Cirque Free company
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A mateus roleplaying free company
Our Upcoming Show
The Nightmare Before Starlight
Happy Saints' Wake and Merry Starlight! Come and join us as we share a tale that is both spooky and jolly as Jack Skellington attempts to bring the joys of Starlight to Saints' Wake Land! Grab your winter sweaters, don your creepy costumes and join us for a night of boogie! Mixing two holidays can only be great, though things may not go quite as planned…
A new show every month! EVERY MONTH we play host to a server-wide roleplay event open to the public community of Mateus and beyond. It can be a Play, a Performance, or other grand acts of Circus theme. Don't forget to check out our gift shop!
CIRQUE is a troupe of actors and dramaturges who put on wonderful shows for one and all! Famed around the world as their audiences travel from all over to take in these one of a kind shows! But...THERE ARE ALWAYS RUMORS...
Stories of the house deep in the woods of the Black Shroud. A magical house of mysterious origin that simply appeared one day. That just beyond the surface lies the impossible, the strange, and the amazing.Some say they actually fight those who would enslave others and those who would abuse the oppressed. Champion the cause of those who have no champion, fight the battles none other see. They stand against the unknown threats that abuse and manipulate. Others say that they've gone to other worlds. They've battled against giant titans. Traveled through the rivers of time's breach. Done the impossible, seen the invisible.They enter conflicts unseen, only to vanish when the job is done. They are not heroes, because none sing their praise nor know of their exploits.But those are just rumors.THE HOUSE OF MYSTERYLADIES AND GENTLEMEN! CHILDREN OF ALL AGES!
Come One, Come All to Cirque's wondrous HOUSE OF MYSTERY! A place where dreams are made real, and shows of mirth and merry occur!Rumors abound however. Guests speak often of hearing strange voices behind walls. Of the rumors that their house is alive. That they hide a secret lair of ancient technology and magick behind fake bookcases. That their house in fact hides an infinite hallway where any door leads to anywhere in the world. That people have been seen walking in through a front door that lead to places far away. But those are just rumors.Feel free to visit us! Lavender Beds, ward 10, house 3! Mateus!
Our roleplaying system
Cirque uses a custom Skill System which allows dynamic roleplay to take place using a simple d10 roll-based system with bonuses and exclusive skills. Our system breaks down into four blocks to build a skill sheet with.
Feats are what your character is generally skilled at, and confer +2 to any Roll Check requiring one of those skills. A player can choose up to 4 Feats for their Character Skillsheet. Feats include both Skill bonuses for Roll Checks and Power Skills that provide unique bonuses for roleplay encounters that occur during play. Power Skills can only be gained by choosing a Skillset.Skills are what your character is expert at, and confer +2 to any Roll Check requiring one of those skills. A player can choose up to 10 (12 with flaws taken) skills for their Character Skillsheet. They define what your character's specialties are. Power Skills cannot be purchased through Skill Points. A player can choose to use their skill points to further empower Roll Check bonuses an additional +2, for a total bonus of +4.Quirks are optional variations that can negatively impact a player, but may also confer unique benefits. The most any player may choose is 2. Each flaw is different in its effect to fit character archetypes, but none are required for any skillsheet to be completed.Overdrives are a variation of imit breaks which are a staple aspect of the Final Fantasy game series and Final Fantasy XIV. Adapted to our combat roleplaying system, a player can choose 5 personalized overdrives to execute in combat should they roll just right.
What to expect...
Cirque is a lore-adherent free company. The main purpose is to have fun but we limit ourselves to what is possible within FFXIV's framework. We never break established lore, but we believe that in the gray areas where lore doesn't exist, its an open playground of possibility.Our adventures can have dark overtones and include moral choices for players to agonize over. They can also be lighthearted, sometimes even absurd. The focus can shift from social interactions to combat to stealth and guile to calamities. There is no mandatory attendance and players can pick and choose which story arcs they want to contribute to.Some escapades can be morally gray but it's usually a lighter shade with an emphasis on fun. Exploring strange interesting new places, and having a story the world will never know of to share.
Cirque's Story so far...
