Ghyll:Qane

2005-09-16T19:25:29Z

Nikos of Ant:

'''Qane''' is the proprietor of the '''Cirq l' Tytns'''; a hodgepodge of feral clowns, [[Altoxian Bulb|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|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). The river-region does lead to the [[Dagger Seas|Marty]] yet the coast is its own place, and folk from [[Iganefta-on-the-Sea]] have never had the entertainers come near. Though the main flow of the Qestarius leads to their river and sea ports, Qane prefers to have his troupe take the inland flow which leads eventually into the Wentzel Fen. Many ask why any entertainer would choose such a poor spectrum of civility to peddle their goods, once one gets to know Qane, however, all such questions vanish.

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|howdoyoudo]] the train master dropped an appropriate number of quezloos into the toll bucket and the whole train plodded along southwards.

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:

::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...
::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|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 [[Grenfer|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''': [[Howdoyoudo]], [[Qestarius River]], [[Tertiary colors]]

--[[User:Nikos of Ant|Nikos of Ant]] 00:19, 15 Sep 2005 (EDT)

2005-08-28T14:00:19Z

Nikos of Ant:

'''Oregano Amber''' was born on the ninth day of the ninth month in the year –99 [[EC]]. He is the son of Bouk Amber and Elki Hue Vallinger, he is the third of eight broodlings and the only boy. Though part of the Yall Tribe whose core is made up of the [[Undivaggen|Wallinger/Vallinger/Vallian/Yekhoto family bloodlines]], he was not born into the more aristocratic Wallinger House. His mother’s first cousin Regg Wallinger, however, did spend a good deal of time with the boy in his Molting years as Ser Amber had his eye on [[Undivaggen]] and Ser Wallinger had but one frail son (whom he did fear would not last past Second Molting – though this did not prove true). Cousins Oregano and Latvi Reginal were raised almost side-by-side, at least during the extended second summer holiday.

Oregano was born during (so say some) the "ugliest days" of the [[Conflict That Is Not Happening]]. At age three he was witness to what has since become known as the [[Endlessly Rising Staircase Movement]] (though in –96 EC it was called the ''Carzcadet Battyles''). One may wonder how a three year old grub born in [[Folktown]] could be witness to a destruction occurring in the [[Sarfelogian Mountains]], simple: ''his parents brought him there!'' Ser and Seri Amber were fotonaturalists and could not resist the temptation to bring their fotoaparat up into those hills and create a lasting historical record. The expedition, however, was not all sugar and spice. The dyvil within the fotoaparat was unwilling to paint unless fed with rutberries. It took months for the family to trek down out of the mountains, gather enough of the plain-growing fruit, and then trek back up into the hills. Also, once a goodly number of fotos were painted by the miniscule dyvil, this fourth cousin to the pyxie complained of swollen wrists and harsh working conditions. Before the damnable imp could burst forth in complete and utter proletariate propaganda the Amber’s packed up shop and returned back to Folktown. The fotoaparat is currently held by Ser Bela Wallinger (grand nephew to Bouk) while the dyvil has long since disappeared. The paintings of the early days of the E.R.S.M. are held by Bouk’s daughters and/or their families.

Oregano Amber is known as the Ghyl who originally defined [[Gentinality|gentinality]]. But this denotation was made only after a lifetime of rearing and living and businessing. Whether Oregano was afraid of commitment (as some say) or addicted to it (as say others), this scholar cannot tell. But it is known that Oregano was highly impacted by the women in his life. His mother, Madame Elki Amber (nee Vallinger), was a woman proud of her heritage. She spent her later years berating her cou-, er, ''explaining'' the value of Undivaggen to her cousin Wallingers, but it would take a [[Undivaggen|later generation]] to actually act upon her ideas and ideals. Oregano was made the man he came to be, too, by his sisters. Most important to him, as written in his [[Memoir|memoir]], was his elder sister Aria. Though many have called her a pushy, big-mouthed woman he wrote of her as his muse. Aria Humm, may she rest in peace, made quite a name for herself when she joined the [[Lichtmin|lichtmin]] in –60 [[EC]] and jumped off Pylfrum’s Peak north of Marsh Gibbon in the early dawn to surf the waves of light on boards made of phloqk wood. After having her wounds bandaged and her mandibles mended she spoke of "the jump" as a complete high, better than, well, you know. Oregano wrote of this as a turning point in his own life as well.

Light began to play a large part in his life. Though formal study of light was (and is) controversial, he began observing it to a greater and greater degree. He wrote his observations in numerous notebooks but kept them all to himself for fear of being branded a pervert. Though these notebooks are still not in the public domain, the current holder – Oregano's youngest sister, Miss Alia Amber – has begun to reservedly describe their contents to the more reputable [[AuroAnthropology|aurahanthropologists]] as well as to a few select oronauts (those daredevils, strongmen, and halfwits who ride the heavier-than-air light in boats of phloqk and sails of hempspin). Though most of his oro-fixation was secretive, he did also begin to have business dealings with the southern producers of [[Altoxian Bulb|Altoxian Bulbs]] and the northern manufacturers of [[Andelphracian Lights]]. This brought him once again, in –41 [[EC]], into the Conflict That Is Not Happening. He was nearly killed by unknown assailants in –40 [[EC]] and from that unsavory experience retreated to [[Shepenor]] in –39 [[EC]]. Oregano used his wealth and influence in the rebuilding of the fishing town (destroyed to almost the last shack in –42 [[EC]]).

Oregano did not stay there long enough; rumor has it he complained of strange dreams and the sound of patting feet in all hours of the night. Regardless, he moved in -31 [[EC]]. Only two months later he was dead. It was a sad day during the rain-swollen winter of -31 [[EC]] that Oregano was found floating in a willow-shrouded creek, one of many zigzagging the [[Andelphracian River Valley]]. His death was deemed an "accident" by the authorities, but what part of ''accident'' could explain the presence of a blood-green chicken claw wrapped in chukan skin not even the local constable was able to address.

'''citations''': [[Andelphracian River Valley]], [[Gentinality]], [[Lichtmin]]

--[[User:Nikos of Ant|Nikos of Ant]] 01:29, 28 Aug 2005 (EDT)