bakerstreet | Cirque de la Lune

Cirque de la Lune

Cirque de la Lune is famous across the multiverse for its spectacular cast, each exquisite to behold as they perform feats of daring and wonder before enthralled audiences. Any privileged to attend a performance will never forget, for each show is filled with magic and splendor.

Literally.

For the secret of the Cirque de la Lune is that each performer is kidnapped, modified, and enslaved by the one who runs it, a mysterious figure known only as The Ringmaster. He draws the most promising, the most beautiful, and the most talented from any dimension to which he has access, then with a combination of magic and medicine transforms each into their fullest potential, a shining jewel to play their parts like marionettes on strings of his manufacture.

Will you be a part of the circus? Or are you one of the lucky few who's managed to procure a ticket? Step right up, then, and see what it has to offer....

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The kidnappings come without warning or a chance at escape: those summoned by The Ringmaster suddenly find themselves in the circus, so wound about by bindings both physical and magical they can hardly move, much less think of escape. Most are unconscious for the process of alterations, which could be considered a mercy considering how long and painful it is. The Ringmaster works with the careful precision of a master sculptor, and each of his creations bears a symbol of his craftsmanship that also serves to keep them under his unfaltering control.

As the symbol can only be removed by another person at the cost of their life, almost no one has ever even tried to escape the circus, and even if they did there would be the small issue of getting away from where it exists, suspended between dimensions. Most don't even realize they're being controlled, however, for the compulsions holding their imposed personae in place are subtle in their strength.

The best of The Ringmaster's creations, those who perhaps already possessed innate talent or beauty, or who simply adapted to the changes better than most, are fortunate enough to take their places in the First Circle. These are the most privileged and pampered, and each wears a tiny jewel in their ear to mark their rank.

1) Beast Tamer
Merciless and deadly, the Beast Tamer can subdue the most unruly animal with will and whip. They seek to dominate and control, no matter how meek or cowardly they might have once been.

2) Tightrope Walker
The Tightrope Walkers are the most exquisite jewels of the circus, delicate and graceful of form and movement and often breathtakingly lovely of face, able to dance butterfly-light on the finest of wires. They are also, however, often the most passive, the most controlled, like puppets crafted of fragile china.

3) Acrobats
Whether they are skilled as trapeze artists, hoop dancers, or tumblers, the Acrobats are all agile and quick of body-- and mind. Something about the changes made to allow their feats of skill also tends to make them more sly and cunning, more apt to lie or cheat to get ahead of the rest.

4) Strong (Wo)Man
These performers were enhanced for strength-- some were given added bulk and others simple toning, but all are significantly stronger than any unaltered human. Alas, they often lose some of their mental acuity in exchange for the physical enhancements, but none will ask a performer balancing an anvil to perform calculus.

Those without special skills or who did not adapt quite so well are still given places in the circus ranks, however, being placed in the Second Circle. Members of this group bear an unobtrusive bracelet around one wrist as a sign of their rank.

5) Clowns
Many a flaw can be hidden with makeup, and those who did not quite meet The Ringmaster's exacting standards of beauty must hide behind makeup and costume. Many are failed Acrobats, and as they are quite aware that only a small mischance prevented their admission to the First Circle, they spent much of their time plotting the downfall of those more privileged.

6) Sideshow Performers
These can include jugglers, fire-breathers, or knife-throwers, daredevils or magicians, those with clever hands and nimble tongues who can amuse the guests before the main show. Some failed Tightrope Walkers are veiled and costumed and put to work in a side tent as exotic dancers, while former Strong Men discourage the guests from getting too close (though rumor says they can be bribed, at times).

7) Beasts
The Beast Tamers must have creatures with which to perform, after all. Those who already wore the forms of beasts are enhanced, whether to look more beautiful or more deadly (or perhaps both), while some others are transformed entirely into lions or tigers or other fierce beasts to share in the main performance. Some of these unfortunates manage to retain their intelligence after the change, but others find themselves slipping away and becoming as mindless as the creatures whose forms they wear.

