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Zeroth
The Carnival arrived, much fanfare indeed. Along with The Circus, in a time of need...
Your days have been dark ones of late. Months and months go by, and things have been stagnant or decaying around you. The factory hums, people collect paychecks, but... there's something in the air about your town. The cracks in the sidewalk loom wider. The mood of your neighbors turns darker. And your baby sister seems to be losing that spark of hope and innocence she always had. But what can you do in this world to change it? You've got bills to pay, a job to get to, and it leaves you too bone tired to do anything else except subsist. But tonight, something changed. Tonight you left work and headed home like usual, only to see something you had never seen before in this town. The city park had been overtaken by a forest of tents, and uniquely decorated booths only belonging to a carnival, all ringed by a wrought iron fence, its bars warped into the shapes of birds in flight, dragons battling knights, and other fanciful images. The tents themselves had no uniformity of look. They all came in black, white, emerald, scarlet, purple, and a hundred other hues you've seen but cannot name. Drawn by this strange happening, you approach the ticket booth along with a growing throng of individuals. It is not free to enter, but you are shocked by how cheap it is to buy a ticket. Surely they mean to milk you dry for games of chance or prizes. But you find none of these. As the sun sets, the circus tents come alive with supernatural, and stupendous acts. You are not charged a dime for any of these, but some ask for strange things- for you to kiss your own palm upon entering, the name of your favorite toy as a child, or the last name of your first love. A fortune teller knows your name, that your birthday is in two weeks, and advises you to call your mother promptly tomorrow at noon. When you do, you find that you reached her just in time to help her with a medical emergency, saving her life. But that will come later. The knife thrower volunteers you for her act. Her blades will buzz close to your skin, sheering off your hair. When you step away, it looks professionally cut, and Michael Bellikoff, your crush, compliments you when he sees you later on. But the strangest thing comes as you're eating caramel popcorn, taking a shortcut between tents. Two performers are whispering around a corner. They plot about hunting a "rooted demon" in the town, how "its' corruption has only begun taking root" and how they will speak to the Circus Masters about "leading a hunt" for the beast. This puzzles you, but you've seen a theater tent earlier. No doubt this part is just an act.
In the morning, the carnival - the circus - is gone. And the shadows cast about town are strangely lighter than before...


In times gone by, battles between creatures of Order and Chaos played out among humans in the every day. The Powers-That-Be have since... mellowed out a bit, and declared a truce. No more cities laid waste by fire and ash, no more beasts running rampant in the streets devouring innocents. And for a while, the truce held. But the forces of Chaos were never trusted, and rightfully so. They sneak and skulk through the human world, infesting towns and cities with their insidious presence, claiming earth and souls alike for the dark powers. The creatures of Order know that to call them out on this behavior would tear the treaty asunder. Millions would die from the destruction unleashed by the Powers-That-Be going to war on the mortal plane. And so, they themselves did something remarkable. They cheated. One of their numbers voluntarily Fell, was cast down to Earth, and forfeited most of it's power. But, in exchange, it was given the strength to empower others in the quest to root out the daemons of chaos to new, mythical heights. These performers form a pact with the Being, called "The Ringmaster", to forfeit their souls in exchange for some measure of power. For 7 years, their lives are forfeited to the Circus. And they may renew the contract for another 7 years after it expires, again and again until they perish in battle or grow tired of the fight. The Ringmaster and the Circus move from town to town, city to city, as a traveling troupe of a city-sized-circus. To the citizens of its latest stop, it is a place of respite and wonder. A lure to draw in all those cast in the shadows of daemons. And while the people are distracted by the glorious acts before them, teams of mystical performers-turned-warriors have one night to hunt the daemon of the city. To tarry too long in one place is to invite the ire and hunger of the daemon hordes...
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Majoraa
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(Saved for GM stuff ;P)

Woot!
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by sassy1085
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WIP

Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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@Majoras End Would a non-human be allowed? (was thinking a 'risen' demon)
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Majoraa
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@Athol

Yeah, theres a few good demons in the circus! Cant wait to see the cs.
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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@Majoras End Yay! Plus I can tweak an existing sheet I've got, but never got to use
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by golani
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golani nope

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Yay! I got one of those myself...
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by golani
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golani nope

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removed
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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@golani Heh, I remember that sheet.
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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@Majoras End Okay, a question I've been having issue with. How would a Contract with a demon work? Presumably, said demon would already possess powers of their own.

P.S. The formatting in the C.S. hider needs a touch up.

