apocalypsehowcomm | Event - Circus, Circus

Event - Circus, Circus

Circus, Circus

➥ By the Pricking of My Thumb

(cw: wax, potential compulsion and fighting)

The train pulls into the railyard at noon under a bright blue sky. The engine is a bright red with orange and yellow flames painted along the sides. The first carriage after that is pitch black with similar flames and a logo for the Fenix Down Extravaganza. It's a stylized red phoenix head in a circle of orange and yellow, the name of the circus painted across the top and bottom, mirroring the curve of the circle. A line of carriages stretch out after that, painted all different colors, but each maintaining the motif of flames down the sides and each bearing the company logo.

Excitement comes to the railyard. The circus is in town for a one-week stint before they continue their journey north. People in colorful costumes--clowns, 'fire fairies' covered in drips of candle wax, and those in animal masks--paper the town with advertisements. You might even find yourself conscripted to help with putting up the fliers and posters if you look idle. A stack of posters is placed in your hands. A $100 bill set atop seems to be your incentives to do something more than just toss them in the bin. There's a frantic energy both about the performers and the people in town. You might even find yourself strangely caught up in it. You want to help spread the word, to ensure the posters reach every part of town. Everyone else who's been conscripted, as well? You can do it better, faster. You need to be faster. You need to claim the space for your own before it's lost to someone else.

There hasn't been a circus come to Gloucester in decades, and it's the Fenix Down Extravaganza! They're renowned for their pyrotechnics and laser lights shows. Surely the enthusiasm for all that is just… catching.

The tents and booths are set up in vacant fields to the west of town, and there's one curious addition, as well. There's a railroad car that's been seemingly pulled away from the railyard somehow. No one sees it being moved, but it's out in the vacant field, and some might recognize it as the old, dilapidated thing that had been hidden in the railyard, the charred husk filled with old posters. It looms, in the field, almost seeming to smoke where it sits. It's quickly cleaned and restored over the course of the day the circus is setting up, though, and it seems to have been turned into the ticket booth for the front of the circus, complete with a new bright red paint job.

➥ Something Wicked This Way Comes

(cw: large-scale vehicular collision, industrial disaster, fire, harm to animals)

It's not a single person who can claim credit for the find, but many people all together. Hours have been poured into researching the mysterious midnight train crash that had rocked people from their beds almost a week ago. Finally, something is found. Stitched together from local newspaper clippings from around Cape Ann, a story emerges, identifying a derailment in the city of Gloucester back in 1921. More than a dozen workers had died in the railyard and there were fires beyond that in the town. The train itself had had only a few people aboard, performers for the Smoke and Mirrors Acting Troupe, along with animals used in their performances. The stories seem to be tucked away a few pages from the front of the newspapers, which are dominated by stories about skyrocketing unemployment following the Great War and the return home for the troops.

All of the stories seem to end with the same sentiment: It could have been so much worse. If the train had derailed further north in one of the more populated cities, where it had been scheduled to arrive the next morning after the crash? It could have been hundreds, maybe even thousands dead.

The information, whomever has found it, is enough. ADI calls a staff meeting. Ghostly circus train derailments just before another circus rolls into town? That's not a coincidence. Everyone who's willing is purchased a ticket for entrance to the Fenix Down Extravaganza, and every person is assigned a partner to join them. Don't lose track. There will be no kidnappings this time. ADI is determined to keep their people as safe as they can be while investigating. Maybe have a chat with your new companion(s).

Those who misbehaved during the last event's Sticky Wicket prompt and were caught with either an opened box or found to have injuries related to the artifacts inside the boxes will be assigned an additional person to their group. A mentor to keep them on the right track this time. And also to narc on them if they mess up again. Better behave, partner.

