The Faire
The Faire makes it's way around Norlaria, appearing out of nowhere in random places and disappearing just as fast. Once it appears, there is attractions, games and performances on at any hour, and will be there for anywhere to 3 days to a week.
If you stumble across The Faire during the day, you'll find the Winterspark Faire, the tents, clothing and decorations are all a gentle blue and white and regardless of the season, it'll look like snow is falling and lightly covering the ground without ever building up.
If you happen upon The Faire at night, you'll be greeted by the Summerflight Faire, the tents and decor in lush varying hues of green, a gentle, warm summer breeze floating past regardless of the time of year while dancing lights float above the crowds.
The change happens when the sun sets and the sun rises, with such a quick change that most people don't actually notice it immediately.
While The Faire isn't in action, it's stored in a pocket dimension by Jynx, who can transport The Faire once a day.
Jynx
Jynx is the creator and headmaster of The Faire. She is a changeling and changes appearance often, but her natural form is a very very pale humanoid, she looks like all the colour and life has been drained from a human.
She started The Faire to show the importance and beauty of diversity and it has become an attraction and an eagerly awaited event around the continent, perhaps even around the globe.
Her true nature isn't easy to determine, she seems to be kind and friendly to most but while the staff have no complaints about her, they'd all say she's rather withdrawn, until she's on stage and performing for the crowd.
Previously associated with The Empty.
Attractions
Regardless of which Faire you visit, the Carousel is always active with varying fantastical creatures available to ride and is found in the middle of The Faire, all other games and tents are organised around it.
At midday and midnight, there is a performance in the biggest tent, close to the Carousel, known as the Pavilion of Wonder, run by the creator of the circus, Jynx.
The Feasting Grounds is where the food and drink vendors can be found with tables and chairs everywhere, none of which match each other.
The Stall of Redemption is usually located near the carousel for ease of finding, it's where patrons can spend their tickets from the games to purchase small magic items and prizes for varying prices.
There's large butterflies that can be found as you walk around the Faire, in the corresponding colours of the current Faire (blue or green). If a visitor to The Faire touches them, they'll turn into 5 tickets. (DC 22 Perception check).
The Carousel
There are 8 seats on the Carousel, and while the colours of the stripes on the top and middle of the Carousel change with The Faire, the animals don't change. The Carousel is embellished with silver trimmings and metalwork adornments that seem to gleam more than you'd expect it to
Costs 5 silver to ride
- A beautiful white unicorn with mane of pink, purple and blue, reared up
- A black dragon, mid roar, about to take flight
- A tyrannosaurus rex, shades of grey and green scales, mid roar
- A dire wolf with a dark grey coat, mid growl with its huge teeth showing
- A dragon turtle, a grey spiky shell with it's maw open wide and claws out
- A faerie dragon, a deep purple colouration and a pink scaled mane, tail curled upwards
- A owlbear with light grey feathers, one claw up, mid screech
- A hippogriff, large brown wings spread out, mid flight, it's white head peering upward
If the rider talks to its creature, the creature will respond in their heads, and they can answer any question if the rider can answer a riddle, they have 3 guesses and if they fail, they have to wait a week (The Faire will already be gone by then) to try again.
DC 16 Intelligence check if they want to roll for the answer.
The Pavilion of Wonder
The Pavilion of Wonder is the performance grand hall of The Faire. At midday and midnight, a grand performance takes place, run by Jynx, the Queen of The Faire herself. You'll see amazing acrobatic performances, you'll here melodic voices unlike you've ever heard, you'll witness feats of magic and skill that you didn't know was possible, all within the confines of this tent. A half-elf escapes her bonds with seeming ease while an owlin takes flight, flying through hoops in the air, tucking his wings in to squeeze through and bringing them back out just before he hits the ground, while a little frog man is swinging from hoop to hoop to bar to person without skipping a bit, flipping and landing at the end, with a bow. The conclusion of the show brings Jynx onto the stage, she looks like a human but her hair seems to continually change colour as she bows and waves, beaming with pride at her crew and her performance.
