St.Calenda's Wandering Pageant, Odeum & Lunar Fair

World of Darkness -- Medieval - SCWPOLF- Windows Into the Fair

Quotes

"Another day in this carnival of souls"
"Another nights ends, end as quickly as it goes"
"The memories are shadows; ink on the page"
"And I can't seem to find my way home"

"All the places I've been and things I've seen"
"A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams"
"The faces of people I'll never see again"
"And I can't seem to find my way home"

-- Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch

Elder Argot

Centering: Centering is the process of becoming more invested in the Pageant, and also the gathering of power, of becoming part of the Center of the Safnara af Myrki.
Carna: The original power that the Pageant serves.
Displacement (spiritual):
Fugue: The memory fuzziness that comes from shifting between worlds. Sometimes a difficult jump results in dizziness, dry mouth, and headache. Supernaturals shrug this off in short time, weaker members suffer sometimes for days.
The Powers that Be aka Safnara af Myrkri: The powers that are in control of the pageant.
Master of Ceremonies:The individual who interprets the signs of Safnara af Myrkri to guide the Carnival.
Master of Two Worlds: This is the being in charge of regulating the life energy being sent to Safnara af Myrkri. In effect the master becomes the Tax Collector of the Pageant. During most of the Pageants history a vampire has filled this position, beginning with Namrael's sacrifice.
Master of Gateways: The avatar of the Gateways that allow the Pageant to move from place to place. Never in Fugue, this is a demanding position that wears on the holder.
Namrael: The Cainite who sacrificed herself for the Pageant.
Physis: The periods of intense activity by members of the Pageant.
Road of Carna: The philosophy of the Lady's true followers.
The Wyrdling Wall: This is a dimmly understood and acknowledged term used by the Pageanters to refer to the bubble of chimera that surrounds the Pageant. Those who are Pageant members become distorted to everyone around them. Not even those who are within the Pageant are immune, they see other members within the Wyrdling Wall as the chimera alters them. This effect clings to them even for a time as they leave the Pageant.

Caveat Emptor!

From caveat, "may he beware", a subjunctive form of cavēre, "to beware" + ēmptor, "buyer") is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". Generally, caveat emptor is the contract law principle that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing, but may also apply to sales of other goods. The phrase caveat emptor and its use as a disclaimer of warranties arise from the fact that buyers typically have less information about the good or service they are purchasing, while the seller has more information. The quality of this situation is known as 'information asymmetry'. Defects in the good or service may be hidden from the buyer, and only known to the seller.

Histories of the Wandering Pageant

But when the amphitheatres became only empty shells, the old performers did not suddenly disappear. You would find them straggling over the highways of this old Roman world, stopping at a barbarian court, drawing a crowd at a fair: the weight-lifter, the acrobat, the daring horseback rider, the man leading a bear. As an after-image in the European mind, perhaps in the living linkage of the flesh, from generation to generation, handing on their arts from parents to children, sometimes greatly venturesome, but no longer committed to death, the old circus folk perhaps continued their play. The monks' chronicles would not notice them, nor, if aware of their existence, even be able to identify them. But as shadow or substance, the circus remained in existence and eventually came back to life in the modem city. Expunged of their Roman sins, the surviving circuses and menageries still recall the Roman way of life. They remind one, too, that Rome itself was once upon a time ‘the greatest show on earth’.

-- Lewis Mumford, The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformation, and Its Prospects.

Mythic Origins

The Nomadic Festivals of Cara

The Luna Circus

The Nomadic Reliquary, Extraordinary Jubilee and Nazarene Marketplace

St.Calenda's Wandering Pageant, Odeum & Lunar Fair

The Ouroboros Exchange, Wandering Exposition and Twilight Fair

Anastagio's Olde Time Lunar Carnival and Midnight Circus

Locations & Attendants: Places of Interest and the Dwellers Within

St.Calenda's Wandering Pageant, Odeum & Lunar Fair is made up of numerous locations, great and small, that make up the warp and weft of not only the day-to-day entertainments, but of the behind the scenes pageant members lives, loves and tribulations. The pageant comprises seventy odd wagons and half as many tents, but only a dozens or so seem to have enough significance to count as landmarks in the nebulous night-scape of this traveling circus. Many of the locales serve as focal points for pageant-goers and pageant-folk alike.

