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"Thank you, all of you, for your insight." Nuruk said to the unicorns, almost reluctant to leave the fantastical beasts' sides. They were such a rarity outside of this place, the mere fortune of having their wisdom was a welcome gift. Now he had a name to his enemy and a kernel of truth to the mysteries of the carnival.
The tears that spilled from the girl's face brought a sad smile to the paladin, Nuruk's wide hand reaching out to wipe them away from her face as they began to fall.
"Hope is the purest form of light. Do not let it go out. Your light will shine on others and from them, to even more. You are a good person, Diana, and we will do all that we can." He then leaves her side and joins the other, speaking in a low tone for each of them to hear.
"This Hourglass Coven is composed of three. Blightstraw took from Willow and I, her creatures are created in her image. Sammy and Karley were attacked by Skabatha's minion, a ghoul risen from a child named Sowpig." His attention turned towards Vashrin at the last. "Celeste was taken by the Shadow, a shadow torn from one of Endelyn's performers." Listening to Khalil's tale, the dragonborn reached out cautiously and gripped the young man's shoulder with the reassurance of a comrade. His whole childhood had been stolen, sold into the world of the fey by a foolish drunkard.
"Like us, you have suffered my friend. You may not have been one with us when we were children but you are welcome to be a Defender with us now. This Coven is the source of the carnival's darkness and it must be stopped. There is some good news though, they said that no worker truly works for the Coven here, only their minions stalk the carnival's shadows. I also learned of Mr. Witch and Mr. Light's place here in the Carnival."
"They once had different names and ran a carnival similar to one like this, one made of fear and gloom. They crossed this carnival travelling the planes many years ago and, after many drinks, struck a deal; the owners would switch carnivals until the day they met again because they could not agree which carnival was the better of the two. What the two did not expect was to fall in love with this carnival and the joy it brings." Nuruk says softly, smiling gently at the thought of their hearts being changed. His attitudes in regard to the two of them had changed swiftly with this revelation and with it, anger at the coven grew. "It is tied to Prismeer and so the Coven have leverage on the carnival. If they are not allowed to hunt within it, they will ensure the two carnivals will meet again and Mr. Witch and Mr. Light will be forced to leave. This thought terrifies the two of them. They have managed to curtail their hunger to only strike at trespassers with no ticket and they work tirelessly to ensure that they are kept out...but the task is impossible. There will always be trespassers and thus, there will always be prey. We must free this place and let it be the Light that it can be." Nuruk wondered Mr. Light's words on his defiant nature back in that day. Did he know that those small, sad, and angry children might be the aid that he needed?
"Improving the happiness of this place, disrupting the darkness of the Coven, and becoming the Witchlight Monarch is our goal. I am certain that if we get close and explain ourselves, our purpose, they will let us through." The paladin's smile had grown confident all the while as he stood up straight from his conspiratorial whispering. "Let us fan out, talk to the workers, and find the wrongs waiting in the dark. No longer are we without might, let us be the light." Years of rhyming still held strong and even now, he could sometimes feel his tongue wishing to speak in strange rhythms again.
When Nuruk names their assailant, Willow shudders. "Blightstraw, eh? A fitting name," she says quietly, more to herself than anything else.
She nods along with the dragonborn's proclamation, and rolls the current options that they knew of around in her brain. "There are disappearances...not just Star, but some other carnival folks who have some people missing, too. I'm sure if we don't stumble across more like Diana, we can ask around." She looks to Karley and raises her eyebrows. "Anyone you can think of who's been needing some help?"
Willow follows Karley's finger, furrowing her brows for a moment before putting it together. "Oooh, one of the mermaids might need some help? That'd be a good one, too. Maybe Dirla first, then the Lake?" She directs this question to the Defenders (mentally grouping Khalil and Kettlesteam in with the Defenders, too -- they are part of this).
"Lead the way." Vashrin says, happy to after all of this time have at least the vaguest idea of how to find his sister.
Khalil nods his agreement with the dragonborn's words. His eyes burn with the fire of determination at the full extent of what has been happening comes into light. Regardless of what was taken from him personally, it was clear that evil was lurking deep within the carnival. These witches of the Hourglass Coven. Their curses and torments. Reaping their wickedness upon innocents. Twisting the festival's joy and light into misery and darkness. He could not stand by and ignore such a thing. If defeating this Hourglass Coven helped him recover his lost memories, then all the better. But he would do what he could even if nary a single childhood moment returned to his heart.