➥ Send In the Clowns

(cw: reference to cannibalism, fire, pain, mild body horror)

There's a light and excited atmosphere about the circus once a body makes it through the long queue out front. The sweet and sticky scent of fried and sugary foods permeates the air along with barbecues and the ever-present smell of ash. Fire would seem to be the main attraction for the Fenix Down Extravaganza. Fire dancers, fire jugglers, people swallowing fiery swords, and walking over beds of hot coals. There are sideshow attractions and games to see before heading into the big top. Notably, there are no animals or signs of animals at the circus save for a small contingent of goats that are set up as a petting zoo, and a sideshow with a reptile exhibit along with a 'snakeman.' Otherwise known as a performer decorated with shiny sticker scales who provides interesting 'snake facts' to anyone who happens by.

The Food
The food is typical carnival garbage. A little overpriced, but still decent and provided in excess of what people should reasonably eat in one sitting, especially for things like the cotton candy and funnel cake. There is some decent grilled food available, and those who go snooping will find that the food prep within each of the little booths is acceptable for what it all seems to be. There is one booth characters might notice that has 'long-pig' on the menu. Or does it? Check again, and it's not there. It seems to be selling hotdogs, though. Just ordinary hotdogs. Care to bite into one?

The Games
Your standard rigged carnival games: the ring toss, the ladder climb, the baseball and milk jugs. Spend more money for bigger prizes! But you're risking losing it all, as well. There are a few unique games, as well, though. One is called 'The Floor Is Lava,' and participants must make their way around a strange obstacle course that's up on balance beams. If you slip and go down, it's just grass of course. But for a moment, for a split second, you can feel the heat and agony as the lava engulfs your body. You're fine, though, of course! It's just a game, after all. Even if you might feel a bit… singed after that. Another game someone might find tucked away in an obscure corner is 'Liar, Liar,' which involves throwing beanbags at targets. Each target lights a match that helps to burn a string leading toward a cartoonish figure in polka dot boxers. The goal is to get the fire to touch the boxers before a timer runs out. When the fire hits the boxers, there's an uncomfortably realistic shriek. But it's probably fine.

The Sideshows and Exhibits
Fire is the overriding theme at the side shows with fire dancers and jugglers being the most prominent amongst the tents. Attendants for the tents all wear full (and varied) animal heads obscuring their faces; though, if someone is rude enough to rip off their masks, they'll just find disgruntled employees who would like that back now. The more notable sideshow acts include:

The Twisted Twisters - A pair of contortionists who maneuver bowls filled with flames while they shift around. They're very affable, joking with each other as they work.
Flammie the Magnificent - A magician who's open about his use of smoke and mirrors, as well as making objects appear in a burst of flame. He's a purposefully goofy magician aimed at younger kids.
Asbestos Mike - A man who juggles burning coals. His hands are… unfortunate to look at. But he doesn't seem to mind and claims to have no working nerve endings. He's extremely calm about… everything.

➥ Lost & Found

(cw: child endangerment/distressed parent with missing child, disorientation, hallucination)

And then, of course, there are the 'experiences.' They're not rides per se. Those are hard to pack up on a train, but they're exhibits to pass through with a particular theme toward interaction or ogling. There's a small wax museum with decently-crafted models of a few famous individuals. And then there's the Fun House. It's a mirror maze inside that seems to stretch on far larger than the small space it's set up in should allow. For those who make it to the center of the maze, they'll find a dark room with a single mirror in it. This, unlike the rest of the mirrors in the Fun House, isn't one that distorts your form. It's simply a standard mirror. There's also a corridor of mirror beyond it that leads to a quick escape from the Fun House for those lucky winners who make it there.

Said 'winners' will find that everything seems to be perfectly normal when they step out onto the bustling circus grounds. But is that- Ah, that's someone they wanted to talk to. Or maybe it's someone who looks suspicious. Just someone they want to follow. There is a figure and it's someone they want to follow. If they do so, they'll quickly lose said figure in the crowd, only to spot them a ways on a few moments later. Pursuing this figure will result in the winner being run around the circus grounds, never quite able to catch up. If they stop their pursuit, they will find themselves somewhere that they have not seen before. There may be a sense of disorientation as they try to get their bearings.

