Welcome to Gaia! ::

To the north and behind the main tent lies the medium sized tent, which seems a little small for its use, of the performers. It is a deep shade of blood red with a large yellow flag that only lightly flutters every time someone enters the closed, but not “locked” tent flaps.

Despite its size, upon entering it can be plainly seen that there is a great amount of space. All along the circular perimeter are smaller tents square that serve as personal quarters for each performer. Many of the entrances are slightly opened and each usually has a different color light emitting from the inside that mixes with the red glow from the red canvas. The grassy ground is covered in oriental rugs and mats and cushions are thrown along any unused side space.

No one is allowed here unless invited by one of the performers.

Just outside of the performers tent is the tiny little hutch-like thing that belongs to the Fortune Teller. It’s a dark green with tassels hanging from the always-open entrance flaps. A sign it picketed just outside of it that says “Free Fortune Telling and Palm Readings.”

Inside many rugs cover the ground and tapestries of moon charts hang from the tent’s frame. A small table is positioned in the center with two to three chairs, each one having a blanket draped over the back. Burning sticks of flowery or spice flavors cause a circle of thin threads of white smoke to hang around the top of the tent, sometimes coming down to wrap/caress a wrist or cheek. A trunk of dark cherry wood sits behind one chair, it’s black ancient looking padlock closed, but with key.

Anyone is allowed to enter and have their fortune told unless there is already a telling in session.

Varlen did NOT want to be here. Of course, that was no surprise, given the Drow's reclusive nature, general hatred of people, and dislike of any flashy gaudy s**t that he considered to be a waste of time. Sadly, the circus was all of that, and more... which only worked to sour his mood. Yet playing the role of a prent often meant you had to deal with things you normally hated, just so that your kid would have a good time and meet people and make friends. Varlen would have happily done without, but with Anvion's constant nagging and threats that involved a cheese grater and power tools, he had no choice but to go.

Bloody hell.

It wasn't even like Bergerac wanted to be here, either. The girl had always gotten skittish around crowds, and ever since they had stepped out, she had hidden herself underneath his dark green cloak, clinging to the back of his leg. She seemed to be just as reluctant to go as he was, but had somehow been coerced into asking him to take her.

Okay. So here he was, at someplace he didn't want to be, with his daughter clinging to his leg like the world was goign to end. Varlen really couldn't think of a less promising day.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked the lump beneath his cloak, frowning at the tents. "Pick a place, Berg."

At the mention of her name, the wrinkled mishap's face popped out, her blank blue eyes canning the place. "Um..." No, not that tent. There were animals, but too many people. Not that one, either. It was emptier, but it looked scary.

"Uh... that one...?" she finally said, a small tenative hand pointing towards the red tent with the yellow flag. It looked quiet, and not all that frightening.

After a quick critical scan of the place, Varlen nodded in assent. "All right. Let's go see what's over there..."

After disentangling Bergerac from his leg and coercing her to walk alongside him like a normal child, Varlen strode ovre towards the tent, making sure to go slow, so Bergerac's small legs could keep up. As they neared the tent, though, another parent-and-child couple arrived from a different direction, causing Varlen to squint his eyes in immediate suspicion and dislike. Were he in any other mood, the tall drow would have immediately spun on his heel and swept off towards a differeny destination. Unfortunately, Bergerac had specified that she wanted to visit this tent, so he couldn't go and break his word on her.

Oh well. Two or so people wasn't that bad. Besides, the child looked like she was about Bergerac's age, and that was... good, he supposed. At least the child could socialize.

Bergerac toddled along, doing her best to keep up with her father's long strides. She clung to the hem of his cloak, for his hand was too far up for her to reach. Besides, she liked holding onto his cloak. It made it easy for her to hide there if she needed to. Yet today she didn't much feel like hiding, now that she was headed somewhere quiet. She'd never been to a festival before, and it was fascinating to just look around. So many pretty colorful tents! She couldn't help but glance around in mild awe.

At seeing the others approaching, she began to shirk back to her regular hiding place- only to see that one of the two was as small as she was! A shy smile cept across the girl's face, and she offered a timid wave of greeting once the two were close enough. "Hi..."

