The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: The Witchlight Carnival, Part 1
General Summary
This game took place after the events of Pick-up Game 41: Rattlesnake and was played on January 8th, 2023. Joining as players were:
Disoriented by the changes to location and the gradual loss of memories, the group continued towards Lents. As they got closer to the center of the settlement, they saw that many of the fields were populated by stranger's tents and there was a festive spirit in the air. Surprisingly for the somewhat xenophobic community, elves, dwarves, halflings, and other species of humanoids were camping out. Nobody seemed to regard Buster, a mechanical man, with shock or surprise.
The team got to Lents and found that the Temple of Ehlonna and the Temple of Pelor that had been destroyed years ago still existed. The inn, Roaring Lents, was not there. The Island Elf was still there, but under its old name, Powell's Camp Rest. There was no sign of the petrified Mayor Lents. A large crowd was celebrating in the town square, and groups of musicians were playing.
Entering Powell's Camp Rest, they found Ma'am Peggy, but she had no memory of them. She welcomed them warmly, and assumed that they were visiting town for the Witchlight Carnival. After asking Ma'am Peggy what day and year it was, they confirmed that it was the same day that they had left Bestest. They bought ales, thanked her, and moved to a table to decide what to do next. Willamina wondered if this might be the same carnival that they accidentally lit on fire several years ago [ed: I believe that this may have been Pick-up Game 7 from back in 2013].
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of muffled explosions and someone running in to shout that the carnival was arriving. Most of the patrons left the tavern upon hearing this announcement, and the group followed suit, with Zabbas pausing to help himself to a couple of unattended ales. Outside, the crowd was gathered together watching soft, firework-like bursts in the air. Through each of these bursts flew wagons piloted by horses, goats, and foxes, all with butterfly wings. The destination of these carts seemed to be around where the Leach house was located, and the team and the majority of the crowd moved towards that direction.
The carts and wagons had landed and carnival setup was underway: objects larger than the carts were unfolding from the interior of the carts - one object was a 30'-tall teapot, another was a full-size carousel - and crews were setting up all manner of tents. A large, walking tree-like creature was animating trees to clear space for the carnival and creating a perimeter of the carnival grounds by redirecting the flow of Powell's Creek.
The crowd gathering to watch the carnival set up was in the vicinity of the Leach house, so the members of the group that remembered the structure went to speak with the family who was standing on the porch, watching the carnival unfold. The family, a man, a woman, and two young adult children, weren't particularly friendly and expressed their displeasure with the carnival encroaching on their fields. They repeatedly ask the group to get out of their front yard, which they eventually did. Absent from the house's yard were the ring of stones underneath the tree, Willamina's espalier, and Wizard Steele's house. [If Willamina had any memories of Lents, she may have recalled once meeting the woman, Myra Leach. None of the characters have ever met her husband, Abram.]
An announcement was made that the carnival was opening soon, and hundreds of people began to form a line to enter the grounds. The team felt like they needed to learn more about the carnival before going in, so they left Buster in line as a placeholder and went back to the center of town. Many people were able to corroborate that the carnival only appeared once every eight years, and it had done so for some time. A man in his thirties wistfully recounted being crowned the "Witchlight Monarch" as a child, the title being bestowed on the attendee that brought the most joy to the carnival that night. It also seemed to be common knowledge that the carnival originated from somewhere within the fairy realm: the Feywild.
Learning as much as they were going to from asking around the center of town, the group returned just as the carnival opened and the line started moving. A dwarf with his hair and beard dyed brightly blue stood in front of them. He seemed like he might have been a little drunk but excitedly told them that this was his tenth time attending the carnival. Willamina asked about his hair, and he explained that he dyed it after his current favorite gem: the sapphire (his previous favorite was the amethyst). Behind them in line was a human family. The mother and father were having sort of hushed argument, and shortly after, the husband began huffing loudly. He finally got the group's attention and, waving a hand at their armor and weapons, he said,"Really? Is that really necessary? There are children here!" The group largely ignored him and he could be heard hissing to his wife,"See? I did say something!"
The goblin handed each of them their tickets, which were good for 8 punches, with a punch representing a ride, a treat, or a game. He also gave them a pair of butterfly wings to wear or carry around, explaining that this was their proof of entry and must be kept on them at all times. Finally, the goblin sent them off with a map of the carnival's features.
