Kantankerous Albertuous
| Also known as | Tank |
|---|---|
| Species | Elephant |
| Title | Circus master |
| Affiliation | Albertuous and Company |
| Companions | Long Paws, Piercio |
| Status | Alive |
| First appearance | Sacred: Eslura's Calling |
Kantankerous Albertuous, called Tank, is the elephant who runs and hosts Albertuous and Company's Circus of Marvels, the travelling show whose closing act is Long Paws and Piercio.[1] He introduces himself to a full tent in the third person and promises that he "most certainly does not disappoint".[1] Aero Ellisvat, who knew him already, calls him a former partner and will not say of what.[1]
Appearance
Albertuous is a rotund elephant with gold-capped tusks and a long red cape.[1] His right foot is made of wood, which makes him stand unevenly and leaves him relying on a walking stick, and he limps off stage.[1] His teeth are golden and glint in the firelight when he grins, his belly is too big for him to complete a bow, and up close there are sweat stains soaking through his shirt and makeup attempting to cover the wrinkles on his face.[1] His hand is heavy enough that dropping it on Aero Ellisvat's shoulder nearly puts him on the floor.[1]
He wears two leather wristbands. One of them was pulled up just far enough for Reagan Hideaway to see the bottom half of a circle tattoo underneath, and when he caught her looking he pulled the band down and glared at her until she backed away.[1] The books never say what the tattoo is.
Personality
In front of a paying crowd Albertuous is expansive. He addresses the tent as "My fellow Eslurians", spreads his arms in welcome, lists the distances they have travelled back to them, pauses for effect, and closes on his own name.[1] His sign-off is "remember to keep your trunks up!" followed immediately by a reminder to leave donations at the door.[1]
Behind the curtain he is a different animal. The cue for the pyrotechnics act is his voice snarling at his own crew from behind the curtains to kill the flames, and calling them scum while he does it.[1] When he walks into the backstage area the performers fall silent and stare at him, and Piercio gulps and dodges his foot.[1]
He is greedy, and it is the one thing everyone who knows him agrees on. He fired Long Paws and Piercio rather than grant them a raise, which is how the two of them came to be free to help at Galecrest, and Aero's verdict on hearing it was that Albertuous "might be an elephant, but he sure is as greedy as a pig", always has been and always will be.[2]
Background
Nothing is recorded of Albertuous before the circus except that he and Aero Ellisvat used to be partners. Aero pauses in the middle of the word when Tab asks, she asks what sort of partners, and he does not answer.[1] His opinion of the elephant, offered before he knew he would have to speak to him, was that he is an idiot.[1]
Albertuous and Company
The circus travels as a cluster of pitched dwellings around one large round-top tent, with red banners lettered Albertuous and Company along the strip of ground leading up to it and two enormous rhinos standing guard at the front flap over a pair of crossed axes.[1] Strings of coloured lights run from the tops of the smaller tents to the top of the big one, and peepmuks drift around the canvas like fireflies.[1]
Inside is a sunken amphitheatre with two fire pits flanking a centre stage and the audience eating popcorn in rows angled down toward it.[1] The backstage area is cluttered with batons, balls, bombs, whips, piles of costumes, masks, blindfolds, streamers, ropes, rings, a cannon and a corner table of pastries.[1] Performers sleep in the tent village outside; Piercio and Long Paws had a blue-striped one with two beds.[1]
The billing for the closing act is "the pyrotechnics of Metal Mouse and Flint Paw": Piercio lights the fuses, Long Paws juggles the bombs blindfolded and launches them over the crowd, and they burst into bioluminescent river spores.[1] Long Paws' answer to a complaint about the material is to take it to Tank, since she does not make up the show.[1]
Story
Sacred: Eslura's Calling
Tab, Aero and Reagan watched the show from the seats, having let themselves in through the side flap the elephant had used earlier to call his cast together.[1] Albertuous opened the final act, bowed off, came back to close the evening, and reappeared backstage while Tab was talking to Piercio.[1] He walked past his own performers to greet Aero by name, told him he had recognised his handsome mug in the crowd and his unmistakable jawline, and took him behind a curtain for a word.[1] What was said there is not recorded.
He sacked Long Paws and Piercio some time afterwards over a refused raise. The pair followed the Nelazgians burning their way through Galecrest, blew a hole in the wall of Elmryn's study and joined the fight, and Piercio's account of the timing was that their last-minute decision "most certainly did not directly involve Tank firing us".[2]
Sacred 2: Flames of the Awakened
Albertuous does not appear, but the circus is still on the road. Ayala, needling Tab in Varaar, suggests she join "that traveling circus" whose name she cannot remember beyond Albertu-something, on the grounds that she heard their main act just up and left.[3] Piercio, arguing that he should lead a party over the mountains, cites his many moons travelling with Albertuous and Company.[4]
Relationships
Long Paws and Piercio were his closing act and his employees, and he dismissed them both rather than pay them more. Long Paws points complaints about the show at him, and Piercio is visibly afraid of him.[1][2]
Aero Ellisvat is a former partner of his and the only person in the tent he seems glad to see. He picks Aero out of the crowd from the stage, greets him warmly, and takes him aside; Aero calls him an idiot behind his back and Kantankerous to his face.[1]
Behind the scenes
The pronunciation guide at the back of both novels prints him as Kantankerous (Tank) Albertuous, Can-tank-ur-us Al-burr-choo-us, which is the source for the nickname the other characters use throughout.[5][6] The wiki carries Tank as a redirect to this article.
The chapter is named after the show rather than the man: Book 1, Ch. 21 is "Albertuous and Company", and its header illustration is the tent village at night, strung with lights, with figures walking up toward the big top.[1]