CIRQUE Year 1: BREAKING GROUND
Cirque's first operation as a group of slaver killers was dismantling the organization named 'Wonderland'. They were viscious slavers who abused women and children. In the end, the council that ran Wonderland was destroyed, with a sole member escaping. The miqo'te Kir Jaab.Arc 2: "Echion"
Cirque was approached by Kirei Meztli, and asked to help save children from the clutches of an evil slaver organization named 'Echion'.Arc 3 "FAUX"
Cirque encountered an evil organization that used machinery and magick to influence and control the minds of bodily augmented slaves. A hrothgar named Hobson Lynx was the lead developer of mind controlling machina used by Faux, and would fight Cirque tooth and claw. The fight against Faux would prove to last til the end of the year.Arc 4 "BACK to the FIRST"
Cirque had been attacked by Faux at their own home. The House of Mystery assaulted directed and damaged in a way they never foresaw coming. Sent to the FIRST during a time a mere 15 years after a Flood of Light had destroyed the world of Norvrandt, Cirque struggled to return home to the Source.Arc 5 "My Cirque Academia"
While disparate threads and threats gathered, Cirque wasn't once resting on their laurels! With the aid of a Grand Alliance hero named Tall Might, they fought and won against a lalafell named Bellini Lini who had broken off from FAUX with his own evil agenda.Arc 6 "The Cinquante Plot"
In Coerthas, a group of heretics known as 'The Cinquante', were attempting to create a new Dragonsong War! Cultists with a strange powers were taking ordinary Ishgardians and forcefully turning them into dragons!Arc 7 "The Wedding Snatchers."
Infiltrating deep into a mafia-style group of slavers who operated under the eyes of the law for over a decade,Cirque had to go into deep cover to break the group up and save hundreds of slaves.Arc 8 "The House on the Silent Hill"
A house that appeared three years ago was referred to Cirque as a place they should investigate by an old friend. People went into this house and never returned, and it seemed to accept or not accept people at its leisure. What it was though was far more than any in Cirque could have ever expected.Arc 9 "The Darkest Timeline"
The dark truth of the House on the Silent hill was revealed! One of their own members left behind on the First had built it after they had been forced to leave her behind. Caught between a rift of space, Cirque was dropped on a dying reflection of the real world where they didn't know one another, and they were living out their darkest timelines...Cirque Year 1 Finale
Returned to the Source and victorious, none of their lives would be the same ever again.
CIRQUE Year 2: THE SLAVER'S GRAIL WARArc 10 "The Man from Nowhere"
Forced to participate in training exercises with other Joint Alliance peacekeepers, Cirque saw first hand a foe strange and new. He brought with him an invitation to Cirque upon his defeat. A WAR was upon Cirque. One they could not run away from.Arc 11 "The Grail War Begins"
Cirque is invited (by threat of force) to attend the opening of a grand war between Slaver Organizations. Dropped into the thick of some of the worst people in the world, they learn they'll be forced to compete against 7 of the Strongest Slaver groups in the world, or die. Their first opponents were frontlined by a creature in an impenetrable suit of armor, named 'The Berserker'.Arc 12 "Ivory Fang"
Beast tribe members around Eorzea were being attacked, and thus Cirque had received a plea from the grand companies to spring into action. Directed towards different settlement's of different beast tribes, all they could do was but watch as several beast tribe members had their blood stolen, and some transformed into mutated fusions of other tribes. All of this was perpetrated by an individual calling himself 'Ivory Fang' along with his benefactor, Dr. Ver.Arc 13 "Mister Nobody"
He had no name, but was kidnapping Ishgardians and making them into slaves encased in mannequin shells, forced to live out a twisted mockery of mundane life. The 'Caster' of the Slaver War, he was their opponent, and Cirque had to put him down.Arc 14 "Et In Arcadia Ego"
A sky pirate war between a madman and those who would fight for freedom. Infiltrating the Arcadia Armada's ranks, Cirque would use cunning, lies and deception out defeat the 'Rider' of the Grail War.Arc 15 "The City of Sleeping Hunters."