While the group stopped to review the map, Zabbas noticed that the family waiting in line behind them had entered, and he made a point to trip the father as he walked by. The man stumbled, recovered and continued on, but Zabbas noticed that moments after the trip, the calliope music piping throughout the air became slightly discordant.
While reviewing the map that they were given at the ticket booth, Zabbas pointed out the Lost & Found and suggested that they visit there first, given the recent memory loss. On approaching the Lost & Found station, they saw that it was staffed by a large six-legged feline with tentacles rising from its shoulder blades. It was look after two young boys who had lost their mother and introduced themself as Dirlagaun. While having a conversation with Dirlagaun, the smaller child found a small mirrored ball in a bin and began playing with it. Upon noticing the child holding the mirror ball, Dirlagaun emitted a sudden low growl and snatched the ball out of the child's hands using one of the tentacles. This action frightened the child, who bolted out of sight into the busy crowd.
Dirlagaun, immediately remorseful of her instinctive actions, implored someone to find the child. Tinga, with her height advantage, was able to spot the child and quickly bring him back. After being handed a cotton candy, he quickly forgot about his briefly frightening experience with the large feline.
Dirlagaun apologized for her behavior and explained that things and people had regularly going missing from the carnival over the course of the past several months. One of those things was her cub, Star, and the mirrored ball was its favorite toy. After learning that the group was looking for some lost things of their own, Dirlagaun hesitantly handed the ball to Tinga and asked her to return Star if they should find them. Tinga agreed and took the ball.
Tumblestrum said that she had been drawn to this reality because lost things were appearing here briefly before transitioning to other realms. She'd sensed the arrival of the team and bought them tickets to the carnival because she felt that they were at the "right where and when". While the group was discussing the ideas of multiple realities, Tumblestrum pointed out that there was a "Fairy Cake Eating contest" beginning, and vanished after the group looked in the direction of the stage where the event was about to start.
Willamina and Tinga decided to punch their tickets and join in on the Fairy Cake Eating contest. The other contestants were a human man and a half-orc. The rules were announced by an MC: whoever ate the most fairy cakes within a minute would be the winner. Willamina and Tinga shared a look before the plates of custard-filled cupcakes were brought before the contestants.
The contestants set to devouring the fare in front of them, and the human man made it three cupcakes in before he had to excuse himself from the table. All remaining contestants made it into their fifth cupcake in the first twenty seconds before the half-orc tapped out on the table. Exiting from the stage, the half-orc lost the contents of their stomach. Willamina was beginning to turn a little green from her sixth cupcake, and realizing that she was only competing with Tinga, she tapped out before something awful happened to her stomach. Tinga, midway through her seventh cupcake, realized that she had won and stopped eating before she suffered any custard damage. When the timer finished, Tinga was declared the winner and was gifted a cupcake that would cause her to become invisible. She was in no mood to eat the invisibility cupcake and pocketed it for later.
The group discussed heading towards the Big Top and possibly visiting the staffing area behind it. As they walked down the lane, Gabilan and Zabbas' attention were drawn to a barker advertising one of the midway games: the Alm'iraj Ring Toss. The game consisted of a statue of an Alm'iraj [a single-horned rabbit from middle eastern folklore] that appeared to teleport to different spots within the playing field; the contestant through three rings in attempt to encircle the statue twice. Zabbas played once and Gabilan played twice, but neither won.
While Zabbas and Gabilan tossed rings, Willamina spotted an extremely fast and tiny naked lady darting amongst the crowd. Grabbing everyone's attention, Willamina pointed it out and the group attempted to follow her she dashed off in a blur, pausing momentarily to steal a child's cotton candy.
The group agreed that they wanted to check out the staff area at the rear of the big top, but they noticed a couple of carnies guarding the back area. In order to create a distraction, Zabbas shouted "fire", enhancing the volume of his shout by use of thaumaturgy. This caused mass confusion in the tent, but thankfully not panic, and the desired distraction was had. After this incident, the tunes of the calliope became more discordant - broken, really. The group snuck out of the big top, through the back entrance, and into the dressing rooms.
