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.
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ManWithDoor
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by ManWithDoor » Tue Feb 01, 2022 4:44 am

The traveling extravaganza known as the Witchlight Carnival visits your world once every eight years. Like clockwork, more reliable than magistrates or kings, even more reliable than taxes. You have a dim memory of sneaking into the Carnival as a child, and as fate would have it, without paying for a ticket. That memory has grown foggy over time, though it still conjures a weird admixture of emotions - wonder and awe, mixed with loss and regret. During this childhood visit, your character lost ... something. Something deep and personal, that has marked you for life. You tried to find it in other areas of your life, like trying to rekindle the spark with a past lover. But there is nothing inside to grow again, the emptiness is whole and complete.

As a child not understanding the scope of what had happened, you tried to find it at that time but the carnival owners - a pair of elves named Mister Witch and Mister Light - were decidedly unhelpful.

"Silly little screeching cricket," said Witch. "You forgot to buy a ticket."

"The Carnival goes round and round," said Light. "The multiverse is our playground. Nothing's free and nothing's lost. Every visit has a cost."

---

As time passed, your heart became less heavy, and you gave less and less thought to those childhood events. You learned to live with the loss, but have been forever lessened by it. Some went back to their normal lives, while some even traveled with the Carnival hoping to fill that void, but neither has found what was lost. Now, for reasons you can't explain, the longing to retrieve that which you have lost has resurfaced, as though an old spell has faded away, allowing you to feel the loss as sharply as if it happened yesterday.

The Witchlight Carnival has returned exactly on the eighth year, and you find yourself standing near a ticket booth by the entrance at twilight, just as the Carnival is about to open. There you meet others who look as troubled as you, dressed as both attendees and Carnies. Without knowing how or why, you sense that each of them has lost something as well. Perhaps fate has brought you together.
You should now be able to see the Witchlight Carnival layout in Roll20. You are all by the Ticket Booth. Feel free to introduce your character, and strike up a conversation!
Rule Number 12: "A soft answer turneth away wrath. Once wrath is looking the other way, shoot it in the head."

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RorytheRomulan
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Tue Feb 01, 2022 9:14 am

Quill finds herself smiling at the sight of the big top in the distance all lit up by the lights hanging all over the carnival grounds past the booth. Her breathing quickens at the memories from all there was to do the last time she was here, and the new experiences waiting within. The gnome quickens her pace to reach the booth. Suddenly she stops, having noticed a familiar sight: a large rabbit, almost as big as she is, heading to the booth as well. The booth can wait, she tells herself, and she walks straight up to him instead.

"Hey! Hey, fancy meeting you here!" She reaches out and touches his shoulder before offering her hand to shake, containing the urge to give the Harengon a full-body hug. Does he recognize her? Or has she made a mistake?

(to Jack)

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PrideofSkirata
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by PrideofSkirata » Wed Feb 02, 2022 1:46 am

Marania looks upon the people and smiles as she begins to play her lute and dances for the people feelings the music an she opens her voice to start her song
"A young man walked through the forest
With his quiver and hunting bow
He heard a young girl singing
And followed the sound below
There he found the maiden
Who lives in the willow
He called to her as she listened
From a ring of toadstools red
'Come with me my maiden
Come from thy willow bed'
She looked at him serenely
And only shook her head.
'See me now, a ray of light in the moondance
See me now, I cannot leave this place
Hear me now, a strain of song in the forest
Don't ask me, to follow where you lead'
A young man walked through the forest
With a flower and coat of green
His love had hair like fire
Her eyes an emerald sheen
She wrapped herself in beauty
So young and so serene
He stood there under the willow
And he gave her the yellow bloom
'Girl my heart you've captured
Oh I would be your groom'
She said she'd wed him never
Not near, nor far, nor soon
'See me now, a ray of light in the moondance
See me now, I cannot leave this place
Hear me now, a strain of song in the forest
Don't ask me, to follow where you lead'
A young man walked through the forest
With an axe sharp as a knife
I'll take the green-eyed fairy
And she shall be my wife
With her I'll raise my children
With her I'll live my life
The maiden wept when she heard him
When he said he'd set her free
He took his axe and used it
To bring down her ancient tree
'Now your willow's fallen
Now you belong to me'
'See me now, a ray of light in the moondance
See me now, I cannot leave this place
Hear me now, a strain of song in the forest
Don't ask me, to follow where you lead'
She followed him out the forest, and collapsed upon the earth
Her feet had walked but a distance,
From the green land of her birth
She faded into a flower,
That would bloom for one bright eve
He could not take from the forest,
What was never meant to leave."
she danced playing her lyre long and hard as she put down her case for those that wished to give her coin.
Last edited by PrideofSkirata on Wed Feb 02, 2022 4:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Bohemond
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Bohemond » Wed Feb 02, 2022 2:23 am

Jack Swiftfoot, clad in a patchwork costume and his ears poking through a wide-brimmed hat, darts about amongst the crowd making its way to the ticket booth, hopping up amongst any surface to make himself heard amongst the bigfolk.