The Feasting Grounds
The Feasting Grounds is where the patrons of The Faire can find almost any food or drink their heart desires, tables and chairs abound, none of which match each other in shape, colour or even size. If you look carefully, even the lights in this area are shaped like tables or chairs. The Eating or Drinking contest is here, depending on the time of day, and there are stalls for sweet, savoury and everything in between, both in food and drink.
The Redemption Stall
The Redemption Stall is where patrons can redeem their tickets from the games for fun, magical prizes. You see a small fairy with pale blue ethereal wings that almost look like they're made from a constellation, with stars-like specks creating the shape of the wings.
Briar, a small, female fairy with short white hair, her constellation wings are bigger than her small form, she's very gentle and patient, enjoying the diversity of people that she speaks to. Day Shift.
Rose, identical to her sister, only The Faire staff know there's twins.
40 tickets
Coin of Certainty - a brass coin that always lands on heads.
Oil of Slipperiness
Rock of Gravity Detection - A round rock that when dropped, will fall the direction that gravity is going.
60 tickets
Bigger Knife - A large dagger that provides +1 to hit and +1 to intimidation. Dagger will grow to be slightly bigger than anyone else's dagger in the room. On a failed intimidation check, the knife turns into a spoon.
Cloak of Billowing
Orb of Advice - A crystal ball made from obsidian, whispers cryptic and vague nonsense when shook.
Staff of Flowers
Stone of Skipping - A really nice beach stone that is perfectly smooth and perfect for skipping across the water. Once attuned to it, it will always appear in your back pocket once tossed into water. Requires attunement.
Wind Fan
80 tickets
Sir Stuffed - A small teddy bear that carries a wooden sword and a small helmet. Can be used to keep guard while people sleep, and will wake the owner if danger arrives. In true life or death situations, it will defend their carrier. Sir Stuffed has 3hp, +1 to attack and deals 1 bludgeoning damage on a hit.
Wand of Meows - This wand has 3 charges, while holding it, you can use an action to expend 1 of its charges and target a creature you can see within 60ft of you. The target must succeed on a must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or be forced to say meow out loud. The wand regains all expended charges daily at dawn. If you expend the wand's last charge, roll a d20. On a 1, the wand is destroyed.
Wand of Potato Slinging - This wand, made from a bramblewood tree limb, fires a spectral potato as an action, dealing 1 psychic damage for each hit, 100ft range, must be used by a spellcaster.
Wand of Scowls
Wand of Smiles
100 tickets
Breathing Bubble
Pack of Mints - A pack of mints containing 2d6 mints. Upon eating one, the user can cast ice breath for 1d6 damage within a minute of consumption.
Teapot of Peace - Magical teapot, a ceramic pot with lily pads and lotuses painted onto the size. If anyone is aware of the teapot being poured, they must succeed on a DC 18 Wisdom saving throw or they are immediately compelled to sit down and have tea. Works during combat. It can only be used if full of tea, which must be brewed and steeped normally.
Immoveable rod
120 tickets
Alchemy Jug
Sovereign glue
Winged Boots
150 tickets
Sending Stones
Winterspark Faire
The Winterspark Faire appears during the day, all the tents, decorations and uniforms of the staff are all gentle blues and white, illusory snow falling from the sky, it isn't cold to touch and it only stays for a few moments after landing on the ground before disappearing.
Games
These are the games and activities that only appear during the Winterspark Faire
Fighting Ring
You see a 3 meter circle made from rope on the dirt, a small gathered crowd cheering on a duo punching up in the ring with a loud orc's voice ringing out over the top, describing the fight.
