[ That totally her vibe, and maybe Mom 1 has indeed dabbled, but in Juniper's daughterly opinion: the woman doesn't need any more hobbies!!
Now, Juniper knows that this should be a serious topic of conversation, and wants to treat it with the mindfulness it surely deserves, but... She is also young, and has an incredibly excitable personality that kicks into turbo mode around anything adventure-related. ]
The paladin, the warrior of blood, and the monk in the shadows... Your dreams were telling you to find your party! That's for sure the start of a great adventure, Uncle Dee!
That’s what I thought as well! There was a location written on the back of the tarokka card, and so I thought to set out on my first ever adventure, and let myself do what I’d been afraid to do from the start. I even invited a friend along.
[ His expression falls for a moment, but he shakes his head and dives right into it. How he’d asked Korra, a half-orc mercenary and friend of his back in Waterdeep to be his guide, how he arrived at the inn specified on the card to meet his future adventuring party: Sophia, the sweet paladin with a strong sense of justice and an even bigger sense of sass; Konrad, the taciturn hunter who has many, many tricks up his sleeve; Darravan, the shadowy monk who has a worse understanding of social interactions than even Declan does, and Darravan’s raven familiar, Cawrl, who has saved their bacon on more than one occasion.
How their first night in the inn ended with them awakening on the roadside in a land shrouded in fog, with no way to get back from whence they came. He next spins the tale of the haunted house they chanced upon, guided by the ghostly forms of the children who once dwelled there. The tale is not a happy one, full of death and sorrow and cults and woe. It ends with Korra’s death at the hands of a pack of vengeful spirits, and Sophia using all the holy might in her small body to cleanse the place of its evils. With the party, weary and grieving, leaving the house with Korra’s body in tow and meeting Gideon, a tiefling wizard, on the road. He tells them that their being here was foretold.
From there, Declan recounts their time in Barovia at large. He mentions that Korra’s body vanishes from the church in the first village they stayed at, and how some divine force ensured Declan personally that she was safe and alive and where she was meant to be, for a small mercy. He tells Juni about Strahd’s terrible power, keeping the people of this land captive with fear and dark magic, unable to leave even in death. He tells her about Ireena, the mayor’s daughter who caught Strahd’s eye and how his party helped to escort her from her village to keep her from his advances, eventually taking her in as a fledgling adventurer and full-time traveling companion.
He spins tales of corrupted mayors, Strahd-worshiping cultists (always cultists), fortune-tellers, and encounters with vampires and wolves and the undead. He tells her of the time they freed a winery from the control of a group of mad druids, the time Gideon got possessed by a demon that was terrorizing an orphanage, the abbey full of creatures malformed by corrupted healing magic, the time they got involved in werewolf politics, their hunt for a bird with a 500-foot wingspan, the time they fought an angel of Sophia’s god, the time they fought fearsome swamp hag who used a dragon skull like a magic carpet. And on and on and on.
All of it, even the greatest victories, is tinged with something bittersweet as it becomes more and more apparent that Barovia cannot, and will not, be free and thriving until Strahd is gone. Its people suffer so much, and some of that seems to have worn at Declan, too. He’s stronger than when Juni last saw him by a wide margin, but he’s also got some worldliness about him. A sort of grim determination that sits under his sunny disposition.
It’s probably creeping up on the early morning hours by the time he’s done. ]
—And in the midst of all that, I discovered an old journal that mentions that my mother might be in Barovia. My own mother! In Barovia! Which means Lucy must be with her!
[ Really, Juniper has been the recipient of many a tall adventuring tale many, many times over the course of her upbringing at the Hollow Hearth. Time and time again she greets adventurers both new and seasoned when they return, and time and time again she is regaled with stories of foul enemies, of magic gone wrong, of places cursed down to the very ground it stands on, and the wondrous enemies each and every one of them face. She is a forgetful person, indeed, yet these are the stories she tries to keep in her heart the most, the stories she hopes to carry with her when it is at last her turn to embark on her great adventure on her own.