Between the confusion going on in the big top and the bustle of performers in the dressing area, the group was ignored as they searched around for costuming that they might disguise themselves with. Shortly after they'd snatched items for themselves (stilts and long purple trousers, a coat with a rope of one hundred handkerchiefs up its sleeve, etc.), they were confronted by a large, furred humanoid wearing a jack o'lantern over its head.
"Bosses want to see ya," the creature said, jerking its thumb in the direction of the staff area. Realizing that pumpkin-head was going to take them where they wanted to go, they went along.
The group followed the creature, who introduced himself as Burly, through a thick bramble that magically opened to reveal a clearing containing a circle of eight wagons. Burly led the team past a surly looking clown, advising them to ignore him, and over to the fanciest of the wagons.
Inside the wagon were two elven men. One was rather portly, something unusual for an elf, and was wearing a dress suit and top hat. The other was tall and thin and wore a harlequin outfit. The more somber elf looked devoid of coloration, much like Kwutl, and the lither elf seemed the same way, although he wore a white pancake makeup that mostly disguised this. The elf in the suit was introduced as "Mr. Witch" and the harlequined elf, who did more of the talking and was much more social, introduced himself as "Mr. Light". These were the carnival's owners.
Mr. Light noted that the group - and Zabbas in particular - was bringing down the mood of the carnival, and wondered what they could do to bring the team more delight and to provide them with a good time. The team expressed their concerns that they had heard that people and things had been going missing from the carnival, and that all didn't seem right. Mr. Light looked nervous about this, and Mr. Witch interjected, stating,"forces are at work on the other side that are entirely beyond our control. The wheel of time turns ever on… what’s lost is lost, what’s gone is gone." By "other side", he meant the feywild, confirming that this is where the carnival was from.
Pressed for further information, the carnival's owners explained that there was a person causing trouble at the carnival; a person known as Kettlesteam. It was implied that Kettlesteam may be the cause of the disappearances and was suggested that if the group captured Kettlesteam, perhaps that would help the situation. Upon inquiry, Mr. Witch explained that Kettlesteam was disrupting performances, and that Palasha the Mermaid was giving the next performance.
Mr. Light stated that he needed to start a parade in order to raise the carnival's mood, and Mr. Witch needed to return to the logistics of running the show. The group decided to stake out the upcoming performance of Palasha the Mermaid, and followed Mr. Light and Burly out of the staff area.
After Mr. Light went off to start his parade, Burly took the jack o'lantern off of his head (revealing that he was a bugbear) and leveled with the group, saying, "Bad things have been happening at the carnival for a while. People and things have been going missing. My bosses know more than they’re telling, but their hands are tied somehow. You’re the first people I’ve met who might be able to set things right. Witch and Light are good guys, but you’ll need leverage to make them spill the beans." He then explained that Mr. Witch's pocket watch is the item that controls the whole carnival, and by purloining it, the group could force the carnival owners to really address the problem.
Satisfied with their investigation of the calliope, the group continued on to Silversong Lake. Along the way, Gabilan spotted a strange person in the crowd: a teenage or pre-teen girl wearing a porcelain pig mask covering the top portion of her face. Disturbingly, the figure just stood and stared out of the mask and had an grayish quality to their skin that gave the impression of a corpse. When Gabilan turned to point this out to the rest of the group, the figure vanished among the crowd.
At Silversong Lake, Zabbas and Willamina positioned themselves at the periphery of the crowd to be on the lookout for anything unusual. Tinga went to the front of the crowd and faced it, looking over everyone. As the mermaid appeared and began to sing her operatic aria, which was accompanied by dancing sculptures summoned from the surrounding water, Gabilan became engrossed in the performance and watched with enjoyment.
Midway through the performance, a woman in fancy dress at the back of the crowd shouted out, "Is this what you call music?!" Tinga, Willamina and Zabbas spotted the woman and noticed that she immediately disappeared in the crowd. Not too far away from where the woman was, a farmer hollered, "I've heard cows that can moo better than this!" Gabilan witnessed the mermaid's voice faltering momentarily and the water sculptures shuddering in their form. The farmer disappeared from view. A third figure in back, not too far from where the woman and the farmer were both spotted, appearing as a pale young man dressed as a clown, yelled,"I can't believe that I ever loved you!" This outburst caused the mermaid to stop her performance, burst into tears, and swim rapidly away from the crowd. Tinga, seeing an opening, whispered a prayer to Pelor and successfully held the clown frozen in place. Zabbas and Willamina rushed over to the clown and Willamina threw a net over the frozen figure.
