The Greatest Show In Brimstone!

Jebediah Nightlinger's Traveling Exhibition of the Extraordinary had rolled into town.

Literally.

A huge black steam wagon rolled right into the middle of town, unfurling itself into a circular stage, appearing on which was a tall, lanky man with an equally tall, lanky top hat. He wore a deep purple coat, carrying a cane, eyes hidden behind glasses with lenses smoked into a deep, deep crimson. He encouraged everyone in town to attend, describing his carnival in detail.

At the front was the main gate, and the first midway led to the center, to the arena where the wild west show portion of the affair was held. Branching off from the center were two more midways, one leading to the circus tent, the other leading to the area with over a dozen new science contraptions used as carnival rides. This was the Pavilion of Lights. A path led from the Pavilion into a darkened grove of trees, trees that were either fake, or summoned there in some other fashion. There, in the Grove of Shadows, was the fortune teller's caravan, and alongside it, Nightlinger's Collection of Curiosities, a gallery of oddities and strange artifacts kept in display cases and under glass bells. Strangely, this carnival set up right next to Junior Joseph's house.

Later that same day, Nightlinger came back to town, a little distraught. Some of his performers were stricken with a bit of illness, some digestive distress, leaving him with only a partial cast. He beckoned the acting sheriff and deputy at the time, Jackson Tanning and Lily Mayfair, respectively, if anyone in town might be able to fill the roles his performers had unfortunately been forced to abandon for the evening. Some of them accepted, including the sheriff and deputy themselves.

That evening, after donning their costumes and makeup, they began with the wild west show. Tanning took his shirt off, as he is wont to do, and did some fantastic trick shots and some daring knife and hatchet throwing acts. Pauline Hall dazzled the crowd with rope, lariat, and whip tricks, snapping a cigarette in two while in a "volunteer's" mouth. Darnell Buchanan was tapped for some horse riding tricks, ending the show by leaping on horseback through a ring of fire.

As the crowd dispersed two the other branches of the carnival, some attended the circus, where they bore witness to Jackson Tanning's feats of strength. As others approached the Pavilion, John Newcomb served as a barker, calling upon the crowd to awe themselves with the gadgets, showing off tiny clockwork men. It's hard to recall what Miss Aiyana Winters did. Otto von Mueller was the one helping out set up the gadget rides and such, one even was a strange floor that you could skate upon without skates.

In the Grove, Lily was an apt fortune teller, but it wasn't long before something went wrong.

Out in the Pavilion, one of the newer scientific attractions, an automated quick draw shooting gallery machine, malfunctioned, apparently from using the brain of a murderous gunslinger, and it went on a spree of violence. The posse convened on the scene, quickly dispatching the creation, and were lauded as heroes.

After the show, Nightlinger paid them according to their performance, and wished them good night, alerting them that something had come up and that they had to leave immediately. Returning home for the night and awaking the next morning, they heard a frightful sound from where the carnival sat, or rather had sat. Those investigating the sound arrived to find the entire carnival had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a single wagon. There were no witnesses available to explain what had happened.