The Wyrdling Wall -- That which divides the Pageant from the Outside World.
Arcadia Minor -- Shard Realm of the Fae
Athenaeum -- The Five Mystics
Bestiarium -- A Medieval Zoo
Brotherhood of the Blade -- Guardians of the Pageant
Canvas of the Mother -- The Grand Pavilion
Grotesquery -- The Freak Show
House of the Profligate -- The Houses of Pleasure
Odeum -- A Guild of Medieval Entertainers
Pavilion of Asclepius -- Healers of the body, mind and soul {Lost some members, others may be injured.}
Shanty of Fools -- Priesthood of the Profane
Shrine of Kairos -- Temple of Opportunities
Tent of Vulcan -- Pavilion of Creation and crafting
Tent of Dionysus -- The Nomad's High Hall
Wagon of Impedimenta -- Known as The Baggage Wagon, in reality there are several wagons used to haul various tools and miscellaneous pageant items. Rebuilt and upgraded after Erdach Kodesh

Truckle Tents -- Camp followers of the Pageant

The Scouting Party

Locations Protected

"Few are aware that these tents and homes are protected by mystical means. During the autumn of 1096, the Pageant sojourned to Erdach Kodesh, and in that place Aegon Nightshade discovered that the following places are protected by non-ordinary methods. Areas protected by displacement shunt spiritual visitors away from the area almost before they know it has happened. Whereas places warded simply forbid entry and or obscure the spiritual beings senses. This marks locations of significant risk to spirits or those disembodied and visiting them should not be undertaken lightly." -- Aegon Nightshade

Areas of Displacement

Tent of Vulcan
Grotesquery
Tents of the Acrobats, attached to the Canvas of the Mother

Areas Warded

Argont's Tent
Bekhet's Tent
Mordblund's Tent
Mauritanus' Wagon
Vulo's Tent

Mementos: Stories of the Dead Pageanteers

Arnviðr -- The Varagarian {Russian} [Beheaded in Erdach Kodesh in June of 1096]
Fedelmid -- Abortionist / Midwife {Celt} [Ancient member - she was killed in Erdach Kodesh in June of 1096]
Sahak -- The Conjurer {Armenian vampire of the Ravnos}
Bes -- The Elder Dwarf -- {The Egyptian dwarf named Bes has been with the Pageant as long as anyone can remember.}
Kesali -- An orphaned Roma girl, who has been taken in by the pageant; she has recently taken shelter with Giulia the bearded-lady after the death of her friend Sahak. [Deceased]
Aldo -- The Retinue's latest acquisition, Aldo's child's body and adult attitude make him a valuable commodity and he also serves to control his more emotional brother Theo. {} [Deceased]
Theotleip -- The second of the Retinue's most recent additions, his athletic body, boyish ways and beauty serve to make him a jewel among the Erotes whose services do not come cheap. A favorite among homosexual pedophiles, he serves as the most recent honey-pot of the Erotes. {} [New Member]
Belenus -- The Erlking {Deceased: Killed in Rome by Frater Eadweard, October of 1094 A.D.}
Einarr -- The Giant {} []
Landebert -- Drover Boy {} [Deceased - murdered in Mainz in the later days of May, 1096]
Waramunt of Hasek -- White Rabbit [Waramunt died a horrible death in Erdach Kodesh during June of 1096]
Agilulf the Lombard -- Little Wolf [Killed via Rambert's defiler magic on Erdach Kodesh in December of 1096]
Yellow Tents -- Worshipers of Fire [As far as anyone knows, all 7 or 8 members of the yellow tents died recently in Erdach Kodesh - June 1096]

Intrigues: Camps Within the Pageant

Things Unique to the Pageant

Secrets: St. Calenda's Wandering Pageant -- Anyone who deals with the circus for a period of time gains some level of knowledge about its inhabitants and the magic around it. This knowledge reflects that.

On the Nature of the Soul: The number of soul points a character possesses is equal to twice the value of that characters permanent Willpower. i.e. if a character has a permanent Willpower of 6, they have 12 soul points. When the Pageant is in control of all of the character's soul points, they will be possibly consumed by the Management of the Pageant.

Items

Antiramhyras Device -- This device opens gateways from one world to another allowing the Pageant to journey across the cosmos.
The Arrow of Mercury -- The arrow is a divining rod for local gateways.
Vedastus Star Ring -- A minor artifact based on the Antiramhyras device that allows up to three individuals to use a gate for forward reconnaissance.