Morlifius' Traveling Caravan & Theater Troupe

This band of travelers is presently being led by the husband and wife team of, Morlifius Ethinel and Korük. There entire caravan is broken down in to specific groups and are led by the master of that particular craft or group.

Magicians

Actors

Musicians

Gamers

Jesters

Story Tellers

Oebethee

Safety

Korük

Support

The primary goal of this group is to entertain, tell stories, trade, barter and trade for goods, put on 'magic' shows, and look for new talent.

Depending on where they are in their circuit, they range from 75 to 135 persons, 15 wagons, with the ability to set up 25 fairly large tents for shows and shops. Any number of entertainers, ranging from bards, story-tellers, to acrobats, to illusionist and magicians, gypsies, fortune tellers, and the occasional 'freelance opportunists'   The caravan is protected usually with a small contingent; if possible; from the preceding town/village and to a group of 10 well armed riders, and at least two or three mid-level mages. Not to mention the abilities of those who are actually part of the troupe.

The story goes (at least as it is told by my father Ethinel) that Morlifius Othenis would travel between two villages, Wistria and Mazraea, telling stories and entertaining people for small donations to continue traveling. On a particularly cold and heavily raining night, Othenis, having just an oilskin cloak to keep out the rain that had been going on for the past two days, had hunkered down under a tree for the evening. It was too wet to start a fire, and having resigned himself to continuing to be chilled and wet until at least sunrise, he curled up for another cold, wet night.   He was startled awake by the sound of a wagon on the nearby road and the sound of a donkey braying, and he would have sworn that they were saying, "I'm sorry!" Regardless, he saw this as a chance to get out of the rain and off the cold ground. Othenis put on his best face and stepped out onto the road. It appeared as a newly built pageant wagon with brightly colored spokes on the wheels, a rainbow of colored flags along the sides, and a mural of a faceless person holding out a balanced scale in front of a huge multitude of people. The driver did not have a rein on the donkeys but just a single long stick.    The driver spoke, "Well, hello, fellow traveler." They said it in an almost sing-song tone.   "It is not a good night to be sleeping under the stars, especially those that are wet as they are tonight. Please come in out of the rain and warm yourself by the fire."   Othenis, looking around, seeing no fire, said, "Please, sir, I do not have a fire, and I would wager that every piece of wood between here and Mazraea is soaked to the core."   "Oh no, I meant in the wagon," replied the driver.   Othenis, looking at the wagon and seeing no chimney or any way to have a fireplace in or on it, stepped back at what seemed to him to be an odd invitation, but the choice of staying out in the cold rain and at least being out of the rain seemed the better option. He would, however, keep a hand on his dagger under the cloak. Stepping to the back of the wagon, the door opened, and a small set of wooden stairs dropped to muddy ground; he smelled mutton and mead and felt the warmth coming out. As he stepped up the stairs, the realization that the inside of the wagon was as if it were an entire cottage, with a fireplace, a table with enough food to feed a family, and a bed that looked as if it belonged in a high-class inn.   The driver was sitting at the table clothed in what appeared to be soft and very colorful linen, earrings that glittered in the fire and candle light, with eyes that sparkled with a fire of their own. Above the fireplace was a shield that had the mask of comedy on one side and tragedy on the other both on a balanced scale emblazened in what appeared to be silver.   "Please, eat and drink your fill. I have only one request for payment of my hospitality: you must do two things. First, you must tell me your best story; secondly, you must sing me your best song. If you prefer or need an instrument, let me know; I'm sure I have one."   Othenis takes a huge gulp of the tankard of mead. The liquid was warm, and it seemed to warm him all the way through; it immediately removed the deep chill that he had, and he was completely dry. "I don't want to seem ungrateful or thankless, but that seems an odd form of payment, and what happens if my story or song does not impress you, or worse, fails to entertain?"   "Othenis, please, don't belittle yourself or your abilities. Your name is being spoken in small circles now, but I foresee in time, based on what you tell me tonight, it will travel far and wide, or it will simply be known along this road."   "Sir, my dream is to be remembered, whether it be far and wide or just around a few villages, but maybe to have at least one of my stories told to the next few generations, even if my name is forgotten."   The driver produces a pipe out of a pocket, and taking a deep inhale from the pipe, the smoke curls up and forms a shape of a flying bird, then takes a slow drink from his tankard, smiles, and his eyes appear to shine at this, and leaning back in his chair, "Othenis, you are indeed a noble soul, and I look forward to hearing your story and your song, so please, begin."   He finished his tankard and proceeded to tell his story; it was of a dragon that had learned what it meant to lose something precious and to never have it again, and the song was the dragon's song of lament and his last thoughts before falling asleep for the last time, in hopes of dreaming of finding what it had lost.   The driver, with tears streaming down his face, gazed at Othenis through misty eyes and spoke, "I promise you that your name will not be lost to the ages, and your stories will be told for many generations to come. Your descendants will speak your name with reverence, and this road you travel will grow, and you and your family will, in time, gain followers of all kinds."   "But sir, how can you foretell such a future when I have just been pulled out of the rain, wearing an oilskin, and not a copper piece to my name? As for having a family, I don't have one of those, as I am always traveling, and a family would mean that I would have to stay in one place or my family would see very little of me."   "I do not mean a family in the sense of a spouse or children, but in the sense of those that will travel with you and follow you and your example of storytelling, songs, entertaining, and acting. A family that will grow with every passing year."   "You may not know me now, my name is Lokravina, but in time you will hear my name again and again over the years, and it will become very clear who I am. It appears we have arrived at Mazraea and the weather has abated to nice, dry, and sunny."   "Arrived?!?" exclaimed Othenis; it was at least a week's walk to Mazraea. he thought that there is no way they traveled that far that fast in just one night. He got out of his chair and stepped to the door; the sun shone through the opened door, a high pillars of Mazraea and the elven children running back and forth from the wagon and the donkeys.   "Sir... uh… Lokravina, how have we traveled so far in such a short time?"   "That is because you are traveling with me; that is all that needs to be said about that. Before you leave, I have something for you."   He gets up from his chair, goes to a door to what appears to be another room, and reappears a few brief moments later with a pendant of a small sleeping dragon made of a dark polished stone that appeared like metal. Lokravina handed the pendant to his saying, "Wear this with pride and confidence; it will give you the ability to mimic any voice you've heard spoken directly to you. It will not, however, mimic my voice or any others like me. It will also warn you of danger when you are on a merchant's road between towns and villages. It will also change color based on the mood of your audience be it an audience of 1 or 1000. You will learn in time how to understand it."   "I will not try to understand what has happened here, for I feel it will never truly make clear sense, but I will tell this story to many others, and I will talk of the generosity, the kindness, and the amazing wagon, and all that has transpired here to as many people as I can."   The rest, as the humans say, "Is history."

• There will be no stealing from anyone at any time. If a person is caught stealing from any one by someone in the troupe, the troupe leader will meter out a punishment, ranging from forcing the perpetrator to return the item(s) to their owner and leave the punishment up to the victim, to complete banishment from the troupe and their name expressed as a thief to every city they go to. If a troupe member is caught stealing by a townsperson, they are left to the punishments of the local authorities and are no longer allowed back in the troupe.

• All games of chance will be fair and balanced

• Before becoming a full member of the troupe, the applicant is required to demonstrate their skills and if they are presenting a new game of chance, they must prove that it is fair and balanced