He follows the others back toward the Lost and Found, his eyes roving the carnival for any signs of others who might be suffering or in some kind of trouble.
Taking your leave of Diana and the carousel, you begin retracing your steps back the way you came, towards the Lost Property tent. There are a cacophony of sights and sounds along the way. Nearby, you watch as an elf up on stilts tosses handfuls of free candy down for children as he passes by. They scamper after it, a couple of enterprising young ones following after the source of candy from the sky, their parents chasing after them.
You see Dirlagraun up ahead, keeping a wary eye on the joyful tots, as well, just in case their parents lost sight of them. The boys he was watching before have gone, and he's currently alone at the stall.
When they arrive at the Lost Property tent, Willow presents a small bow in place of a smile, something the big cat-like creature is probably used to. "Hey again, Dirla. We have something a little bit sensitive to talk to you about if you're up for it."
"Ah, back so soon? What is it you wish to speak about?"
She takes a deep breath, steeling herself slightly for the impending conversation. "We have uncovered some information that could help lead us to the things we lost at the carnival...and things other folks have lost. We wanted to ask you a little bit about Star's disappearance... we have a hunch that it is related to what we've found out." She crosses her arms over her chest, clearly uncomfortable with the thought of causing Dirla any pain.
The displacer beast's eyes shifted to the mirrored ball that had triggered his outburst earlier in the evening, then back to Willow, intently. "You have a lead? By all means. Ask anything you wish. Even the slightest chance it could lead to finding him..."
"There is a nefarious group behind the scenes, even behind Mr. Witch and Mr. Light. They have caused pain for visitors and workers alike and are the cause of our misfortunes that terrible night." Nuruk adds. "We think they may be involved in the Star's disappearance; causing misery is a past-time of theirs. If you can, can you tell us about the day that Star disappeared? Anything strange? Unusual? Anything he said or saw that day? If Mr. Light or if Mr. Witch became involved at all?"
Khalil simply waits for the big cat to answer while staying alert for any sign that an agent of the coven might be taking notice of their efforts and the questions being asked.
Vashrin waits by for the displacer beast's response to Nuruk's questions, glancing around the area on the off chance he can see another poor soul in need of the Defender's help.
Dirlagraun took a moment to collect his thoughts. "There wasn't much special about that day. Yet every detail is burned into my memory, since it's the last time I saw him. We'd had venison for lunch. Talked about making kites. Star was practicing an act for the big top show-- he was of an age where he very much looked forward to growing up, and was eager to find his path.
"That evening when the carnival opened, he was nowhere to be found. No one saw him leave. One witness had seen him near the hall of illusions about an hour before I'd begun to worry, and after questioning nearly everyone, we determined that had been the last time anyone saw him. I looked everywhere, tried following his scent... Nothing. He just disappeared.
"Witch and Light conveyed their sincere sympathies, but all they could tell me was that he wasn't within the carnival anymore. He knew better than to leave it, though. I nearly stayed behind on that world to search for him, but I knew he wasn't there. Not sure how .. Just a feeling."
Vashrin scowls. "So then it is definitely the Hourglass Coven is responsible for Star as well, given Witch and Light's response...but why would they take Star? He wasn't a trespasser like we were."
"You say he was eager to grow up and perform. Do you think that he might have been tricked into inadvertently making a deal with one of them like what happened with Diana?" Vashrin asks the group as much as Dirlagraun.
"It's likely." Khalil says with a nod at Vashrin's supposition. "But it also could have been a simple act to bring more misery." He glances at Dirlagraun. See the pain of loss in the big cat's eyes. The guilt of having failed to protect. "This coven thrives on pain and suffering. Something that is abundant beneath the sparkling and music filled surface of this place. When they took Star, they didn't just harm another wayward waif. No. They created a source of pain they could feed from for months, years. And that pain would spread. Witness what happened earlier with that young boy. Would kindhearted Dirlagraun have snapped and spooked that lad if sadness, guilt, and loss weren't bubbling and brewing in his heart?"
