Art – O Briginshaw

Characters

Peters, Maximino ‘Maxi’ – Player Character

Maxi and his mother immigrated to Mainesboren as political refugees from Menuss Lara when Maxi was 11. His mother became incredibly reclusive, paranoid and completely agoraphobic and by the time Maxi was 14 he was responsible for taking care of his mother and doing any chores outside the flat, completely ruining any friendships he had made, and stopped going to school at 15. For 11 years he has been taking care of his mother and juggling multiple jobs.

Leelani, Paykanu ‘Paisley’ – Confidant

Paisley has grown up his whole life in Strielestad. Maxi became friends with Paisley and Jasmine soon after Maxi moved to Strielestad, until Maxi stopped hanging out suddenly with no explanation. He grew up very shy, following around his best friend, Jasmine, almost everywhere.

Famannbu, Georgia – Aerial Artist: Trapeze/Silks Artist

Georgia, a Hyakon Dragon is a talented trapeze artist, with a mellow personality and protective nature. She remains very close with Jyme, making sure to visit them whenever the circus is visiting Fammentimlinse, which is a frequent stop since it attracts many tourists.

Locken, Klaus – Clown, comedy juggler

A bright, goofy clown who loves his job. He had met Katja at age 6, and they became best friends almost immediately, and they decided that they were twins. Both he and Katja had been orphans before they were adopted by Magnolia and Franziska not long after being caught sneaking into the circus together. He had been training to become a magician, planning to become Katja’s assistant, but he was always incredibly clumsy, and could never take it seriously enough. Moe would encourage him to try being a clown, which he took to like a fish in water.

Locken, Katja – Magician

An uppity, but talented, magician that has been performing since she was 11. Her ‘twin’ and her both joined the circus at 7 after being adopted by Maggey and Fran.

Connell, Andrew ‘Afait’ – Silks Artist/Singer/Musician

A semi-famous singer from Menuss Lara, gaining fans in Mainesboren. A lot of his music is politically motivated, and because of this, as well as the fairy inspired accessories, there is a spreading rumour that he is secretly a fairy. This gains him a cult following among some, and fierce vitriol from others. He recently joined the Stellars Circus temporarily.

Beere, Rodito – Ringmaster

The opportunist Ringmaster with many wealthy connections, like the Varis family.

Locken, Franziska ‘Fran’ – Magician

A friendly, short magician with an obsession with fire, married to Maggey.

Locken, Magnolia ‘Maggey’ – Magician

Magnolia is a human magician, who comes across as blunt, but is very friendly when you get to know her. She is the mother of Klaus and Katja, and the wife of Fran.

Juriberi, Desta – Aerial Artist/Trapeze/Strongman

Desta, a Shimgor Dragon, is much stronger than the average human, she helps a lot with setting up the Big Top. Desta has a fiery personality and a sunny smile.

Kuladee, Diya – Animal Trainer

Diya is kind fairy and talented animal tamer.

Vijayaratnam, Adinya – Ventriloquist

Adinya is a fairy, who is incredibly quiet outside their act.

Albernoe, Ramona ‘Moe’ – Clown/comedy juggler

Moe loves her job and has been with Stellars Circus performing since she was 8.

Huebner, Nadir – Animal Trainer

A timid animal trainer who works under Diya, occasionally replacing her in performances in countries that are particularly anti-fairy.

Riese, Otis ‘Demetri Scythe’ – Magician

Otis had grown up alongside Klaus and Katja in Stellars Circus, but left at 17 due to an argument with his father, Wilard. He travelled through Shimgor Dhulra, Masbaalis Dhulra and Hyakon Dhulra for five years as a street performer, becoming a popular magician in Shimgor, becoming known as ‘Demetri Scythe’ before returning to Mainesboren and travelling with Stellars Circus for a while before leaving to find his father, who had left soon after he did.

Dababahut, Almakan ‘Jyme’ – ex-sideshow act, co-owner of Engaigne’s Magicari Miracles

Jyme, a Fairy, grew up in Aaphait Tivu, a small, hidden island with a small fairy community. This is one of the few fairy communities that still teach traditional fairy magic, as it is illegal in most the rest of the world. Having been excommunicated at 15, Almakan was almost immediately arrested in Mainesboren on suspicion of shapeshifting since they were unusually tall for a fairy. However, a rich Dragon philanthropist, Valerie Varis, paid their bail and, bribing the judge, forced Jyme to work for her, which lasted around one year. She was fascinated by Jyme, fairies and oddities in general, employing many fairies like collectables. After Rodito Beere is invited to dinner one day, Rodito notices Jyme and makes an offer for him. Valerie is hesitant to make a deal for Jyme, but relents when he offers an exotic animal in exchange. Jyme works at the circus as a sideshow act for many years, unhappily, although he makes good friends with Georgia before he meets Monas and decides to runs away.

Mayawaghar, Mlimafu – Fan/Tourist

Mlimafu, a Hyakon Dragon, is very curious, and she loves learning new things having been incredibly isolated to Xuharo Dhulra. She knows a surprising amount about Stellars Circus since her Grandfather, who worked in Mainesboren for three years, had made a habit of seeing the circus every year and giving her pictures.

Riese, Wilard ‘The Great Riese’ – retired Magician

Otis’ father, who retired soon after Otis left Stellars Circus, telling no one where he went. Had been a stickler for keeping the tricks he had learnt from his grandfather exactly the same, causing many arguments with his son.

Engaigne, Monas – Magic shop owner

An opportunist money-maker who is the face of ‘Engaigne’s Magicari Miracles’, a magic shop in Fammentimlinse co-owned by Jyme. While he portrays himself as a talented wizard, any actual magic is the work of Jyme behind the scenes.

Peters, Renate – Maxi’s Mother

A paranoid agoraphobic woman who has been living a lie as a human for a very long time, secretly being a fairy. Her disappearance forces Maxi to leave Strielestad.

Environments:

The environments I want to portray are mostly based on circus visuals. Many large American travelling circuses, like the Ringling Brothers Circus, would travel around the country by train. Based on this, this is a concept of how the cars on the Stellars Circus train would appear.

A concept of what the back room of Engaigne’s Magicari Miracles looks like. It’s incredibly cluttered as, while Jyme likes to be safe and cautious, they live in what they consider to be organised chaos.

UI

Set-Up mode is mostly displayed as an isometric 3D environment, as is Travelling mode, as well as the typical dialogue UI with a text box at the bottom and a more detailed character illustration.

This is a mock-up of how I imagine the font for character names to look, partially inspired by bubbly 70s fonts since they are playful and bright, the way I want this game to feel.