"Like the letter says, I don't think we have much choice," Devon says. "Let's go, and pray that Cayden gives us his luck!"
Harrowland occupies a subsection of a much larger amusement park now called Grislyfair—a dread landscape of undead monsters, evil aberrations, and cruel criminals. Thankfully, Harrowland lies on the outskirts of Grislyfair, so you need not explore the immense park in its entirety.
Originally known as Wonderfair, Grislyfair started as an early reclamation effort after an earthquake devastated the Precipice Quarter. Investors from Magnimar built Harrowland with the intention of making it one component of the larger amusement park; they thought that a fairground inspired by the cards of the Varisian fortune-telling deck called the harrow would seem novel and exciting to Absalomians. However, when a wave of deadly sabotage caused Wonderfair to be abandoned (and then overrun by malevolent spirits) before it even opened, Harrowland too fell by the wayside. There was talk of restoring the park in time for the Radiant Festival, but that lofty goal never came to fruition. Although the park’s attractions and buildings remain standing (perhaps even rife with unclaimed treasure), none dare tread the grounds of Harrowland—supposedly haunted just like the rest of Grislyfair.
Once a lively and colorful amusement park, Harrowland has devolved into a sad shadow of its former spectacle. Weeds grow throughout the park; the once-garish paint has faded and peeled off surfaces; and most of the attractions have fallen into disrepair. Although the buildings still stand, the canvas tents have become worn and frayed. Several smaller tents look torn away entirely, but the largest of them—an enormous big top tent erected for circus spectacles—remains upright despite some sagging.
A 12-foot high wrought, iron fence surrounds Harrowland’s exterior. A gate in the south side of the fence has an enormous sign arching over the top; it used to read “HARROWLAND,” but the second R and second A have long since fallen off and gone missing. Metal barricades across the gate bear signs warning trespassers to keep out by order of the Edgewatch. These barricades can be easily moved aside. Around the rest of the perimeter, tall weeds and shrubs grow tightly packed together on either side of the fence. Some of Harrowland’s attractions are visible above the fence, most notably the Keep carousel and the tall tower called the Big Sky. Additionally, several buildings stand just outside the fence around Harrowland: a condemned tenement to the northwest and two abandoned gambling parlors to the southeast.
"Stay here." Jack says firmly as his spine cracks unpleasantly and a large bat crawls out from the Doctor's coat. It takes to the sky, making sweeps of the fairground.
Jack the bat can see most of Harrowland’s decrepit attractions spread out before The grounds seem largely deserted, but he does spot a number of rag-clad corpses affixed to a climbing wall labeled “The Avalanche.”
The midway contains several purple- and pink-striped tents with carnival games, sideshow displays, and food stalls—all long since abandoned. The entire midway carries a sickly smell of rot. Jack hears the sounds of someone moving carefully between the striped tents, staying out of sight.
Bat-Jack swoops down to try and get a better sense of where the stealthy person is, before flapping back to his colleagues.
"Someone coming, that way." He says sharply, indicating the direction.
"I don't like this." Dani comments while Jack's bat scouts the area. "I'm with Dora, how do we know we aren't falling into a trap here. Also. They didn't really say how we are the solution to the problem, did they?"
Dani prepares to cast a spell on whoever is coming their way.
As you cautiously approach the midway, a man staggers out from between the tents. His eyes have been gouged from his head, and he appears malnourished. "Please, you have to help me! Save me before the Crows find me!"
"One moment." she says, changing her spell tactics.
Suspicious of this man, Dani casts a healing spell on him to see if it helps him.
Afterwards she asks "Crows? What crows?"
The healing spell helps some, though the man is still missing his eyes and malnourished. In blubbering sobs, the man introduces himself as Grulph and tells you all he knows.
A shipwright from the Docks district, Grulph awoke in a prison cell a week ago after being kidnapped. He describes his kidnapper as a hideously mutilated halfling with large strips of skin dangling from the sides of his head and who insisted on being called “the Rabbit Prince.” The halfling told Grulph he was to be part of a “card” called the Vision. The Rabbit Prince had two helpers—tall creatures dressed like humans and wearing crow masks, but they moved in such a strange manner that Grulph realized they weren’t actually humans. These helpers held Grulph in place while the Rabbit Prince plucked out his eyes. The Rabbit Prince expressed glee during the whole process, insisting that Grulph’s cries didn’t matter because Grulph wasn’t a “real person” and that the prince could hurt and kill anyone he wanted because none of them were “real people.”
