have to go figure out what was going on if that voice was anything to go by. Besides, Silence had run off so that had to mean it was something serious. All right he thought, unhinging the door of Asrai's cage and letting him out. The Shade Runner leapt out of the cave with so much energy Rimegon winced internally, hoping the young male wouldn't cause too much of a fuss. Luckily the dragon was more than happy to stay by his side as they walked through the camp, and Rimegon was actually grateful for his presence when he realized the cause of all of the commotion was one of the Guardians. Safe to say, if he didn't like being around a generally cheerful dragon like Asrai he definitely didn't want to be around one that was required to enforce the laws of the land.

So he merely stood around in the background, determined to stay out of the way and preferably out of the conversation while he waited to see what was going on. For his part, the Shade Runner crouched down so that he was almost flattened against the ground, his tails wriggling excitedly as he studied the other dragon.

Rimegon was just waiting for the Guardian to snap at Silence for her words and hoped that he could hold his temper better than that because he wasn't sure what he would do in that case. He doubted that would be the Guardian's first choice though. Hopefully anyway.