For those who don't enter the Fun House or come out as winners, they might notice someone--a parent--frantically looking about some other time. The parent comes up to them, asks if they've seen their child, before hurrying off to try to find an employee for help. Their little one was just there. They just came out of the Fun House and now… now they can't find their child! Employees will be only too happy to help, but non-employees might be quicker on the draw to locate the missing child. They're always found in a random place, seemingly unharmed but confused and frightened as they search for their parent, claiming they saw said parent going just over there, or over here. Still, you've reunited a family! No harm, no foul, right? Kids go wandering all the time. Parents really ought to keep a closer watch.

➥ The Ringmaster

(cw: fire, pain, immolation, screaming)

"Please be advised the following show contains flashing lights, sudden loud noises, and fire. Anyone who may have difficulty with these, please make your way to the exit. Our employees will provide refunds for anyone who may have challenges due to these effects." A full two minutes pass to allow those who need to leave time to do so. And then…

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and everyone in between, put your hands together for the one, the only, Fenix Down!" The words sound over the PA system in the tent just before roaring calliope music picks up and the man himself practically dances to the center of the ring in the main tent. Fenix is a remarkably short Caucasian man with dark hair, brown eyes, and a suit that looks like it's on fire, all orange, red, and yellow licks of color across the fabric. His bright yellow tophat features the company's phoenix logo on it, and he nearly loses the thing as he dashes around the ring, grinning like a madman and eliciting cheers from the audience as he raises his arms for them to shout.

"Are you ready, my friends, for the brightest, the grandest, the most extravagant show you have ever seen?" Thunderous cheers from the audience. "I am Fenix Down, and this is my extravaganza!"

The show plays out with two main acts with smaller ones in between. The main acts are introduced by Fenix in turn:

"Penny, the dancing flame!" is firedancer with an elaborate show involving a flaming whip and multiple other performers in horse heads acting as her 'animal companions' for the show.
"And Roderick, the man with laser hands!" is a young man in large, dark glasses who conducts a laser lights and pyrotechnics production from a DJ-style turntable as rock music plays and performers dance and tumble around the ring.

On the final night, there is a change to the performance, though. "And now, my friends, my dear friends, we have a special treat, a new main act to premier: Pyre, the burning man!" Those who are witness to this will see a young man enter the ring. He's sweating and a bit on the heavy side. He also looks… frightened. Frightened and exhilarated. He waves to the crowd as a circle of pipes is raised from a stage in the center of the ring. Pyre sets himself in the middle and lifts his hand. Liquid sprays from the pipes and for those who are close enough, they will likely recognize the scent of gasoline.

"I will be reborn and rise as the phoenix!" Pyre declares before striking a match. His whole body catches immediately in flames and there are horrified gasps and screams from the crowd. Those who might try to interfere are asked to hold on, hold on, just wait by employees. There's nothing to do for young Pyre, anyway. The flames burn rapidly until he collapses on the stage. Fenix makes the first subtle movement he has ever made for anyone who has watched his other performances. A small snap of his fingers, half-covered by one hand. The fire snuffs itself out immediately.

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, I know that seems frightening, but just watch," Fenix calls. "Like a phoenix, we rise!" As he says this, Pyre picks himself up. His clothes hang in a charred mess about his form, but his flesh… it seems to have knit itself back together. He is whole, and proceeds to give the audience a double-thumbs up. Relieved guests erupt in applause for this… very strange and rather harrowing final act.

After each performance for the night, the main acts and Fenix are available to take photos, sign autographs, and generally schmooze with the public for a little while. They each have a small tent so that you can have a moment of privacy with your favorite act, if you'd like. If anyone is looking for answers, particularly, these are the top of the hierarchy and might prove the most fruitful to speak to. They're also the only people in the circus that seem to have supernatural energy about them, for those who might have such senses to notice that.