Grulph managed to escape two days ago when he found the cell door simply open. Grulph considers the Rabbit Prince dangerously erratic, and he seems gripped with mortal terror at the prospect of meeting him again.
Grulph imparts two more pieces of information to you. First, Grulph informs youof another prisoner in the cell next to his—a woman—who Grulph never saw but talked to a few times during dark nights. Her name is Nandy, and the Rabbit Prince gradually tortured her to transform her into some other “card.” Grulph thinks Nandy somehow helped him escape.
Second, before the Rabbit Prince blinded him, Grulph saw the halfling frequently handling a deck of cards. He seems uncertain what those cards are, but the Rabbit Prince had a habit of counting them idly. Grulph got the impression that the Rabbit Prince had lost some of them and had seemed bothered about the missing cards.
Dora recalls a verse she once read about a Rabbit Prince, by an obscure poet, but knows that he cannot be linked to this particular Rabbit Prince. She does however find the unusual title a little unnerving for such as shady character.
"Crows we can deal with. This Rabbit Prince does sound like a nightmare, we will need to keep a careful eye he doesn't surprise us. Grulph, have you seen anyone else since you've been here? Anyone at all?" Dora asks, not wanting to give away anymore information just in case.
The Doctor, fully clothed once more, leans over to speak quietly in Dora's ear. "He has been blinded Dora. Perhaps you should stop alluding to sight quite so often."
Grulph is not aware of anybody else besides his fellow prisoner.
"Don't worry, Grulph. In Cayden's name, we will free Nandy and bring this Rabbit Prince to justice!" Devon declares. He helps escort the blinded man to a safe hiding place before turning to the rest of you. "Where should we begin our search?"
"I didn't see anything in particular on my reconnaissance." Jack says. "Perhaps best to work across the fairground? Either that or go to the central tent."
"Let's work across the fairground first." Dani says, agreeing with Jack's first suggestion.
You start at the first attraction, intending to work your way methodically through the fairgrounds. A tall wooden pavilion shelters a freestanding wall about 20 feet high. The top of the pavilion bears the words, “The Avalanche.” The sheltered wall stands almost, but not quite, vertical. Several leather loops and wooden knots provide handholds and toeholds to climb the wall, but many of these now support a number of rag-clad corpses. A lever protrudes from the base of the wall.
Pulling the lever slightly causes the bodies to eerily shake; moving the lever all the way in either direction, the wall shakes enough that all the bodies come tumbling down. Among the bodies you find a sturdy Harrow card—the Rakshasa. This card depicts a dapper, crocodile- headed man drinking tea while sitting on the back of a crouched, servile figure. The servile figure looks like a short, rabbit-headed man with fine clothing and a battered crown: the Rabbit Prince.
Jack frowns and secrets the card away in one of his many pockets. "Troubling..." He says. "We had best hang onto this. The Rakshasa may prove to be the 'Rabbit Prince's' weakness..."
Dora blushes as Jack points out her faux pas, but luckily as the man is certainly blind, he cannot see her embarrassment; she just hopes that he didn't notice her choice of words in the first place.
"Well if Grulph said this rabbit prince is collecting these cards that are lost, perhaps it may even help fix this sort of madness that is driving the man. Let's keep investigating cautiously."
You move on to the next attraction. This structure looks like a squat castle with several towers and odd, protruding metal limbs that resemble feet. The castle’s open doorways show its interior: a single, darkened room containing a massive, two-story carousel. A sign above the largest open doorway reads, “Welcome to the Keep.”
Three of the carousel horses and replaced them with poorly executed taxidermic creatures: a bear wearing a frilly collar, a horse with a wooden horn attached to its forehead, and a male centaur with a wide hat and bulging saddlebag. They’re labeled “the Bear,” “the Unicorn,” and “the Traveler,” respectively.
The centaur’s saddlebag contains an eclectic variety of items, including a bird cage, a frying pan, and a set of wind chimes. It also includes one of the cards from the Rabbit Prince’s hardened harrow deck: the Juggler. This card displays a cheerful giant juggling objects including boulders, an elephant, and a rowboat containing a tiny, terrified rabbit- headed man wearing fine clothing and a battered crown. There is also a greater potion of flying.
