Chapter 1: Witchlight Carnival

[ManWithDoor]

Quill moves over to the gnome laughing her head off, and investigates with his intelligence and training. Being remarkably knowledgeable in magic despite her martial background, she recognizes the tell-tale uncontrollable mirth of "Tasha's Hideous Laughter" upon the attempted-to-be-engaged woman. And now that she is closer to the mannequin behind the glass, she can feel that if she gets within a few feet of it she too will become a target.

The mute Clown claps in delight, his face beaming with a grin. When she brings up the possibility of paying for the distraught marriage-proposer the grin disappears and he shakes his head sadly. He points at her ticket brightly emblazoned with her name. The tickets are non-transferrable. While you yourselves know the penalty for sneaking into the Carnival entire without a ticket, you are vague on what might happen for not getting your ticket punched.

[Othniel]

"Oh dear," Trixie frowns. "Perhaps one of us should go after him?"

[RorytheRomulan]

Quill looks at Tasha with new suspicion. "Yeah, I'd better go. You guys don't get too close to 'Tasha', alright? She played a magic prank on them."

Having gotten her ticket punched already, she turns and hurries inside the tent to find a sad halfling, with Welcome warbling on her back.

[Muskrat]

Shiloh frowns angrily at the mannequin. "Not a very nice prank," she says, wondering if her joke that the mannequin was actually a mage in disguise had actually hit uncomfortably near the truth. She walks over to the laughing halfling and says soothingly, "Don't worry--you're under a spell. Apparently cast by the mannequin. It should wear off in a bit. One of my companions has gone after your ... boyfriend to explain what happened to him."

Action

Persuasion 5

[ManWithDoor]

The woman struggles to overcome the Hideous Laughter, but magic being what it is it very seldom can be talked through. But she manages to get out a few words, saying that her name of Ween Sundapple. Her sweetheart is Rubin Sugarwood, and she is laughing/crying about him running away.

The mute Clown looks shocked at Quill running in after the distraught gnome, but does nothing to stop it. While the entrance itself is black as night, right after passing through there is plenty of light to see. Tall mirrors line the interior walls of the tent. The mirrors near the entrance reflect Quill in her youth - almost exactly the same age as when she snuck into the Carnival herself. The mirrors form a maze that can only be traversed so fast, without accidentally running right into a mirror. Rubin the gnome is nowhere within Quill's sight, but with the maze nature of the mirrors he might be just five feet away and not be seen.

[Bohemond]

Jack looks at the panic, his demeanor turning more serious at the sight of the Halfling running into the Hall of Mirrors. No matter how long he has worked, he could never say what might happen next, but it was never what could be expected. He quickly gets his ticket punched and follows Quill into the Hall, hastily running on all fours. "Violet, are you nearby!?!" the Harengon calls out to seemingly no one as he enters moves to catch up with Quill.

[RorytheRomulan]

Quill freezes and stares at the many reflections. It seems that the carnival never lets a guest - or an intruder - forget old mischief. After the initial surprise passes, she walks through the maze, navigating and continuing her search. Welcome becomes quiet as her movements slow down.

Actions

Perception 23/20 to find halfling
Investigation/Int 8/18 to navigate maze
I rolled using the Roll20 app for the campaign, but I got two numbers for each. I am not sure which ones to keep, or why it did that.

Back when we were talking about the effigy of Tasha, after leaning in to try and disprove an illusion, Quill got her ticket punched. She would have had to move back to the clown, but I felt it went without saying. So, I should be OK to be in here, right?

Lol, Jack has other priorities.

[Muskrat]

Shiloh says to Ween, "Let's find some place for you to sit, while we wait for the spell to ware off and my friends looks for Rubin. It seems the people who run the carnival have a nasty sense of humor." She looks around for a bench or the like nearby where they can sit and wait.

[ManWithDoor]

Out of seeming nowhere a tiny figure streaks to the shoulder of Jack, then screeches to a halt right above his head. She is dressed light a miniature princess with a floofy ballgown, with a candy scepter in hand. Her wings are painted in butterfly colors and shine brightly. In a piping voice she declares her arrival. "Violet is Princess Violet tonight! A little child declared it so, and thus it must be true." Her smile is joyous and lightens the heart.

Jack and Violet catch up to Quill, similarly taken aback for a moment at what they see in the mirror. Being Witchlight Hands they've been through as many times as they've wanted, but regardless what they see in the mirrors hits just as hard as the first time. After contemplating their past selves they help in the search for Rubin.

Moving deeper into the Hall the images in the mirror alter to be middle-aged, or at least a possible future of what you could look like then. This is energizing to you, with thoughts of accomplishments and good deeds to come flowing through your minds.

After a couple minutes of searching, Quill is the first to spot the halfling in a corner, gazing worriedly into a mirror. Besides his middle-aged self, another figure can be seen in the pane, a little girl in a pig mask, whispering to Rubin's reflection. As soon as you get close the girl behind the glass sees you arrive, and she turns and disappears. Rubin still stares at the mirror as though deep in thought.

OOC

Rory - no worries about not specifically declaring you got your Ticket punched. You're good.
As for the rolls, they confused me at first too. Since D&D 5E uses Advantage/Disadvantage all the time, they just built the double roll into everything. So if you have Adv/Dis you've got your options right there, but if not just use the first/left number as your singular roll. So you rolled a Perception check of 23. Excellent.

[RorytheRomulan]

Quill shrugs off her changing appearance. One of the reasons she had suggested the Hall of Illusions in the first place was because she had gone in before, many years ago. She is only surprised again when she sees something, what it is she cannot say, retreat into the dark behind the mirror. "Who was that?" she asks. There is more to this place than mere trickery, and it rekindles her sense of wonder. She reaches and grabs Rubin's hand.

"Hey, it's not safe for you here," she warns. "You need to punch your ticket."