The trapped creature dropped its illusion, revealing itself to be a small, raven-like humanoid. The party has captured Kettlesteam.
This game was followed by The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: The Witchlight Carnival, Part 2.
- Heather Thompson as Gabilan
- Nicole Thompson as Tinga
- Katy Asher as Willamina
- Mack McFarand as Zabbas Shackleton Fluffenstuff
- Jess Jennings was not able to be present to play Buster Unit 37 due to illness.
An Unfamiliar Lents
Finding themselves in a place where Bestest didn't exist, the team began traveling back to Lents. Along the way, they discovered that each of them were beginning to miss memories about their life. Willamina's were the most obvious, as she began forgetting key details about Lents, including the Leach house, where she resides. Gabilan had begun forgetting about Pony Pony, at points thinking of Pony Pony as a dog before forgetting about them entirely. After encountering a poster for the Witchlight Carnival, it became obvious that Tinga had forgotten how to read. Buster couldn't remember his directions, and Zabbas seemed to be unaffected.Disoriented by the changes to location and the gradual loss of memories, the group continued towards Lents. As they got closer to the center of the settlement, they saw that many of the fields were populated by stranger's tents and there was a festive spirit in the air. Surprisingly for the somewhat xenophobic community, elves, dwarves, halflings, and other species of humanoids were camping out. Nobody seemed to regard Buster, a mechanical man, with shock or surprise.
The team got to Lents and found that the Temple of Ehlonna and the Temple of Pelor that had been destroyed years ago still existed. The inn, Roaring Lents, was not there. The Island Elf was still there, but under its old name, Powell's Camp Rest. There was no sign of the petrified Mayor Lents. A large crowd was celebrating in the town square, and groups of musicians were playing.
Entering Powell's Camp Rest, they found Ma'am Peggy, but she had no memory of them. She welcomed them warmly, and assumed that they were visiting town for the Witchlight Carnival. After asking Ma'am Peggy what day and year it was, they confirmed that it was the same day that they had left Bestest. They bought ales, thanked her, and moved to a table to decide what to do next. Willamina wondered if this might be the same carnival that they accidentally lit on fire several years ago [ed: I believe that this may have been Pick-up Game 7 from back in 2013].
The Carnival Arrives
The conversation was interrupted by the sound of muffled explosions and someone running in to shout that the carnival was arriving. Most of the patrons left the tavern upon hearing this announcement, and the group followed suit, with Zabbas pausing to help himself to a couple of unattended ales. Outside, the crowd was gathered together watching soft, firework-like bursts in the air. Through each of these bursts flew wagons piloted by horses, goats, and foxes, all with butterfly wings. The destination of these carts seemed to be around where the Leach house was located, and the team and the majority of the crowd moved towards that direction.
The carts and wagons had landed and carnival setup was underway: objects larger than the carts were unfolding from the interior of the carts - one object was a 30'-tall teapot, another was a full-size carousel - and crews were setting up all manner of tents. A large, walking tree-like creature was animating trees to clear space for the carnival and creating a perimeter of the carnival grounds by redirecting the flow of Powell's Creek.
The crowd gathering to watch the carnival set up was in the vicinity of the Leach house, so the members of the group that remembered the structure went to speak with the family who was standing on the porch, watching the carnival unfold. The family, a man, a woman, and two young adult children, weren't particularly friendly and expressed their displeasure with the carnival encroaching on their fields. They repeatedly ask the group to get out of their front yard, which they eventually did. Absent from the house's yard were the ring of stones underneath the tree, Willamina's espalier, and Wizard Steele's house. [If Willamina had any memories of Lents, she may have recalled once meeting the woman, Myra Leach. None of the characters have ever met her husband, Abram.]