And so she settles in and listens, and listens well. She is the sort to get easily distracted, but there are only two things she need focus on at the moment: Uncle Declan, and her snacks. As the artificer forges on with his recounting, however, more and more of that focus is shifted onto him... and also, she runs out of snacks partway through. Now and then, he can spot her mouthing his words, as if to memorize the details: Korra, Uncle Declan's friend. Sophia, the paladin. Konrad... and so forth. Barovia. That seems important. Strahd. Whether these names will truly stick with her remains to be seen, but she is trying. For someone like Declan, who has listened to her prattle on about much more trivial things in the past, she must try.
And as she continues to do so, it becomes more and more apparent to her that the last few months have changed her friend so very much. Of course he has become stronger, a fact which is only highlighted all the more by his descriptions of what he's been able to pull off - but she can see it in the weariness in his eyes, the way he carries on with each story, that edge of grounded grimness beneath his usually sunny demeanor, too.
Though, spirits, does she tense up the moment that he mentions a hag, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Though the fact that he's sitting before her means that they felled the sorceress. Good. Good...
Juniper doesn't even look the least bit tired despite the hour. ]
Ah, that's great news! I mean, not that your mother and Miss Lucy are in Barovia, because it really does not sound like a great place to be, but - that means you must be getting close to reuniting with them!
[ Expressive as ever, she surely has embarked on such a face journey for the last however-long-it's-been, but by now she has settled on something warm, and bright, and most of all proud. ]
You're even stronger than I already thought you were, Uncle Dee.
I certainly hope so. The thing is... the journal that mentions her is over a hundred years old. There were possibly some time travel magicks involved in her arrival, or so I've been told.
[ A sigh, and he goes to reach for another carrot only to realize the tray of snacks has long been emptied. Ah. ]
Well, if anyone can survive in Barovia for a hundred years, it's my mother.
[ And the possibility of time travel magicks!? If Dad 1 were here, he would be yelling at the top of his lungs at the mere prospect of it. Juniper has no real scholarly knowledge of the arcane to supply in this conversation, but she can at least offer a comparison. ]
Or maybe... Maybe time flows differently in Barovia, like it does in the Feywild sometimes...? I guess you'll figure it out eventually, but... You and your adventuring friends will be able to find her, I'm sure!
That's possible, but the words "travel through time" were definitely used.
[ Who knows!! Hopefully he can find his mother and ask her directly. ]
Right now, all signs are pointing us toward a peculiar temple high in the mountains. My mother was commissioned to build the wards for the place, so it won't be easy to get into.
[ Well then nevermind! Timey wimey magicks it is. Then Dad 1 would definitely geeking out right about know if he were here... ]
I bet... If there's anyone who can figure out her wards to get into the place, it'll be you! Hehe... You're her son, after all! And besides, you won't be alone, so everyone can put their heads together. That's the true value of teamwork!
[ said with a decisive nod and a smile. Though with that, it really does hit Juniper... just how much Declan has been through in the last few months. And to think of the last time they saw each other, he had been so remorseful over not going with Miss Lucy, when now he's gone and accomplished so much else too... ]
That is truly the value of teamwork. I'd be far too out of my depth all by myself.
[ And there's value in that, too. Making friends, having companions you can trust in the heat of battle or when times are especially hard. He would have never learned any of these things if he'd just stayed home.
Juniper catches him entirely off-guard with the compliment, and he blinks at her a time or two. ]
[ Leaning forward, Juniper props her elbows atop the table and then her chin in her hands, her smile only broadening at his taken-aback reaction. ]
The last time I saw you at your shop, you were beating yourself up for not going with Miss Lucy. I remember, you know! But now, you've gone to follow, and you're helping so many other people and you're helping your friends along the way, too.
It's like... You've become a true adventurer, Uncle Dee! I think you're amazing!
[ He's not going to cry! He's not! But he does get a little misty-eyed. He's gone through so much in Barovia that he hasn't even thought to look back at where he started. He can't see how much he's grown. To have someone point that out to him is... it warms his heart, makes him think he's not failing his little family any longer. ]
Thank you, sweetheart. I think I... I think I needed to hear that.
[ Oh, she's never seen Uncle Declan almost tear up like this... But she's lived a storied enough life even in such a short time to know that the almost-tears aren't anything to be ashamed of, nor are they borne out of sadness.