One more thing! The Powers that Be and the ones that Were. Is it a conflict between two long standing rivals or did one party rebel against the actions of the other and split off?
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@Athol A contract with a demon would work like a normal contract, but the powers given to them can be taken away swiftly if they turned traitorous.

And its a bit of both when it comes to the powers that be and the ones that were.

also noted. Fixed the formating on the cs.
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by golani2
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Their True Name
Dana Halabi
Their Stage Name
The Queen of Jungle Cats
Their Appearance


The Date they Joined the Circus
July 5, 1950
The Act they perform when not on the combat team -
Tiger tamer
Dana is a were-cheteeh and has the powers of that creature. She is also able to communicate with and command felines. Dana’s contract made her more powerful than other’s of her kind, and granted her long life and an extremely high tolerance for poisons (such as alcohol), and disease. When hunting, she will take several tigers with her. All of the circus' tigers were magically granted long life, and regeneration from combat wounds as part of Dana's contract. However, Dana cannot free the big cats from the circus, even though it tears at her soul, or she will be expelled, and the tigers' magic removed.

Dana’s current “family” are six female Bengali tigers making up her act. She does what she can to protect and comfort the tigers, even climbing into their cages to lie with them at night as they sleep. Dana desperately wants the tigers to be freed from their circus life, but knows she cannot. It’s a dilemma that eats at her every day. She will never leave the circus cats, and has become just as trapped as they are. To cope, when she is not hunting demons, Dana often sneaks off to sample the local nightlife. She usually returns in the morning smelling of alcohol, (but is never drunk), tobacco, and looking like she spent the night in somebody else’s bed. The Ringmaster calls Dana a “wild one,” when he is in a charitable mood and worse when he is not. Dana’s trysts often causes trouble and occasional visits by the local police. But as long as she continues to kill demons, he will do nothing.

Why they Joined the Circus.
Dana joined the circus to help out the big cats the circus owned at the time. They were all locked in cages and looked terrible. Her heart sank. But what could she do? She was in luck, for the last lion tamer had just broken his contract after almost being mauled by Ashanti, a huge Bengal tigress who went “on strike.” The Ringmaster was desperate for a new lion tamer, but had no idea what to do Dana knew she had a knack for talking to or controlling cats. Gathering up some courage, Dana approached the Ringmaster and offered him a deal. If Dana could get Ashanti to calm down and perform again, he would make her the circus’ new lion tamer. Of course, she really had no idea what she was asking for.

The Ringmaster agreed to giver her a chance, if only to get Dana to stop bothering him. Dana boldly approached the cage and spoke a few hushed words to the tigress. She then opened the cage door, and stepped inside without Ashanti lifting a paw. Though it took a few minutes for her new boss to recover from his near heart attack, he agreed to hire her, and the two wrote out her first contract later that night.

Their Biography
Dana was a child of the streets of Alexandria, Egypt and never knew who here parents were. Dana would eventually stow away on a tramp freighter to escape a local gang war, and wound up in Marseilles. A local Corsican crime syndicate found her on the docks and she would have sold into white slavery or worse had the man she would call “Uncle Marcel” not intervened. Marcel Halabi, a former Lebanese Christian, was an up and coming figure in the Marseilles underworld. To show off his power, he wanted a special girl of his own. Even at 16 Dana was very beautiful, but she was also headstrong, tough, and stubborn. At first, Dana tried to escape. But Marcel had dealt with others of her kind before, and armed his men with guns loaded with silver bullets.

Eventually, the two struck a deal. In return for “services,” Dana would be made into a proper lady. Uncle Marcel brought in tutors who taught the street girl how to speak, read and write in French, and English, and even in Arabic. Other than that, Dana’s education was kept basic. Instead she learned more useful skills, such as how to act, how to eat with a fork and knife, how to dress, how to “perform” in bed, how to tend bar, how to drive, and even how to handle a gun.

After five years, Uncle Marcel had climbed to the top of the Marseilles underworld, and got his dream girl. In that time, the relationship had changed significantly. While still a trophy and occasional sex toy, Marcel respected Dana’s business sense and began to teach her about the drug trade. Alas, all good things must end. Uncle Marcel was gunned down in a hit organized from within his own gang. Dana knew she was next, and decided to flee once again. Taking cash and a few clothes, Dana traveled north to Caen, where she was able to bribe a ship captain to give her passage to the United States, the land of wealth and freedom. Dana landed in New York City a few days later and soon learned that not having the proper documentation in hand was going to make it very difficult for her to gain the wealth and freedom she desired. Going back to the old job as an escort also didn’t appeal to her. She needed somebody to hire her with no questions asked. The circus was in town performing, and somehow she was drawn to it.

