Going to the Big Top in Rise of Moloch: Introducing the Grotesque Company Circus

For generations, the industrial sections of London have been shrouded below a cloud of thick pollution. To keep factories churning, incredible amounts of ether, coal, lead, and other toxic substances were pumped through the furnaces. The predictable outcome was almost un-breathable air and water that would only be consumed by the most desperate person. Not surprisingly, the end result was malformed babies and degenerative illnesses in the communities that had no choice but to live beside the factories.   

Society turned its back on these lower class ‘freaks.’ They protested the factories, but the law was on the side of the industries. As the number of victims of the toxic sludge increased, so too did the protests. However, in the end, they were no match for the swarms of Bobbies who descended on the crowds and chased them from the factory gates into the slums of London.   

Left with no alternative, many of those infected turned to the unglamorous life of a sideshow freak. Their strange appearance and the built-in curiosity of the ‘normal’ folks of London ensured they could at least survive. That was until the show became political. One of the troupes, the Big Barnum Bazaar (BBB), turned their act into a trial of the political elites of the city, even ridiculing the Queen herself. This would not stand, and one night, a self-proclaimed ‘decency defense committee’ massacred every member of the BBB. From that moment on, circus members were seen as enemies of the Empire. Chased from the relative protection of their big tops, they made their way into the city sewers and found solace amongst the rats and reptiles that dwelt below the streets.   

However, they didn’t take their exile lightly. Pushed, literally, under the foot of the common people, one troupe has become a feared enemy of those on the surface. The Grotesque Company Circus has sworn revenge, and their sewer home allows them some sneaky tricks.