Character: Countess Marie
Character Sheet (Countess Marie)
Combat Value: 5
You are Countess Marie, co-owner of "Master Payne's Circus of Adventure". And oh, dear -- this hasn't been your best month, has it?"Countess". You still call yourself that, despite having giving up your claim to the throne so long ago. But it was true, wasn't it? The life of the pampered Countess. Mmm, yes -- it was a delightful youth. Pity that it couldn't be kept.
You were born Marie Luzhakna, Countess of the western provinces of the Duchy of Holfung-Borzoi. You were of the cadet line, your father the younger brother of the Duke, and that made for a comfortable life: not directly responsible for the entire Duchy, but close enough to the center to enjoy a life of privilege. It was never likely, when you were born, that you would wind up the heir to the throne of the Duchy itself, since the Duke had children of his own. Two boys ahead of you -- enough potential heirs, so that there was little risk of you needing to take over.
So you were supposed to be raised understanding the ways of powerful nobility, but without too much pressure. You were taught that the most important thing was to see to your people, and make sure that they were well-cared for. Those were golden days, and the work wasn't difficult: the Heterodyne Boys had been bringing peace to the land, and had shored up Holfung-Borzoi's defenses well enough that there were few external threats. So you and your parents saw to it that the various villages had what they needed, and didn't squabble too much internally, and you got to enjoy life in the noble environment.
But when you were still small, the eldest heir to the throne, Manfred, was killed, in one of the last big battles of the Spark Wars before the Heterodynes brought safety to your people. Suddenly, you were only one step away from the throne, with your cousin Jacob the true heir.
Your education became more serious then. If anything were to happen to Jacob, you would become the heir, and someday the Duchess. Your parents made sure you knew about the darker side of the task, if it should become necessary. It became -- well, a bit intimidating. You started to have grand dreams of what you might do with the throne: make sure that the people were all properly sheltered and fed, make treaties with the surrounding lands, bring a more enduring peace, from the inside rather than imposed by outsiders. The sorts of things that fifteen-year-olds dream of.
That all came crashing down when you were seventeen, about fifteen years ago. First came the headaches: crushing, terrible migraines that all but left you incapacitated. You had to do something about them, and so one night you found yourself down in the Castle kitchen, in a frenzy, brewing up a headache remedy. You couldn't even say how the recipe came to you -- you simply knew what was needed. And that first, instinctive potion worked wonders, calming you and curing the headache.
Still, the thoughts kept coming to you, and you kept sneaking into the kitchen at night. Your parents began to worry that you were going to make yourself fat and unable to get a good husband (having a proper husband was essential for a Countess, and moreso for a Duchess). But the reality was that you were playing with the things you found there, and seeing what each foodstuff did. And then you broke into the household apothecary, and that gave you so many more things to play with! It was delightful, and thrilling, and oddly frightening. You were in denial of what was happening, but it was a sweet denial.
When it all came to a head -- well, you still don't remember all the details. It involved three of your chambermaids (lovesick, as all chambermaids always are), five of the groomsmen from the stables, several terribly effective love potions and eventually a mildly effective poison. No one in the castle knew what had happened (and the poor poisoned groomsman did recover), but you knew. This wasn't a carefully-considered plan of a learned doctor: this was Spark work. You began to admit to yourself what you were, and what that meant.
The noble house of Holfung-Borzoi had no love for Sparks; indeed, the household had been founded, centuries ago, precisely to combat the Spark threat. From childhood, you had been drilled with the way to treat Sparks. Powerful Sparks were to be feared and defended against, and negotiated with if necessary. Minor Sparks were to be used as useful menials. And never, ever, were the Royal line to intermarry with them -- it was punishable by death if it was found out.
How could this have happened to you? Was your mother secretly a Spark? Or were you simply a random freak? That certainly happened from time to time -- some perfectly normal family would throw out a Spark for no reason. You suspected that was the case: Mother had never shown any particular cleverness for anything save gently manipulating people, and the Spark is a hard thing to hide.
Regardless of how it had happened, though, your choices were clear. You could spend the rest of your life trying to hide what you were. As if that were possible: you knew perfectly well that Sparks were prone to outbursts of passion that gave them away. You could confess what you were, and reduce your station to that of the menial servant. You would wind up serving your cousin Jacob for the rest of your days, treated about as well as the horses. (No, that's not true -- the horses tended to get love and respect.)