An announcement was made that the carnival was opening soon, and hundreds of people began to form a line to enter the grounds. The team felt like they needed to learn more about the carnival before going in, so they left Buster in line as a placeholder and went back to the center of town. Many people were able to corroborate that the carnival only appeared once every eight years, and it had done so for some time. A man in his thirties wistfully recounted being crowned the "Witchlight Monarch" as a child, the title being bestowed on the attendee that brought the most joy to the carnival that night. It also seemed to be common knowledge that the carnival originated from somewhere within the fairy realm: the Feywild.
Learning as much as they were going to from asking around the center of town, the group returned just as the carnival opened and the line started moving. A dwarf with his hair and beard dyed brightly blue stood in front of them. He seemed like he might have been a little drunk but excitedly told them that this was his tenth time attending the carnival. Willamina asked about his hair, and he explained that he dyed it after his current favorite gem: the sapphire (his previous favorite was the amethyst). Behind them in line was a human family. The mother and father were having sort of hushed argument, and shortly after, the husband began huffing loudly. He finally got the group's attention and, waving a hand at their armor and weapons, he said,"Really? Is that really necessary? There are children here!" The group largely ignored him and he could be heard hissing to his wife,"See? I did say something!"
Entering the Carnival
As the group arrived at the ticket booth (decorated in moving illusions of stars shooting across a night sky), they saw that the attendant was an elderly goblin who used a spyglass and an ear horn to inspect them. After muttering their descriptions as he ogled them one by one, he seemed satisfied and announced that their tickets (normally 8 SP each) had been purchased for them by a "mysterious benefactor". Everyone wanted to know the identity of the benefactor, but the goblin refused to divulge the name. He would, however, share the benefactor's location if someone wanted to make a bargain with him. Tinga agreed, and in exchange for promising to dance whenever she heard her name for the rest of the night, the old goblin told them that the benefactor would be found in the Feasting Orchard area of the carnival grounds.The goblin handed each of them their tickets, which were good for 8 punches, with a punch representing a ride, a treat, or a game. He also gave them a pair of butterfly wings to wear or carry around, explaining that this was their proof of entry and must be kept on them at all times. Finally, the goblin sent them off with a map of the carnival's features.
While the group stopped to review the map, Zabbas noticed that the family waiting in line behind them had entered, and he made a point to trip the father as he walked by. The man stumbled, recovered and continued on, but Zabbas noticed that moments after the trip, the calliope music piping throughout the air became slightly discordant.
While reviewing the map that they were given at the ticket booth, Zabbas pointed out the Lost & Found and suggested that they visit there first, given the recent memory loss. On approaching the Lost & Found station, they saw that it was staffed by a large six-legged feline with tentacles rising from its shoulder blades. It was look after two young boys who had lost their mother and introduced themself as Dirlagaun. While having a conversation with Dirlagaun, the smaller child found a small mirrored ball in a bin and began playing with it. Upon noticing the child holding the mirror ball, Dirlagaun emitted a sudden low growl and snatched the ball out of the child's hands using one of the tentacles. This action frightened the child, who bolted out of sight into the busy crowd.
Dirlagaun, immediately remorseful of her instinctive actions, implored someone to find the child. Tinga, with her height advantage, was able to spot the child and quickly bring him back. After being handed a cotton candy, he quickly forgot about his briefly frightening experience with the large feline.
Dirlagaun apologized for her behavior and explained that things and people had regularly going missing from the carnival over the course of the past several months. One of those things was her cub, Star, and the mirrored ball was its favorite toy. After learning that the group was looking for some lost things of their own, Dirlagaun hesitantly handed the ball to Tinga and asked her to return Star if they should find them. Tinga agreed and took the ball.
The Planeswalker
Moving on from Dirlagaun, who reunited the children with their mother, the group continued on to the Feasting Orchard area, where they had been told that they would find their "mysterious benefactor". Entering this food-court-like area, they almost immediately spotted a gnome seated on a low-hanging branch, who was playing a lute. The gnome was looking at them directly, and with each pluck of her lute, a note emanated that manifested into a small illusion of each of the team. The gnome introduced herself as Ellywick Tumblestrum, and explained that she was a "planeswalker": a person that could traverse realities. Gabilan, Tinga, and Willamina, having first-hand experience with different realities, immediately understood what Tumblestrum was explaining.Tumblestrum said that she had been drawn to this reality because lost things were appearing here briefly before transitioning to other realms. She'd sensed the arrival of the team and bought them tickets to the carnival because she felt that they were at the "right where and when". While the group was discussing the ideas of multiple realities, Tumblestrum pointed out that there was a "Fairy Cake Eating contest" beginning, and vanished after the group looked in the direction of the stage where the event was about to start.