So, she offers a reassuring smile and rises to her feet abruptly, chair dragging across the floor rather unpleasantly. ]
You're welcome, Uncle Dee! I've seen many adventurers leave on their journeys and come back with a more... worldly aura, you know, so I know it when I see it! You've grown! You've grown a lot!
[ Oriphi is going to kill him, but on the other hand, he’s kind of glad she took the initiative. She’s far too young to have regrets that big, and she deserves to live her own life. Make her own mistakes. Have her own adventure. ]
[ Who cares what Oriphi thinks!! She sucks! This totally won't turn into a Freaky Friday situation!!
...But she will sit back down in her chair for this, fully perching and curling up in it, gremlinly. ]
I did. I heard that the Witchlight Carnival was finally back in our world, so... I went! I thought, "Well, if there's anyone who can get me into the Feywild, it's going to be someone at the Witchlight Carnival!"
[ It is, after all, a fairground famous for its fey-fueled attractions.
She pauses for a moment, her countenance thoughtful. ]
[ He's heard some whisperings about the carnival around Waterdeep. It's not anything he ever considered attending for himself, but for Juni... it would be perfect, wouldn't it? ]
Of course I want to hear about it!
[ He also sits back down, folding his lanky limbs into his chair to mirror her gremli-ness. Who needs sleep? ]
[ Juniper sure doesn't! Maybe later on into the next day she'll check on Declan and make sure he's not running purely on fumes and grab him some morning potion, but... Truth to tell, she has been bursting at the seams, wanting to talk about her story thus far with someone, anyone really - and who better to tell it all too, than the one who helped sow the seed of her striking out on her own?
And so she settles in, and tells him of her time at the Witchlight Carnival, and how it's led her into what surely will continue to be a grand adventure in the Feywild. She speaks of meeting Pawarin, a firbolg cleric, while in line for tickets, and how he had lost something very precious to him when last the Carnival was in their world, how he intends to find it again. And of soon after meeting Cleopatra, a gloomy and dramatic but well-meaning bard who has been working as a carnival hand for most of her life.
She tells the story of the treant saplings that roamed the carnival to welcome its guests, spreading gifts, and their little, chatty squirrel companions who gave each of them a dandelion with which to make a wish. Juniper stops herself short, here, of telling Declan what it is she'd wished for. "A grand adventure that I can be proud of when I return home," it had been, but what if telling him will somehow negate the wish? Instead, she giggles, and tells him that her wish is a secret.
Then she continues on, painting the scenery of the Carnival's whimsy and wonder to the best of her ability. What she lacks for in flowery language and charisma, she of course more than compensates for with her sheer enthusiasm.
But Juniper tells him, too, of the unsettling things afoot, things beneath the veneer of joy and wonder that only became known to her as she began to speak in earnest with many of the carnival hands. She mentions the displacer beast, Dirla, who keeps watch over lost items and children - but whose own cub has disappeared. Of Palasha the mermaid and her lover Candlefoot the unintended mime, whose voice was stolen from him just as he was proposing to his love. Of Diana, a woman with a half-equine body who cares for the carousel, who could say nothing more than that she "made a bad deal." She tries, very hard, to tell Declan about the riddles she and her friends (more so her friends) had to solve to earn secrets from the carousel - but of course, she no longer remembers in exact words. But she remembers what the unicorns whispered into their minds:
"The carnival is linked to the realm of its fey patron, but she has since been frozen in time, usurped by a coven of hags. All that is taken from the carnival, and all that is wrong goes back to them."
It is with more levity that Juniper waves the tapestry of the rest of her tale. They met Mister Witch and Mister Light themselves after Juniper was crowned the Witchlight Monarch, who told them that with Prismeer under the coven's rule, they have no choice but to let the hags do as they please, their minions stealing away objects and people alike. But if the three of them were to venture into the realm and free the archfey Zybilna...