Or you could leave. You were seventeen, and had the wanderlust of that age. You had already written most of your marriage prospects off as dullards anyway: young noblemen who viewed you as little more than a bargaining chip for power, with a little sex on the side. Was it so bad an idea to leave? Compared to the alternatives, it seemed not. And so, one night you saddled up your horse, took enough gold to get by for a while, grabbed all of the potions you had created in your little "midnight madnesses", and rode off into the night. You had heard that a wandering Circus, "Master Payne's Circus of Adventure", was just leaving a nearby town, heading off into the Wilderness. You would catch up with them, join them, and not be heard from again. You left a well-hidden note in your rooms, knowing that it would take a while for the maids to find it. Given that the family was busy fending off the growing external threats again (ever since the Heterodynes had left, things had been getting tense once again), you figured that they wouldn't have the resources to find you.
That was your first adventure, and taught you that real adventures are less charming than Heterodyne Stories. Catching up with the Circus took three days of wandering in the woods, and you were nearly killed twice. But the acids took care of the (admittedly mediocre) Clank that attacked you the first night, and the sleeping draught dealt with the two-headed bear -- although you got a nasty scratch before you managed to get it down both mouths.
On the third day, you caught the Circus. They were more than a bit surprised, and unsure of what to do with this girl coming at them out of the forest, dressed in robes that were far too fancy for the task and now rather ragged. But you were injured, and they were good people, so they took you in until you were recovered.
At that point, the negotiations began. You explained your position as a runaway noble, but left out the Spark bit -- no one really likes or trusts Sparks, you knew. They were tempted by your offer of gold if you could join them: they were as poor as any traveling show, and this money would make their lives much easier. But they declined, insisting that they would have to bring you back to your family. Harboring a runaway noblewoman was simply too dangerous for them to consider.
Your frustration was immense; you spent half the day in the cabin they had loaned you, crying your eyes out. You could tell that you were breaking the heart of poor Master Payne, the owner of the Circus (not a bad thing -- he was really quite cute at that age), but he was resolute. The Circus turned, and began to travel back into Holfung-Borzoi.
The Construct attacked in the night. It was really quite hideous: a spider-like thing with a hundred eyes and great fangs. You were terrified, and so were they, but that didn't stop them from acting swiftly. You had never seen anything like it: people were pulling out great guns and other devices. The Circus Cook even began throwing pies at the thing. But it wasn't enough -- Payne, at the front of the group, was captured by the creature and was being pulled in towards its maw.
Really, you can't say you even thought about it. You simply grabbed your most powerful poison, a hundred times more effective than the one that had nearly killed the poor stableboy, and threw it into the thing's mouth. It shuddered, died and collapsed. And as you helped pull Payne out from under it, you looked at each other and said, at the same moment, "We need to talk".
The Circus, it transpired, was founded of and for people just such as you: lesser Sparks who needed a supportive environment that could hide them. Being a show, the populace would not wonder too much at what transpired there, assuming it was all simply fakery and tricks. The Sparks (and the more normal people who were with them and helped them) could live in a measure of peace and safety in numbers, at the cost of always moving from place to place.
You put the question to them again. You not only wanted to become one of them, you were one of them. All the curtains were pulled aside now: they knew that you were a Spark, and you knew the same about them. Reluctantly, they agreed to take you in. But the cost was real -- if you were going to be part of the Circus, they would never be able to return to Holfung-Borzoi again. The risk of discovery was too great if you were seen there. You had to bid farewell to your homeland forever.
It was the right thing to do -- you knew it then, and you know it now. There was no longer a place for you at home. Jacob was the heir to the throne, free and clear. But you can't say it was easy, saying in as many words that you accepted never seeing your own palace again.
Since then, well, life has been harder. The traveling life was exciting for the first few months, but after that it simply became a distressing routine. You had envisioned it as a way to see the world, and live a great cosmopolitan lifestyle. But the reality is that you inhabit a very small village -- the Circus itself -- and the places you visited were far from glamorous. Instead, you began to understand the true squalor of the common people. It was easy to ignore and romanticize it when you were living up in your castle, but now you were part of it, and it was never pretty.
Still, there have been many good times. You and Payne were attracted to each other from the very beginning, and it surprised no one (including yourselves) when you finally finished courting and married. That was, in a way, the final break with your past. You were no longer the second-in-line to the throne, you were simply the co-owner of a traveling Circus. You try to keep a bit of order -- the role of the noble among the commoners has always to be the cool voice of reason, and you still abide by that responsibility, even if you only have a frying pan to enforce discipline instead of a personal guard. Everyone still calls you "Countess", and it still gives you a wistful smile, but you know that is no longer your place.