Their Connections
Dana is a loner, and spends much of her time in the company of her tigers. She is close to all of them, but Ashanti, the largest and smartest of all of them, shares a special bond with Dana. Dana projects an air of “leave me alone” and very few in the circus try to approach her. The one exception is one of the newer members of the circus, a young Belorussian aerialist named Katrina. Katrina saw how the were-cheetah was slowly destroying herself and felt Dan needed a friend no matter how Dana thought of it. It took some persistence and some patience, but eventually Katrina broke through Dana’s defenses and the two grew close. Katrina has since nicknamed her new friend “koshka,” which Russian for female cat, and addresses her as such.

Their Audition
The audience sat in tiered benches before the stage, watching the final preparations made for showing the circus’ big cats. The dull roar of the audience die away as the lights dim to darkness.

”Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages!” The announcer says. “Now, for your enjoyment and amazement we are proud to present the Queen of Cats!”

A spotlight illuminates a woman walking onto the stage and into the huge cage, closing the door behind her. More lights come on and following her into the cage through a large metal chute, are six huge Bengali tigers. Dana, the Queen of Cats, is in a facsimile of a person on African safari. She wears hiking boots, khaki shorts, a brown belt, a bush hat with one side bent upwards Australian style, a leather vest and a large canine tooth suspended on a leather thong around her neck. However, what is most striking is the white shirt tied off above her midriff to expose her navel, and quite a bit of cleavage. Dana has a bullwhip curled up at her side, presumably to help her command the tigers. As she comes into the middle of the cage, most of the men in the audience suddenly stop what they are doing, and pay rapt attention to her.

Dana looks around at all six tigers who bow to her in turn as she calls out their names. And then the show really begins. Dana shouts commands, and the cats perform in ways simply unimaginable to the audience. Leaps, jumps, twirls. It’s practically a cat ballet, with Dana in the center as conductor. And never once does she resort to the whip. Dana appears to finish her act by riding around the cage draped over the biggest tiger in a very sexy display. And then the lights go dark. The crowd jumps to its feet to applaud the show.

But it’s not over. Suddenly, the spotlight comes on again, and there is Dana outside the cage with a single tiger so big even sitting on its haunches, is still taller than its companion. The crowd gasps. Is she crazy?

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Dana says in English accented in Arabic and French. “Do not be alarmed. Ashanti and I wish to thank you for your generous applause.” Dana and the tiger bow as one, and in response the crowd heartily claps. She then looks around the tent at her audience.

“Who among you is brave enough to come face-to-face with a tiger?” she challenges. The crowd grows silent, before a single middle aged woman finally volunteers to come forth and join the Dana on stage. An assistant armed with a .357 magnum revolver escorts the volunteer to the Dana’s side.

“A bit nervous?” Dana asks the woman.

“Yes I am,” the volunteer freely admits. The crowd chuckles at her honest response.

“Have you ever touched a tiger before?” Dana asks. The woman shakes her head no. Dana turns to her feline companion. “Ashanti, come down please.” The majestic cat lies down at Dana’s command.

“Go ahead,” Dana tells the volunteer, who looks at her in askance. “I assure you it is quite safe.” Dana adds.

Hesitantly, the volunteer reaches out to touch Ashanti’s fur, while the crowd holds its breath. And Ashanti does nothing. The woman grows a bit more bold and actually strokes the beautiful cat’s side a few times. She then withdraws her hand, and sighs in relief that it is still attached. She thanks Dana, and is soon back in her seat with a one-of-a-kind experience. As the crowd applauds once more, the spotlight goes out. When the house lights come back on, the last of the tigers can be seen running up the chute as the cage stands empty.
Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Your Move
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What level of power are we talking about here? I know that "superhero" was one of your tags, but this ain't exactly The Avengers :D
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by Squirrel98
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Athol
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@Majoras End All done, I updated my previous CS post with the finished sheet.
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Loving what im seeing so far!

@Your Move Not sure, it depends on the character, but nothing god-moddy. K?
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by Squirrel98
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@Majoras End Does that mean that my character is accepted and can be moved to the character tab? :)
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@Squirrel98@Athol

Oh yeah, accepted! Go ahead and move them over!
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Hidden 5 yrs ago Post by golani2
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@Majoras End

I too am all finished and posted in my earlier CS
Hidden 5 yrs ago 5 yrs ago Post by golani2
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ok, for some reason my hider code refuses to work, and I don't understand why...could somebody help me?

But there it is for review
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