Kir Jaab. The self appointed slaver queen who had forced Cirque into the Grail War to begin with. She gave Cirque an ultimatum, to join her forces or be crushed by the rest of the underworld. Refusing her, Cirque traveled to the floating island she ruled, and defeated her. In the act of defeating her, many losses were suffered. Cirque would have to pull itself back from the brink.Arc 16 "A Year in a Day: 1509"
Deciphering a coded tome delivered months ago, a magical cipher lead to a bridged gateway between the minds and spirits of their present and an era long past. The final days of the War of the Magi, and where the great Slaver Grail War began. The year 1509. They spent a full year there, or seemed to have felt they did. Then, they returned home, back to their still sleeping bodies. Only a day had passed.Arc 17 "Magical Girls, Sailor Defense Force Shine!"
With the Grail War entering its second half, Cirque was determined to forge its own path. Armed with new knowledge, Cirque set out to free little girls warped by magicks they couldn't have understood agreeing to. Little girls turned into 'magical girls' by a demonic creature from beyond the Source.Arc 18 "The Machinery of Fate"
With the Slaver's Grail War reaching its conclusion, Cirque set its eyes on the opponent who had been standing in their way all year. Gallroix Cezanne, the 'Slave to Fate'. Learning that this man was being controlled and forced to battle Cirque at every corner, and controlled by a power that enslaved his life to battle them, they had no choice but to confront him. They would travel to the far edge of fate itself to do this. Into space.Arc 19 "Odin's Throne"
The sight of Cirque's final battle against Gallroix Cezanne and the end of the Grail War. An asteroid at near orbit of the Star. A schism in the river of time created by their enemy meant that there were temporarily 2 Cirque's. Both existing from a deviation in time's flow where one world was doomed to suffer a calamity and destruction. Both Cirque's fought side by side outside a location called 'Chronopolis', and won. But in the end, one Cirque return to the surface safe. The other, to travel to a doomed world fated to die.Cirque Year 2 Finale
Though they had won the Grail War, a mysterious man in a white coat stole all their winnings and was using Cirque's garnered reputation in the underworld. The location 'Chronopolis' would burn in their memories, a place where a machine one should have access to existed. A machine that could manipulate probability. A machine that could control FATE.
CIRQUE Year 3: ORIGIN OF MYSTERYArc 20 "The Grand Leyline"
Their names are 'Harle' and 'Violet Light'. A mysterious clown girl of mischievous nature and a blonde man in a white coat and shining violet eyes raced against Cirque. Several pirate factions held pieces of a map that would lead to a Grand Leyline. A leyline needed to reach a location tied to the mysterious 'Fate Machine'. The place called 'Chronopolis'.Arc 21 "The Voidsent Replacements"
Solidly cemented as the slaver villain standing against Cirque, this 'Violet Light' man sought to hit Cirque hard. Several of Cirque's members had been grievously injured in the fallout of Odin's Throne, and their bodies had been healing for some time. That is, until voidsent spirits under Violet Light's direction took them over and used their bodies for all manner of evil and criminal goals. A particular spirit of note was one not evil. A girl named 'Kid'. She did not fight Cirque, but seemed an amnesiac. Confused in her origin.Arc 22 "Chronopolis Community Radio"
Cirque finally traveled to the place teased as the location of this 'Fate Machine' some Moons ago; Chronopolis. There, they found a massive thriving desert community of people who had all their dark and angry emotions repressed their whole lives via a powerful machina. Desperate to escape, Cirque made a hard choice, and turned off the machina that kept the people happy. Chaos broke out immediately, and hundreds died. In their escape from Chronopolis, Cirque learned the horrible truth. Their House of Mystery, Calcifer itself, was tied to this 'Fate Machine'.Arc 23 "Those Doomed and Abandoned"
Violet Light and Harle were dead. While Cirque contended with the woman who seemed to have controlled them both, a vile figure naming herself 'Mother Maiay', other things stirred. Not long ago, there were two Cirques who fought together on Odin's Throne. And those cast aside to a doomed world to die in hell struggled to escape their fate. Soon, that struggle would bring them face to face against their once allies. Against Cirque.Arc 24 "Mother Maiay, Where Art Thou?"