Juniper had always intended to use the Witchlight Carnival as a way to enter the Feywild, and so of course she agreed. And so did Cleo, who wishes to restore the Carnival to its former ruler so that she can finally leave it, and Pawarin, whose precious cloak had ostensibly been taken by one of the hags. The three of them have been adventuring in Prismeer since then, further uncovering the insidious plots of the Hourglass Coven and their allies, as well as the woes of its downtrodden fey denizens. ]
—The bunny brigand told us that their leader, Agdon, wears a scarf made out of lightning! Cleo said I should "distract" him while Pawarin steals the scarf, but Jingle Jangle told us the scarf can't be stolen somehow! So I'm going to challenge him to a duel and have him give me the scarf fair and square instead! Oh, and I'm going to make him and his brigand steal from the bad guys instead, I've decided!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clockworksoul) wrote2023-04-30 08:50 pm
no subject
Now, Juniper knows that this should be a serious topic of conversation, and wants to treat it with the mindfulness it surely deserves, but... She is also young, and has an incredibly excitable personality that kicks into turbo mode around anything adventure-related. ]
The paladin, the warrior of blood, and the monk in the shadows... Your dreams were telling you to find your party! That's for sure the start of a great adventure, Uncle Dee!
[ Too bad she's about to learn about Barovia— ]
no subject
[ His expression falls for a moment, but he shakes his head and dives right into it. How he’d asked Korra, a half-orc mercenary and friend of his back in Waterdeep to be his guide, how he arrived at the inn specified on the card to meet his future adventuring party: Sophia, the sweet paladin with a strong sense of justice and an even bigger sense of sass; Konrad, the taciturn hunter who has many, many tricks up his sleeve; Darravan, the shadowy monk who has a worse understanding of social interactions than even Declan does, and Darravan’s raven familiar, Cawrl, who has saved their bacon on more than one occasion.
How their first night in the inn ended with them awakening on the roadside in a land shrouded in fog, with no way to get back from whence they came. He next spins the tale of the haunted house they chanced upon, guided by the ghostly forms of the children who once dwelled there. The tale is not a happy one, full of death and sorrow and cults and woe. It ends with Korra’s death at the hands of a pack of vengeful spirits, and Sophia using all the holy might in her small body to cleanse the place of its evils. With the party, weary and grieving, leaving the house with Korra’s body in tow and meeting Gideon, a tiefling wizard, on the road. He tells them that their being here was foretold.
From there, Declan recounts their time in Barovia at large. He mentions that Korra’s body vanishes from the church in the first village they stayed at, and how some divine force ensured Declan personally that she was safe and alive and where she was meant to be, for a small mercy. He tells Juni about Strahd’s terrible power, keeping the people of this land captive with fear and dark magic, unable to leave even in death. He tells her about Ireena, the mayor’s daughter who caught Strahd’s eye and how his party helped to escort her from her village to keep her from his advances, eventually taking her in as a fledgling adventurer and full-time traveling companion.
He spins tales of corrupted mayors, Strahd-worshiping cultists (always cultists), fortune-tellers, and encounters with vampires and wolves and the undead. He tells her of the time they freed a winery from the control of a group of mad druids, the time Gideon got possessed by a demon that was terrorizing an orphanage, the abbey full of creatures malformed by corrupted healing magic, the time they got involved in werewolf politics, their hunt for a bird with a 500-foot wingspan, the time they fought an angel of Sophia’s god, the time they fought fearsome swamp hag who used a dragon skull like a magic carpet. And on and on and on.
All of it, even the greatest victories, is tinged with something bittersweet as it becomes more and more apparent that Barovia cannot, and will not, be free and thriving until Strahd is gone. Its people suffer so much, and some of that seems to have worn at Declan, too. He’s stronger than when Juni last saw him by a wide margin, but he’s also got some worldliness about him. A sort of grim determination that sits under his sunny disposition.
It’s probably creeping up on the early morning hours by the time he’s done. ]
—And in the midst of all that, I discovered an old journal that mentions that my mother might be in Barovia. My own mother! In Barovia! Which means Lucy must be with her!
no subject
And so she settles in and listens, and listens well. She is the sort to get easily distracted, but there are only two things she need focus on at the moment: Uncle Declan, and her snacks. As the artificer forges on with his recounting, however, more and more of that focus is shifted onto him... and also, she runs out of snacks partway through. Now and then, he can spot her mouthing his words, as if to memorize the details: Korra, Uncle Declan's friend. Sophia, the paladin. Konrad... and so forth. Barovia. That seems important. Strahd. Whether these names will truly stick with her remains to be seen, but she is trying. For someone like Declan, who has listened to her prattle on about much more trivial things in the past, she must try.
