Story

Setting: 1960s / United States

Premise

In No Entries After Midnight, players take on the role of Nola, a young woman who has survived for so long living on the streets as a pick pocket and beggar. That is until she gets taken in by Harley to join Cirque du Pénombre- a well loved circus, filled with exciting acts, charming people and a wonderful experience, is staying at Nola’s town for a few weeks. As Nola unravels the dark secrets that lie underneath the circus, they encounter puzzles, demonic beings and a ring master hiding something sinister that threaten their relationships with their new found friends and home.

Narrative

Ever since she was young, stealing and pickpocketing is all came to know. Raised by the coldness and apathy of oncoming crowds of people, Nola learned from a young age that no one will save you, no matter how loud you scream. Growing up on the streets teaches you a few things, one of those things is to thief without getting caught. But everyone’s luck eventually runs out- which is what happened to Nola. One busy afternoon, she steals from the wrong girl and despite her sweet looking face, she has the senses of a fox. Instead of striking Nola, the girl forgives her and offers her a position in the circus that has come to town for a few weeks. Although a bit sceptical at the offer, who was she to be picky? She lived in an alley way, sleeping on damp cardboard and a tattered potato sack. Reluctantly, she agreed to come with her- but only to see what it’s like.  

When they got to the destination, it was like something out of a colouring book. Everywhere they looked, laughter and smiles were abundant. The circus was flourishing, buzzing with life, brightly dressed performers practiced their acts in the open, musicians filled the atmosphere with catchy tunes, and the smell of sweets and freshly roasted meats infiltrated Nola’s nostrils. The bright fairy  lights intertwined with the posts and all the new sense felt a foreign world 

She couldn’t help but be mesmerised. Everything that was right in front of her was the polar opposite from the damp, cold streets she spent her life inhabiting. This world felt too surreal- and she wanted to be part of it.  

For the next couple days, Nola did her best to learn some of the routines as she would be performing them soon. Over these past few days, she had come to learn a few of her crew mates’ names; Bozo the clown, Finch the fire performer, Clara the trapezist, Edith the knife thrower and the girl that she met at the market is Harley, who is an aerial ballerina. Nola loved the people here and couldn’t imagine not being part of something greater.  

However, there was this feeling Nola couldn’t shake off. There was just one rule placed that all circus performers must follow set by the Ring Master, “don’t wonder around after midnight”. She didn’t think much of it at the time but her curiosity grew by the hour until one night, she decided to sneak out and explore the circus past working hours. It was almost ghostly looking at the place, the fog had set in and the wind whistled in the distance. When she had reached the tent, she peered through a rip to see that the circus was still going on… but the audience looked like they didn’t belong here. Another thing she noticed was the acts, they looked more dangerous without safety nets in sight. As the show continued one of the funambulists were struggling on the tight rope, they were blindfolded and shackled. Suddenly they tripped and fell, plummeting onto the hard floor. Nola couldn’t help but vomit at the sight of cherry red spilling from the body, but what shocked her the most was the lack of reaction from the audience. She stumbled backwards and scrambled legs trying to balance herself once again.  

In that moment, Nola realised that the circus that she had come to love was not what it seemed. She had entered into something more sinister than she could have ever imagined- but she couldn’t leave now. 

Conflict

After Nola witnesses one of their crew mates die in a horrific way and finds out they were sacrificed to demonic beings from another realm, they are now tasked with finding these mysterious incantation page pieces to save the residents of the circus.

Journey

Harley becomes aware that Nola was there on the night of their crewmate’s death and gives Nola the task on finding 5 incantation pieces. Harley elaborates that the circus is under a curse that the Ring Master has placed and uses the circus residents to feed the audience members (lost souls). Nola being here for a short time, will be least likely to be suspected of finding these pieces.

Endings 

This game has multiple endings, depending on how many friends you make, your ending changes. Friendships can be made once you do a side quest for a character which can be found in the world flow.