While this alternate Cirque struggled to escape their doomed world. They received aid in the recently revealed to not be quite so dead Harle. A breach was forming between this doomed split off of time's flow and the Source, one that was growing in size and causing instability in the world. But Cirque was too busy to pay it much mind, in hunting down and freeing 40 children from a mad Eugenics plot to 'breed' Warriors of Light.Arc 25 "Kamino Ward"
An old foe of Cirque who refused to die reared his ugly head for the final time. Proclaiming himself to be 'The hero of this story', a mad man named Bellini Lini trapped a whole city of Domans under guard and threat of death. Working with the Grand Company of Eorzea and the great hero Tall Might once again, Cirque fought to free this city called 'Kamino Ward'. It was only with the revelation that all in Kamino were from this 'Doomed world' that Cirque finally were made aware that those who were cast aside and forgotten refused to die. It was here that they learned a great many startling revelations, in fact.Arc 26 "Players Upon His Stage"
Corsa'ir Boon, Cirque's leader and founder, had been turned from their greatest ally into their now greatest enemy. He had been, since Cirque escaped from Chronopolis, controlled by their enemy 'Violet Light' who was inhabiting his body and mind. Many in Cirque were revealed to have been double agents or infiltrators from this 'Doomed World', and many in Cirque felt the sting of betrayal. The House of Mystery was dead, its magic broken. Their forces decimated, their chances slim. Their former Chairman now turned into their greatest enemy. The greatest fight Cirque would ever fight was about to begin.Arc 27 "Forbidden/Lacking"
His name is 'Verboten Lacke'. A hrothgar from a far off land arrived at Cirque at its darkest hour. He arrived with some of the 'replaced' originals of Cirque, having escaped the clutches of their new former Chairman now calling himself 'Mister Scratch'. With the death of Faol Isefare (Cirque's historian) and everything mired in a period of transition, who would say what was to come next?Arc 28 "The Villainous Mister Scratch"
One event after the next conspired to show Cirque just how outmatched they were against this new enemy made from their former Chairman. Using illusion magick, voidsent minions and enslaved machina-entombed warriors, their new enemy seemed to have plans upon plans in place for some great final purpose. A purpose Cirque needed to learn of before it all reached a head. He beheaded Mother Maiay, betrayed the one called 'Harle', and set in motion a series of events that would change Cirque forever...Arc 29 "Stone Ocean"
Cirque learned of just what their supposed role was in this Mister Scratch's game. They were set up, put on trial for actions beyond their ability to control, and sent to a nearly impossible to escape from facility, one called Stone Ocean. While Cirque was trapped there, the whole facility was attacked by the so called 'Children of Mother Maiay', claiming each to be from a different reflection of Hydaelyn. Escaping through fire and destruction, they returned back home only to find the entire trial was a means to get them away, all so he could rob them of something quite precious...Arc 30 "Geo Stigma"
The children of Mother Maiay plagued Cirque constantly over several encounters, culminating in a chase through the Black Shroud where in many afflicted by an aetheric sickness spread by several tears in the aetheric weave of the world caused many to grow mindless and ill. All yet another step though Cirque would find, as Mister Scratch had set it all up. Mother Maiay's trapped son was given new life, and Cirque learned the true origin of their living house. Calcifer was and had always been the dream of Mother Maiay's son, Zanatos. And with his rebirth, their house would remain dead forever. And yet... it was all according to a plan to get to an even more precious location by their foe...Arc 31 "Enter the Dreaming Lands"
Traveling through a rainbow portal at Urth's Fount, Cirque encountered a great expanse of world that lied beneath the waking world. A place where all people go when they dream. In this physical space of dreamstuff, Mister Scratch seemed to seek something at the end of a long journey, something called 'The Heart of Mystery'. Cirque would have to travel the lands of Dreams themselves to try and beat him to it.Arc 32 "The Brightest Timeline"
Cirque had lost...
