((Circus appilcants, here is your chance. This thread will go all day, so you dont all have to get in by the AM.))

The troupe had camped in the grassy outskirts of Vienda, slightly away from the quietly bickering Red Crow and Yellow Eye. Balder sat on a crate beside the fire, smoking a pipe and staring into the crackling orange flames. He was thinking, heavily. The circus would be in nine days and he was fretting. What if something went wrong? What if someone went wrong? He grunted to himself and puffed the pipe furiously. Winslow looked at him from across the other side of the fire. He knew that Balder was fretting. It was an awkward thing to watch. Sighing, he stabbed a piece of fried herring.

"Spill it Balder, what's got you in such a fuss?" The ring leader looked up at the clown and sighed.

"Are we ready for this Winslow? I mean...we are only four, no, five people. Will we be laughed out of town?" He frowned. Would they?

"And will anyone show up? I mean, I know we've been getting the word out, but how many circuses do you think Vienda has ever seen?" Dorian was sitting up in the cargo cart, wolfing down a large, greasy breakfast. He swallowed a large mouthful and grinned.

"Don't get cold feet now Balder! We're ready for this! And now we got Calli, they will be on their feet cheering for more!" Nodding, Taegan piped up from the large, slightly rocking and growling caravan.

"Dorians right! Don't sweat it old man! Just focus on your little book you been writing in. I know its important. And it keeps you calm." He chuckled to himself and knocked the caravan.

"Ho! Keep it down in there Clarabelle. The rest of these fine people aren't used to having a chrove wandering around." Balder smiled at his troupe, wondering if Calli was around. He knew she had family camped here and was possibly visiting with them.

"Your right boys, your right. I just worry, you know how it is." He grinned and returned to smoking his pipe.

Hal walked into the circus encampment warily. Doesn't look like Calli's here, he thought, good. He wasn't ready to tell her that he'd followed her all the way to Vienda. As he walked through the dew-tipped grass, he had listened to their conversation; they seemed ready for more performers.



Hal tried to look nonchalant as he strolled around from behind a cart, but only managed to look like the gawky, awkward teen he was,"So if I 'ear ya right, yer lookin' fer more performers, eh?"

He strode up to Balder confidently, though he found himself feeling short among the adults. He held out a hand,"I'm Hal, Hal Carrabbos. I came wi-- I followed your circus from Old Rose. Something about you guys interested me, and I happen to know ov'a very talented feller you might be interested in."

Kynth saw the tents rise outside Vienda.
"Oh! Travellers!" he sang aloud "Let's go and see if I can go get some coin from them!"
He jogged out of town, giggling and humming to himself. He hoped for more than the usual 2 or 3 tallies he got from travellers.
His strange behaviour soon got him a clear path to the gates, and he strolled over to the camp.

As he drew closer, he noticed Hal approaching the two men sat down.


"They're lookin' fer performers, eh?" He thought "Looks like I've stumbled upon something more than a bunch of loony travellers!
He swaggered over behind Hal and waited his turn.

Tavian made it to the large tent, his belts ready and loaded with knives (though the only thing that stuck out were their handles. The blades were hidden away in pouches), and a satchel over his shoulder. He'd bought ten or so apples to use as targets if he needed to attempt to impress anyone.

He approached and ventured to the line of two people standing there.
With a confident stride he walked and stood behind Kynth.

"Seems I've come on a good day. Is this a line for auditioning, perhaps?" Tavian asked. His face seemed unamused but his tone was very warm.

The whole troupe looked as him as one. Even Clarabelle stopped pacing in her caravan. It was like one giant to-early-in-the-morning stare.



Balder puffed lightly on his pipe, looking at Hal for a moment wordlessly. He turned his gaze to Winslow, who simply shrugged. Looking back, the ring leader nodded slowly.

"Alright lad, I'm listening. What's so special about this fellow you want to discuss."



Balder his hand up for a moment, and leaned slowly to one side so he could see the next person that had come and stood behind Hal. Frowning, he stared hard at Taegan, who shook his head.

