The Circus is an illegal entertainment program broadcast throughout
The Dream World. By far its biggest attraction is a tournament called the Mephisto Cup, where the world’s strongest combatants gather in
The Dream World to fight for the entertainment of human and daemon audiences alike. As most civilized spheres have outlawd the Circus, its tournaments' ranks are mostly filled by Corsairs above the law, pirates and outlaws who openly flaunt it, and masked combatants who hide their identities.
Champions of the Circus's tournament receive the rare honor of a patronship from one of the most powerful
Daemons on the spheres, Christoph Ebliss. However, even those who don't make it to the top often find their participation worthwhile, as many Corsairs find patrons and increase their public profile through their patrons in the arena.
History
The Circus was founded by a Warlock named Ravi. A deadbeat brother to the famous Phantasm of Io,
Sena, Ravi spent most of his days as a voyeur lurking in strangers' dreams. He amused himself and his entourage of reprobate
Daemons by holding fight clubs inside the dreams he visited, which developed a strong cult following among society's lucid-dreaming upper crust.
However, Ravi lacked the drive and business sense to scale his idea. Perrenially plagued by gambling debts and a series of bad habits, he sold the Circus to the Lord of Bargains, Christoph Ebliss.
The daemon lord established a permanent location for the Circus by building a giant amphiteater in his home plane of High Mephisto. It didn't take long for him to fill the seats with dreamers and
Daemons alike itching to watch a fight.
Ravi himself remained onboard as a promoter for his own league, the Io Oneironautics Club. He still makes the Circus one of his usual haunts where he interfaces with a few adoring fans, and annoys a growing number of the Circus goers who find him a nuisance. Ravi still even has a few back doors built in from when he owned the place that he uses to slip away from debt collectors and sabotage his competition. However, for better or worse, this popular entertainment venue is now one of the many institutions across
The Dream World controlled by Christoph Ebliss.
The Arena
The Circus features a state of the art arena that transforms every match to host a wide variety of stages. Terrance, a type of daemon called a genius who are said to be responsible for generating inspiration in the Waking World, is responsible for crafting the stages--often building them from the combatants' own memories.
Hardly a series of flat, drab environments, the stages play a large role in the strategy and enjoyment of matches. Terrence fills them with a number of figment props that combatants can exploit to give themselves an edge in battle, as well as hazards and even enemies.
The arena is also equipped with state of the art safety features to enforce the Circus's prohibition on killing other combatants. Anyone injured during combat can take advantage of a teleport-on-injury feature to take shelter on the other side of the arena. When a combatant would otherwise take a mortal wound, that feature warps them into an infirmiry where a team of medics ensure they suffer no permanent injuries. That doesn't mean that accidents don't happen occasionally, but the Circus tries to discourage them by disqualifying anyone who kills their opponent.
The Audience
The Circus fills their seats from a wide variety of dreamers and
Daemons alike. Three VIP balconies float nearest to the arena, which powerful factions and individuals can rent out for an exorbitant sum. Humans often buy these seats to scout for up-and-coming corsairs to offer their patronage.
Daemons like to rent them out so they can interfere with the matches using their powers--a practice that is technically prohibited but usually overlooked (or even encouraged) in practice.
Audiences in the Circus tend to be a rowdy bunch, and are rarely bashful at sharing what they think. They will cheer at combatants who take action they favor and boo those they don't, so fighters usually have a good idea of where they stand with the audience.
Visitors to the circus often bring expectations for what they wish to see that often pile up--literally. A secret sweeper named Ossian is responsible for keeping the stands clean from such refuse. Though, he sometimes recruits combatants to help him by having them meet the expectations of the crowd--sharing intelligence about stages, audience members, or other combatants in exchange.
Leagues
The Circus's combatants are divided up into four different leagues, each of which have different goals and benefits to offer combatants who sign up for them. The leagues are strictly used for promotional purposes, and it is common for members of the same league to face off in the ring or members of different leagues to work together.
--The Gemini League is run by a Homyn tastemaker named Madame Gemini, and focuses on pairing its combatants with lucrative sponsors.
--The Surtur League is run by a daemon with a flaming skull named Siegfried, and focuses on pleasing
Daemons in the audience to give their combatants an edge in the field.
--The Orpheus League is a new league of masked fighters founded by a mysterious man named Mr. Orpheus, who is secretly the Phantasm of Io,
Sena in disguise trying to take down the Circus from the inside. Those who take up his cause can benefit from their infiltration by manipulating the arena in their favor.
--The Io Oneironautics Club is owned by the Circus's founder, Ravi. The league has fallen on hard times and currently only has one combatatn signed up,
Wukong. Nevertheless, Ravi's deep ties to the Circus and dubious morals give him a few tricks up his sleeve to help his combatants in battle.
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