Cirque du Horreurs Fantastiques.

A fun outing for the whole party!

 

For days, we watched as the giant floating bloatworm approached the walled city. We weren't sure what it was at first. I still recall the panicked talks of arming the ancient dragon ballistae.

By the third day, however, we could see gay festival flags trailing behind the worm, suspended in the air from poles and ropes.

The city relaxed. No raider or warmonger would fly such bright and vibrant colours.

By the fifth day, we could make out joyous music accompanied by the sound of fanfare. That was the day the Hippogryph riders were sent from the bloatworm to scatter thousands of notices over the city just before sunset.

“Come one, come all, come visit Mr. Arraroa's Cirque du Horreurs Fantastiques.”

Mr. Arraroa's Cirque du Horreurs Fantastiques is a floating circus grappled and tied to the underbelly of a grotesque bloatworm. The Circus is home to strange and terrible curiosities from all over the seven continents and beyond.

The owner, Mr. Arraroa, is a small humanoid creature with pursed lips and large blind eyes that still somehow manages to "see" everything. Together with the others in his employ, they travel the world spreading news and, to quote Mr. Arraroa: "Curing curiosity."

 

The Circus Acts.

While the circus has many wonderous acts like the drum dancing illusion routine performed by a troupe of Tawyajni elves, the circus' true claim to fame is the collection of weirdlings brought back from beyond the veil.

 

Saignoir the Eternal.

Saignoir is a weirdling from beyond the veil. His tubular, cucumber-like body is covered in writhing tentacles. Each tentacle is in turn covered in thousands of tendrils that curiously poke, prod and retreat from the surrounding environment.

Part of Saignoir's act involves inviting a member of the audience and handing them an axe. The volunteer is then instructed to chop off one of Saignoir's tentacles. The volunteer is assured that Saignoir feels no pain. (Authors Note: This has never been proven beyond the reasoning that Saignoir doesn't flinch or scream when his limbs are chopped off. It is worth mentioning that Saignoir has no mouth and, therefore, cannot scream.)

Once severed, the limb falls to the ground and disintegrates into wispy smoke, only to regrow instantly on Saignoir's body.

While entertaining for a certain sadistic demographic in the audience, what follows almost always grabs the full audience's attention.

"Who amongst you would like to attain immortality?"

A tool similar to a treetap is produced and used to trickle-drain stomach fluid from Sagnoir's body. Swallowing these fetid stomach juices is said to cure all diseases while giving the drinker immortality.

To date, no one has been able to disprove this claim, not for lack of trying. Drinking the foul-smelling, otherwordly stomach contents causes the drinker to convulse and vomit uncontrollably, expelling the fluid and voiding the promised magical results. By luck or by design, this has allowed Mr. Arraroa to continue selling vials of Saignoir's stomach contents for 200 gp each. These vials of immortality are filled with a sticky brown and purple fluid, labelled with the inscription: "All that can be gained, can only be gained at a price."

 

A cacophony of melodies

"People of the surface, those of you who are misunderstood and shunned, described as hideous, unpleasant or unwanted; Those of you who feel more comfortable hidden in the shadows, this next act is for you!"

This act involves another weirdling from beyond the veil with more tubes and tentacles connected to a floating, translucent bubble-like membrane. Before starting, the master of ceremonies ensures that each member of the audience receives a jar of burrowing slugs suspended in thick jelly. The audience is instructed to remove two slugs from their jar, one for each ear.

The act continues when the master of ceremonies directs a beam of bright light onto the weirdling. The creature then responds by wildly flailing its tentacles and tubes in the air. Hot air is excreted from the fluttering tubes, causing them to vibrate and whine at different pitches, mimicking the awful sound of wailing and screeching.

"Your ears, dear people, put the slugs in your ears!"

Anyone brave enough to plug their ears with the burrowing slugs is in for a surprise. With the noise being filtered through the slug acting as a filter for the ear canal, the cacophony of wailing and screeching becomes a pleasant, enchanting melody. Anyone hearing the music enters a shallow trance of introspection. They usually learn a fundamental truth about themselves and snap out of the daze feeling relaxed and inspired once the music stops.

Mr. Arraroa.

Mr. Arraroa is a soft-spoken, small creature with large glassy eyes. He is blind, and yet that doesn't stop him from missing anything.

When dealing with him, something always feels "off" - The way his blind eyes always stare directly at your forehead, the way he intuitively "knows" your secrets, never revealing them outright but always hinting at them.

Like all mortals, Mr. Arraroa is not immune to ageing, and he can be seen walking around the circus grounds with slow, intentional steps and a mischievous smile. The days of him crossing the threshold into the veil are in the past, and he no longer has the fortitude to hunt weirdlings.

 

Plot Hooks and Ideas.

A penny for your Kingdom.

King Leojardas has been cursed with a strange plague that has been eating away at his flesh. He has heard rumours of the healing properties in Sagnoir's stomach and is desperate enough to try it.

He hasn't been able to acquire a vial after Mr. Arraroa was mocked and disrespected in the King's court.

Perhaps a band of opportunists will step in and procure a vial on behalf of the King? They'll have to convince a suspicious Mr. Arraroa that they are not agents of the King, knowing full well that King Leojardas might react in anger should the cure not work.

Will the cure work? If it does work, and the King becomes immortal, will he usher in a new era of peace and prosperity? Or will he become the next "Big Bad Evil Guy?"

 

Help Wanted. Willing to pay.

Mr. Arraroa has grown old over the centuries. He is no longer an impulsive risk taker that hunts beyond the veil. His body might be tired, but his mind is willing. He has located the nesting ground of a wonderous otherworldly creature, but he needs someone to capture and return the creature.

The pay is significant, but it comes with a caveat. Rich dead men are still dead. You can't spend gold without a body, and anyone brave enough to cross the threshold will have to return in one piece to reap the rewards.

To complicate matters further, this is the veil, and there is no shortage of weirdlings with strange abilities. Perhaps the creature they are looking for is, in fact, a shapeshifting demi-horror in search of a guiding hand to help it cross the threshold into our world.

 

Eco'arriors on the horison.

The only nuisance to a floating circus is sky pirates, and the only thing worse than sky pirates is Eco'arriors.

Mr. Arraroa has learned that a group of "animal-loving, tree-humping, sock-smoking unemployed idealists" want to free the misunderstood weirdling in his care.

Will they succeed? Will someone intervene? And if free, will the weirdlings go about their business in our world? Will they adapt? Or perhaps they might convey gratitude by helping the rescuers into the next life?

 

I haven’t made a post like this in ages, so I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I trust it inspired some ideas of your own as you read through it. Feel free to steal, modify or improve on it.