➥ Mod Notes

GENERAL - Players are welcome to play NPCs for themselves when they are needed in a thread. If you need more information on general behavior for these types of NPCs, please feel free to ask! In general, the information provided in the prompt should be sufficient and you're welcome to make up any details beyond that for your specific scene. For this event, the only NPCs that should not be controlled by players for threading are: Fenix Down and the Main Acts in The Ringmaster prompt. These NPCs will be played by mods and available for interaction.
BY THE PRICKING OF MY THUMB (25-26 August) - Characters may accept fliers to put up a maximum of three times (that's $300). Not everyone will feel the compulsion to put up the fliers, but if you need incentive for your character to take action, they can do so. The fliers are ordinary adverts with dates, hours, location, and pricing for the circus. Characters can wander around some of the set-up for the circus, but they'll be shooed away if they linger too long with a request to leave for their safety. Circus personnel doing the set-up are not interested in talking. They'll ignore characters or threaten to call the police for harassment if characters persist in bothering them while they're trying to set things up. Those who attempt to mind-control the workers or otherwise compel them for information will quickly discover that these are genuinely just ordinary people who are doing all the set-up. And they would really like to do their job because they do not have enough time.
SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES (25-27 August) - Players are free to OOCly select their ADI-assigned partner. Those who misbehaved during the Sticky Wicket prompt (and there was evidence of that misbehavior) will find themselves saddled with a mentor, either as their partner or in addition to their partner. This mentor (if they're a PC) should be someone who DID behave in that prompt or who has not made themselves a problem for ADI up to this point. Partners are not required to stick together or with their mentors for the duration of the event. This is just an opportunity to get some new CR (or strengthen existing CR)! And maybe butt heads while you slip away from each other while investigating. Mentors will be expected to be somewhat responsible for their charges, though, if you would like to play with that dynamic.
SEND IN THE CLOWNS (26 August - 2 September) - Regular employees and sideshow acts have no particular information to provide about anything sinister going on at the circus. As far as they know, the work is grueling sometimes given the quick set-up/break-down and schedule, but they're paid very well and even have benefits! They're pretty protective of their employer, as a result, and aren't going to willingly trash-talk him or the circus beyond some standard grumbling about the extra work going into this as Gloucester wasn't originally on their tour schedule.
LOST & FOUND (26 August - 2 September) - Employees will be generally helpful in these situations, using walkie-talkies to try to find missing children. They won't be fast, though. Parents will be uniformly distressed, then grateful to anyone who might assist in locating their children. Children will be wholly unharmed, wherever they are found, but frightened, confused and disoriented. Characters who end up as 'winners' in the Fun House will need several minutes to get their bearings back after following their hallucinations. If they try to return to the Fun House, they won't seem to be able to find the center of the maze anymore, and the mirror maze will appear to be wholly ordinary and the correct size for the space it's in.
THE RINGMASTER (26 August - 2 September) - Characters who would leap in to assist Pyre will be waylaid by staff just long enough for him to stir and complete his act to show that he is, indeed, alive and seemingly fine. Those who still try to interrupt will be escorted out by security. Characters will have the chance to speak to Fenix, Penny, Roderick, and Pyre during this prompt. The first four will be available for the full week the circus is in town. Pyre will be available the final night. Characters may interrogate one NPC each. Each NPC will have different information they may be able to provide.

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Yelena's expression is an inversion of his, a quick grin. "Once," she says. "When I was small. It was a good day."

(It had been a middling day at best, a show for the neighbours at a halfhearted autumn fair. But she'd been five at the time, and not particularly discerning.)

She catches the sidelong look and adds, "It's fried dough, with fruit and sugar. Maybe not a thing to eat every day, but it's delicious."

She nods her head in agreement with Yelena. "You shouldn't eat it everyday for the sugar content alone but as a treat, I like them." Kate is not going to promise that he'll like it. Despite the sugar and it being just friend dough, not everyone has the same taste buds. He may hate it but Kate feels that he should at least try it before deciding that.

Her hands are full or she would try a bite to show him that she likes it. Kate has a small feeling that he trusts her where food is concerned. She has a larger feeling that she shouldn't push him. It comes from the look in his eyes. It's not her place to push anyways. She can ask, she can say please along with all of the other niceties, but she shouldn't push.

