Letter 16: Circus in Shatterbone
1929-06-16
Tail,
Blessings
How are things in Sprybull? Is everything getting back to normal? I saw in your last letter that you heard about how the Unfated Wanderers saved the world from the Demon Plague. You asked if I knew them, since they came from Shatterbone. The answer is yes! I know them quite well.
Billet Stormstone is actually quite short. I swear, his beard is almost as long as he is tall. And Vilerend Skymarch is perhaps the hairiest man that I have ever seen. Why is that always your first question about new men in town? You need to stop being so superficial! I’m just teasing you, of course.
But looks aside, they are very brave and quite normal. The king of my village had them walking all over Icebrunt. I don’t expect that they will be settling down any time soon. Have you heard about the giant that is stepping on villages? The Wanderers claim to have seen one. What’s even stranger is that there seems to be another giant. We heard about it from the circus. That’s right. A circus stopped by the village a couple of days ago! I haven’t seen a circus since I was little. They set up a very large tent outside of Shatterbone.
The first act was a troop of dancing bears. They performed intricate dances set to music. It was very strange. I felt bad about the bears. I don’t think that animals should be captive and forced to perform.
A group of twenty people came out next. They had strange colors painted on their faces. Each person was dressed for raiding but their weapons and armor were made of flimsy wood and leather. Their clothes were too big and the armor pieces were flopping around. I’ve never seen anything so ridiculous! They separated into two groups and started fighting each other.
The battle was hilarious! They acted foolishly and their fighting was absolutely worthless. When someone “died,” they would send out red, silk streamers that looked like blood. The crowd loved it. I have never heard so much laughing in all my life!
Once the battle had concluded, a group of acrobats thrilled the crowd with daring aerial feats of tumbling. The band played an epic, soaring tune. There was a square made up of four poles with ropes connecting the corners. The acrobats bounced off of the ropes and did many amazing flips and dives. They finished their performance and left the tent. The band switched to a somber, mournful dirge.
A lone woman walked into the center of the tent. She raised her arms, calling for silence. She said, “I am sorry to report that our team of elephants is no more. We had hoped to thrill you with these enormous creatures. Imagine a single creature, half as large as this tent. Each leg was like a tree. The ears were large as sail cloths. And the nose. Can you imagine a nose as long and strong as a very large snake? But this nose was like nothing you’ve ever seen. The creatures used it like hands to grasp things as well as to feed themselves. We had three such creatures in our circus.”
“But here is where my story strays from the fantastic to the nightmarish. For as large as the elephants were, we saw a being even larger. For as majestic as the elephants were, we saw a being that exceeded their majesty tenfold in pure nightmarish horror.”
“Near the village of Coalglen to the south of here, we saw… A GIANT! This creature of madness resembled the bears you witnessed tonight, but it was hairless and it had not one, not two, but three heads. Each head was conjoined at the neck, meeting at the foreheads. I assure you, good people, this is not something you would enjoy witnessing.”
“But now, it breaks my heart anew to recount the tragedy. For as our caravan passed the mountain near Coalglen, this hideous giant descended from the heights and tore into our elephants. It slew all three in a matter of seconds with massive paws, each of which had several claws. It took two elephants, one in each hand and wandered away. Sadly, we had to leave the third elephant behind as we did not have the means to bring it’s body with us. I fear that the giant has eaten our departed friends.”
“So I implore you, good folks, steer clear of Coalglen. This giant cannot be stopped and it must be feared. This is the end of my tale and sadly, the end of our show. Thank you and good night.”
Have you heard of this giant in Sprybull, Tail? Stay safe.
Your friend,
Rose