Willamina and Tinga decided to punch their tickets and join in on the Fairy Cake Eating contest. The other contestants were a human man and a half-orc. The rules were announced by an MC: whoever ate the most fairy cakes within a minute would be the winner. Willamina and Tinga shared a look before the plates of custard-filled cupcakes were brought before the contestants.
The contestants set to devouring the fare in front of them, and the human man made it three cupcakes in before he had to excuse himself from the table. All remaining contestants made it into their fifth cupcake in the first twenty seconds before the half-orc tapped out on the table. Exiting from the stage, the half-orc lost the contents of their stomach. Willamina was beginning to turn a little green from her sixth cupcake, and realizing that she was only competing with Tinga, she tapped out before something awful happened to her stomach. Tinga, midway through her seventh cupcake, realized that she had won and stopped eating before she suffered any custard damage. When the timer finished, Tinga was declared the winner and was gifted a cupcake that would cause her to become invisible. She was in no mood to eat the invisibility cupcake and pocketed it for later.
The group discussed heading towards the Big Top and possibly visiting the staffing area behind it. As they walked down the lane, Gabilan and Zabbas' attention were drawn to a barker advertising one of the midway games: the Alm'iraj Ring Toss. The game consisted of a statue of an Alm'iraj [a single-horned rabbit from middle eastern folklore] that appeared to teleport to different spots within the playing field; the contestant through three rings in attempt to encircle the statue twice. Zabbas played once and Gabilan played twice, but neither won.
While Zabbas and Gabilan tossed rings, Willamina spotted an extremely fast and tiny naked lady darting amongst the crowd. Grabbing everyone's attention, Willamina pointed it out and the group attempted to follow her she dashed off in a blur, pausing momentarily to steal a child's cotton candy.
The Big Top and the Bosses
After losing the small, strange woman in the crowd, the team went back to their original plan of visiting the big top. Within the massive tent were around sixty to seventy people watching a performer in the center ring. The performer was a dancing tiefling, who blew gouts of flame. From these flames, flying creatures made from smoke and flame emerged and flew over the crowd's head. The performance was well-received. The next act was a group of clowns that took turns shooting themselves from a cannon.The group agreed that they wanted to check out the staff area at the rear of the big top, but they noticed a couple of carnies guarding the back area. In order to create a distraction, Zabbas shouted "fire", enhancing the volume of his shout by use of thaumaturgy. This caused mass confusion in the tent, but thankfully not panic, and the desired distraction was had. After this incident, the tunes of the calliope became more discordant - broken, really. The group snuck out of the big top, through the back entrance, and into the dressing rooms.
Between the confusion going on in the big top and the bustle of performers in the dressing area, the group was ignored as they searched around for costuming that they might disguise themselves with. Shortly after they'd snatched items for themselves (stilts and long purple trousers, a coat with a rope of one hundred handkerchiefs up its sleeve, etc.), they were confronted by a large, furred humanoid wearing a jack o'lantern over its head.
"Bosses want to see ya," the creature said, jerking its thumb in the direction of the staff area. Realizing that pumpkin-head was going to take them where they wanted to go, they went along.
The group followed the creature, who introduced himself as Burly, through a thick bramble that magically opened to reveal a clearing containing a circle of eight wagons. Burly led the team past a surly looking clown, advising them to ignore him, and over to the fanciest of the wagons.
Inside the wagon were two elven men. One was rather portly, something unusual for an elf, and was wearing a dress suit and top hat. The other was tall and thin and wore a harlequin outfit. The more somber elf looked devoid of coloration, much like Kwutl, and the lither elf seemed the same way, although he wore a white pancake makeup that mostly disguised this. The elf in the suit was introduced as "Mr. Witch" and the harlequined elf, who did more of the talking and was much more social, introduced himself as "Mr. Light". These were the carnival's owners.