"Weren't me Balder! I don't know what's going on." The ring leader made a sort of oh face and began to move his hand so Hal could talk.



That was it. Balder stood up and looked over the three males lined up in front of him, scratching his head with one hand and smoking his pipe with the other. He looked questioningly at Dorian who was trying so hard not to laugh, but also shaking his head and throwing his hands up in an unknown gesture. Winslow slowly chuckled.

"It seems word of the circus has gotten out old friend. I think your little situation may have fixed itself." With dawning realization, Balder put down the pipe, put on his top hat and grinned broadly at the line.

"Welcome! Welcome! Yes, this is the audition line. Don't push and please don't feed the clown. Now, Mr Carrabbos, please continue!"

Hal opened his mouth to talk, but stopped as two things happened: he felt someone behind him, and Balder raised his hand.



Hal opened his mouth again, but was stopped, again, by Balder and another interrupting man.



Hal huffed a moment and glared at the other two. He felt his entrance had been utterly ruined. Not that it had gone so well as he had liked... But he would have felt better without an audience. With a final harumph, Hal turned to Balder. He put his shoulders back and spoke, with more confidence and showmanship than he'd have thought possible. Maybe it came from being around Calli and the rest of the circus these past few days...

"I'd like ta tell ya, sir, 'bout a feller what'll fill your stands like you wouldn't believe. I've seen, with my two eyes, the greatest sharpshooter in all Vita. This feller'd shoot a fort right out'a yer fingers from- from fifty feet! 'E's not just a sharpshooter, though, he does trick shots that'll really draw the crowds! Fer'inst'nce, he can shoot three targets with one shot! One shot, one bullet, three targets inna row! Imagine that! 'At there's talent. I'd say you've got room for 'im, don'cha think?"

"I'd pay to see it sir," Tav said, crossing his arms and shifting his weight from on leg to the other. He wasn't being factious, though a cool look might have said other wise. He watched Hal intently. He was really hoping that the 'gentleman' he was talking about was himself. He'd be fond of the passive if that were the case, and very impressed.

((Working on the aforementioned assumption that Eri already belongs. Please send a SWAT team and tell me to edit if this is untrue. ))

Eriyenna laughed amusedly as she approached the camp from behind the line of interested applicants, her satchel finally emptied of those darn sheets of paper, "Junta! Where'd all these kovs come from ...? Did all of Vienda finally see our lovely fliers and decide to show up today? It's about time!" She sounded like a wind chime on the breeze as the bells on her anklets and various other jewelry moved with her gait. Her hair was all up in a white wrap that matched her pretty, flowing white sundress. She was barefoot, and her swirling, purple tattoos were bright in the morning sun against her tan.

She grinned curiously at the three strangers as she wandered by them, dark eyes shining, unabashedly sizing them up.

Winking at Balder, the purple-haired witch found herself a crate to sit on before she returned to ogling the assembled folks in line, "Wo chet, I foresee today being busier than expected." She hummed a little in excitement, hands wringing the purple sash at her waist, "Did I miss their auditions?"

((retcon not necessary, she just was out buying hingle dumplings when Calli was introduced))

Balder made a sharp intake of breath and tapped his cheek.

"Guns you say. Sounds quite the feat, I will have too think about this one. I think some talking to the permit office might be in order. If we say they are theatrical guns? Trick guns?" He'd withdrawn his note book and was scrawling in it.

"Can you arrange for him to come and see me himself? I need to see this with my own two eyes. Thanks for the info lad. Seems like you got an eye for circus types. Could use some eyes like you. Hang around for a while, right?" He nodded and looked at the man behind Hal.



Balder smiled widely.

"That's the sort of talk we like to hear! Now you sir, there is something about you I can't quite put my finger on. I'll get to you shortly though, and we can discuss that."



Balder turned around and nodded at the wick. He hadn't seen her a lot the past week, and wondered if Calli had spoken with her this morning. The purple haired witch had been out buying hingle dumplings when they'd first met with Calli down on the beach. It hadn't been pretty when she had returned and offered the young wick one. Not pretty at all.



