a halloween spooktacular.

[loopyloop]

THE EXTRAPLANAR CARNIVAL

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The Carnival travels as a convoy of wagons, each one pulled by horses or foxes depending on its size. When they need to soar between worlds, the wagons and their draft animals sprout butterfly wings and take to the starry sky. On land, the carnival’s attractions unfold magically from the wagons.

CARNIVAL ETIQUETTE

There's no handbook for how guests are expected to behave; certain actions are tolerated, while others cause offense. Politeness goes a long way: paying attention when spoken to, laughing at jokes, and joining in with games and singing. Conversely, acts such as interrupting someone, being rude, or grumpily refusing to dance are unfavorable.

Characters caught stealing or fighting are asked to leave the carnival and escorted to the gates.

TICKETS

Visitors who cannot or will not pay for the price of a ticket can enter a fey pact with the ringmaster to be granted a ticket. Fulfilling the pact depends on the number assigned to the ticket:

1. You must not tell a lie knowingly.
2. You must wear a crown of flowers and water it every hour without taking it off.
3. You must perform a short dance or song whenever you hear someone say your name.
4. You must trade in a small secret to the person of the ringmaster's choosing.
5. You must carry around a small pumpkin as though it were a precious egg.
6. You must word your answers in the form of a question.
7. You must compliment everyone you meet.
8. You must declare your love for unicorns at every opportunity.

BIG TOP ACTS

1. Tiny firefly circus managed by a djinni
2. Halfling contortionist who can fit inside a hatbox
3. Pixies racing chariots pulled by weasels
4. Satyr fiddlers whose music cause dancing plants to burst from the ground
5. Troupe of eight clowns launching themselves from a magic cannon
6. Fire-breather who summons magma mephits and smoke mephits
7. Jugglers who can catch and juggle any tiny objects tossed to them by the crowd
8. Ballerina who dances with animated costumes that spring from a magic wardrobe

BUBBLE-POP TEAPOT

A twenty-foot-tall teapot rests on a wooden platform, its painted surface whirling with moving imagery of flying dragons breathing streams of bubbles. A door at the base of the teapot allows entry to its interior; those who enter emerge from the spout enclosed in a bubble that detaches to float off across the carnival.

Essentially: any creature that enters the teapot is enveloped in a magic bubble that floats up through the teapot's spout and into the sky, granting its occupant wonderful aerial views. When the bubble pops after 5 minutes, the passenger floats gently to the ground. Each bubble can hold up to two creatures, plus whatever they are wearing or carrying.

Characters can learn to steer the bubble and pop it over any location on the carnival. Those who fail to steer have no control over their bubble, and it pops over a random location.

CAROUSEL

A procession of wooden unicorns stands motionless on a circular wooden platform. Guests clamber onto the unicorns' backs, and a female centaur sets the ride in motion. The unicorns shake their manes and creak to life, cantering around the carousel to the delight of their riders.

The carousel's eight unicorns ride in pairs, and each unicorn wears a name tag on its bridle. Those who are particularly kind to their unicorns may find a small wish granted, or have any question answered true.

FEASTING ORCHARD

The Feasting Orchard bustles all through the night with the activity of storytellers, musicians, and acrobats. The feasting tables are lined with merrymakers, and dances spring up at the drop of a hat.

The riveting performance by the mummers is a crowd favorite.

There's also a faerie cake eating contest in the orchard. The contest table is piled high with small, glazed cupcakes, each filled with a dollop of berry custard. The goal is simple: eat as many cupcakes as you can within 60 seconds.

The prize for winning the contest is a cupcake that functions like a potion of invisibility. The whole cupcake must be eaten to gain its benefit.

HALL OF ILLUSIONS

This large tent is painted with a mural of shifting images that show grinning pixies diving into pools of color. The helical stripes of the tent's pointed canopies rotate in spirals, and the whole display seems designed to befuddle onlookers. A clown dressed in muted garb stands at the tent's entrance, blinking.

The veil between the rift and other worlds is thinnest inside this hall of magical mirrors. These mirrors may reflect onlookers in their youth, growing steadily older. They may reflect one's greatest desire.

Some mirrors are more bittersweet, reflecting glimpses of nostalgia, longing.

SNAIL RACING

Eight giant snails are having their shells scrubbed by pixies. Above a circular course, a wooden gantry hangs from the branches of a central tree, where two ring members officiate the proceedings.

Snail racing is a highly competitive, fast-paced sport that draws a lively crowd. Characters can participate in the race as snail jockeys, but it costs 1 ticket punch to enter. The snails are unusually fast, wear colored caparisons, and have numbered saddles strapped to their shells.

Every snail needs a jockey. All the snails and their riders begin at the start line; fireworks signal the start of the race, after which the riders race their snails to the finish line.

The race is divided into 6-second rounds. Once the race begins, the snails move along the track at remarkable speed, each one covering 80 feet per round by itself. Signs posted in the stands and along the racetrack warn that neither jockeys nor spectators may influence the outcome of a race by using magic or by harming other jockeys or snails. Any jockey who openly does so is disqualified, as is the jockey's snail.

SMALLER STALLS

The carnival boasts several small stalls. Some of the stalls sell sweet snacks and drinks. For 1 ticket punch, a customer can buy a snack served on a large flower petal or a beverage served in a fist-sized snail shell. The offerings include:

♢ Blue-frosted cupcake
♢ Candied apple on a stick
♢ Euphoreo cookie (saucer-sized cookies dusted with particles of faerie dragon euphoria gas)
♢ Eveningberry wine (a sweet, nonalcoholic drink)
♢ Faerie bell nectar (harvested from faerie bell flowers)
♢ Pixie tarts (powdered candy in little cups)
♢ Sugar-glazed button mushrooms
♢ Tree sap lollipops

The remaining stalls offer games and contests that cost 1 ticket punch apiece:

♢ Almiraj Ring Toss: this game involves tossing rings over the horn of a wooden statuette of an almiraj (a cute, bunny-like creature with a horn like a unicorn's). The almiraj teleports around on a tabletop, making it hard to score a success. A participant gets three rings.
♢ Catch the Dragon by the Tail: While blindfolded and standing in a booth, a participant must grab the tail of an elusive, giggling red faerie dragon that flutters around them. The participant has three chances to succeed.
♢ Poetry Contest: A participant must outperform the star poet in a best-of-five poetry contest.
♢ Wrestling & arm wrestling: What it says on the tin. Pin your opponent down and rise victorious.
♢ Outstare the Cyclops: Winning this game requires a participant to outstare an illusory cyclops. Whoever blinks first loses.