You can't say that you will ever really stop dreaming about it, though. When you see the common villages, you can't help but think how much good you could do if you still had the power of a Countess. It wouldn't take so very much gold to greatly improve their lives -- it just takes a noble who cares enough to immerse themselves in the peoples' day-to-day lives, instead of being all obsessed with externalities and power. You've kept up with the news from home: Jacob was killed without issue, in a foolish duel, but not before his younger sister Zulenna was born, making her the new child-heir to the throne.
Oh, you know that you can't ever rule -- a Spark is no more qualified for the throne than a Revival is. (While the powerful Sparks have the ability to bring people back from the dead, the process is forbidden to the nobility -- it undercuts the very concept of inheritance and primogeniture.) And it isn't as if you could seize the throne from Zulenna: ultimately, the Wulfenbachs are in charge, and they generally just enforce the rules of the lands they rule. And the rules are, a Spark cannot rule Holfung-Borzoi.
Ah, yes: the Wulfenbachs. Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach is the new ruler of Europa, he who truly rules everything. You can't say that you love his style. Where the Heterodyne Boys tried to lead people to consensus and treaty, Wulfenbach prefers force. He has conquered land after land, bringing them all into his demesnes. And while yes, he's managed to bring a sort of peace, he has given little prosperity to the people he rules. Even the Wilderness remains far more dangerous and untamed than it was in the Heterodyne's days, full of creatures like the one that attacked you that first night with the Circus.
The Circus has slowly changed over the years. When you first joined, it was an even more varied carnival, with many different acts and nothing much in common. But a few years after you came to it, you prevailed upon Payne to turn it into a Heterodyne show. He was reluctant (there is old bad blood between his family and the Heterodynes), but eventually acknowledged that it was what the villagers wanted. The days of the Heterodyne Boys were remembered as a sort of golden age, even if it had ended scarcely a decade before, and everyone wanted to see the stories played out on stage. So everyone began to learn appropriate roles, and trained themselves in the plays, and you have been a Heterodyne show ever since. The other acts continue, of course (indeed, most of the Circus' actual money comes from acts like Olga's fortune-telling routine), but the headline is the Heterodynes.
Your lives may have been a bit difficult, but they were at least straightforward until you began to cross paths with the Wulfenbachs. It began about three months ago, when young Balthazar brought in a girl he had found out in the Wilderness, with nothing but the clothes on her back, a talking cat, and a very large gun. Well, actually, she had found him, and brought him back to you. She explained that her name was Agatha Clay, and that she was on the run from the Baron.
That was not something you all wanted to hear. The Baron is the most powerful man in the land, and not to be crossed. Payne was very clear on this: while she might be a good person, you could not afford to be harboring a fugitive. It was simply too dangerous to the Circus and its people. So she was turned away.
And then she came back. Really, it was so much like the way you joined. Not longer after turning her away, the Circus was attacked by a great Clank -- nasty even by the standards of the Wilderness. Agatha hadn't gone far, and came running back with that great weapon of hers. The fight was brief and fatal: poor dear Olga was killed by the Clank before it could be stopped. But Agatha did stop it, saving the Circus and showing herself to be a good person. You began to suspect then that she was a Spark, but couldn't be certain -- anyone could use a big gun.
The Wulfenbachs, as expected, tracked her down and came after her. Even by the standards of the Circus, that was a dicey moment -- you were used to lying to people by now (the Circus life is not, sad to say, the most honest one), but pulling the wool over the eyes of the most powerful Sparks of the land was downright frightening. But you had little choice. You dressed Agatha as Olga: with the big black wig covering her blonde hair, she was almost impossible to recognize. And you buried Olga's ashes in a grave marked as Agatha's. You insisted that she toss in the ring she had been wearing: that wasn't easy for the poor dear, but it added just the bit of verisimilitude that the trick required.
Fortunately, the Baron himself did not come down: even the nerviest Circus folk might have cracked at that sight. Instead, it was his son Gilgamesh. Your heart went out to the poor boy -- sinister thought he was in mien, it was terribly obvious that he was in love with Agatha, and the concept that she had been killed was breaking his heart. But Pix and Abner did a fine job of convincing him that it was so, and took him off to the grave. You can't say you were sorry to see them go: young Gilgamesh seemed like a decent nobleman, but the woman accompanying him, "Bangladesh DuPree", was truly intimidating. A little longer, and someone surely would have slipped.
Agatha has traveled with you since then, helping with the Circus' various duties. And you've continued to attract strange sorts: in a recent town, you picked up a trio of wandering Jaegermonsters, of all things! Everyone is a bit scared of them -- those big teeth and unpredictable moods are surely a bit frightening -- but they have been so far turning out to be a benefit to the Circus. Their strength is truly remarkable, and it doesn't hurt to have someone scary in the caravan.