He pulls off his hat and runs a hand through his hair. As he does he looks around at the lights and festive decorations of the carnival. Takes in the costumes and scent of sweet candy and cooking sausages. The constant cheery music. But how much of this was simply propped upon a rotting center of hopeless misery.
"Hope. That could be what these hags ultimately want to crush. Diana, Dirlagraun. How many others will we find have had that stolen? For all its cheerful exterior there is so much despair hidden within this place. Maybe that is why the unicorns spoke of hope and holding it tight."
He looks Dirlagraun square in the eye. A youthful gaze, but filled with stern determination and a slowly burning passion for justice. "Don't give up my friend. I think I can speak for all when I say we will do all we can to bring Star back. At the very least, we will bring to justice those responsible."
He slips his hat back on his head and turns toward the Hall of Illusions. "Might be worth checkin' out where he disappeared."
Dirlagraun frowned at the talk of a coven, and of Star making a deal, and these enemies that fed on despair. "I knew he would not have simply run away. But I did not know...you think he was kidnapped?" The big panther-like creature's tentacles and tail all lashed about, the way a cat's would when it was agitated. "Someone did this, just to spread misery? Why would anyone do something like that?"
At Khalil's assurances, Dirla calmed somewhat. "You mean to go after those behind this, then?" He scooped up the little mirrored ball with one tentacle, and looked upon it sadly for a moment, then closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he held the trinket out to the group. "Take this with you. Star always said it was lucky. Perhaps a bit of that luck will go with you."
"I'm hoping that the more we look into it, we will find an answer as to why someone would do anything like that." Willow takes the trinket gently, turning it over in her hands as she speaks.
"I hope that we can return it to him. Thank you, Dirlagraun. As Khalil said, don't give up."
Following up on Star's disappearance and curious to see where it happened, Khalil walks over to the Hall of Illusions.
Vashrin nods in the direction of the great cat and follows off after Khalil towards the Hall of Illusions.
Vashrin asks Willow, Karley, and Khalil, since they have certainly spent more time with the Carnival than he had, "So...Hall of Illusions...sounds fairly straight forward, but given it is in this place, what's the twist?"
The lumbering paladin follows quickly behind his friends, listening in closely to whatever insights they could provide.
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The group of you make your way to the Hall of Illusions. Along the way you're treated to an impromptu concert, as a bevy of halfling- sized flowers sprout suddenly from the ground and begin to serenade the lot of you, swaying as they sing a common Zemnian lullaby.
Past the flowers you see the Big Top tent, where preparations for tonight's show are already underway. You also pass by a number of games of skill, taking most of you back to that night, trying to win prizes in order to save Juniper. Ahead, you see your destination -- the Hall of Illusions.
Nuruk walks through the games of skill, a sad smile spreading across his face. It was their desperate venture to rescue poor Juniper. How valiantly they had fought that night for their friend, only for it all to turn to naught.
"Such innocent minds." The paladin thought before he truly thought about it. There was sheer determination in their faces, all except for perhaps Karley. Karley had an exquisite time wherever she was except in the rarest of circumstances. Standing well above most of the crowd, he searched the area looking for the minions of the Coven stalking their prey and other children who may not know that they were being drawn into a game that they could not win.
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Sammy, as many other times in the past, walks best the toughest guy around - in this case Nuruk. Over the years, he's learned that people don't tend to mess with fully armoured, six and a half foot tall guys.
Khalil shrugs at Vashrin's question as he listen's to the singing flowers for a few moments. "I've mostly just delivered food to the carnival. It's been a long time since I actually wandered through any of the attractions. But if I remember right, it's a maze filled with magical mirrors. Given what we are discovering about this place and this coven, we best be on our guard. Seems to me this could be a place to find some trouble."
Willow shrugs as well. "Khalil is right. It's really just a bunch of magical mirrors. It's been quite some time since I wandered through it."
She approaches the hall with the others and looks for the worker running the place to see about admission.
Vashrin's face pales to a ghostly white at the mention of mirrors.
"Mirrors? A whole hall of them? M...maybe I'll let the rest of you handle that one." he says, beginning to drag his feet a bit as the group continues toward the Hall of Illusions.
The crowd parts briefly, and in that instant, you see her. The dark, moon-faced shadow that Vashrin described. In the next instant, the crowd blocks your view again, and when the next gap provides you another peek, she is gone without a trace.