"Oh, I got us some lemonades too. We should find a place to sit."

He has tried a few sugary things in the cafeteria and from the vending machines. Sugar is generally approved of, unless it comes with sour. So he nods, and deftly relieves Kate of at least some of her burden, two of the lemonades. "Okay."

There's picnic tables. Not the most secure of eating places, but he'll make do. It's not like there's anything better if Yelena and Kate want to sit. He might not be the most socially adept, but he's pretty sure they won't want to sit in an aisle between the booths, back to a wall. That's not "fun".

Yelena doesn't particularly object to the concept of sitting on the ground, but given the option of a table, she'd rather sit a little ways above the anthills. She scans the small seating area, then spies a family just departing from an umbrella-shaded table on the outskirts.

"There's a good one," she calls, before darting ahead to secure it before any other roaming snack-inclined circus-goers can do so.

It is, in fact, a decent table. It also has good sightlines, as such things go. Priorities.

Kate is not going to question why Yelena had picked that particular table. It is a good one and has shade. Isn't that what one should look for in a place to sit?

"Thank you, Winter." Her smile is genuine when he takes two of the lemonades from her. Her load is a little lighter. She carries the rest to the table and sits down in the most vulnerable seat (not that she's aware of that). Kate would have been an easy pick for a sniper but in this current moment that's not how her brain works.

She puts the funnel cake on the table and then takes out her own lemonade. "I think, that since you've never had one, you should take the first bite Winter." After that, it's going to be a free-for-all. In the meantime, she turns to look at Yelena. "Think you might try any of the games?"

He's not questioning, either, because he knows it's the best option, and he's kind of quietly grateful. Even if Yelena does it for herself rather than his own paranoia, it's still appreciated.

He settles with eyes on the bulk of the circus-goers and sets the second drink in front of Yelena, then eyes the funnel cake. He's frankly not sure how to eat any of it without the whole thing falling to pieces, but he'll give it a go, trying to dig into the fried part with the plastic fork without shattering the whole thing and getting strawberries everywhere.

It would be a lot easier with one of his combat knives, but that seems like overkill.

Yelena picks up the cup of lemonade and takes a sip, studiously not watching the initial confrontation between the Winter Soldier and the funnel cake. It's a delicious treat. It's not a remotely dignified one.

"A couple," she says in answer to Kate's question. "I want to win a dragon." At least, she thinks the brightly-coloured toys she'd spied at one of the game booths on the way in is supposed to be a dragon. It could also be a particularly garish dinosaur. Either way, it's good camouflage, and a good excuse to talk to some of the circus crew that hadn't been easily approachable while they were setting up.

"What do you most want to see? We can make a plan, to fit everything in."

"You can use your hands too." She offers to Winter. Kate is trying very hard not to watch Winter try the funnel cake. However, she's not very subtle. There is nothing dignified about most dishes topped with powdered sugar. It's meant to be messy. That's how you know it's delicious.

"A dragon? That's what that was?" She grins. There had been many stuffed animals that Kate hadn't been able to tell immediately what they were. Dragon? Monster? Some weird hybrid? It's hard to say. "Good luck in winning one."

She takes a sip of her lemonade before responding. It tastes good to her, not too tart but with plenty of flavor. "Um, I kind of hope there's an arcade. Whack-A-Mole and Skeeball are my favorite games." Kate has a lot of repressed anger that comes from repressing her own emotions. It's easy to take that anger out on defenseless mechanical moles while also winning tickets.

"I think I'm mostly here for the food." Kate laughs a little at that.

"Not that I saw. They are mostly games of skill or luck. Though there is a strongman hammer." If she really wants to hit something, she can hit that. He's going to avoid it. His metal arm is probably not playing fair.

He doesn't want to use his hands, though. That's messy. He reluctantly breaks out the combat knife, which does thankfully help, as much for scooping strawberries and whipped cream onto his fork as for breaking the fried bit apart. He's going to need to give it a thorough cleaning.

After chewing a moment, he decides it's probably worth a little knife cleaning. It's good.

