A Night on the Town: Introducing Mary Q Contrary

Hello there! I'm Miss Mary Q Contrary, acrobat extraorinare, or as extraordinary as one can be on one's first tour since being promoted from Circus Lackey.

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Marie fidgeted ceaselessly as Marguerite led them to her seedy opium den: Fiddling with her cloak, hopping deliberately over the cracks between cobblestones, peering every which way at the unfamiliar buildings. It wasn't that she disliked opium dens: Having spent all her adolescence in the circus, she had a well-developed appreciation for all manner of vices. But she had a hard time sitting still on the best of days, and her mind was still racing from their show earlier that night.

What a show! She'd performed her routine before, of course, but this was the largest town they'd stopped in since she'd joined the show, and her heart had nearly pounded right out of her chest at the sound of the crowd while she had waited for her cue. To be out flying in front of all those people, instead of waiting backstage and cleaning up after Marguerite's disturbing little creatures!

And from such bright lights and color and excitement to this spooky den! Marie bounced nervously, sticking close to Alexandra's side as she followed them inside, her mind still spinning with the roar of the crowd.

A Night on the Town: Introducing Marguerite Dubois

I am Marguerite Dubois, former asylum nurse and current mad scientist for Cirque de la Vapeur, the keeper of Marguerite’s Miniature Menagerie. Entering my second year with the circus, I have invited Marie and Alexandra to an old haunt after our first show in town. In addition to rekindling some old flames, it has been a while since I have chased the dragon. What better way to reestablish the old and reinforce the new?

~

The road was slick and dark, shadows flanked by the flickering of lights in the windows of local establishments. Music and smoke emanated from the doors. City life had just begun.

Three cloaked women approached a green door, the oldest of which knocked. A panel opened at eye level and examined the trio. It then emitted a rough sound of disapproval.

“Try next door.”

“I much prefer your color to theirs. Really, Antoine, have you grown so senile?”

The panel blinked, shut, then opened the door. Antoine held his arms open.

“My dear Marguerite, it has been too long! Come, tell me of the times and these fine ladies that follow you.”

“Antoine, this is Mary Contrary and Alexandra Arista. The times have served me well.”

Marguerite reached into her cloak, extracting a miniature elephant that shook its head. Antoine’s eyes widened, narrowed, and smiled as he examined the creature.

“Magnificent! Come, I’ll prepare your old couch and bring a table. You must show us more of these wonders.”

“Believe you me, I have brought more than just pretty ladies.”

Step Right Up

The year is 1871 in a past that never was, and France is caught between two great empires. On the West, the British empire, with territory on both sides of the Atlantic; on the East, the Moors, ruling the Mediterranean with a steady trade of marvels from China and India. France, with warring powers on either side preventing their famous revolutions, has instead become a center of science and culture, with more fantastic ideas drifting from its salons and opium dens each passing year.

At the center of this world of wonders is Cirque de la Vapeur - the Steam Circus, a ragtag collection of women and men traveling the known world displaying all the mysteries of science and magic. Come see a miniature elephant shrunk down by a strange device, have your fortune told, see acrobats dance through the air and magicians pull all manner of strange things out of hats... Step right up, ladies and gentleman, the show's about to begin.