The Hall of Illusions looms ahead of you. The tent is massive, nearly rivalling the Big Top, its canvas patterned with swirling optical illusions that seem to undulate as you look at them, though they remain stationary.
A wooden mannequin of a grinning, raven-haired young woman in witch's attire and a green flowing cape hovers inside a glass cabinet just outside the entrance. At the top of the cabinet, a large sign reads "Tasha the Wizard—Known for Her Laughter."
You see a halfling couple holding hands as they stand near the glass cabinet. The male halfling is wearing butterfly face paint across his nose and eyes, resembling a mask. As you watch, he drops to one knee and pulls a small box from his pocket. A few folks nearby stop to watch, and a handful even begin clapping, a chorus of 'awws' filling the air. The halfling's sweetheart, however, does not accept his offer. She suddenly bursts into laughter, holding her sides, doubled over and crying from the hysterics. The crowd, suddenly embarrassed on the little man's behalf, resumed their business. The halfling in face paint stares at the woman for a moment, then bursts into tears and runs into the Hall of Illusions.
As they approach, Willow watches Vashrin, eyebrows furrowed at his response to the mirrors. "You alright, Vash?" She asks him, quietly. "Don't worry if you laugh. I know why people do it now."
When they enter, Willow cringes at the failed proposal within the tent; she had seen many proposals throughout the years at the carnival with varying levels of success. That one was probably one of the worst she had seen so far.
After the scene, Willow turns her attention back to her anxious half-elven friend.
As the group slows down to keep up with Vashrin, Nuruk freezes in his step. Those red eyes focus through the crowd and hold their stare, unblinking the entire time until the line of sight breaks with the mass of people coming and going. Turning around towards the others, he steps closer to them before speaking a low rumble.
"I saw her Vash..." The words sitting in the air. Nuruk did not know the source of his friend's anxiety nor how letting them drift there for a moment would certainly not help. "...I saw the Shadow. They are certainly here, lurking in the darkness, watching..."
At Willow's question and concern, Vashrin just laughs, "Oh it's nothing more than the stuff of nightmares." before grimacing and shaking his head disgusted with the response.
Before he can explain further, Nuruk mentions the Shadow. "She's here? Where?" he asks, before his shoulder slump in disappointment as the paladin tells it had vanished again.
"Let's just say reflections and I have not gotten along for quite sometime." Vashrin explains walking in front of the glass cabinet so that his reflection can be seen by his friends. Staring back at the group where Vashrin's reflection should be is what could be nothing other than Celeste, seemingly torn to ribbons by some sort of large-clawed creature.
Averting his eyes from the reflection, Vashrin adds quietly, "As if that wasn't bad enough, it's some different horrible fate for her every time see my reflection."
"I'm sure you all can understand now why I might be a bit more than reluctant to go into a hall of mirrors..."
The halfling woman is clambering to her feet, her face despondent. "Rubin! Wait, Rubin, come back! I don't know what came over me!" She yells towards the tent housing the Hall of Illusions, but does not give immediate chase, hoping her love will hear her and come back.
Inexplicably, Vashrin begins laughing uncontrollably in front of the glass. Had his mind finally cracked after all these years? Perhaps more disturbingly, Celeste's mauled visage rolls in laughter as well.
Nuruk looks towards the reflection and there is a moment of shock upon his face at the state of Celeste. He swallows hard at the hideous state that she was in before a feeling of anger swarmed over him. A low growl left him as he turned towards his friend.
"My friend, what a terrible curse. I cannot imagine the suffering you endured for so long with such a reminder." He clasped his friend's shoulder, taking a breath as he looked back into the mirror once more. There was suddenly a drive to give in and laugh boisterously overtook him. He resisted the unnatural urge, shaking it off. "More magic...it seems to be badly timed..." Nuruk mentions, frowning as he pats his laughing friend on the back.
He releases his friend and steps beside the young halfling woman, taking a knee before tilting his head.
"My friends and I are going into there, lost a friend in the mirrors. We'll see about getting him to come back out, yeah?" A ruined marriage proposal was a terribly awkward thing to witness and it will give them a chance to improve the mood of the carnival more.
Sammy moves his hands around, as if sparkling glitter particles showered from them.
'Magic', he tries to shout.
