Magical Group: Circus Options

[Banaticus]

"We accept her! One of us! We accept her! One of us! Gooble gobble, gooble gobble! We accept her! We accept her!"

Strictures:

Limited Membership: A person must be a freak in some way. Whether an individual who has Surged, or a human whose doctor had a critical glitch while installing some important piece of cyberware, or an awakened animal, or a person with some nasty disfiguring scars, or the spouse/children of a freak if that freak has high Loyalty with the group (as a group contact). If Awakened, you may not have initiated yet so that the oath will be binding.

Oath: You must swear to obey all of these things upon your first initiation.

Belief: A member of the circus family may not kill a freak, whether part of the family or not. Practical jokes are all in good taste. Adultery sometimes happens -- it's in bad taste and is frowned on, but we're all "human", right? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) Killing, though, is right out, ever, for any reason, even if the freak has never even visited the circus.

Dues: You must pay your dues, whether through service, or through a monetary donation. This group maintains High resources -- all 50 circus members, from the lowly stagehand to the ringleader, pay 200 nuyen a month out of their wage to maintain the caravans and to keep the circus going. If you leave the circus, then this increases to 1000 nuyen a month. You are welcome to pay in advance for as long as you want, or to pay 100 months in advance and make it permanent. Edit: Note -- not all circus members are members of this group. They still pay to support it, though, it's kind of like how wage slaves pay for life insurance.

Initiation: You must eat and drink with the freaks during an evening revelry to be accepted. You must then work with the circus for at least a year in some manner.

Fraternity: You are expected to do whatever you can to assist another member upon request, as long as that request is not to do an illegal act. In that case, it is wholly a personal choice whether to help or not, as we will not allow one foolish person to bring down the wrath of the corporations and to destroy us all. We are Freaks, not Fools.

Secrecy: The norms cannot be allowed to know of this groups existence. They know that we are a circus, but no more. If you use your membership in this group in an attempt to intimidate or coerce someone, well, surely you can find something else to use than membership in this group.

Tradition
Combat: Guardian
Detection: Task
Health: Guidance
Illusion: Earth
Manipulation: Beasts
Drain: Willpower + Logic

Influenced by the movie Freaks http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3...0272&hl=en# and the novel/movie http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Something_Wic...mes_%28novel%29

[Karoline]

Usually some sort of explanation as to why you posted accompanies something like this.

Also, you left out which tradition it uses.

[Banaticus]

How's that for a tradition. The reason? Let's have fun talking about it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Tanegar]

Tradition
Combat: Guardian
Detection: Task
Health: Guidance
Illusion: Earth
Manipulation: Beasts
Drain: Willpower + Logic

OK, that's the mechanical bits... now where's the fluff? What's the concept behind the tradition? What do adherents of this tradition believe? How do they view magic and spirits?

Earth/Fire/Wind/Water, Man, Watcher

What is this? You've already picked your five spirit types, you can't have two sets.

[Banaticus]

OK, that's the mechanical bits... now where's the fluff? What's the concept behind the tradition? What do adherents of this tradition believe? How do they view magic and spirits?

fluff, concept, see the movie Freaks. Viewing magic and spirits, see Something Wicked This Way Comes. Why should I try to out write what Ray Bradbury already wrote?

What is this? You've already picked your five spirit types, you can't have two sets.

Yeah, typo leftover from when I was writing down all the spirits possible.

[Tanegar]

Newsflash: Not everybody has seen Freaks, or cares enough to hunt down a copy and watch it just so they can comment on your idea. Further breaking news: not everybody has read Something Wicked This Way Comes, or cares enough to hunt down a copy and read it just so they can comment on your idea. If you don't care enough to provide an outline of your own concept, how can you expect discussion?

[Banaticus]

Further breaking news: not everybody has read Something Wicked This Way Comes, or cares enough to hunt down a copy and read it just so they can comment on your idea. If you don't care enough to provide an outline of your own concept, how can you expect discussion?

Luckily, I already linked to a wealth of information. The world is wide and information is plentiful on the "Matrix" (currently called the "internet") -- it's only a single hit on a Logic+Search to gain access to this information, it's not as though this information has a high threshold to access or is guarded by any form of IC. If your attempt to follow a link critically glitched, well, perhaps try it again when you're not fighting for your life and you can take the time to just do it (unless you have the Computer Illiterate flaw, although it's only 10 karma to buy it off). The link I gave for the novel (the Wikipedia article) lists background/origins, plot summary, characters, important plot points looked at in some detail, literary significance... Here's some more:
Symbolism in the novel: http://www.shmoop.com/something-wicked-thi...sm-imagery.html
Setting: http://www.shmoop.com/something-wicked-thi...es/setting.html
Trivia with more links: http://www.shmoop.com/something-wicked-thi...mes/trivia.html

Additionally, I linked to the Freaks video itself. You too can watch Prince Randian (person born armless and legless) hold a cigarette in his mouth (that he rolled himself with just his lips, but the movie doesn't show that part) light the cigarette with a match with just his lips (he pulls the match out of a box, closes the box, turns the box on its side so the striking side is up, lights the match, sets it down on the box then lights his cigarette). You too can develop achondroplasiaphobia as you watch midgets with knives close in for the mutilation/castration bits (actual scenes of mutilation were cut from the theatrical release after a woman sued MGM saying that the movie screening caused her miscarriage). You two can gawk at the bird girl and stork woman, see the human skeleton, the Siamese twins, the man with no bottom half, the woman with no arms, and they're all real -- no camera tricks, no prosthetics, no makeup.