"Come one, come all! Mr. Witch and Mr. Light cordially invite you to the Witchlight Carnival, the wonder of the known universe. Sights, tastes, and experiences unparalleled and unfathomable unless you experience it yourself! A kingdom of pixies! Dragonfly rides! A big top extravaganza! Food, drink, and music fit for a king! A fortune's worth of memories for the price of one ticket!"

The harengon hops down, his turn barking at the entrance approaching its end. He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see a wiry gnomish lass. He gives her an inquisitive look as she greets him, taking an instant to remember her.

"Truffles! Quill, how long has it been?" Jack asks, not waiting for an answer before grabbing her hand and giving his impromptu and probably surprised dance partner and quick spin before releasing her. "How is your warren doing? I had no idea I was so close to home!"

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Othniel
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Othniel » Wed Feb 02, 2022 5:01 am

"Has it been eight years already?" asks aloud one of the gathered fey creatures as she flits into the scene. The speaker is a small woman clad in a dress the color of spring leaves. Her hair a shock of red-orange flame flying loose as her iridescent butterfly wings deposit her before the gnome and harengon.

"Oh, sorry. Do you two know each other?"

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RorytheRomulan
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by RorytheRomulan » Wed Feb 02, 2022 8:00 am

Quill yelps and twirls with Jack, and nods to the red-haired fairy.

"Hey, I'm Quill. Jack's warren is a mile away from where I grew up. All's well at the tunnel, Jack," she says, and launches into the latest news from her home. "Dysi's having a baby soon, so Candon's expanded downward to move his workshop with help from the moles. Gipi gave him a few cans of worms to bribe them with in exchange for a new line and a reinforced fishing rod. He needed a new one after muck drained into the fishing pond from the swamp, and it still needs to be cleaned out."

She stops and calls out toward the edge of the path, where a small, shaggy critter is marking a fallen log with its teeth. "Welcome, come here! Say hello to Jack!"

With a twitch the rodent, a porcupine, looks over at the sound of Quill's voice, and waddles over, chittering. As Quill reaches down and scoops up the porcupine, it latches on and shimmies up her arm and shoulder to perch awkwardly, holding on by its claws.

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Muskrat
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Muskrat » Wed Feb 02, 2022 7:14 pm

Image

Shiloh had forgotten her home, but she had never forgotten her search for her home. Hearing that the Witchlight Carnival had arrived nearby, she hurried there. Perhaps, just perhaps, if we she went--and this time paid for her ticket--she could find something that would lead her home. The others see a not-quite-adult halfling woman, with a mass of unruly red hair kept semi-under control by braids and a bandana, with a big smile and twinkling eyes.
I'm thinking that Shiloh is lost, far from home (presumably) that she didn't necessarily go to the carnival exactly eight years ago, but at some other time when it arrived where she lived.
When Mariana begins playing her song, Shiloh listens closely for a moment, than takes out her fiddle and begins playing herself, working in notes to support the song. When Mariana finishes, Shiloh walks up to her and holds out her hand to shake. "Hello. I'm Shiloh Briarroam. That was a fine tune you played. I hope you don't mind me joining it to make it finer."

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Bohemond
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Bohemond » Thu Feb 03, 2022 3:07 am

"Where are my manners!?! I should be the one trying to facilitate introductions and I'm just standing here like a mushroom on a log. Quill, this is my good friend Trixi. She works with me in the fair," Jack says with a flourish. "Trixi, this my good friend Quill. We grew up in the same forest. Although it seems I now have competition," the Harengon continues with equal flourish, taking a moment to gingerly rub the underside of the porcupine's snout, avoiding the quills. "An evening of friends, old and new! Truly a great evening for a carnival!"

As Jack speaks, two faces in the crowd seem to catch his attention. The tiefling who began singing in front of the entrance, and a young halfling who joined in on her fiddle. The fur on Jack's skin ever so slightly rises, and the breeze seemed to be even more magical than normal. Now, the young harengon had never been accused of being a deep thinker, but something about the two performers, and his two friends, and even the porcupine ...

"Does anyone else feel that?..." he says, his voice trailing off.

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Othniel
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by Othniel » Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:02 am

Trixi grins as Jack introduces her more properly. "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Quill," the fairy says in greeting, curtseying gracefully. As Trixi approaches, the air is filled with the aroma of...freshly-baked brownies?

"Trixephenelia Greenmantle for long, or Trixi for short as you prefer. At least that's what I am this cycle, haha!"

"Feel what, Jack?

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PrideofSkirata
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Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

Post by PrideofSkirata » Thu Feb 03, 2022 5:16 am

Mara: she laughs it’s alright the sound of good music sometimes sweeps me away to she laughs as her blond and green hair blows in the wind as she sniffs the air and in her own stomach she get the feeling somethings not right wings were still completely concealed as due to her shape shifting and she puts her finger to her lips and makes a stranger face that looks like a pucker but she then thinks inside of her head “be this magic thingy has always been weird and should only be used on men she smiled at this thought like a kinky wet dream.” Then quickly snaps back to her self realizing like an airhead she was drooling

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