Mister Scratch had succeeded in beating Cirque to the farthest edge of the Dreamlands, and blasted open a path into the heart of where the House of Mystery was first created. In their defeat, Mister Scratch had wiped Cirque's mind of their defeat, and sought to trap them all in a world where good always won, and evil did not find purchase. A beautiful trap... one Cirque had to escape. With the arrival of new allies, and a strange one-eyed black cat, they did just that. Now they would have to re-enter the Dreamlands, and try to stop Mister Scratch from using The Heart of Mystery within The Fate Machine to forever alter the probability of the world to his will. He was the ultimate slaver, willing to control the whole world to get the peace he wanted. It would be a battle unlike Cirque had ever faced before.Arc 33 "Fate is what you make it."
Cirque against their former Chairman, armed with the allies they made in the Dreamlands, their repaired titanic machina The Megas, and every trick and gimmick they could think of re-entered the Dreamlands, now turned to nightmare. In one final battle, Cirque fought against the Machinery of Fate itself, styling itself into a world-spanning mechanical god that thought to manipulate the dreams of everyone in the whole world. The battle cost them everything, but in the end, they succeeded. Winning a silent war and saving thousands, perhaps millions of lives. A victory the world would never know of, must never know of.Now with a new entity of unknown origin calling itself 'Filigree' within the walls of their living House of Mystery, Cirque faced the future. Together under their new motto. "Sharing the Blame."
CIRQUE Year 4: VOLUME 2Arc 34 "A Ballroom Blitzball"
Corsa'ir Boon was returned as their Chairman once again, and Cirque was finding its footing again after the intensely traumatic events that revolved around the mystery of their living house. Now, new questions and new adventures sprang to the foreground. A mysterious Miqo'te girl who could convince anyone they had always known her, a strange man with a drill on a necklace that radiated energy, and an organization creating materia that caused those it came into contact with to fly into a berserker rage and kill anyone nearby.--To be Continued--
cirque from an out of character perspective
We love to roleplay! We create fictional personalities and backgrounds for virtual avatar characters inside the game and act out scenes and encounters much like a Dungeons & Dragons or other tabletop dice game. The purpose behind Cirque is roleplay, community, and friendship. Promoting and nurturing the creativity needed to make that happen. We explore dark themes and keep a light tone, and have story arcs that challenge character personality, growth and evolution.Extremely active, we have anywhere from 2-5 events per week, and put on a new show every month that take several rehearsals to perfect all for the enjoyment of ourselves and the public.Our plots are diverse in theme and inspiration, and we always dial it to 11. Pop culture, anime, movies, books, and the lifeblood of the game we play inspire us. We go on weekly adventures that explore the depth of what is possible within Final Fantasy 14.
The house of mystery
The House of Mystery is the player base for Cirque, and is intended to always be a publicly open character interaction space for all players. Most all rooms in the House of Mystery are themed with a purpose and design meant to be unique and eye catching. From indoor gardens to libraries to far-eastern dojos and more, any room in the House of Mystery deepens the lore and mythology of the company.Feel free to visit us! Lavender Beds, Ward 10, house 3!
INSPIRATIONS
The main inspiration for the Free Company is Final Fantasy XIV of course. There are also a lot of anime influences that we draw from as well as other media and personal stories. A quick list which isn't nearly long enough:Bubblegum Crisis
Chrono Trigger
Gundam
Howl's Moving Castle
My Hero Academia
One Piece
Spirited Away
Tenga Toppa Gurren LagenRocky Horror Picture Show
Team StarKid
Our affiliates and friends
Apply to join our company
--NOTE--We ARE NOT currently looking for new members - recruitment is CLOSEDFor those interested in joining as contractors for roles in upcoming productions and shows.
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As Cirque gets more popular and our diversity of cast increases, it has become increasingly necessary to point out that parts in shows are given on MERIT. Producing a different live show each month requires consistency, ambition, and dedication. We put a LOT of time into these performances for the FFXIV community as a whole with the only reward being a hope that everyone has a good time.Those who have been in past shows in minor roles often are given key roles in future shows. Performers will never be given a headline part out the gate. Parts are cast on MERIT, which means dedication to showing up to rehearsals for bit parts, earning the trust necessary to know you'll be there and can follow directions, and helping everyone do their best to make a stellar performance. We do it for fun but it is a commitment.
Have plans, thoughts, ideas on working together? Just want to know more about our productions and crew? Contact us!Feel free to reach out to any officers in game or join the Cirque Fan Server with the link below:
