Session 002 - The Crowning of the Monarch
General Summary
Dumbfounded by the mysterious girl with the pigface, Myrtle Shellback looks around absentmindedly. It is at this point where the party are introduced and welcome to their group, Tarin Ganu-Maga, a towering Goliath Barbarian, who struggled during school due to having lost her writing ability, which is ineligible to everyone unless they cast Comprehend Languages. Eager to experience more of what the Witchlight Carnival had to offer, and to take her mind off the mysterious girl, Myrtle Shellback suggests to the party that they have a closer look at the nearby Mystery Mine. They watch as mine carts laden with fairgoers trundle into an opening carved like a dragon’s mouth, as if they were propelled by magic. Intriguingly the carts reappeared moments later the far side of the attraction, with the passengers expressing a mixture of bewilderment, fear, and excitement.
Near the entrance, they notice a male dwarf with bushy eyebrows, a pointy hat, wizard robes, and holding a large clockwork contraption shaped like a giant eye. The dwarf is exclaiming in a loud booming voice “Unlock the mysteries of your mind in the Mystery Mine!”. As the party steps closer to the entrance, the dwarf focuses on them and encourages them to partake in the ride “Step right up, my curious friends! Witness the marvels of the All-Seeing Eye, a gateway to the depths of your fears and desires. Look into its depths, let it unlock the hidden mysteries within your souls. Dare you face your deepest fears? The choice is yours, but remember, those who embrace the eye shall embark on a truly exhilarating journey through the mine. Join me, and let the adventures begin!”
Each of the party, eager to see what the ride included, hand out their ticket to punch. Wirth got in first taking an entire cart for himself, Myrtle Shellback, Talia Starfinder, and Nishara Mistwood snuggly get into the second card, and Tarin Ganu-Maga takes the last cart. As the ride began, Nishara Mistwood felt a presence that appeared to have read their minds, however she was unable to determine what it was.
As the cart began its descent into the mine, life-like illusions began to form in the pitch darkness. Talia Starfinder immediately notices a shiver running down her spine. The darkness begins to stir, and she observes from the shadow's grotesque forms with long, scaly tails and gleaming, malicious eyes. With momentary shock, Talia Starfinder realised the forms are those of Giant Rats, their teeth bared, and scurry towards her. Tarin Ganu-Maga, the mighty goliath, is terrified and begins to scream in fear. The Giant Rats pay her no mind, instead continuing to focus on the half-elf ranger. The largest and most menacing of the illusions, hisses “So, the ranger who prides themselves on their sense of direction, how does it feel to be lost, to wander aimlessly like a clueless fool?”. As the rat’s words struck a nerve deep inside, Talia Starfinder's fear intensified and soon she began screaming as loudly as Tarin Ganu-Maga.
Each of the party is exposed to what appears to be their worst fears, with varying levels of success, each of them seeing a specific vision, and hearing a horrible message. After leaving the mystery mine attraction, some a little shaken, and the others quite amused, the party decide to move onto the Bubble-Pop Teapot. They find a twenty-foot-tall teapot that rests on a wooden platform, that is painted with whirling moving imagery of flying dragons breathing streams of bubbles. As the party approaches, Treaclewise, a goblin, pointed to a sign that read “The word that you intend to say, try saying in a different way”.
The party struggles to work out what the sign means, and Treaclewise takes a ticket punch from each, and the party gets engulfed in a bubble that raises them in the sky. Talia Starfinder, Tarin Ganu-Maga, and Myrtle Shellback use their bubbles to move towards the Dragonfly Ride, while Wirth and Nishara Mistwood head towards the Staff Area. Neither of the groups see anything of worth before their bubbles pop. A short search later, the party meet each other at the Hall of Illusions, where they share a bottle of Witchlight wine that is provided by Nishara Mistwood.
They opt to enter the Pixie Kingdom next, where they meet Jeremy Plum, a pixie, who encourages the party to adopt pixie names before entering the kingdom. Wirth is known as Cotton Candy, as is Nishara Mistwood, Myrtle Shellback gleefully takes the name Cobweb, Talia Starfinder becomes Puddlemud, and Tarin Ganu-Maga is Toadhop. The party identifies that there are twelves pixies within the kingdom, and they firstly obtain food at the stalls, grabbing candy. Biscuit, the Hamster that is running the miniature Ferris wheel is friendly, and chatty with Talia Starfinder. Biscuit, the Hamster warns Talia Starfinder “Keep your eyes sharp and your wits keen, for the elusive Kenku troublemaker blends in with her magical guise.” During this time, the party also visit Pinecone, the excitable pug that appears to only listen pixies.
The pixies then invite the attendees of the kingdom to join them in a game of hide and seek. Nishara Mistwood is found in the first round, Wirth is found second, Myrtle Shellback is caught third despite casting minor illusion to hide in the flower bed, Tarin Ganu-Maga is caught fourth, and Talia Starfinder wins, obtaining pixie dust from Jeremy Plum. After the game of Hide and Seek, the party leave the Pixie Kingdom, and feeling a bit lost decide to head to Lost Property. As the party walks through the carnival, enjoying the sights and sounds of the various games and attractions, they pass by a booth with a sign reading “Whack-a-Mole”, and notice that once of the moles is covered in bright colourful fur and has an unnaturally wide grin on its face. Nishara Mistwood, Talia Starfinder, and Tarin Ganu-Maga step up and have a go at the game, with Nishara Mistwood and Talia Starfinder failing. However, Tarin Ganu-Maga is successful, and the brightly colourful mole’s eyes glint with malice before its lunges forward, revealing its true form – A Whack-A-Mole Mimic.
A fierce battle unfolds, with the party attacking the mimic with varying levels of success. Talia Starfinder, Tarin Ganu-Maga, and Nishara Mistwood are successful, with Nishara Mistwood creating magic candy rocks to hit the mimic with, while Myrtle Shellback and Wirth fail their first attacks. After a short time, the mimic starts to summon Tin Soldiers. Tarin Ganu-Maga eventually kills the Mimic, Talia Starfinder loses her dagger, Myrtle Shellback destroys a Tin Soldier, Nishara Mistwood takes down another one with poison spray, and Talia Starfinder manages to shoot the last Tin Soldier. After the battle Talia Starfinder obtains her lost dagger. As the Mimic let’s out one final creaking groan and collapses to the ground, the carnival crowd that had gathered erupts into cheers and applause.
A carnival attendant runs up to the party and exclaims “That was incredible! You took down the mimic, one of the trickiest and most dangerous games we have!”. She provides each of the party members a prize as a token of the carnival’s gratitude. Before the Witchlight hand disappears into the crowd, she provides the party with a piece of advice:
“Within the realm of secrets, where dreams intertwine,
Clapperclaw, the Scarecrow, Squirt, and Amidor, their knowledge align,
Three hags with their schemes, their riddles to bewitch,
But the guide’s steady guidance, the way to untwist,
Amidst their Illusions, hold onto their aid,
With Clapperclaw, the Scarecrow, Squirt, and Amidor, unswayed
Embrace the enigma, with their presence embrace,
Uncover Zybilna's truth, her essence to chase”!
Nishara Mistwood finds a black feather lingering beside the now destroyed Tin Soldiers and picks it up.
The party continue onto their original plan of visiting Lost Property, where they find a large feline creature with midnight-blue, a pair of tentacles extending from its shoulders, and wearing fake butterfly wings. As the party takes in the sight, they watch as the displacer beast roughhouses with two young boys. The displacer beast introduces itself to the part as Dirlagraun, and Nishara Mistwood shows it the feather she found. Dirlagraun informs the party that it belongs to Kettlesteam, a Kenku who can disguise herself. Nishara Mistwood druidcraft’s some flowers and provides them to the children, with one of them, named Viro fleeing.
At the request of Dirlagraun, the party chase after the children, capture him, and returns him to the grateful displacer beast. Dirlagraun then informs the party of Star its missing cub, that has been missing for eight years. Dirlagraun provides the party with a mirrored ball that holds remnants of its own magic, and voices that it may aid the party in their quest. Before the party leaves the Lost Property wagon, Dirlagraun provides the party with one last piece of advice, urging them to investigate the staff area.
The party, following Dirlagraun's directions, arrives at the staff area and discovers a mesmerising scene: a cluster of lantern-lit wagons surrounded by a tangle of thorns. Though the caravan is barely visible through the thickets, they contemplate their next steps. After careful consideration, they decide to attempt a peaceful entry instead of scaling the imposing wall. With much persuasion, the guard grants Myrtle Shellback, Nishara Mistwood, and Talia Starfinder access to the staff area.
Inside the caravan, they come across Thaco, the Clown, whom seems completely oblivious to their presence. However, a mishap occurs when Myrtle Shellback tries to take something without permission, and Thaco, the Clown reacts strongly, breaking her cane in response. Disheartened, the party is asked to leave the staff area, where they encounter Burly, the Bugbear who is responsible for perimeter monitoring. Burly, the Bugbear expresses frustration with the clowns' rough handling of visitors and informs the party that Mister Light and Mister Witch wish to meet with them.
As they make their way towards the management wagon, they overhear the two voices discussing Kettlesteam, portraying her as a nuisance. Curiously, Mister Light and Mister Witch reveal that they vaguely remember each of the characters from their childhood. When the party inquired about Kettlesteam, they learn that Mister Light and Mister Witch are not the carnival's original owners but took over through an honest pact with the previous owner. They also disclose that Kettlesteam is a warlock, with Zybilna as her fey patron. They note that Zybilna is also the carnival's patron, and that she has been absent for some time.
Following their questions, Mister Light and Mister Witch politely ask Burly, the Bugbear to escort the party out of the wagon and offer them balloon animals crafted by Thaco, the Clown. Each party member receives an inflated balloon animal, except for Myrtle Shellback, who gets a deflated one. Burly, the Bugbear takes the opportunity to share that the carnival has been facing some troubling times and his twin brother, Hurly, the Bugbear, has gone missing. He humbly seeks the party's assistance and assures them that Mister Light and Mister Witch are genuinely good individuals. Burly, the Bugbear suggests that the party could consider acquiring Mister Witch's watch as a bargaining chip. The party follows through with the idea, with Myrtle Shellback using Talia Starfinder's iron scissors to discreetly obtain Mister Witch's watch and uses it to convince him to meet them after the witchlight monarch event at midnight to discuss the recent events in detail.
With a couple of hours left until midnight, the party eagerly continued their exploration of the Witchlight Carnival. Their next destination was the Feasting Orchard, a place resonating with lively music and joyful laughter. The air was filled with the delightful aroma of flowers, mead, and freshly baked berry pie, enticing the party to take a moment and enjoy the surroundings. It was here that they encountered Ellywick Tumblestrum, a talented gnome bard, and the enigmatic benefactor who had generously provided them with tickets to the carnival.
Ellywick Tumblestrum, though rather cryptic, assured the party that they were precisely where and when they were meant to be. With a mysterious smile, she left the party to revel in the merriment of the Feasting Orchard, particularly relishing the mead on offer.
After immersing themselves in the festivities, the party decided to participate in the cupcake eating contest, a lighthearted competition that entailed consuming as many cupcakes as possible. Amidst cheers and laughter, each member took party, but unfortunately, the sugary onslaught proved too much for their stomachs. One by one, they succumbed to the overwhelming sweetness and ended up vomiting. Despite this, the contest had a quirky prize for the winner - a Cupcake of Invisibility. Remarkably, Wirth managed to consume the most cupcakes and emerged as the champion, earning the magical reward.
The party next ventures on to the Gondola Swans attraction, where they encounter Feathereen, a majestic swan with a voice as soft as a melody. Embarking on the gondola ride along the serene river, Feathereen engages them in thought-provoking discussions on profound and philosophical topics. However, as each party member disregards or trivialises her questions, she playfully rocks the gondola, eventually tipping them overboard. Tarin Ganu-Maga becomes the first victim of Feathereen's antics, followed by Talia Starfinder, Wirth, and finally Myrtle Shellback, who spent her time reminiscing about her siblings.
Only Nishara Mistwood manages to retain her place on the gondola for the entire ride, impressing Feathereen. In return, the gracious swan shares some valuable information with the druid. She reveals witnessing a calamitous attempt by Candlefoot, the Mime to propose to the mermaid Palasha, resulting in his silence ever since. As a consequence, Palasha was left deeply upset by the incident.
Following Feathereen's guidance, the party decides to visit Silversong Lake to see Palasha. As they approach the attraction, they notice a disturbing commotion among the crowd. Hecklers have gathered, hurling hurtful insults at Palasha and even throwing cheese at her. Startled, Palasha leaps out of her bowl and swifty escapes, darting down the river. Reacting instinctively, Myrtle Shellback dives into the water, determined to chase after the frightened mermaid.
Meanwhile, Wirth keenly observes the hecklers and realises they are all associated with Kettlesteam. The rest of the party promptly pursues the mischievous Kenku heckler. After a relentless pursuit, Wirth, Talia Starfinder, Tarin Ganu-Maga, and Nishara Mistwood manage to corner Kettlesteam, effectively trapping her. They proceed to question the Kenku, leading to some revealing information. Kettlesteam admits to being a warlock, her patron being the elusive Archfey Zybilna. However, she confesses her struggle to establish a connection Zybilna which led her to investigate the Witchlight Carnival.
Kettlesteam expresses concern about three members of The Hourglass Coven, who appear to be entangled in the unfolding events. She recounts her actions, including taking away Candlefoot, the Mime's voice, in an attempt to gain the attention of the carnival's owners. To prove her words, she hands over a doll containing Candlefoot, the Mime's voice, which can be used to restore it. With the information gleaned, the party bids farewell to Kettlesteam.
Meanwhile, Myrtle Shellback manages to establish a heartfelt conversation with Palasha, persuading her to return to her performance despite the heckler's harassment. In gratitude for Myrtle Shellback's kindness, Palasha provides her with some lessons on the art of singing.
Having regrouped with Myrtle Shellback, the party continues their exploration. This time, they decide to head towards the lively Calliope, where they are encouraged to showcase their talents. Talia Starfinder takes the first turn, attempting a display of singing, but unfortunately, it doesn't go as well as she hoped. Next up is Nishara Mistwood, who chooses dancing as her performance, and her graceful moves captivate the audience, earning her resounding applause.
When it's Tarin's turn she decides to take the Witchlight Hands challenge of a riddle, and correctly declares "Fire" as the answer. Little do her friends know, this correct answer triggers an unexpected turn of events. Suddenly, Tarin Ganu-Maga is teleported to a vision where she finds herself shrouded in a bright flame, encountering a figure of ancient wisdom known as the Sylphrena, the Dreamweaver.
In the vision, Tarin Ganu-Maga gains insight and knowledge and returns to the Calliope only to realise that no one else had noticed her brief absence. To her delight, she is declared the winner, earning a free pass to further explore the wonders of the carnival.
The party decided to take a relaxing ride on the dragonfly rides, which proves to be uneventful but enjoyable. They then move on to visit the Carousel, where they encounter a procession of wooden unicorns standing motionless on a circular wooden platform. Here, they meet Diana Cloppington, a witty witchlight hand, whose eyes betray a tinge of sadness. Mistakenly assuming she's a centaur, the party is corrected by Diana Cloppington herself, who reveals that she's actually a human who made a regrettable deal.
As the conversation unfolds, Diana Cloppington learns of the party's investigation into the carnival's mysterious events. In return, she confides in them, sharing how a hag fulfilled a promise and reunited her with her long-lost horse. Nishara Mistwood, eager to delve deeper into the matter of the hag, attempts to question Diana Cloppington, but the witchlight hand begins to cough up painful brown tree sap, making it a difficult to speak.
Nonetheless, Diana Cloppington suggests a path to uncovering more information - speaking to the unicorns. She informs the party that earning the trust of the unicorns is crucial and can be achieved by learning the names of all eight of them. To aid them in this endeavor, Diana Cloppington provides the party with a clay pot of gold paint and paintbrushes, encouraging them to start their task. Through persistent efforts and collaboration, the party eventually unravels the names of the unicorns and sits atop them. As the ride begins, each unicorn telepathically presents them with a riddle tailor-made for the individual riding it.
As the party arrives at the Hall of Illusions, they are greeted by an intriguing sight - a wooden mannequin of a young woman named Tasha the Wizard, adorned with witch's attire and a flowing green cape, hovering inside a glass cabinet. A halfling couple approaches, one of them donning butterfly face paint. Unexpectedly, as the halfling in butterfly face paint attempts to propose, his sweetheart bursts into laughter, while he rushes away into the Hall of Illusions without getting his ticket punched.
Curiosity gets the better of Talia Starfinder and Nishara Mistwood, who proceed to inspect the glass cabinet. Nishara Mistwood, upon gazing at Tasha, beings to laugh uncontrollably. The group encounters Candlefoot, the Mime, and they use their last ticket punch to enter the Hall of Illusions to pursue the vanished Rubin Sugarwood. Tarin Ganu-Maga utilises the doll given by Kettlesteam to restore Candlefoot, the Mime's voice, prompting him to rush off in search of his love, Palasha.
Inside the hall, Nishara Mistwood's laughing becomes a challenge for the party to handle, Wirth picks her up, trying to help, as they split up to find Rubin Sugarwood. In their search, they witness Rubin Sugarwood stepping forward and entering a mirror, where his reflection comes to life and joins hands with the mysterious girl in a pig mask. Rubin Sugarwood leaves behind a dropped ring. Myrtle Shellback, feeling a mix of fear and anger, attempts to follow Rubin Sugarwood through the mirror but fails. Nishara Mistwood, now free from laughter, senses magic emanating from the mirror but is unsure of its nature.
Undeterred, the party decides to attend the Witchlight Monarch crowning and then seek help from Mister Witch regarding the mirror. At the Big Top, Mister Light puts on a spectacular show as the ringmaster, showcasing various star performers and attractions. Nishara Mistwood is eventually crowned the Witchlight Monarch in grand extravaganza.
Shortly after, Mister Witch leads the party back to the Hall of Illusions. With a hushed tone, Mister Witch instructs them on how to step through the mirror to find what they seek. Most of the party step through the portal, with Myrtle Shellback the last. Just before she steps through, Mister Witch says, "Mind the Rule of Three: future, present, past." while Mister Light cryptically adds, "Find the alicorn, and free the dormant queen at last". Myrtle Shellback then steps forward, venturing into Hither, the unknown realm beyond the mirror to reunite with her friends.
Report Date
26 May 2023
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