"Hello Eriyenna. I think it could have been those flyers all right. Never seen so many people in one morning! And no, auditions have only just begun." He said as though it was the way everything had been planned. He looked over at the line again and gestured for Hal to move and Kynth to come forward.

"Right young man, who are you and what can you do for us?"

Hal listened to the ringleader go on about permits, throwing in an "uh-huh" every so often. He leaned in nosily as Balder wrote. He jumped when he spoke to him again.



"Sure thing, Ba- uh- sir," he babbled.



"Uh, yeah," Hal was slightly put out. He had never spoken directly with Balder before, and he felt a bit dejected when talking to him. Some purple-haired wick walked up and was talking for a while, but Hal didn't pay her much attention. He had sort of expected more from his first interaction with the man. Though that was probably because he'd gotten to know him from the sidelines, but he didn't know Hal at all.



Hal jumped again, and leaped to the side. He watched the proceedings twitchily.

"Ooh! My turn!" he thought. Smiling to himself, he walked past Hal and looked at Balder.
He stared for a few moments, before remembering what he was there for.

"Oh yes!" he retrieved his whip from his back pocket, grinning widely.
"You should see what I can do with this!" He unfurled it and cracked it on the floor. "Don' happen to have any.." he searched his head for the right word ".. Anchor-like objects aroun' would ya?"
He spotted a sturdy tent pole. "Like that!" He pointed at it.

Eriyenna raised an eyebrow as the spindly wick produced a whip and indicated the tent pole, leaning forward and humming happily with excitement and a twinge of worry, What could the twitchy man possibly do with a tent pole? With a grin, she settled in to watch, thinking that auditions were always terribly exciting.

Balder followed the whip's length with his eyes, then smiled back at the man.

"Thats about as anchory as we have, unless you want to use Clarabelle's caravan." Taegan shook his head firmly, watching the whip wielding man carefully.

"Ain't no whips near my Clara, use the pole." He said shortly, to which Winslow added.

"Just don't bring it down on us boy." The old clown said, pointing up at the tent canvas. It wasn't a garishly colorful or extraordinarily enormous tent, but it was big enough to be hard to get out of if it fell on you. They had set it up to keep the cargo and the animals from the rain and found the center ring made for a good camp sight. Keeping the flaps tied open, it didn't get to smokey. On the circus night there would be lights and music and the flaps would be shut. Balder had it all in his notebook.

((Gah! sorry for the late reply, I would have done it at work, but it auto logged me out and I lost my post! ))

Kynth nodded. "I 'ent gonna make it fall down." he scratched his chin. "Mebbe wobble a bit.." He walked over to the tentpole, and looked up. "Easy height, and lots of room around.." He noticed the trapeze bars near the roof of the tent "Wo chet!" he burst aloud, he couldn't contain his excitement. "This is gonna be fun!"

He stretched his whip out in front of him and checked it for rips, then snapped it a few times. He didn't want his whip snapping in two mid trick.
Content with the examination, Kynth proceeded to wrap the whip around the pole, as high as he could get it, which was about 10 feet off the ground. He stood there a moment, closed his eyes and took a breath.

Quickly pulling on the whip, Kynth was essentially pulling himself skyward. Once he had reached the height where he began to slow, he unfurled the whip, making sure not to cause any pull, by pushing the whip towards the pole, loosening the whip's Python-like grip on the pole, and cracking it further up the pole. This repeated until he reached the top of the pole.

Upon reaching the top, he grabbed the pole and wrapped his legs around it, to prevent falling. Eying the trapeze frames below him, he angled himself and lept from the pole.

Again, the whip was produced, and with a swift crack, it was wrapped around the trapeze pole. he swung himself a little bit, he lept from the trapeze pole, propelled by momentum from swinging on the whip, and the trapeze frame's swinging too.

He reached the second trapeze and grabbed it with his hands this time. He looked down and saw a net. "Ah! My lucky day, it seems!"