In all the time you have been with the Circus, though, things have never been quite as grim as they are now. You are down to half-strength, and time is drawing short.
Three weeks ago, the Circus passed through the town of Middleburg, a place that is mediocre even by the standards you are used to. You hadn't been there in many years -- it wasn't on your usual route any more -- but with the bridge at Passholdt out of commission (and you all having barely gotten away from the creatures there with your lives), it was the obvious way to go.
Middleburg, it transpires, was now run by a corrupt nobleman named Hugo von Markheim. Von Markheim is the sort of bad noble who makes your blood boil, the kind who gives all nobility a bad name. He runs Middleburg as his own private little fief, and he makes up the rules arbitrarily. By all accounts, he is exceptionally harsh, and likes to extort from everyone who passes through.
So you and Payne were very clear with the members of the Circus: everyone was to stay strictly on the up-and-up. For all you know, they might have done so -- reports were very muddled. All you know for sure is that, late on that first night, a rider came from Middleburg, telling you that all the Circus members in town had been arrested, on the serious grounds of "theft". That was out of character (although a bit of basic grifting wouldn't have been surprising), but Payne treated the matter at face value. He asked how to get them out of jail, and was cited a price that was clearly a bribe. A bribe far beyond the Circus' means.
You pleaded and begged -- everything but outright exposing your own Sparkiness to the herald. But he would hear none of it. Either the Circus coughed up the money within three weeks, or von Markheim would begin to execute members of the show. Finally, Payne asked whether fair exchange would be accepted, and the herald agreed that a gift of suitable value would be considered a proper bail.
Well, you clearly couldn't raise the money in Middleheim, and risk having more members of the Circus taken hostage. So you have spent the past two weeks on the road, doing everything you could to raise the funds. It has been hard, though, especially with half the group behind bars. As of a week ago, you were nowhere near having the needed money. But you did hear about one desperate option. The Hidden Castle of Amagog had recently reappeared.
It all tied into a famous local legend. Two centuries ago, the Great Spark Amagog had been terrorizing the countryside, with his "Perfect Construct" (some sort of monster -- accounts vary) by his side. And then, one day, he simply vanished: he, his monster, even his Castle, just disappeared one night. No one knew where they had gone, but the legend had it that he would return one day. And that day seems to be now -- a few weeks ago, the Castle reappeared, fully intact.
Of course, every adventurer in the region has been coming around and trying to enter the Castle, and none of them have come back out as far as you know. The Castle is fully functional, including all of its deathtraps. Frightening stuff, but it does imply that there are things of great value inside. Perhaps great enough to ransom back the Circus.
And so you all camped out here. Most of you aren't adventurers, but Embi is, and he told you that he would deal with the problem. You aren't sure precisely what he did, but he apparently has friends out in the forest, and the bunch of them went into the Castle several days ago. It clearly wasn't simple: one of his compatriots, a young man named "Theo", came out of the woods a couple of days ago with a terrible gash in his arm and a high fever. You suspect that he was injured during their escapade in the Castle, and (as young men are wont to do) stubbornly refused to admit how badly he was hurt until it almost killed him. But he seems like a nice sort, and so you gave him a healing salve that should fix him right up.
Embi hasn't told you exactly what they found there, but when you ask about the ransom, he smiles and tells you that he has a plan. You hope he is right -- von Markheim's herald is supposed to rendezvous with you here tonight, and he expects you to be able to give him his money then. In the meantime, you all continue to raise what money you can in more conventional ways -- putting on shows, grifting a little, and generally scraping up what you can.
Not long after Theo came to see you, Agatha came wandering out of the woods, looking distinctly confused and wearing a much fancier dress than she normally affects. You gather that the foolish girl must have gone into the Castle, and taken some pretty clothes that she found there. You can certainly sympathize with that, but it really isn't appropriate for the circumstances. You had her change into more proper clothes for being out here in the woods, and save the nice dress for sometime when it's more useful.
While the Circus is below strength in terms of manpower, you do have most of its resources available: Rivet may be under arrest, but her toolshed came with you. And similarly, the Circus Cook left you a full cabin of pies of all sorts. You're a bit nervous to experiment with them: his pies have all sorts of effects, and it is difficult to tell what is what. But if need be, it is good to have something to experiment with -- if nothing else, it helps to keep your mind off the dire situation.
You have been mildly concerned by the people you've seen around, the past few days. There are clearly some adventurers and the like, camped out in the woods. And you would swear that you've seen a naked black man fleeing through the Circus cabins several times in the past two days. (Not Embi, either: this man was a good two feet taller than him.) A few adventurers are all right, especially if they mean you no harm, but really -- they must observe the proprieties if they're going to be coming into the camp!
