Session 1: Moonlit Marvels¶

Five strangers wandered into a carnival at the edge of the sea, drawn by lanterns of bioluminescent jellyfish and the promise of wonders from beyond the waves. None of them expected to leave with a quest from a creature older than the gods.

It was dusk in Nicodranas, and the Moonlit Marvels & Menagerie had arrived. The humid air carried the smell of candied citrus and sweet smoke as the party -- still strangers to one another -- drifted through the carnival’s attractions. Helga, towering above the crowd with a roasted turkey leg in hand, was immediately taken with Brun the Behemoth, the carnival’s gentle strongman. Shin and Lucien strolled the boardwalk together while Ada and Alarise, fresh from the road, took in the spectacle of dolphins, exotic beasts, and gnome acrobats.

They swam with dolphins, tested their strength at the Gauntlet, and marvelled at the strange creatures in the Celestial Menagerie. But the real draw was Nana Morri’s House -- a ramshackle fey-themed funhouse at the edge of the carnival grounds, guarded by a man in a sun bear costume who called himself Sweet Pea.

What began as a cheesy walkthrough quickly became something else. The rooms grew stranger and more real -- a fetid swamp, a tiki bar that demanded tribute, a hall of mirrors that showed visions of lives unlived. In a trickster’s library, Ada discovered a mysterious book radiating powerful magic. A topiary garden tried to trap them. A wrestling ring staffed by living stuffed animals tested their resolve. And then they climbed a staircase that could not possibly fit inside the building, and found themselves somewhere else entirely.

Nana Morri was waiting for them. The Fatestitcher, an ancient and powerful fey entity, sat among her collection of strange and terrible things and asked the party -- politely, in the way that powerful beings are always polite -- for a favour. Someone had gone missing, and the threads of fate that Nana Morri so loved to pluck had gone slack. She needed them found.

The party agreed. They emerged from the funhouse blinking in the carnival lights, the sounds of the midway suddenly ordinary and thin. Behind them, a brief scuffle broke out near the docks -- something about fish-folk -- but the night was already heavy with questions.

What had Ada found in that library? Who had Nana Morri lost? And why did the funhouse, when they glanced back, look so much smaller than it had felt inside?