“Boys and Girls, Elves and Dwarves, listen well for the most wonderful show that has ever been known has finally come to your town! The world-famous Brinnum and Brang Circus has arrived to amaze and entertain, every night for a fortnight in the town square! Just two coppers gets you entry to see the most incredible things your eyes will ever behold. Witness the athletic aerialist talents of the Breathtaking Baranai. Cackle to the crazy antics of the Mad Jester Lester! Gasp in suspense at the death defying tricks in the Ayndi the Griffon show! You don’t want to miss it, so hurry tonight to the big-top tent before it fills up, or you’ll be the one sap in town who hasn’t seen the best thing this side of the Sivian Sea!” …or at least, that's how the announcement used to go. Merry knew it by heart even now, over a year after the Descent of the Devourers had destroyed the circus where she tamed the animals, as well as society at large. Merry had adapted well, due in part to the fact that she didn’t need to adapt much at all.
As a Satyr, she had always been a wanderer who felt comfortable sleeping under the stars, which is one of the reasons she was drawn to the circus in the first place. Now there was no circus, but she still wandered from place to place and slept outdoors as she always had. What she really missed was the thrill of performing. Merry could work magic with her pan pipes, so much so that her bright and energetic tunes had earned her her name. She could move people to dance, and not just people either, but the animals. Merry had loved the animals. Brinnum and Brang’s Elephants and Camelopards, their Manticore and horses, and of course their star animal Ayndi the Griffon. Merry used to dance upon Ayndi’s back as he spiraled high into the air, brushing the tops of the tent with his wingtips. He would weave and dive through rings of fire, all while she joyously played her pipes. Fast to build excitement, trilling to build suspense, and of course loud and enthusiastic after each wonderful trick. Of course, Merry could still play for the animals in the wild now, and she often had an entourage of small woodland creatures who would listen to her play. Her fanciful playing even earned her the warm company of fellow Kindred who had come to accept her as a member of their troupe. And Merry played for all of them. She played to inspire and she played to heal the holes in their hearts. Her music was wonderful and it need never stop flowing, but she did hope one day to find the wonderful friends, animals and people both, she had come to love while working the circus. Even if it was just a few that had survived this long like her. Just a few would make her happy.