8) Sideshow Exhibit
The displays in the sideshow tent include those whose alterations fail, those who become trapped halfway between humanoid and beast form, or those who began in such an inhuman shape that they could never fit into the First Circle even with all The Ringmaster can do. Their existence is barely better than those of the animals, for they almost always remain caged, subject to the stares and giggles of the crowd. These again are guarded by former Strong Men, but they cannot be everywhere, and occasionally the mocking and stares of the guests devolve into worse.

The worst off of the circus denizens are those who inhabit the Third Circle. These unfortunates wear a plain leather collar as a sign of their rank, though none are likely to mistake them for a member of one of the other Circles.

9) Menials
Someone has to do the work of running the circus, after all. This group is unique in that not all of them were brought here involuntarily: some became lost and elected to remain, some sought employment, and some came seeking their missing friends and loved ones and chose to linger nearby in the vain hope that their memories might return. Most, however, are simply those too ordinary or unskilled to fit anywhere else, and they can be found just about anywhere in the circus, doing chores or maintenance, tending the animals, or selling concessions to the guests. They go everywhere, they see everything, but they do little of consequence, even if they aren't kept under as much control as the rest of the circus folk.

10) Slaves
These are the fallen, the failed, the grotesque, those who are too deformed to exhibit, too ugly or ungainly to be allowed to perform, or those who tried to escape and are now in disgrace. They remain hidden from the view of guests, serving as laborers in whatever manner The Ringmaster or the members of the First Circle might desire. (Rumors say the former prima Tightrope Walker attempted to run away from the circus, and now bent and disfigured from her punishment, cleans the quarters of the current prima.)

And what would a circus be without an audience?

11) Guests
It is difficult indeed to obtain a ticket to the circus, for most do not even known of its existence. Only the rich, the powerful, those who are well versed in dimensional travel, or somehow privileged to be given a ticket by The Ringmaster himself in return for some service are ever allowed into the circus grounds. Some say that anyone who can provide The Ringmaster with a particularly good candidate will earn a lifetime's pass in return...

(originally by

enthymeme)

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His brows both lifted, head tilting once more, "You believe I'm doing this to be nice?"

He shook his head, "No, you're my charge. It's easier if we can come to an agreement. I could command you, wring any resistance out of you, but then there wouldn't be anything left, no point in it."

His brow furrows in genuine confusion. "Isn't that what you guys want from me? Like... No more resistance."

That's what it had seemed like, when he'd had water and food withheld for not doing as he was told.

"It is how some of the trainers operate." And most of their beasts didn't last long with that kind of treatment, "But it's far from ideal. Leads to injuries and incidents that could so easily have been avoided."

"So you... You want me to, what." His brow furrows. "Do what you want out of the goodness of my heart? You know that's never going to happen, right? Like--you're asking me to give up being human."

Because he doesn't know if it's true or not, but he suspects that the more beastly he acts, the more beastly he becomes.

That did tend to be how it worked, not that Bane knew for sure, most of the time by the time he got a new Beast that was all they were, he didn't generally get them before they were fully formed, so this was something new for him and he was sure it was some kind of test.

"Hardly." He replied, shaking his head, "We don't have to like each other to be able to work together."

John's gaze goes flat, and, unconsciously, he starts twisting the bracelet wrapped around his wrist, the one with no beginning or end or any way for John to get off.

"Yeah? How're you plannin' on getting my cooperation, then?"

"That is up to you. Though I'm sure you'll see the benefits." His brows lifted again, "I prefer not to break my charges, but that doesn't mean I won't."

There had been a few throughout the years that had needed that treatment, and he wasn't sure yet whether Blake was going to be one of those or not.

"I get it," and he steps away again, putting space between them. "'Do as I say or I'll wreck you', right?"

Not much of a choice he's being given at all.

"The easy way or the hard way, yes." He agreed, sounding utterly calm about it, as if it didn't matter to him which way things went, and maybe it didn't. There was a reason he was brought in for the hard cases after all.

"What if I choose the hard way?" he has to ask. Th fire that burns beneath his skin isn't so easily sated.

He made a low, thoughtful sound at that, shaking his head, "Then I get to see how easily you break."