And as she continues to do so, it becomes more and more apparent to her that the last few months have changed her friend so very much. Of course he has become stronger, a fact which is only highlighted all the more by his descriptions of what he's been able to pull off - but she can see it in the weariness in his eyes, the way he carries on with each story, that edge of grounded grimness beneath his usually sunny demeanor, too.
Though, spirits, does she tense up the moment that he mentions a hag, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Though the fact that he's sitting before her means that they felled the sorceress. Good. Good...
Juniper doesn't even look the least bit tired despite the hour. ]
Ah, that's great news! I mean, not that your mother and Miss Lucy are in Barovia, because it really does not sound like a great place to be, but - that means you must be getting close to reuniting with them!
[ Expressive as ever, she surely has embarked on such a face journey for the last however-long-it's-been, but by now she has settled on something warm, and bright, and most of all proud. ]
You're even stronger than I already thought you were, Uncle Dee.
no subject
[ A sigh, and he goes to reach for another carrot only to realize the tray of snacks has long been emptied. Ah. ]
Well, if anyone can survive in Barovia for a hundred years, it's my mother.
no subject
[ And the possibility of time travel magicks!? If Dad 1 were here, he would be yelling at the top of his lungs at the mere prospect of it. Juniper has no real scholarly knowledge of the arcane to supply in this conversation, but she can at least offer a comparison. ]
Or maybe... Maybe time flows differently in Barovia, like it does in the Feywild sometimes...? I guess you'll figure it out eventually, but... You and your adventuring friends will be able to find her, I'm sure!
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[ Who knows!! Hopefully he can find his mother and ask her directly. ]
Right now, all signs are pointing us toward a peculiar temple high in the mountains. My mother was commissioned to build the wards for the place, so it won't be easy to get into.
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[ Well then nevermind! Timey wimey magicks it is. Then Dad 1 would definitely geeking out right about know if he were here... ]
I bet... If there's anyone who can figure out her wards to get into the place, it'll be you! Hehe... You're her son, after all! And besides, you won't be alone, so everyone can put their heads together. That's the true value of teamwork!
[ said with a decisive nod and a smile. Though with that, it really does hit Juniper... just how much Declan has been through in the last few months. And to think of the last time they saw each other, he had been so remorseful over not going with Miss Lucy, when now he's gone and accomplished so much else too... ]
I'm really proud of you, Uncle Dee.
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[ And there's value in that, too. Making friends, having companions you can trust in the heat of battle or when times are especially hard. He would have never learned any of these things if he'd just stayed home.
Juniper catches him entirely off-guard with the compliment, and he blinks at her a time or two. ]
You are?
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[ Leaning forward, Juniper props her elbows atop the table and then her chin in her hands, her smile only broadening at his taken-aback reaction. ]
The last time I saw you at your shop, you were beating yourself up for not going with Miss Lucy. I remember, you know! But now, you've gone to follow, and you're helping so many other people and you're helping your friends along the way, too.
It's like... You've become a true adventurer, Uncle Dee! I think you're amazing!
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[ He's not going to cry! He's not! But he does get a little misty-eyed. He's gone through so much in Barovia that he hasn't even thought to look back at where he started. He can't see how much he's grown. To have someone point that out to him is... it warms his heart, makes him think he's not failing his little family any longer. ]
Thank you, sweetheart. I think I... I think I needed to hear that.
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So, she offers a reassuring smile and rises to her feet abruptly, chair dragging across the floor rather unpleasantly. ]
You're welcome, Uncle Dee! I've seen many adventurers leave on their journeys and come back with a more... worldly aura, you know, so I know it when I see it! You've grown! You've grown a lot!
[ And then, in the true Alchemighty way: ]
Do you want to hug it out?
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Of course I do!
[ COME HERE BUNNIECE ]
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She's coming around the table to just scoop him up right out of his seat for a hug! ]
Hehe, though I'm still stronger physically!
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[ He is hoisted clean out of his chair, thanks Juni. ]
I make a habit of exercising my mind over my body!
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[ Take a deep breath, uncle, because she's gonna SQUEEEEZE his noodley form. ]
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[ He practically coughs out the nickname as he air is squeezed from him. Something in his back definitely pops. ]
I can't breathe!