He wrapped the whip's "tail" around him and let go of the pole. once safe from hitting the trapeze, he pulled the whip off him, sending him into a spin, falling to the bottom of the net like a leaf falling in high winds.

Balder stood open mouthed.

Winslow sat with half a spoonful of breakfast at his hanging jaw.

Dorian stared with a slack jaw.

Taegan shrugged and continued to eat like he was going to starve tomorrow.

"Dze, Calli's just as cool. You lot are just easily impressed. It takes finesse to go flippity-flip like she does." Secretly, he was absolutely floored, but he didn't say so. Personally, although he knew it was for the good of the circus, he worried about all these new additions to the troupe. Family was family, and the way it worked was they found people along the road, people didn't find them. Sulkily, the young man hopped off the caravan and went around the side to brood to Clarabelle.

Looking at Taegan briefly and waving him off, Balder turned back to the whip man and clapped his hands.

"Now! That is something new! Impressive, very impressive. Something to get the crowd worked up with. What's your name boy?"

Kynth jogged back towards them, smiled, took a small bow and stood straight again, panting, but smiling.


"Mujo Ma!" He had never applauded this well for a trick, it was new to him "Th' name's Kynth." He took a quick breath. "Kynth Pyrne"
He stood straight, proudly and grinned like he'd never grinned before. "Pleased to meetchya' "

Balder took the boys hand and shook it heartily, patting him on the shoulder with the other one.

"Likewise Kynth. Kynth, The Whip Master! There's a good lad. You go sit over there by the crates and we will talk some more later. For now, consider yourself past the auditions, a foot in the door. We need to work on a routine, get you introduced to the gang properly and talk with Calli first, but effectively, consider yourself part of Balders Traveling Circus." He gently pushed the boy in the direction of Dorian and looked at Tavian.

"Right, let's see what you got for me, my good man!"

Tavian grinned and stepped forward. He began unsnapping the snaps on his holsters, pulling out four knives. He began to juggling them and talk.

"Sir, my name is Tavian Augustinian. I work and deal with all things sharp, and the dangerous things you can do with them."
He performed as he had on the street, throwing each blade up in the air. He caught three of them, and the last one (with a side turn of his head), he caught in his mouth, with a flourish he pulled the last one out of his mouth. "I can throw, catch, and juggle, but it's a work in progress, I slowly add more to my repertoire." He said smoothly, oozing confidence in himself.

He put away three of the knives on his holster and walked over to his bag. Tavian dug out five apples, placing them down on the ground carefully. He picked one up, threw up a knife and caught it with the apple, causing it to split in half. He caught the knife and one half of the apple in his right hand and the other slice in his left.

"Have an apple half," He said with an amused smile, offering one half to Balder.
"Now, If I may, I'm going to set up these four apples and show you my accuracy, and then if anyone is brave enough to volunteer to be my assistant, I can throw knives at a living, very still person." He said, chuckling. "I prefer it be a lady, so I can have someone lovely to look at while I throw but I'm not picky." He said with a chuckle, taking a bite out of his apple half, waiting for Balder's word.

Eriyenna had watched Kynth with quiet, excited fascination. While she had been frightened that the whole tent would end up on their heads, it hadn't. It was amazing. The crack of the whip was not unlike the snap of a taut drum, only much more dangerous. What a great noise.

Tavian was equally interesting, and the purple-haired witch hummed almost inaudibly to herself as she watched him perform with his little blades. At the mention of volunteer, she sat up, wringing on her hands around the purple linen sash at her waist and biting her lip to keep from giggling happily. She didn't want to speak up, lest Balder have someone else in mind, but she couldn't help but wonder what the daggers would sound like in the air, whizzing near her ears.

Kynth blinked. Twice. Three times.
Woah. Past the auditions!" he swaggered over to the crates and sat to watch Tavian's knife performance.

((so how do i go about showing up in the evening))

((make a new thread luv. That what i meant about it being open all day, sorry about that!))