Public Info
Personality
You are a noble, first and foremost -- perhaps no longer in name, but you try to keep the teachings of your parents in mind. You are proper and ladylike, but firm and commanding whenever it is needed. Your frying pan may not command quite the respect that a troop of soldiers does, but you've learned to make it count when you need to. You are often concerned, but never overtly angry: a noblewoman should never lose control of her emotions too badly. You act as the mother to the Circus, and you love them all as if they were your children -- you try to make sure that they are not only safe, but happy.That said, you have come to love the world of the show. When you are onstage, or helping others on stage, you can cut loose in ways that the noblewoman never can. There's a real joy to that freedom. In retrospect, you must admit that your life with the Circus may be harder than the one you were born to, but it's more fun in many ways.
Some People You Know (Countess Marie)
Marcus Payne: Your husband, the owner of "Master Payne's Circus of Adventure". He wasn't the original owner, but took it over several years before you joined. It was originally a wandering variety show, but you convinced him to make it into a Heterodyne Show specifically. He was reluctant to do so -- his family had originally been merchants, ruined by the old Bad Heterodynes, before Bill and Barry turned the family around, and he still resents the Heterodyne name. But he knows enough to give the people what they want. He is a Spark of no trivial skill himself: his specialty is illusion, and it makes you tingle just to think about how good he is at it when he wants to be.
Professor Tarsus Beetle: Payne's sometime best friend, ruler of Beetleburg, in which Payne grew up. Payne and Beetle fell out over the Heterodynes, which was what led to Payne joining the Circus in the first place. They haven't been close in the time that you've been with the Circus, but it was occasionally useful having a powerful friend. Sadly, Agatha tells you that Beetle was killed a few months ago (she had apparently been a student of his), and an unknown fellow named Silas Merlot is now in charge there. Sigh -- so much for safe havens.
Bill and Barry Heterodyne: The Heterodyne Boys were the heroes of the age, 20-30 years ago. They saved Holfung-Borzoi from rival Kingdoms and ravening Sparks, enhancing her defenses to the point of self-sufficiency. You were always taught that the family owes everything it has to the Heterodynes. Of course, that is an easy thing to say, given that the Heterodynes vanished 20 years ago, so no one is around to collect.
Baron Klaus von Wulfenbach: The Heterodynes' onetime "sidekick", portrayed as something of a buffoon in the stories, but very much a powerful noble today. He rules most of Europa with an iron fist. Holfung-Borzoi has enough power to be a treaty state with his rather than an outright vassal, but it is clear that, if he really wanted to conquer it, he could do so.
Zulenna Luzhkna: Your cousin, Princess of Holfung-Borzoi and the true heir to the throne. She has spent much of her adolescence as some sort of hostage on board Castle Wulfenbach. You've asked Agatha about her, and understand that she last saw Zulenna when she was escaping from the Castle -- Zulenna was helping the others get away by fighting a rearguard action with her sword. It's very in character with the Royal Line, but you dearly hope she is better with that sword than her brother Jacob was. Much though you occasionally fantasize about becoming Duchess, you don't want to do so over Zulenna's corpse.
Agatha Clay: A powerful Spark, who joined the Circus several months ago. She has remarkable talents with everything from defensive devices to wagon machinery. And she turns out to be an actress of no small skill -- she has been slotted into the Heterodyne Show as Lucrezia Mongfish, the villainess who later married Bill Heterodyne, and she excels at it. But she doesn't talk about her past, which always worries you a bit. And she has been acting scatter-brained, even by her typical standards, the past couple of days. You are genuinely concerned that Zeetha may have given her one too many blows to the head. You should keep an eye on her, and make sure she is all right.
"Emperor" Krosp: Agatha's talking pet, who fancies himself the King of All Cats. Really, he turns out to be astonishingly intelligent, moreso than most of the people you deal with day-to-day. (Not that that is saying much.) He is disconcertingly good at spying, and learned most of what was going on in the Circus simply by sneaking around (not exactly regal), but you have gradually become friends with him, after a fashion. A part of you does suspect that he only tolerates you because you hold the keys to the milk and fish, though.
Gilgamesh von Wulfenbach: The Baron's son, a powerful Spark in his own right. You saw him the night that he came to fetch Agatha from you, and he did not take well the news that she was "dead". With any luck, you won't encounter him again -- he would not likely be happy about the Circus lying to him.
Bangladesh DuPree: A perfectly frightful woman, apparently young Wulfenbach's bodyguard and inquisitor. For all that he seems like a decent person, she does not. There is something genuinely unsettling about her.