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[ She is not, in fact, even the least bit sorry. But she will let go of him now. ]
Thanks for telling me all about your adventures, Uncle Dee.
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[ But he sounds amused, so no hard feelings. ]
But here I am, rambling away through all hours of the night and I haven’t even asked you what you’ve been up to!
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[ Brightly. ]
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[ With an utterly unrepentant smile, she adds: ]
So I made the decision for them!
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[ A sigh. ]
You followed your heart, didn’t you?
[ Oriphi is going to kill him, but on the other hand, he’s kind of glad she took the initiative. She’s far too young to have regrets that big, and she deserves to live her own life. Make her own mistakes. Have her own adventure. ]
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...But she will sit back down in her chair for this, fully perching and curling up in it, gremlinly. ]
I did. I heard that the Witchlight Carnival was finally back in our world, so... I went! I thought, "Well, if there's anyone who can get me into the Feywild, it's going to be someone at the Witchlight Carnival!"
[ It is, after all, a fairground famous for its fey-fueled attractions.
She pauses for a moment, her countenance thoughtful. ]
Do you want to hear about it?
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Of course I want to hear about it!
[ He also sits back down, folding his lanky limbs into his chair to mirror her gremli-ness. Who needs sleep? ]
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And so she settles in, and tells him of her time at the Witchlight Carnival, and how it's led her into what surely will continue to be a grand adventure in the Feywild. She speaks of meeting Pawarin, a firbolg cleric, while in line for tickets, and how he had lost something very precious to him when last the Carnival was in their world, how he intends to find it again. And of soon after meeting Cleopatra, a gloomy and dramatic but well-meaning bard who has been working as a carnival hand for most of her life.
She tells the story of the treant saplings that roamed the carnival to welcome its guests, spreading gifts, and their little, chatty squirrel companions who gave each of them a dandelion with which to make a wish. Juniper stops herself short, here, of telling Declan what it is she'd wished for. "A grand adventure that I can be proud of when I return home," it had been, but what if telling him will somehow negate the wish? Instead, she giggles, and tells him that her wish is a secret.
Then she continues on, painting the scenery of the Carnival's whimsy and wonder to the best of her ability. What she lacks for in flowery language and charisma, she of course more than compensates for with her sheer enthusiasm.
But Juniper tells him, too, of the unsettling things afoot, things beneath the veneer of joy and wonder that only became known to her as she began to speak in earnest with many of the carnival hands. She mentions the displacer beast, Dirla, who keeps watch over lost items and children - but whose own cub has disappeared. Of Palasha the mermaid and her lover Candlefoot the unintended mime, whose voice was stolen from him just as he was proposing to his love. Of Diana, a woman with a half-equine body who cares for the carousel, who could say nothing more than that she "made a bad deal." She tries, very hard, to tell Declan about the riddles she and her friends (more so her friends) had to solve to earn secrets from the carousel - but of course, she no longer remembers in exact words. But she remembers what the unicorns whispered into their minds:
"The carnival is linked to the realm of its fey patron, but she has since been frozen in time, usurped by a coven of hags. All that is taken from the carnival, and all that is wrong goes back to them."
It is with more levity that Juniper waves the tapestry of the rest of her tale. They met Mister Witch and Mister Light themselves after Juniper was crowned the Witchlight Monarch, who told them that with Prismeer under the coven's rule, they have no choice but to let the hags do as they please, their minions stealing away objects and people alike. But if the three of them were to venture into the realm and free the archfey Zybilna...
Juniper had always intended to use the Witchlight Carnival as a way to enter the Feywild, and so of course she agreed. And so did Cleo, who wishes to restore the Carnival to its former ruler so that she can finally leave it, and Pawarin, whose precious cloak had ostensibly been taken by one of the hags. The three of them have been adventuring in Prismeer since then, further uncovering the insidious plots of the Hourglass Coven and their allies, as well as the woes of its downtrodden fey denizens. ]
—The bunny brigand told us that their leader, Agdon, wears a scarf made out of lightning! Cleo said I should "distract" him while Pawarin steals the scarf, but Jingle Jangle told us the scarf can't be stolen somehow! So I'm going to challenge him to a duel and have him give me the scarf fair and square instead! Oh, and I'm going to make him and his brigand steal from the bad guys instead, I've decided!
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