https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yAP5ClSbgQ<br/><br/>(Because everything in life can be summed up by a musical interlude from Buffy)<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/>So, yeah... it's quite obviously fairly quiet around these parts. Walter's getting close to growing cobwebs in unspeakable places and frankly that's not a pretty sight or good news.<br/><br/>I know many of us have been busy/having muse issues. Ciosa and Sindra in particular; they're both awesome and great GM's which means their enforced absence (even if great news for them in real life) kinda took the wind out of us and left a big hole to fill (no dirty comments please). In fact, this is a probably a great example of the fact that sandbox style games rely as much on GM's as a more tightly run one does.<br/><br/>But that does leave us without much going on, doesn't it. And I like Doomtown... the setting, the characters and the lovely writing (to say nothing of the lovely writers) too much to just let it die again without at least trying something.<br/><br/>So... here goes...<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><strong>Mr Barnum's Fantastic Travelling Circus and Freakshow.</strong><br/><br/>When people asked what Gomorra needed many people gave their suggestions. A working plumbing system. A competent police force. Somewhere to get sushi at 3am after you've decided it's the perfect food to settle a stomach full of whiskey. More adorable dogs which in no way shape or form will ever rip someone to pieces. Less drunk cockney's wandering around with a donkey giving people the evil eye.<br/><br/>What absolutely no-one suggested was<em>more</em>freaks, ruffians, vagabonds and general low-lives, all traveling in that most wonderful of entertainment forms... the circus.<br/><br/>Roll up, roll up. Watch the incredible Chin twins perform acrobatic feats that will leave you breathless. Dare you enter the tent with Mistress Constrictor and her pet Boa Constrictor (that was obvious wasn't it) and risk really being left breathless? How about Snozzy the Clown and his trope of hilarious but rather terrifying men with white faces and huge smiles as they fall over, get hit in the head with frying pans and generally do all the stuff you'd see on a Friday night in Gomorra anyway? How about Hercules the Strong Man, able to lift three willing (or two and half unwilling) female volunteers into the air with one push of his burly arms? Or Santino the knifethrower, supposedly able to throw those blades blindfolded and not hit the persons strapped to the spinning target (volunteer at your own risk, no refunds)? Or Nelly the Elephant... yes ladies and gentlemen, an actual elephant, paraded across the West in an act that would clearly leave PETA horrified. And not just Nelly, no... Nelly... ridden by MIDGETS! Will Captain Shorty and his Shorty Soldiers manage to succesfully ride Nelly or will they get even shorter on account of her treading on them? Why don't you try your hand at the many games of skill and chance (and fraud...) across the circus? Or perhaps attempt to survive with Genghis, the Mongolion fighting champion who will give a gold coin to any man to last three turns of the sand with him... and you can make a lot more on the gambling.<br/><br/>Or perhaps just go to take in the sights... and maybe pick a pocket or two.<br/><br/>But what's this? There's more to the circus than meets the eye (and only the single eye in Medusa the One-Eyed Woman's case... only a few coins to see this wonder of the world)? Some of those female performers don't look too happy to be here... could it be that they were kidnapped and forced into service? Would Mr Barnum really be party to poor, unwilling, nubile young willing be snatched off the streets and forced to serve in his circus? Well, an an unknown source once overheard him say, "that sounds like a party to me". Could it be the case that one of more of Gomorra's fine women become targets for this nefarious scheme? Can they save themselves or will someone else leap in to save them?<br/><br/>And... in case you forgot... there's a war on, even if it is sort of on a break right now. And what better cover for agents and general intrigue then a circus that can travel freely around the country? What exactly is the locked iron carriage at the back of the circus compound? And why do people with distinctly Southern and Northern accents keep trying to break in to get it? What could the item be and what consequences could it have for Gomorra? Does anyone dare find out?<br/><br/><hr/><br/>So the basic idea of this is to give everyone something to write about and people to write with. For the moment the date would be left blank and it would be an "unofficial" story; once Ciosa returns from r<del>avishing Sindra for every hour of the day</del>working his arse off we can get on with Doomtown proper and possibly include this in the overall story or just ignore it (or perhaps pretend it's a story someone told Dolores).<br/><br/>I'll play as many NPC's as I can (but would certainly appreciate anyone willing to play others) so there's a fair amount of interaction available. Delve into the seedier side of the circus as much or as little as one wants; one could quite happily spend a few hours watching clowns chasing midgets while being chased by elephants or one could try and look behind the curtain and discover what that odd screaming sound is.<br/><br/>In essence I'm just hoping I can do something so that anyone still interested in the game but struggling with their muse/what to write can get some inspiration.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Is that something people would be interested in?