Zeetha: A green-haired warrior princess from the mysterious land of "Skifander", who joined the Circus two years ago. She is not a Spark, but is one of the most dangerous fighters around, and quite enjoys combat, so she has become the Circus' unofficial bodyguard, as well as showing off her sword work on stage. She took Agatha on as some sort of student, and takes much glee in running the poor girl ragged. Still, that's what Zeetha is, and she is a good friend. You and she commiserate sometimes about being nobility away from their lands -- she understands you in a way that the others really can't.
Artie: Another talking animal! You would think that they are simply breeding them that way nowadays. He is a talking gerbil, who Agatha showed up with two days ago, explaining that she had found him out in the woods and determined that he was friendly. That's not entirely reassuring -- things found in the woods are often less than safe -- but he does seem to be every bit as intelligent as Krosp and quite a bit more personable. There's something very good-hearted about this particular creature.
Dimo, Oggie and Maxim: Three Jaegermonsters you found hanging (literally) in a town a couple of months ago. They decided to attach themselves to the Circus, and, well, who is going to tell them otherwise? For all their frightening visage, they turn out to be helpful, even sometimes a bit childlike -- you have grown downright fond of Oggie over the months, despite his rather large horns. They have some sort of connection to Agatha: you don't understand precisely in what way, but they keep leaping to her aid.
"Dingbot Prime": Agatha has a way with Clanks -- she has built several, which help her in various ways. But one seems to be almost a pet unto itself (another sentient pet!), rather intelligent for a Clank and quite devoted to her. It's -- well, it's rather cute in its own way. You'd never have thought you'd ever think a Clank "cute", but this one is very endearing. Except when it is stealing parts from Rivet's cabin -- you do occasionally have to wield your frying pan at it.
Abner: Payne's assistant and second-in-command. He was captured with the others in town, but apparently talked his way out a couple of days ago, to come and help you raise the money. (Actually, you suspect that Pix talked him out of it -- that would be much more her style.)
Pix: Your best actress, a truly skilled young woman who usually plays the High Priestess now that Agatha is playing Lucrezia. She and Abner are quite obviously in love, and it is undoubtedly tearing him up that she is being held back in town, in mortal danger. Really, you are astonished at how well he is holding himself together: you would have expected him to be frantic.
Rivet: The Circus' mechanic, also captured. You have her wagon, with its remarkable collection of tools, but only Agatha has the skills to do much with it.
The Circus Cook: You've known him for over ten years, and he has never told you his name! He just prefers to be known as "Cook". Another member of the group who has been captured, leaving you with this enormous collection of mysterious pies. They undoubtedly have some sorts of intended effects -- Cook is a Spark, whose odd talent is Pie -- but heaven only knows what. But your own skills at experimentation should yield some answers.
Embi: A curious little man who has been traveling with the Circus for a while now. He claims to be over a century old, an adventurer from a black Pygmy race somewhere in Africa. And who knows? He is brave enough, as well as a talented juggler, and you've heard stranger things than someone whose vow to see the entire world is keeping him alive immortally. If the Queen of England can be immortal, why not a four-foot African man?
Maria: A village girl from the nearby town, who ran off to the Circus about a week ago. Normally, you would immediately return her to her parents, and brook no argument, but with the Circus so short-handed you need all the help you can get. You've had her following after you and helping you out around the Circus. You'll convince her to return to the town once the crisis is passed. She fancies herself some sort of Spark, but you suspect she's just over-interpreting a migraine.
Othar Tryggvassen: A legendary hero, just behind the Heterodynes themselves. And yet, you've always found him astonishingly approachable -- he is a great fan of the Circus, and always comes to your shows when your paths cross. His sanity is occasionally in question, but he's very good-hearted, and has helped you out of scrapes more than once. Payne caught a glimpse of him in the forest yesterday, and suspects he may have been part of Embi's group of adventurers.
Theo: A young man who came to you for healing assistance a couple of days ago. Apparently another adventurer, who was hurt while braving the dangers of the Castle.
Andre: The Circus' music-master, a minor Spark whose specialty is music. Also captured; fortunately, Agatha is really every bit as talented a musician as he is, especially when using the Silverodeon, the great circus organ that she fixed up last month.
Balthazar and family: A young boy who travels with the Circus, and his parents. All minor Sparks, and all now in captivity.
Lars: The Circus' advance-man, who is not a Spark, but is quite resourceful. He is off scouting other sites for the Circus, though, and you aren't sure that he knows where you are: you left a message back at the encampment near Middleburg, but heaven only knows if he'll find it.