There doesn't seem to be much else here, so you move on to the next attraction. This wooden tower rises about a hundred feet into the air. Despite its apparent age, the structure appears in good shape with an exposed wooden staircase stained by weather but still solid. A sign above the lowest stair reads, “Step Up into the Big Sky!”
Over 150 steps wind around the interior of the open tower to the top level, and the 100-foot tower is as solid as it appears. Weather has mostly worn away the scenes painted along the staircase; however, certain depictions remain clear: the lowest levels have people moving through caves, the middle levels portray them ascending into mountainous land, and the levels near the top show them standing beneath a large sky with sunlight shining down.
The top of the tower provides an excellent view of Harrowland, Grislyfair, and even much of Absalom beyond. Tattered canvas covers a wooden sign at the top of the tower approximately 5 feet square. The words “New Attraction Coming Soon” appear barely legible in faded paint on the canvas.
Dani points at the canvas and says "I wonder what's under there?"
She looks to the brave, strong men and asks "Would one of you be a dear and take a peek?"
"Of course," Devon says with a smirk. He lifts up the canvas.
The sign beneath looks new, as though freshly painted. It shows a massive, horned devil plucking laughing people from a high tower and tossing them into its enormous mouth. A moment after the sign is revealed, the devil manifests, pulling themself out of the sign and rising into the air on powerful wings. They roar in anger, brandishing their spiked chain!
"Bother!" Jack says succinctly.
He reacts quickly despite the devil's unnatural aura, lashing out at its joints with the Doctor's Lancet.
"Ahh! We should have left it on the ground!"
Though frightened, she picks up her violin and begins to play.
The devil dodges Jack's attack before flying up out of melee range. It hurls a small ball of flame that detonates in a huge fireball!
The doctor is not having a good day, as he is caught by the fireball! Luckily his innate reflexes help him avoid some of the damage.
With the devil out of range Jack withdraws his crossbow and gets to shooting!
As they are exploring, Dora can't help but sigh. "I can imagine this place would've been a great laugh in its heyday - I wish we could have come here."
As soon as the devil jumps out from under the cover, Dora leaps backward from surprise but isn't quick enough to avoid the flames that scorch her pale skin.
Calling upon her arcane might, she tries to banish the devil to its original plane.
Success The target resists being banished.
Failure The target is banished.
Critical Failure The target is banished and can't return by any means to the plane it's banished from for 1 week.
The devil avoids banishment!
Devon cries out in pain as the flames scorch him. He raises his spiked shield and fires two of the spines at the devil.
Likewise, Dani is not quick enough to avoid the flames and gets burned like her allies. She picks up a loose brick and flings it at the devil!
The devil dodges Dani’s Projectile and Jack’s bolt, but Devon’s spikes strike it. Seeing how its first fireball was effective, it repeats the tactic!
"We have to stop that thing!" Dora yells, her skin scorching further as the fire envelops her, now moving further round her side, and covering her back.
This time Jack avoids the flames entirely, but he is still extremely limited in how he can retaliate...
Devon takes the full fireball blast again, though this time he is able to intervene to protect Dora! He lays hands on himself before firing two more spines that the devil dodges. "We have to either get up there or bring it down here!"
Dani cries out as the fire burns her again. She tries to make a suggestion to the devil to come down and fight, but it resists her compulsion. Dora's lightning singes the fiend, though, and Jack lands a critical hit with his crossbow!
The devil swoops down at Jack, lashing out from above with its spiked chain. It tries to wrap the dhampir up and yank him off of his feet, but Devon intervenes to try to help Jack escape!
The Doctor's superb command of acrobatics allows him to wriggle free of the chain with Devon's help! Thoroughly unimpressed the Doctor fires at the devil once more!
Dora takes a moment and steps back a little before focusing on herself, taking a deep breath and trying to calm the panic that is rising inside her.
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Hoping to make use of her song as it fades, Dani flings another piece of rubble at the creature.
"I've got you now!" Devon shouts, slicing the devil with his holy sword now that it is within reach! Jack and Dani both manage to strike it as well while Dora heals herself.
Badly wounded, the cornugon roars in pain as the holy energies scour its impure flesh. It turns its rage on Devon, but it somehow misses with all three of its attacks!
Jack lands some swift blows of his own as the devil reels from Devons assault.
"Back to hell with you!" Devon declares, smiting the fiend. Between his holy blade and Jack's precise stabs, the devil finally falls!
