The Zlatari family had been traveling with a carnival in another dimension when a bizarre shift in their reality occurred: this was Aperturth, and it was their version of the Resonance Cascade - an event that on other Earth dimensions had started the world on a terrifying course of invasions and defeat. On Aperturth it didn't have the same effect, but it definitely altered their reality. Enough so, that while they met up with some hippies and other spares they decided to travel together. The carnival folk and hippies were passing by Lane Mansion in State Center, Iowa, and ducked into the grounds to remain safe from the sudden attacks by mantis-people, and reality shifts that plagued the area. The Keenan Lane that is actually local to the Rookery dimension spotted them, along with some other interesting groups, and brought them into the Rookery. The group hardly noticed, because it was still Lane Mansion, still essentially the same appearance (maybe a little more run down, covered with neglected plant life, and... um. the weirder alien life forms that were known to come with the Combine and from Xen...). They'd lost a good number of their original members by that time, but they'd had several more - children anywhere from 8 down to 'born on the Mansion grounds' came to the group, and were raised as acrobats, guards, chemists, and entertainers.

And then the dragons were introduced to the mix, and they were never quite the same. Of course that also meant that their new digs were shifted around a bit - Lane likes coffee: there's now a small mountain top where it had been merely a corn field. A lake or two, moved from nearby areas or entirely different dimensions. This suits the hippies just fine, but the carnies still had to take it in stride.

Their dragons definitely help.

They perform regularly, but also patrol the area for dangers, and visit other portions of the Rookery - sometimes thousands of miles away, and sometimes miles underground, or even under the ocean...

It is that last one, Rapture, where they have been collected and put on a Stage, performing for hundreds - finally a proper audience! Juggling, cavorting, performing their hearts out, they live for this, it's all most of them have ever wanted! Though you would hardly guess it, Anna and Ariel are the mothers of the twins, barely looking a day older than the teens.

Pictured:

Hickory with Banner, and Switch with Carnival - juggling all the things!

Hermes with Lava Lake - snake charmer (well, 'headcrab' charmer), and Hector with EllieDee - telekinetically aided juggling

Pandora with Hope Springs, and Persephone with Rain Bow-Tie - acrobatics, stunt tumbling

Lotus with Black Light, and Liana with Center Stage - acrobatics and tightrope tumbling

Pan and Royal, singers and musicians

Calypso and Mesmer, music and song, and some wild mental nudges

Anna with Dawnbreak, and Ariel with Starshadow - juggling and knife throwing

Apollo and Helios, singer and music