Mr. Light noted that the group - and Zabbas in particular - was bringing down the mood of the carnival, and wondered what they could do to bring the team more delight and to provide them with a good time. The team expressed their concerns that they had heard that people and things had been going missing from the carnival, and that all didn't seem right. Mr. Light looked nervous about this, and Mr. Witch interjected, stating,"forces are at work on the other side that are entirely beyond our control. The wheel of time turns ever on… what’s lost is lost, what’s gone is gone." By "other side", he meant the feywild, confirming that this is where the carnival was from.
Pressed for further information, the carnival's owners explained that there was a person causing trouble at the carnival; a person known as Kettlesteam. It was implied that Kettlesteam may be the cause of the disappearances and was suggested that if the group captured Kettlesteam, perhaps that would help the situation. Upon inquiry, Mr. Witch explained that Kettlesteam was disrupting performances, and that Palasha the Mermaid was giving the next performance.
Mr. Light stated that he needed to start a parade in order to raise the carnival's mood, and Mr. Witch needed to return to the logistics of running the show. The group decided to stake out the upcoming performance of Palasha the Mermaid, and followed Mr. Light and Burly out of the staff area.
After Mr. Light went off to start his parade, Burly took the jack o'lantern off of his head (revealing that he was a bugbear) and leveled with the group, saying, "Bad things have been happening at the carnival for a while. People and things have been going missing. My bosses know more than they’re telling, but their hands are tied somehow. You’re the first people I’ve met who might be able to set things right. Witch and Light are good guys, but you’ll need leverage to make them spill the beans." He then explained that Mr. Witch's pocket watch is the item that controls the whole carnival, and by purloining it, the group could force the carnival owners to really address the problem.
Catching Kettlesteam
On the way to Silversong Lake, where Palasha's performance was to be held, the group stopped at the calliope to investigate the source of the music heard throughout the carnival. The contraption was crank-operated and appeared to be playing music off of a cylinder, much like a player piano, which seemed to disprove Zabbas's theory that the operator of the instrument was directly controlling the quality of the performance. The operator in question was a small, humanoid-like creature, recognized only by Zabbas as a monkey (the other members of the group had never previously seen one). The monkey wore a cloak covered in buttons and sang a song requesting buttons from the crowd. A goblin dressed as a ladybug went around the crowd, rattling a tin can containing a few buttons, and holding it out for contributions. A few members of the crowd cut or pulled buttons off their garments to drop into the cup. Gabilan was the only member of the group to do so.Satisfied with their investigation of the calliope, the group continued on to Silversong Lake. Along the way, Gabilan spotted a strange person in the crowd: a teenage or pre-teen girl wearing a porcelain pig mask covering the top portion of her face. Disturbingly, the figure just stood and stared out of the mask and had an grayish quality to their skin that gave the impression of a corpse. When Gabilan turned to point this out to the rest of the group, the figure vanished among the crowd.
At Silversong Lake, Zabbas and Willamina positioned themselves at the periphery of the crowd to be on the lookout for anything unusual. Tinga went to the front of the crowd and faced it, looking over everyone. As the mermaid appeared and began to sing her operatic aria, which was accompanied by dancing sculptures summoned from the surrounding water, Gabilan became engrossed in the performance and watched with enjoyment.
Midway through the performance, a woman in fancy dress at the back of the crowd shouted out, "Is this what you call music?!" Tinga, Willamina and Zabbas spotted the woman and noticed that she immediately disappeared in the crowd. Not too far away from where the woman was, a farmer hollered, "I've heard cows that can moo better than this!" Gabilan witnessed the mermaid's voice faltering momentarily and the water sculptures shuddering in their form. The farmer disappeared from view. A third figure in back, not too far from where the woman and the farmer were both spotted, appearing as a pale young man dressed as a clown, yelled,"I can't believe that I ever loved you!" This outburst caused the mermaid to stop her performance, burst into tears, and swim rapidly away from the crowd. Tinga, seeing an opening, whispered a prayer to Pelor and successfully held the clown frozen in place. Zabbas and Willamina rushed over to the clown and Willamina threw a net over the frozen figure.
The trapped creature dropped its illusion, revealing itself to be a small, raven-like humanoid. The party has captured Kettlesteam.
This game was followed by The Wild Beyond the Witchlight: The Witchlight Carnival, Part 2.
Report Date
09 Jan 2023
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