Ace of Diamonds Caravan

The Ace of Diamonds Caravan was an infamous roaming circus known for kidnapping small children and turning them into monsters. The maestro of the troupe would even traffic and sell children — to anyone who could afford them. According to many rumors Anna Angel and Var were involved with the circus and kidnapped children on its behalf. After the caravan was dismantled by the Powers That Be, many innocent performers like Mark Immortell had to flee their hometowns, fearing persecution.

To this day the Ace of Diamonds Caravan remains a fearsome tale for both adults and children, with any person revealed to be a former member of the troupe jailed and executed.

Spoiler warning: Significant plot details follow.

Anna Angel and Var have been covering for each other for many years since they both came to the Town. Some time in the past Var became Anna's "debtor" - he "owed" her a child he had stolen. The Caravan used to have its own code of conduct — and according to that code, Anna couldn't approach Var directly. The Caravan possessed some kind of magical abilities that allowed them to change the appearances of other people. When the children they kidnapped would "turn bad" they'd simply take the parts they wanted and give it to other performers. The length of these powers and how literal the transformations are remains uncertain.

Significant plot details end here.

Corpus

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The caravan of the "Diamond Ace" is one of the most terrifying events that happened in the country for the last fifty years. Unofficial investigation data has it that the caravan was to blame for the disappearance of over one hundred young people. Of sixteen murders the caravan was accused and found guilty, and there is suspicion of them being the weapon for carrying out another thirty four murders. This hellish team floated to the surface somewhere on the outskirts of the Tarunian area and traveled for four hundred kilometers down the middle of our country, taking lives as they went. Some people were killed and many disappeared never to be seen again. The strategists of the governmental secret services made several mistakes for some unknown reason and the Caravan managed to escape a number of times, just to appear somewhere else spontaneously. It was on September the 14th that the Caravan was caught and massacred near Orv. What was really so horrible about the Caravan (or the "Family of the Diamond Ace" as they called themselves)? If we were to compile all the rumors and doubtful reports, we could imagine that they were either some vile demons or death cultists. "The Pointless Diversion of Hell", "The Clockwork Scarecrows", "The Scrappy Cannibals"—such nicknames and bold headlines provoked the nonsense of the rumors. Reality, in fact, was more prosaic, but no less horrible. Apparently, it was quite a large (500 creatures, 600 with figurines according to some sources) roaming circus. They left no one handsome or talented child anywhere they went. Their method was as follows: having arrived in some settlement (always at night, just before dawn), they would put their carts in a circle, make camps and some disintegrating stage; in the morning, they would make a performance for children: female singers' songs, the clown jokes, the somersaulting dogs, cats that could guess numbers and master gymnasts—all these were present. However, while the children were watching the performance, they were being watched from behind the scrappy curtains by dozens of keen eyes. They were out to spot the pretty, the talented, and these eyes would remember them. After the morning performance, the happy children would return home and sleep happily in their cozy beds, dreaming about circus life and tomorrow's performance. Meanwhile the settlement would be bustling about the forbidden circus program—the "Macabre Theatre", and of course the town would go and see it. Ones that came at night would see the circus opening different carts to the ones they opened in the morning and they would be shown just the same tricks that were for the children, but always with a touch of lechery and cruelty. Moreover, they had freaks that they called "figurines" and would secretly exhibit in a separate pavilion for a separate price. While the adults were watching the show, the acrobats of the circus would kidnap the children noticed during the day and leave behind freaks instead. The stolen children were integrated into the satanic system of the caravan to become all sorts of artists, athletes, clowns and prostitutes. Along with the children they would take the belongings of their parents. The acrobats were often accompanied by heavyweights and strong men, so that in case some parents didn’t go to see the show, they would be tortured and killed. The reprisal against the caravan was terrible. The punishing measures taken were unparalleled in roughness for our humanist time. The population, however, having been warmed up by all sorts of slogans and theme publications, was rejoicing. It was the first time that the people were prepared to praise the authorities and establish granite monuments in memory of secret service generals. The gymnasts, heavyweights, animal trainers along with the animals and the innocent freaks were killed instantly. The directors of the caravan were taken prisoner for interrogation, but they behaved at the interrogation sessions in just the same way they did on stage, so they became subject to awful torture and beating. Many of the clowns didn't live to see the trial. Any who survived were given the death penalty. After that there was a whole wave of repression against free artistry—those inspired by the government and ones performed by the people. Many innocent people suffered. Many had to leave their risky profession and conceal their past. For a few years free artistry was declared out of the law and driven underground. Even the innocent tricks with juggling became forbidden entertainment, being a reminiscence of the dark events. Any interest for talented children aroused suspicion; as the interrogations showed, the interest for them of the Family of the Diamond Ace was absolutely pathologic—they couldn’t conceal this passion even being threatened with death. Perhaps Anna Heart, (nicknamed Anna Angel) who arrived in the town not long ago, has nothing to do with the Caravan, but when she came, she settled with some orphan girl named Vera Verbah, whose father died during the war and the mother died during the first outbreak of the plague. Vera took her in, welcomed her in her lonesome house, but soon after, she disappeared. Now she's gone and Anna lives in her house and wears her hair. Why would she need false hair? And others too... sometimes they act as if they fear the revelation of their secrets. All this is loathsome forgery, lie and hypocrisy! How is it that everyone pretending to be someone else, why is nobody daring to say the truth about themselves? Substituted children, deceived audience, names, forever forgotten... Stolen actors put on vivid masks play other people's roles, playing with the puppet threads without even the shade of embarrassment! Sham and plaster casts are everywhere, mirage instead of truth—how do we fight this? How do we live with this now?

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