Obviously, no one pays attention to him, so he just walks inside the hall with his friends.
Seeing the horrible, shredded visage of the half-elf's sister laughing in the mirror, Khalil turns away. The final piece of his own internal puzzle was answered. The twins were both here, at least in some form. And thus the imagined constellations his mind created to fill in what was stolen are proven accurate. For a moment the magic of the glass cabinet pulls at his mind, but he's in no mood for laughter having witnessed Vashrin's curse and what just happened between the two halfing's. His knuckles grow white around the solid length of oak carried in his hand.
For a long moment he stares hard at the cabinet, but something inside holds him back from smashing the thing with its comical witch and troublesome curse. Destruction of their property likely won't incline Witch or Light to help you. His inner voice grumbles. Despite how good smashing something might feel right at this very moment.
So instead he turns and nods at Nuruk's promise to the young woman. "You just wait over there miss." He adds with a nod to a quiet spot away from the cabinet. "If he's in there, we'll get him out and back to you. Wasn't your fault. There's a curse upon that thing that drives people to burst out in laughter...no matter the situation."
He then ducks through the tent opening to follow the others.
For a moment, when she looks into the mirror at Celeste's horrific visage, Willow feels a wave of magic ripple through her body and steels herself. Thankfully, she manages to resist and whispers a soft prayer to the Dreamwalker as thanks. She notices the small halfling woman stop short of chasing her partner out and realizes that the Carnival was at play again with those poor souls.
She puts a hand on Vashrin's shoulder and makes as sympathetic a face as she is able. "Your curse is probably the worst among us, Vash. But we know where she is, and we know it isn't true." She gives his shoulder a light squeeze and turns her attention to the halfling woman and Nuruk. She was never great at comforting people, but at least they had Nuruk.
The halfling woman stares at Karley in utter confusion, but seems relieved when Nuruk and Khalil assure her they will find her fiancé-to-be.
The party files into the tent to find a small antechamber and a desk manned by a familiar face, to all but Khalil.
Candlefoot, looking glum, is seated at the little desk and just turning to face you all, apparently having seen Rubin run past him, deeper into the Halls of Illusion. He shrugs and sees you all enter. It's dimly lit here, and a thin mist is seeping in through the entrance flaps behind Candlefoot to fill the lower inch or two of the room. This room, at least, is mirrorless.
Candlefoot nods a greeting and points to a sign that reads "Hall of Illusions -- 1 ticket punch". He does not seem to immediately recognize you all, grown as you are, though he manages a small, forced smile for Willow and Karley.
As the forced laughter finally expires, Vashrin gets to his feet with a scowl on his face. Inappropriate at best... he thinks to himself as he pulls up his hood and wraps himself as best he can in his cloak in order to spare himself and the others the effects of his curse as he steels himself to enter the tent with his friends, presenting his ticket to Candlefoot.
"Not telling stories any longer?" Vash asks the clown. "A damned shame if you aren't."
Nuruk walks ahead with his companions in tow; Sammy was quite correct that there was a benefit to being the biggest one in the crowd. It was easy to navigate through people who did not want to test their might against the casually armor-clad dragon-man. Stepping into the small antechamber, Nuruk's face lights up when he spies Candlefoot sitting at the desk. While the clown may seem particularly glum, a toothy smile spreads across his face as he fishes out his ticket.
"Indeed, it would be quite the shame. Even your darker stories held some brightness in them, Candlefoot. These are poor settings for one with your talent." Nuruk adds on, leaning down so the clown can see him a little better.
Candlefoot frowned a moment, narrowing his eyes, then he looked around from one of you to the next and recognition sparked in his eyes. He rose and came around the desk, smiling brightly at Karley, and clasping the side of Willow's arm with a friendly squeeze and a nod, thoughtful enough to try and sidestep her inability to smile in return.
He took in the sight of you all before answering, by tapping his throat and shrugging. A touch of his gloom returned as he did so.
Seeing Candlefoot's plight, Vashrin turns an accusatory gaze toward Kettlesteam. "What's the meaning behind this?"
Nuruk was first concerned by Candlefoot's silence and then it became protective as he stood behind Vashrin. His eyes didn't have the same harsh stare as his elven friend's did but there was certainly a questioning look; now was the time for answers.