Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Once every eight years, the fantastic Witchlight Carnival touches down on your world, bringing joy to one settlement after the next. Its owners, Mister Witch and Mister Light, know how to put on a good show. But there’s more to this magical extravaganza than meets the eye!

The carnival is a gateway to a fantastic Feywild domain unlike anything found on the Material Plane. Time has not been kind to this realm, however, and dark days lie ahead unless someone can thwart the dastardly schemes of the Hourglass Coven.
User avatar
ManWithDoor
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9301
Location: California, USA
Title: Imperial Psyker
User Class: Imperial Psyker

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by ManWithDoor » Mon May 29, 2023 5:10 pm

With those guesses the ride starts up spontaneously, without evident prompting by Diana Cloppington. The unicorns fully animate, looking alive despite their wooden construction. Each of the party feels the unicorns telepathically connect with their minds, and they feel prompted to ask a question each according to their need.
You get 1 Question each, to be posed to the unicorns. The unicorns want to be helpful and generous, so if the exact question you ask isn't going to end up fruitful, they will volunteer useful information to help you out anyways.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

User avatar
Muskrat
Level 21 Elite
Level 21 Elite
Posts: 10513
Location: The Secret Places Beneath the Earth
Title: Keeper of the Hidden Word
User Class: Scholar

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Muskrat » Mon May 29, 2023 7:31 pm

Shiloh knew that they had come here seeking to clues to who might be disrupting the carnival but they had only one question each, so she asked the one closest to her heart. Leaning forward and hugging the unicorn around the neck, she whispered with her mind, "How can I get back the lost memories of my childhood and my home that were taken from me here?"

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1836
Location: US

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Tue May 30, 2023 1:25 am

Quill stares at the unicorns in amazement, afraid to wonder out loud if they are animated by spirits. They must be, since they feel to her like they come from other minds, but arcane magic has a way of mimicking even that. "People have been going missing. Someone's lurking about and causing trouble," she says to Fall and Pride, prefacing her inquiry. The gnome thinks hard about everything she's seen and heard, hoping that the unicorns will pick up on all of it. Including poor Diana spitting out tree sap. "Have you seen anything or anyone suspicious?"

User avatar
ManWithDoor
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9301
Location: California, USA
Title: Imperial Psyker
User Class: Imperial Psyker

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by ManWithDoor » Sun Jun 11, 2023 6:03 pm

Shiloh sees in vision a dead, hollowed-out tree in a sylvan forest. Going into the giant corpse of a tree, she sees paradoxically a bright pink dollhouse with a single occupant, a bitter and paranoid hag. The unicorn's voice sounds in Shiloh's head, telling of Skabatha Nightshade, mistress of Thither, who steals memories from others in a desperate quest to fill her own memory, as she is cursed to forget the first creature she sees when she wakes up.

Quill sees in vision the warlock Patron Zyvilna frozen in time, their domain of Prismeer split amongst three hags - Bavlorna Blightstraw, Skabatha Nightshade, and Endelyn Moongrave - who have broken Prismeer into three separate splinter-realms, named Hither, Thither, and Yon. The glory of the old domain has been corrupted, with the hags stealing and collecting from other Fey realms and the mortal plane itself to satisfy their eternal cravings.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

User avatar
Muskrat
Level 21 Elite
Level 21 Elite
Posts: 10513
Location: The Secret Places Beneath the Earth
Title: Keeper of the Hidden Word
User Class: Scholar

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Muskrat » Mon Jun 12, 2023 6:57 pm

"Thank you," says Shiloh to the unicorn. "I don't know how I'll find her but I will."

She continues riding for a while, hugging the unicorn's neck. When the ride ends, she hops off and approaches the others. "Have any of you heard of a place called Thither? Or a hag named Skabatha Nigthshade? The unicorn told me that she is the one who stole my memories of my childhood home."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1836
Location: US

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Tue Jun 13, 2023 9:55 pm

Quill shivers, then pats one of the unicorns, and goes to tell Jack and the rest.

"That's odd. I asked the unicorns about our little investigation, and they said three hags seized Prismeer and carved it up between them. One of them is Nightshade, the other two are... Bavlorna Blightstraw, and Endelyn Moongrave," she continues, nervous about speaking the name of the other two hags, let alone even one. "They've each been stealing from other planes, things like memories and thoughts, children, who knows what else."

She turns to Kettlesteam. "The unicorns said--no, they showed me, a vision of Zibylna frozen in time. The hags have run roughshod over her domain, corrupted it."

User avatar
Muskrat
Level 21 Elite
Level 21 Elite
Posts: 10513
Location: The Secret Places Beneath the Earth
Title: Keeper of the Hidden Word
User Class: Scholar

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Muskrat » Wed Jun 14, 2023 7:20 pm

Shiloh takes this in for a moment. "Well, I think that answers a whole lot of questions. Mr. Witch and Mr. Light are ... I was going to say working for these hags, but that doesn't sound right. They may not be doing so voluntarily. But there's still the mystery of what hold the hags over them and how we break it. Now that we know this much, if confronted Mr. Witch and Mr. Light, do you think they might tell us more?"

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1836
Location: US

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Fri Jun 16, 2023 2:11 am

Quill looks at their Kenku pal from time to time, expecting him to fly off in fury at the staff lounge any second. "We could go to Lost Property to get that beast whatsit to confirm what we've figured out. But Kettlesteam's problem is recent, isn't it? To me, it feels like whatever deal they worked out with Prismeer has been taken over, and now they're slaves to it. I think we can bank on them not being able to afford to ignore us, lest we start spreading this around."

User avatar
ManWithDoor
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9301
Location: California, USA
Title: Imperial Psyker
User Class: Imperial Psyker

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by ManWithDoor » Mon Jun 19, 2023 2:50 am

Kettlesteam does look skittish as dark secrets are uncovered, more harrowing than he had been prepared to deal with. "Hey, I'm all for getting rid of these problems, but Hags? That aren't just out in some lost woods somewhere, but have their claws on permanent land in the Feywilds? That ain't good, that ain't good." His wings are shaking as he fights the urge to fly away. Anywhere, as long as it's away.
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

User avatar
RorytheRomulan
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 1836
Location: US

Re: Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Mon Jun 19, 2023 2:21 pm

"Well, you got a point. But we gotta go hold them to task and see what their plan B is, or pressure them to make one. Otherwise, you don't want poor Zibylna to stay like that, do you?"

Post Reply