DAN's Carnival

While its location may change constantly as it travels about, DAN's circus can most often be found in northern Voldaren shifting between Casmera, Voldaren and Harandil.
It is unclear why DAN has joined and traveled with such a circus, though throughout their travels they have met with Hysteria on at least one occasion.

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Members

Doctor Blissard, AKA Dr. Bliss - A red haired halfling with a patchy beard. The portrait found in that locket within the Calliope was this doctor man. He performs smaller surgeries, first aid, and provides medicine when needed. He took over the Carnival shortly after the previous leader left. He's often at the very least tipsy if not drunk or high.
Lady Ivory, Queen of the Keys - The previous owner of this Traveling Carnival. A brilliant Calliope player that kept the carnival running strong for at least a hundred years. She's a Snow Elf and her current location is unknown. When she vanished, Doctor Blissard delivered the news that she had left to settle down with a new boyfriend that swept her off her feet.
Poodle Murphy - A singer that sometimes performs outside the main tent but usually on stage. She's has really curly hair and very pale skin for a human that travels with a carnival all the time. She tends to draw a crowd, and her songs were once a lot more positive than they currently are. Her tone shifted after her sister died. Strangely enough, her sister passed the same night that Lady Ivory left the carnival. She tends to blame Funeral Wells for her sister's death.
Taber Murphy - Poodle's sister and Funeral Wells' old partner. She would be strapped to spinning targets while he threw knives, or she would perform other wild feats as he struck targets around her. She was never once hit by him...until one tragic night when she received a mortal injury from a bad throw.
Funeral Wells - A light grey halfling with black horns, lips and tail. He throws knives with insane accuracy, often while blindfolded. He's only ever missed once, and it cost him dearly. Folks at that performance claimed that her was definitely drunker than usual. These days he's constantly at least tipsy as he drinks throughout the day to stay phased against the memories. He's sometimes found at the target range game "practicing".
One-eyed Murphy - A white-furred murid (rat person) that is missing one eye. She runs her menagerie of animals, some of which are exotic or deadly. In addition to her live shows, she can be found near her animals where she runs a race and a petting zoo while away from the stage.
Molly Hoey - A halfling tattoo artist. She's surprisingly fast and her tattoos hurt like hell, but she has a strange way of dealing with that pain for people. A special rag that she soaks in specifically three roses. It helps ease the pain caused by her tattoos.

Demographics

The Free Troupe welcomes anyone into their ranks and treats all that join with respect as long as they make themselves useful and are capable of demonstrating a skill.
The current ringmaster, Doctor Bliss, is a halfling doctor by trade, but he took up the position after the disappearance of the previous Ringmaster, Lady Ivory. She was a Snow Elf and a brilliant Calliope player.

Government

While everyone in The Free Troupe is just so, free, they do still have structure to keep everyone organized, on task, and ready for each performance.
The leader of the entire Troupe is the Ringmaster. They are responsible for overseeing the leaders of each section, confirming destination, route, and is generally the person that people turn to for assistance in matters involving the Troupe overall.
From there The Circus is divided into sections including jugglers, sword swallowers, animal tamers, balancers (tight rope and other impressive feats of balance), acrobatics (trapese, generic acrobatic performers), the band, fire eaters, dancers, and oddities. Although the "oddities" are a point of contention amongst performers and guests alike and it may be discontinued later this year.

History

This Circus, or "The Free Troupe", was originally founded by a group of dancers, singers, and professionals of many other natures that felt they had no real place to call home. Wanderers that just wanted to share their craft in exchange for a meal, maybe a place to sleep, and to not have to abide by the laws of any nation. The members of this troupe notoriously call no man king, though maybe they did at some point in their lives such things can sometimes be a well-kept secret or even a point of contention.
Many famous performers have gotten their start in The Free Troupe, while others maybe fell from grace to end up here.
The longest running Ringmaster in this circus was Sir Thistlebane Shatterhelm, a man with such an obnoxious name, eccentric attire, and outlandish attitude that none were sure what was part of the act or what was just who he truly was. Perhaps there wasn't a difference by the time he passed away in a rather heartbreaking cannon accident.
The Circus usually makes a tour that goes from the northern portion of Voldtaren, then the northern border of Casmera (Farport -> Ukhliin Ovog -> Ernhart), then goes further north through a portion of the Halls of Dorlgmur, wrapping back around to visit the northern portions of Voldaren, then the Frozen Shores of Harandil, back through Voldaren's east coast all the way down to the sothern border and then back up the west coast before reaching their starting point again in norther Voldaren.
Each stop usually lasts around a week (plus setup/takedown time) with 20 stops. With the outrageous distance they travel it is quite miraculous that they are able to reach all of their stops consistently every year and never be late. Many suspect that magic is employed somehow to help them get to where they need to go quickly, or even immediately if necessary.
The Troupe was last seen traveling north along the west Voldtaren coast, and this is likely where DAN left them to traverse the planes.

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The Spiritual Travelers interacted with this sort of traveling carnival and circus while within the Howdigo. They learned a bit about the current members and how there is a lot of contention between some of them.
Apparently, the knife thrower, Funeral Wells, never misses. There was one time that he missed somewhere north of Voldtaren, and the troupe's singer, Poodle Murphy, would never forgive him for it. The night that he missed, Poodle's sister, Taber was strapped to the target, spinning, and a knife hit her throat. She bled as she span on the target, and Funeral's drunken state along with the absurdity of it all caused him to laugh before finally bringing Taber to Doctor Blissard for treatment.
She died that night, and Poodle has sworn vengeance ever since. More about this mystery has yet to be revealed.

Alternative Name(s)

The Traveling Carnival, The Free Troupe

Type

Caravan

Location under

Voldtaren

Related Reports (Secondary)

• Session 70: DAN's Intoxicated Carnival