Even in a world of monsters and evil wizards, there are bright spots that make every day living more bearable to noble and peasant alike. One of these points of light is Professor Hopper's Traveling Cirque Majestic, a magnificent circus of some renown that is constantly moving about the various lands and kingdoms of the wide world. As one herald noted when reviewing the show "Circus is what real life should be like. It's sincerity, feeling, emotions. All real. There are no lies in circus. There are artists working together to give a smile. It's a world where people help one another." So is it any wonder that the famous, or infamous depending on who you asked, bard Alfons Bartel became enamored with the Cirque Majestic upon a chance meeting when he was on the road.

More specifically, he found himself smitten with Shazia Ebrahimi, Dancing Queen of the Silver Dunes. Or, to those who weren't paying for a ticket, Hulda Lind, fifth child of a family of poor pig farmers, who had run away to the circus. And despite the fact that Alfons was old enough to be her grandfather, Hulda found herself swept off her feet by his charms. Theirs was a whirlwind romance that lasted weeks, as Alfons traveled with the Cirque Majestic for a time. Making heaps of coin and sharing both spotlight and bed with Hulda. But eventually, as with every one of his relationships, Alfons felt the call of adventure and wanderlust, and after a heartbreaking conversation, disappeared into the night, leaving Hulda all alone.

It wasn't until a few weeks later that Hulda realized that she was pregnant. This might cause distress for most peasant women, but Hulda's situation wasn't like most. She had income of her own, and a massive, sprawling, colorful family of fellow circus performers to help her raise a child. And it was into such a world that Madelynn Bartel was born. Hers was a happy childhood, full of entertainment and wonder that most children of the goodly races could only dream of at night. She had more brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, and grandparents than she could count, for she considered all of them family. And as soon as her legs were able to carry her, she began life in the circus. At first just helping tidy up and help bring in customers by being an adorable child for the ringleaders to show off, but she soon found she had an lithe, dexterous nature that she had inherited from her mother.

By the time she reached thirteen winters, she was already a juggler and tumbler. If not as skilled as the headliners, she at least showed potential to be some day. Eventually she settled her act on a mixture of acrobatics and knife throwing, earning her all manner of inventive monikers. And like all children, she had her share of misadventures, loves and losses, and eventually, sorrow. Around her twenty third winter, Madelynn's mother passed away from consumption. Heartbroken, Madelynn continued to travel with the circus despite having lost much of her passion. For she knew no other life and profession. And while time did help to heal that wound, it never fully closed in her heart.

But one day, fate decided to throw her for a loop. A courier arrived bearing a letter claiming that her father had died. Madelynn had grown up knowing exactly who her biological father was, but she never felt the sting of his absence, as she never knew him, and had more than enough family to make up for it. Still, some...familial pull made her decided to look into the matter. So, through a sea of tears and hugs from her circus family, she left the troupe and sought out Watcher's Haven. If nothing else, she was savvy enough to accept some inheritance money, though, some part of her hoped that she might learn more of her father during this journey...