The Juggling Troupe
-------------------

Drummer - seven foot plus leader of a raggedy troupe of jugglers and
	  entertainers.  When not playing the fool, he is a quiet man.

Frick and Frack - Drummer's pair of clowns, with whom he's done the
		  most work.  No one has ever known Drummer to be
without them, in all the years he's been traveling this circuit.  The
rest of his group changes with the season, if there's anyone at all.


Flame Brands
------------

Symbol: upper right arm branded in flame shape as big as a
	medium-sized hand.  The whole symbol is made up of three
	licks of flames over-lapping. 

Initiation: have to be able to stand being branded.

The gang: 

They aren't real bright, but they've got a lot of experience staying
out of jail.  For the most part, they look and act like rejects from
high school gym -- too strong to be controlled, too anti-social to be
accepted.  The branding is a long and painful process, because the
brand is actually done with three separate irons, each one part of the
flame shape.  And the brand-er usually takes his time to enjoy the
pain of the brand-ee.

Members:

Fiero - a hit-n-run kind of thief and bruiser type for the Brands;
	he's cunning but not too bright.  In his late teens, he's
fairly strong.  His hair is dark brown, almost black, and his eyes are
bright blue.  If not for the persistent sneer, his face might be
handsome. 

Markli - a follower, Markli usually runs interference for Fiero.  Also
	 in his late teens, he's medium sized, thickset and a bit
slow.  He has brown hair and vague features.

Chone - a bit of a loner, Chone usually does his own thing unless
	ordered to do something.  He'll do it, but he'll whine to
everyone else about it.  He can often be found in the company of
Markli, since he likes feeling smarter than someone.  He has light
brown hair and sharp, weasel-like features.  He's tall, and is often
taken for older than he is, but he's only about 15.

Dern -	the leader of the Flame Brands, Dern is a bruiser with just
	enough brains to stay ahead of his gang.  He's currently
laying low because he's nervous about what he's heard going on with
other gang leaders disappearing.