He sounded oddly sad about that, though it was difficult to tell with the distortion of the mask.

Well. That's not promising. His pride doesn't allow him anything else, though, and he lets out a frustrated huff, his tail lashing behind him as he shakes his head.

"Guess we will."

The kindness of food and this allowance of the outdoors are all he can handle. All he can accept. He's already itching for how he owes Bane--though he wants to claim that the collar and leash is return enough, he knows it's not quite true.

The next sound was amused, a low rumble in his throat and chest, just nodding once. It was all that needed to be said, really.

The leash and collar were a safety precaution as far as Bane was concerned, any of the Beasts outside of their enclosure had the same, or something close enough.

That amusement unsettles him, and John instinctively takes a step back. "So," he says hesitantly, his voice raw and hoarse. "What now?"

"We've still got time before lights-out if you want to stay out for a bit longer. Otherwise I'll take you back in for the night and see you in the morning with breakfast."

The rest of his charges were already fed and bedded down for the night, and come morning he was likely to check on them before Blake, the same as he'd done this evening.

"I want to stay out," he says immediately.

Even with the collar and the leash, this is the most fresh air and open sky than he'd seen in a long, long while. John is too jittery to sleep, and he doesn't look forward to pacing his cage again.

He nodded once, "Until lights-out, or close enough." After all, it didn't cost him anything except patience to allow Blake to stay out longer, and patience was something he had plenty of.

At least when it came to his beasts. His patience with other people was considerably shorter.

Even though he said that, John gets bored relatively quickly. Still, he doesn't want to admit that and it's still better than being stuck inside.

So, trying to ignore his nakedness, he carefully sits down on the trampled grass, and then flops backwards, shifting until his tail isn't crushed by his own weight. The sky wheels overhead, streaked with the colors of the setting sun and, out the corner of his eyes, he can see a few trailers start turning on the lights.

To his credit, Bane didn't jerk the leash or whistle to get Blake's attention when his time was up, just said: "That's all for tonight. Time to go inside."

And then with that edge of amusement in his eyes and under his tone: "Cooperate tomorrow and we can do it again."

Bane's tone makes John scowl as he gets up, first rolling onto his hand and knees before pushing himself to his feet. He sways for a moment, the blood rushing to his head, but staying still makes it ease and John blinks a few times.

"Fine," he says shortly. Tomorrow's tomorrow. They'll see what happens then.

After the brief time spent outside, his cage suddenly feels dark and cold, and John hates it even more than he did before.

(( PS IF YOU WANT TO TIMESKIP TO LATER feel free! I don't mind not, but if you do! the option is there! ))

[WHAT AN EXCELLENT IDEA! I'm just going to the next day, if you wanna go further that's gr8, I'm down for it.]

Blake was left alone by the keepers the next morning, much as he had been the night before.

Much as he'd done with dinner, Bane took care of the rest of his charges before arriving to check on Blake, breakfast on a plate instead of in a bucket. He'd removed the leash the night before, but had left the collar, mostly just to see if it was still there in the morning.

Visible against his skin, pale from lack of sun, are a few bright red marks from where John had clearly tried to claw the collar off. Luckily, he'd stopped before breaking skin, but his attempts are visibly obvious to anyone looking.

"Oh," he says flatly when he sees Bane. "It's you."

On the plus side, it's a great deal friendlier than anything he's ever said to anyone else in the Circus.

"So it is." He agreed, striding closer so that he could hand the plate over, studying the marks carefully just to make sure they were only abrasions and not actually torn skin, "And I've brought breakfast."

A thoughtful sound then, "Seems you've hurt yourself. No blood?"

"No blood," he nods, gruff. "And, uh. Thanks. For the food."

He takes the plate more carefully this time, still watching Bane with sharp, wary eyes as he eats. But he can eat more today, is less rushed about it.

He nodded at the reply, giving a quiet: "Good." In response, though there was a small smile at the rest, "Can't very well let you starve."

He waited, arms folded, just watching Blake eat, waiting until he was most of the way through the plate before he said: "We start your training today."

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