Ghyll:Qane

Qane is the proprietor of the Cirq l' Tytns; a hodgepodge of feral clowns, altoxian bulb eaters, and a quintet of orphaned urchins. He stands tall and lean, an imposing and sometimes frightening figure, dressed in the traditional green & violet of the vaude performance tradition (with a dash of tertiary colors).

The circuit of the Cirq encompasses the meandering route of the Qestarius River. In fact, few outside of this river-region even know of the Cirq's existence. The region, known for its dismal drainage and eerie amphibians, is also home to no towns... none, nula, nishta, nada. The residents who have chosen to nest therein live in villages, hamlets, and hideouts; examples include Hvar (population 31), Krag (pop. 29), Mulch (pop. 24), and Uothe (pop. 17). Though many would ask why any entertainer would choose such a poor spectrum of civility to peddle their goods, once one gets to know Qane, all such questions vanish.

Though the river-region encompasses the Marty, folk from Iganefta-on-the-Sea have never had the entertainers come near for though the main flow of the Qestarius leads to their river and sea ports, the Cirq never gets to within five leles of the bay for Qane prefers to have his troupe take the inland flow which leads eventually into the Wentzel Fen.

The Cirq appeared in 1 EC during the wet summer nights common to the river-region. Even as farmer Magot was putting up the toll gate over Hare'son Ford near to the village of Uothe he saw (so he said later) a "piercing light in the glooming mist." Even as if condensing from out of the rain-laden air there appeared a pachyderm train of four large covered carriages. Without so much as a howdoyoudo the train master dropped an appropriate number of quezloos into the toll bucket and the whole train plodded along southwards.

Though Qane is owner & operator, he is also a man difficult to read and one who keeps his secrets to himself. Full of smiles, he speaks eloquently of the Cirq and of the needs of the simple Ghyllite, his choice of words - sometimes odd - shows the man to be interested in the needful things of the people. More than this, though, is impossible to discern.

the Tytns

The main attraction of the Cirq are the Tytns - the quintet from which the whole Cirq gets its name. This quintet is made up of Bat-Boy, Miss Wonder, Lightning, the Submerger, and the Crossbow. These five performers are each interesting and together fascinating, and the stories of their respective orphaning quite heart-tearing.

As to their individual styles: Bat-Boy is an acrobat par excellence, his ability to seemingly fly from one post to another using the ropes is spectacular; Lightning is a speedster seemingly able to run faster than sea-hawks can fly and his "now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t" trick delights each and every audience; Miss Wonder is a young lady who can bend metal in her hands, can leap higher than most athletes, and is a whizzer with a lasso; the Submerger can hold his breath under water, under fefferberry juice, under spitfodder, indeed under any liquid imaginable for great periods of time, and his spitting is a mischievous delight for all grubling-boys to see; the Crossbow is a firecracker of a shot with, what else, a crossbow – his aim is faultless and his targets are usually the empty spaces around his running, jumping, and swinging fellow performers. The garish costumes of red, yellow, and various hews of green flash across the stage as the quintet perform fetes of acrobatic daring, death-defying dizziness, and the simply oddstanding.

These performers tend to quietness but for Miss Wonder and the Crossbow. These two regale the crowds with words of bravado and quips of humor and wit. The Submerger, however, has never been heard to say a single word and rumor has it that he has no tongue (though whether he was born so or whether it was forcibly removed is a matter of heated debate). As to their families, they have none – each being orphaned at an earlier time. How they came to be in the Cirq is not known, but they definitely make quite a team.

the Clowns

A secondary attraction are the feral clowns. Kept away from small children and indeed, not part of the main show, these strange and obscene characters are confined to mostly within a traveling-house of their own making, a house where "any brave enough to enter are given a tour of their inner self." (from the brochure) It has been said by some that it is larger within than without, but too one must not forget the potberrie juice that all drink before entering the place (ostensibly to calm the nerves says the clown wrangler). What is inside few care to describe, and the Cirq is quite pleased to sustain this mystery. The few who were willing to answer direct questions regarding their foray into the Clown House spoke of macabre images on the walls and of murmured whispering. I have notated just a few of the "messages" seen and heard by various participants:

the way of midnight is full of danger...

never trust a word to Bruce, that one-armed rogue...

the Black Flame shall ignite the world...

the Rules must be obeyed

Pthul is just beyond...

the frogs rise when the Chud arrives...

they're coming to get you, Barbara...

My dear, Arcane, it’s quite Elemental...

sheed y du fir Pthul ncht

I am your father

If I obey that wouldn’t make me much of a rebel would it?

The Chud dance a waltz about you, take down all whom you love, you in misery remain

Lumics are weird, I like weird things

History

Though Qane refuses to speak about the Cirq’s history, after interviewing some of the elder loremasters of the river-region villages an interesting story emerges: it appears that the Cirq must have been formed long ago for it comes to the villages every seventy-two to seventy-five years, performs for about a year or so, and then disappears. There have been at least three prior appearances with the last being in the early –70s EC when the Cirq consisted of wild ventriloquists, acrobatic pygmies, and a grenfed man. There was quite some controversy regarding that troupe, especially as the grenfs of the grenfed man covered not only his shell, but his whole body! and more, each play seemed to evoke a different tune and tale, which is quite impossible as any materialist can tell you. Whether the loremasters are just this side of oldtimers disease, whether they like to spice up the otherwise ordinary life of their tiny homesteads, or whether there is some truth to what may or may not have occurred some seventy years ago we shall never know for sure. One last comment, however, is that all the loremasters are quite in agreement that the leader during the Cirq's last visit was a man named Qane. When confronted with this, the fortyish-looking Qane leading the current troupe simply smiled in his top hat and pincertails and said: "Now, now, do I look that old?"

Citations: Qestarius River, Tertiary colors, Wentzel Fen

--Nikos of Ant 00:19, 15 Sep 2005 (EDT)