<strong>The Spirit</strong><br/><br/>The spirit is not something that is incredibly easily described.   I will attempt to break it down into separate categories, to give examples of what it is/what it does, so on so forth.<br/><br/><strong>The History</strong><br/>The history of the spirit follows the history of the circus.  The circus, in one form or another, has been around almost as long as civilization.  There has always been a form of entertainment that travelled as a group, doing everything that they could to entertain others for the simple sake of putting smiles on people’s faces.  The spirit formed as the Circus itself evolved.  There is no telling exactly when, nor where the spirit came into existence.  The spirit had its hay day from the late 1800s to around the 1930s.  It is speculated by Elizabeth that it decline began with Film, once it was something that was not only for the rich.  During that time, the spirit changed from something similar to an mood, to something that actually existent in and of itself.  The spirit flowed between the members of the circus and the audience itself, giving a sense of euphoria to all that were involved.  It allowed acts to push just a little bit harder, and endure just a little bit more.  The audience seemed far happier than they should have been.  The circus likely hit its prime in the 1920s, when it could even be found in Burlesque shows and Vaudeville revues.  It seemed like the crash of the stock market coincided with the downfall of the spirit.  The depressive state made it harder and harder to capture a crowd’s attention like it once had.  The spirit began to pick and choose where to show itself, finding now that the larger circuses seemed to be more out for money than anything.  It followed around the smaller circuses, the ones that still embodied what had formed it in the first place.  As those began to trickle away into non existence, the spirit finally collapsed upon itself and went into a dormant state.<br/><br/>The events that lead The Spirit to Elizabeth, through the eyes of the spirit:  The spirit had never went away entirely.  It still followed what was left of the travelling circuit, but it never would lend itself to them.  It wasn’t until Elizabeth and Lawrence took over a dying circus that it was forced to come into full attention.  The spirit had the ability to pick and choose to an extent, but in the end it was still bound to the circus.  As Elizabeth and Lawrence revitalized the original idea of a circus, the Spirit found itself being given to the show without its consent.  Though the spirit did not mind, it still was weary about being revitalized only to fall again.  But as time went, and Geralds circus continued to grow in popularity, the spirit decided to let the Circus and the crowd use it at will.  The spirit was almost positive that it would again find itself useless once the events around Lawrence, and Gerald’s death took place.  It was then taken by surprise that those events caused Elizabeth to pursue it with an even greater zealous.  She continued to lend to The Spirit’s power, until it felt as though it were ready to come out of dormancy.  Then came the night of Elizabeth’s spectacular performance.  The spirit knew the girl was attempting to coax it, and believed that it may be done.  When the spirit felt the power of Elizabeth’s act, and the remarkable reaction of the crowd, it felt itself come back into full strength.  Then it felt itself find a home, within the great Ring Mistress herself.<br/><br/><strong>The spirit’s power, how it effects the family, and its limitations</strong><br/>Elizabeth found herself a vessel of the Spirit.  That does not mean that she controls it, not by any means.  The only control that Elizabeth has over the spirit is who she chooses to give pieces of it to.  What it means to be given a piece of the spirit depends upon the Act who it is given. But with all, it allows the act to perform their show better than anyone else ever could.  These abilities are only at full strength while performing, though they are always there in one sense or another.  At the current time, only three PCed acts have the spirit.  For Elizabeth and Lawrence, it makes them nearly invulnerable to flames.  Direct fire does not harm them, and they are also able to manipulate it to an extent.  This means that if there is a wall of flames, both Lawrence and Elizabeth have the ability to, say, open a hole within the flames that they may slip through.  This doesn’t mean they can create fire that is not there, nor can they cause a match flame to erupt into a ball of fire.  More or less, they can manipulate what is already there.  Neither of them can receive scars, meaning they cannot have piercings as well as things like tattoos.  For Chloe, the other spirited act, her benefits also coincide with her act.  She has two main abilities.  The first is her ability to seem weightless while in the air and in front of a crowd, allowing her to travel much farther through the air then she would typically be able to.  That coincides with the second ability, she is capable of falling to the ground without a net and landing without injury.  For other acts that come along, similar things will be given.<br/><br/>For Clowns and Stagehands different effects are given.  The clowns have the ability to capture the audience’s attention to an extent where they are not capable of seeing anything else.  This is also only usable during a show.  This allows them to do one of the most important jobs in the show, distract the crowd from seeing what is being set up on stage.  A single clown could step in front of a crowd of a thousand and perform their show, and blind the crowd from seeing the stage hands behind them setting up the next act.  The stagehands’ receive a boost to their talents just like the other two.  It allows them, during a show, to seamlessly perform their duties without ever making a mistake.  They seem to build twice as fast, and are given a high that is easily described as pure euphoria while they assist in helping the circus run.<br/><br/>The Spirit can only go so far as the circus itself takes it.  During the current storyline, it is still at its strongest.  But in the future of the story, if the show itself begins to diminish or a great trouble occurs within the Family then the spirits power will begin to falter.  The Spirit is also bound in no way to Elizabeth, and she does not have the ability to hold it against its will.  The Spirit is loyal only to one thing; the preservation of the Circus.  If at any time the Spirit believes that Elizabeth is no longer serving its needs, then it will either vacate the circus entirely, or find a new vessel to call home.<br/><br/>The Spirit is not something that one can see in any way.  It cannot be smelled, touched, tasted, anything of the like.  The spirit is something that is simply felt.  It is felt in one way or another at all times.  During group events, especially after a great show, then the Spirit gives a unity to the family that is what keeps them so close.  It allows everyone to feel a sense of whole, and whether they’ve ever talked to someone before or not still feel a sense of connection with them.  That connection also serves to help protect the family.  Say Character A hates character B within the family, but character A see’s that character B is in danger from someone outside of the family, Character A will feel compelled to help to protect character A.