Moxana: A Clank who travels with the Circus, but a truly remarkable one. Moxana is strangely insightful: she can always tell a bit of what is going to happen. But she doesn't speak -- she communicates through the games that she plays. Interpreting those games is always a bit of an art.
Female Spark (Status: In Game)
Pictures
(v4, p54-55)
(v4, p66)
Plots:
The Succession of Holfung-Borzoi (Succession)
The Circus Arrested (Circus Arrested)
Bluesheets:
Master Payne's Circus of Adventure (Circus Bluesheet)
Items
Collection of Pie (Pies) -- The Pies are as follows. These should be put into contingency envelopes, and taped inside tin pie shells. Marie gets two of each pie.
| Outer Label | Top Envelope Contents | Bottom Envelope Contents |
| Item: Apple Pie It’s got a solid top crust, but there’s a hole in it that lets you just barely see what’s inside. If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | Too much nutmeg! You feel a slight popping sensation in your mouth. You’d describe it as being like Pop Rocks if you weren’t playing a steampunk Victorian game. | The pie explodes in your face! You don’t take any damage, but you are knocked back several feet, and fall flat. If you were in a combat, you are out of it for this round. |
| Item: Pecan Pie Mmm – dark, gooey, and probably so sweet. If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | Sweet, but not enough to send you through the roof. You feel just a bit more calm and relaxed. Really, that’s quite nice. | Too… much… sweet… You drift off into a contented slumber, the pie having seeped into every pore. For the next two minutes, you cannot be roused. |
| Item: Mince Pie The kind of thing you’ll definitely like, if you like that kind of thing. If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | It’s that English thing – you feel almost regal. | That was The Regal Pie of High Command! For the next two minutes, you may command anyone near you, and they must obey. (Show them this card.) However, you mostly want to command them to grovel and scrape – practical affairs are simply beneath you for the moment. |
| Item: Chicken Pie Rich and savory – delicious heated over the campfire. If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | Smooth, creamy sauce, with just the right amount of spice to bring out the flavor of the meat. Yum! Would be better hot, though. | It’s – well, it’s smooth and creamy. You don’t feel any dramatic effects, but it does make a nice gentle facial emollient. Pity that it’s all over your clothes. |
| Item: Lemon Meringue Pie Tart! (No, not you, the pie.) If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | It’s a little more tart than you would usually go for, but that does wake you up. | Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy! Something about the combination of the lemon and meringue has made you uncontrollably enthusiastic about everything around you! This effect will last for five minutes. |
| Item: Chocolate Cream Pie The ultimate deadly sin, but what a way to go! If you nibble a bit of this pie, open the top envelope. If you get the pie in the face, open the bottom envelope. | It’s perfection in a pie shell! Mmmm – if you could just keep eating this forever… | That was The Unified Pie of Infinite Potential! You can see it – all of it. How to invent anything, how to cure all disease, how to solve the world’s problems and make everyone happy. And all it would take is – no, now it’s gone. Damn buggy pies… |
Frying Pan (Frying Pan) -- A heavy cast-iron frying pan.
Hallucinogenic Gas (Hallucinogenic Gas) -- A small vial of liquid that, when smashed, produces a gas that makes people especially credulous. To use this, see a GM first, then throw the vial and begin to describe the situation that you see. The GM will tell others what to see. This particular vial is mid-sized: not enough to overwhelm an entire battle (as seen in the comic), but enough to deal with any substantial group of people who are together. (Roughly, one entire room of the Castle or the main clearing or the forest area.) The effect lasts for 5-10 minutes, but people will become gradually less susceptible to suggestion over that time.
Hallucinogen Antidote (Hallucinogen Antidote) -- The antidote to the Hallucinogenic Gas. There is enough here to deal with any number of people, but it must be applied one person at a time.
Abilities and Disabilities
Potion Creation (Potion Creation) -- Your particular Spark skill is chemistry. It's always been that way. You've never understood all this playing around with Clanks and Constructs and ray guns and such, but when you are placed in a room with a collection of substances, you can almost instinctively work magic. Even after all these years, and knowing what it has cost you, you still love to play with your potions.
As such, you are specifically exempted from the "construction" aspect of the Spark Mechanic. Instead, you should roleplay mixing substances when you are Sparking. Other than that, you Spark the same as any other.
Fierce Frying Pan (Wield Frying Pan) -- You are almost never without your frying pan. Besides being constantly useful for making potions (you've found that a little iron enhances almost any potion), it is excellent for keeping everyone in line. You get a +2 in combat when wielding your frying pan: not exactly knightly combat, but enough to keep Payne in line when he gets too imperious on you.