Dani tries to add the extra oomph needed to bring the fiend down. Once the battle is over, she starts to attend to the injuries her team, starting with Devon.
"Nice work everyone. In retrospect, we should have left that alone I suppose."
"Live and learn, I suppose," Devon says, laying hands on himself again before praying to Cayden to restore his focus. "Better we dealt with the fiend than some other unsuspecting passerby fall prey to it!"
Jack joins in the patching up and doesn't comment on the foolishness of activating the demon trap in the first place.
Dora droops a little, tired from the fight and watching her allies get hurt again and again. She goes to help Jack patch up Devon but gets shooed away before Jack even helps out Dora.
She gives him a quiet nod in thanks before scanning the fairground around them, wary of any more threats that may surface.
After a 30 minute break, you continue exploring the fairground. Searching through the ruined carnival tents, you find a few treasures. The mundane hammer in a test-of-strength carnival game called The Forge has an iron cudgel affixed to it. A small stage advertises “A Star-Crossed Marriage: the Fire-Eater and the Fish-Woman” and holds an enormous fish tank. A potion of greater electricity resistance is half-submerged in a layer of sludge at the bottom of the tank.
At the end of the carnival midway, a rectangular stone building appears adorned with faded red and green paint. The north door has a faded sign reading, “Enter Other Side,” and the south door bears a much larger sign reading, “Meet Your Twin in the Hall of Mirrors.” Both doors open easily. Of the 17 mirrors inside the building, only seven aren’t badly cracked, making it a simple matter to navigate the hall.
Proceeding carefully, Jack discovers magic runes on the mirror closest to the north exit. Dora identifies it as a darkside mirror, which can create evil magic duplicates of those who see their reflections in it. Wisely, you give it a wide berth.
Beyond the hall of mirrors, two parallel iron rails wind around a pair of wooden and canvas hills, rising and falling over the artificial landforms. An open pavilion to the south contains a few rusted mine carts whose wheels, now broken and decrepit, once allowed them to roll on the tracks. A sign on the pavilion reads, “Ride the Cyclone!” Nothing of value remains near the ruined roller coaster.
To the west, wooden planks enclose an open yard 50 feet deep and 70 feet wide, its interior filled with heaps of sand. The building behind the sand pit is painted with pyramids and sphinxes beneath a desert moonlight. A sign above a gap in the planks reads, “Welcome to the Desert! Experience Distant Osirion!”
Beyond this is a small booth painted a dull gray. A sign above the door, just faintly visible, reads, “Learn Your Fortune from the Mute Hag.” This one-room building appears cramped with fortune-telling bric-a-brac, such as gauzy veils, cords strung with beads, and a velvet-covered table with a crystal ball upon it. The interior of the room feels significantly colder than the exterior.
A ghostly figure hovers behind the table with the crystal ball, opposite a wooden chair. She resembles an elven woman wearing a headscarf over long, white hair and a cloth gag over her mouth. The cloth appears noticeably more solid than the rest of her and has a glaring eyeball painted on it.
She gestures for one of you to sit in the chair and look into the crystal ball. A tag on the table reads, “Gaze into the Crystal Ball to See the Hidden Truth!”
Dora steps forward and then thinks better of it. "Doctor Maturin, perhaps your sharp eyesight would be best here?" She asks, trying to cover for her own retreat.
Jack rolls his eyes, but when dealing with a ghost being a dhampir does have advantages.
"So, what do I do?" He asks sardonically. "Look into the ball, or would you care to examine my palms?"
The ghost gestures to the ball again. When Jack looks into the crystal ball, he can see a harrow card titled the Rabbit Prince, which shows a rabbit-headed man gripping his broken sword and looking unbearably sad. The card appears to float within the ball. The spirit then gestures at the gag on her mouth, pantomiming that she’ll give Jack the card if he removes her gag.
For some reason, that seems like a bad idea to the dhampir. This spirit doesn’t seem very friendly...
Jack reaches out and picks up the crystal ball. "No, I don't think I will." He says calmly. "I'll help you if you want to pass on. But as a doctor I have issues with the living dead."
Lifting the crystal ball, Jack sees that it was actually physically resting on the harrow card, so anyone looking into the crystal ball would see its reflection within. The ghostly woman is angry that the ruse has been revealed, and she rises up to attack!
Sensing that Jack isn’t fully alive, the spirit flies at Devon, her form rippling and becoming indistinct. She reaches for the champion, inflicting him with her terrifying touch!