"Hi," Berg repeated shyly, pulling up close to the other girl, still offering that shy grin. This girl was another mishap, no doubt about it. Yet Berg didn't recognize her at all. Of course, Berg hadn't been given a great deal of chances to socialize, so it kind of evened out. Nonetheless, she gave a polite nod of her head to both the girl and her supposed mother. "I'm Bergerac, and that's my daddy Varlen. Who are you?"

Varlen said nothing, only giving a curt nod of his head as he glared down at the two, slowly summing them up. His initail reachion was dislike. Of course, that was normal for the tall drow. Yet they somehow seemed to be deemed acceptable to him, for he gave another small nod.

"Are you two here to look at the tents, also?"

Bergerac giggled at the girl's- Thylassa's comment. Yes, Varlen was tall. She often forgot how tall he was compared to most other adults. "Mm-hmm," she agreed. "He is tall. And yes, I live at the HQ, as well. Where in there do you live?"

She was curious. Although a little surprised at Thylassa's bounciness, Bergerac decided that she liked the girl. Plus, she had funny bouncy things on her head. Were they eyes? But eyes didn't grow there... did they? "What's that on your head?" she asked curiously. She didn't mean to be rude, but she simply had the curious nature of any todder, despite how shy she was. "Are they... eyes...?"

Varlen seemed less amused at the girl's comment regarding his height. It had always been a touchy subject for Varlen, and comments such as the one the girl gave him failed to amuse the drow at all.

Instead of making a fuss of it, though, he let the two children go about their chattering and focused his attentions on the woman who had been introduced as Gullien. "I'm not sure, exactly. Bergerac and I have been... away for some time, and we just came home to this. It just looks like a plain circus of a ragtag bunch of people, though..."

"Oooh," Bergerac cooed in awe of all of Thylassa's cool eyes and tail. "I wish I had a tail or something like that..." Poo. She didn't have anything cool like her friends did. All she had were her boring old wrinkles. She wanted a tail! Or at least something! She didn't like how people always thought she was old. Yet she never voiced her opinion. Instead she just smiled and nodded at the other girl. "You do? Is it okay if I come visit you sometime?"

Varlen replied with a shrug. "A circus is a troupe of preformers and people who set up tents and... well, do these sorts of things," he said, waving an arm in indication of the festival around them. "They vary in terms of size and attractions. I've never seen one this big. As for common..." he paused, thinking. "I can't say. I haven't lived here terribly long, but back at my old home, they were common in some areas, and not-so-common in others. It really depends on where you live, I think."

"Fine by me," Varlen replied, only half-listening to the girl's ramblings.

"Oh, REALLY?" Berg asked, a wide grin splitting across her face. A sleep-under! How fun! She had never even heard of them, but they sounded like fun. And with a sofa fort and everything! "That sounds like fun! Can Kii and Ed come over too? They're my stuffed aminal friends."

"An-i-mal."

"Animal," Bergerac repeated, still grinning with childish delight. "Yes. They're nice, and quiet, so they won't make a huge fuss and wake us up while we're sleeping."

Rolling his eyes at the girls' plans, Varlen nodded in response to Guillien's question. "They are just that, actually. And they usually set up quickly, but they can break down even faster. That's because the place is usually nothing but con men and miscreants. At least, back in Toril they were. This place seems to be like the few normal circuses. I doubt the owners would allow miscreants here..."

Bergerac nodded cheerily, taking mental note of everything Lassa was telling her. Good! Ed and Kii could have lots of fun with Totoro, and... ooh, a DOG?! She'd never been close to a dog before. The only animal she knew of was daddy's snake, and he was kind of grumpy. A nice doggy would be neat!

"Contrary?" she questioningly repeated, shortly followed by another 'oooh' of interest. He saved her once? He must be a very VERY nice doggie then!

"Not as long as most, and longer than I'm comfortable with," Varlen replied with an absent shrug. "Truth is I'd like to take everything and move back in with my fiancee, but Bergerac's matter of origin makes things... well, complicated with the neighbors and such. So until she's older we're going to stay here. I don't suppose it's too bad, though. The others here seem to be good for her..."