To Do
Possible suggestion for a future run, from Darker: I have to admit that I find the exact parallel between "Marie joins the Circus" and "Agatha joins the Circus" kinda 'eh'. I'd far rather see some other way for the Circus to discover her Sparkiness - in desperation, she uses a potion of some sort and is caught at it; or she uncovers some sort of internal danger to the group, or even just the money she brought being worth never going back to Holfung-Borzoi.
Historical Background
The following were notes while the character was evolving. They do not necessarily represent the way it came out.
Yes, I'm aware of the possible name confusion with Maria, but it's survivable. Her description in the Cast List is brief:
Ran away to join the Circus and married the Circus Master. A mad chemist, among other things.Do note that she is actually married to Payne; they're not just associates.
She is realistic, and gently amused, by the mundanity of circus life (v4, p66). But she likes to know what is going on, and can threaten in her calm, understated way when she wants to (v5, p42). Note that she always seems to have her pans on her when she needs them (v5, p42); is this for any use other than hitting people on the head?
She appears to be a potion-master (v4, p90), with all that implies. (Healing could easily be a particular skill for her.) What does this imply for the Spark Mechanic? The usual mechanic is device-oriented; do we want to tweak it for cases like her?
Is she actually a Countess? That's the way she is described, but I don't think we've really touched on it yet. She does tend to refers to everyone else as "commoners" (v5, p42). If so, that's potentially quite interesting, given the apparently tense relationship between the Royal Families and the Sparks. If we wanted to stretch credibility slightly (what else is new?), we could tie her and Zulenna as relatives, making a very interesting back-door tie between our two biggest factions.
She's clearly the mother figure for the Circus, and as such is a potentially useful character. Her personality is relatively quiet and subtle, which makes her a bit more difficult to make interesting, but is potentially a good match for certain kinds of mild-mannered players. Still, she is quite capable of raising her voice when it is necessary to restore order (v4, p90).
Justin 12/30: Marie is now getting pretty well-established as the sole heir of the cadet line of Holfung-Borzoi. So her story goes like this. She was born into the cadet line -- not the heir to the throne, but fairly close to it, since the main line has not been having many children. When she was a child, it looked like she might wind up Princess, but then her cousin Zulenna was born, and she moved back in the succession. That was okay by her: while she respected the need for a strong noble house, to guard against the depredations of the Sparks, she didn't love the idea of being trapped in such a settled life.
Everything changed when she was 17. Specifically, two things happened. First, she broke through as a minor Spark, discovering that she had real skill as a chemist. It was a relatively subtle breakthrough, involving love potions and one minor poisoning, so no one in the family knew what had happened, but she knew. And she knew that Sparks were not well-loved in this family. Holfung-Borzoi has always been one of the anti-Spark households, originally formed centuries ago as a firewall against the Sparks taking over everything and ravaging the country. She didn't feel evil, but her guilt at finding herself a Spark was deep, and she knew that she couldn't ever assume the throne.
Combined with her wanderlust, that led to the second change: running away and joining the Circus. She stuck with it, and eventually she and Payne fell for each other. It became her home, and over time she moved into the position of de facto den mother of the group. That was over ten years ago now. In the meantime, she's kept lightly apprised of Zulenna's progress, and seen her grow into a proper noble: a bit arrogant, but dedicated and willing to do the job. That's been a relief.
She should be set up to wind up needing to work with Zulenna on a solution to their mutual problem of the Succession. In fact, neither is technically qualified for the job, according to family tradition. But they are the only two heirs, and so they need to work it out between themselves. One of them (or both) will have to rule the land, and govern the people as best they can. Both should be thoroughly intimidated by the job deep down, and doesn't want it because of that, but both feel a strong need to see the people well-governed and protected.
She should have been dreaming occasionally of what it would be like to rule, but knows that, as a Spark, she's simply not qualified. Young Zulenna has to do it: a Spark just can't.
At the same time, though, she should be thinking about the good she could do. She has seen the poverty of the people, and knows that the strong-arm tactics that dominate today don't feed them, they just barely keep them alive. She wishes she could help. But there is no way she could challenge for the throne, even if she wanted to. The Wulfenbachs are ultimately in charge, and while Gil seemed like a decent sort, there is no reason why he would back her over Zulenna.
Two days ago, Theo came out of the forest, feverish and with a terrible gash in his arm. She provided him with a salve that ought to take care of it, but found herself a bit disturbed at the notion that there were people she doesn't know out in the woods.
Amount of Character Potential: Good (Well tied-in, requested by one or two players, and has a plot in design.)