"That's what I am calling it," Yelena replies with an answering grin. "If it wants to argue, it can."

For the briefest of moments, she wonders if that's actually something she might have to worry about - and then she dismisses the thought and the accompanying tingle of unease, and takes another sip from her drink. Her gaze tracks a red balloon bobbing above the crowd, gleaming in the bright afternoon light.

"We should look at some of the sideshows. There might be something interesting there."

Read: something strange, something supernatural.

"I think if a stuffed dragon starts to argue, we're going to have an entirely different problem on our hands." She covers her mouth to cover a little laugh. "Well, some of us know that I do not have the upper strength to win anything decent if win anything at all." The anger and desire to hit something hard? Yes. The strength? No, so no stuffed raccoons that remind her of Winter for her.

She glances over to check on Winter's progress with the funnel cake. Since he seems to be enjoying it, she turns her attention to Yelena. It's almost shame. They were having such a good time.

"This is the second time ADI has sent me somewhere. The last time they sent me to get an artifact that turned out to be cursed. It would have been stolen from me had touching it not caused the would-be thief to burn alive." It is not an easy memory for Kate to bring up. She had literally watched a man die in front of her eyes. "So we should look at the sideshows and the games but we should also be careful."

"I had that mission, too. That was my first ambush in this town," he agrees soberly. He's seen many people die, so it was more the magic component that startled him than the death. (He actually killed the idiot, himself, while he lay on the ground writhing and screaming. Half to shut him up. The rest of the gang had bolted pretty quickly, after that.)

"Let me try things first," he suggests after another bite. "I heal more quickly than is standard." Well. Sort of. It comes and goes, around here, and he hasn't admittedly put together what causes the serum's effects to return. "And I have a metal arm."

Yelena sucks in a sharp breath, then mutters something filthy in Russian.

"And they did not warn you about what it could do?" she asks. It's sharp - but it's not particularly surprised. Her expression draws down into a frown, and she amends the question with, "What they could do."

(It's...not good to know that ADI is apparently stockpiling weapons that could burn people alive, exactly, but it is useful.)

"They didn't. They just said not to touch it." She has had the occasional nightmare about it. "I don't understand why they didn't already have them at headquarters. They give us a code to get into the lockers but why where they there in the first place."

She shakes her head. Is at Yelena's swearing? No, despite recognizing swearing in another language when she hears it. Some words just roll a little too easily off the tongue. "They don't let us ask a lot of questions. They didn't ask me any when I brought it back. Did they ask you, Winter?"

Kate shifts her gaze to Winter. She knows something about healing quicker than is normal. Her healing factor has been nerfed since arriving in Gloucester. How does she know? She can get drunk and she needs more sleep.

"You do have a metal arm, yes but I don't think you should just charge into things. I think we're supposed to act like normal carnival goers." That is as close as she can come to saying be careful without actually saying be careful. Winter is a grown adult. "Everything looks normal. I don't know where to begin."

"I reported that there had been trouble in the retrieval, but they made no note of it." He has another bite of the funnel cake. If they're going to be all serious and distracted, that means more for him. He can focus on both. "Either it was a test for us. Or there are other ADI agents who deposit goods at drop-off locations for retrieval."

"It could be both," Yelena notes. She swirls her straw in her lemonade, then takes another sip. "It would be efficient - they retrieve things that need retrieving, and test everyone's ability to follow directions and not be curious at the same time."

It's not what she would do, not a thorough vetting process at all, but she can see the logic in it.

It doesn't make her trust ADI any better.

"But we're not here to talk about these things. We're getting sidetracked. I think today, we should make a circuit of the grounds, and pinpoint the things we want to focus on most."

"What do you think we should be looking for?" Because ADI had not been very clear in that department. "I mean specifically."

"Threat analysis. Things that don't make sense for the place they are in. Things that would frighten. Things that could be dangerous. Signs of potential magic." Which is to say: he doesn't have specifics, either, but he knows what in general one looks for on an op like this.

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Event - Circus, Circus

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