Bratar, a big burly orc with dark grey skin, big tusks and a hearty laugh, gladly waves over anyone who looks even remotely interested
5 silver to enter
Roll for initiative, can only hit with unarmed strikes, first one to do 10 damage is the winner
Any attempt of secret weapons, items or arcane help that is noticed is immediately disqualified
Reward: 20 tickets
Archery
You see a humanoid form with human upper half with curled horns that stick out of her head, pale blue locks of hair that fall past her shoulders, and a furred lower half, ending in goat hooves. She stands holding a shortbow and a quiver of arrows, and you can spot a target about 20 meters away.
Niria, a satyr, often hits the bullseye with ease when no one is playing, and seems quite sad when an entrant doesn't get enough points to get any prize.
10 silver to enter
Given a short bow and 3 arrows, entrant makes 3 ranged attacks to hit the target as accurately as possible.
- 1. AC = 22 Bullseye (10 points)
- 2. AC = 18 Yellow band (8 points)
- 3. AC = 16 Red band (6 points)
- 4. AC = 14 Blue band (4 points)
Rewards:
24-30 points = 40 tickets and an ornate quiver (worth ~40gp)
19-24 points = 30 tickets
13-18 points = 20 tickets
8-12 points = 10 tickets
Arm Wrestling
You come across a table with a stool either side and you watch as a dwarf and goliath are arm wrestling on the table, glaring at each other, and just as you step up, the dwarf pins the goliath's hand to the table and she stands up, cheering while the goliath storms off. A half-orc steps up and takes the dwarf's hand, raising it up and yelling about the champion winning again
Ronen, a half orc with pale green skin, small tusks and brown hair, just past his ears, looks pretty strong himself, very boisterous and loud
Elra, a female dwarf with dark red hair in a long braid down her back, she looks rough but grins happily, gladly take on anyone. +6 to her athletics checks.
5 silver to take on the champion
Players make contested athletics checks, the entrant with the lower score get their hand lowered to the table, if they get the lower score again, they're pinned, however if they get the higher score, it returns to the middle.
Reward: 20 tickets
Barrel Run
You see 5 upright barrels in a line with a finish line marked out 15 meters away, while a dark purple tiefling sits casually on one of them, trying to tempt passerbys to test their balance, there's a small crown of people already gathered, and 3 people are already standing next to a barrel.
Gloom, a very lithe purple male tiefling, his horns jut almost straight up out of his mop of black hair, he wears tight pants and in place of a shirt, a few black strips of cloth are wrapped around once or twice, not covering much, likes to show off on the barrels by doing tricks.
10 silver to enter
First person to the finish line wins, entrants have to roll an acrobatics check on each turn to stand up on the barrel on its side and roll their way to the end.
DC 1-7 - immediately falls and loses
DC 8-12 - stays on the same spot, trying not to fall
DC 13-18 - successfully moves 3 meters forward
DC 19+ - successfully moves 5 meters forward
Rewards:
1st place = 40 tickets
2nd place = 20 tickets
3rd place = 10 tickets
Magic Tricks Contest
You see a copper dragonborn on a small stage in a deep blue robe, boasting about magic and all the things it can do while playing with fire on his finger tips between produce flame and control flames in front of a small crowd, challenging anyone to do better, which isn't hard.
Thepik, male copper dragonborn, pretends to think he's the best but it's just to push people to try and do better, actually very sweet and encouraging, especially to people just starting to learn magic.
10 silver to enter
Entrants can only use non-damaging cantrips to impress the audience, however they see fit. They have to roll an arcana check and a performance check and describe what they're trying to achieve (advantage on performance check for creativity if feeling nice). The sum of those results is the final score, judged by the audiences applause.
Rewards:
1st place = 40 tickets
2nd place = 20 tickets
3rd place = 10 tickets
Woodchopping
You can see a number of tree trunks being help upright in metal contraptions, each one with a two-handed hatchet stuck vertically into the side, a loud male dwarf with a large great-axe on his back is wandering around, boasting about how fast he can cut a tree down, can you do it faster?
Torman, a male dwarf with a big red beard, and red hair that's tied and braided in various strands down his back, he has a hearty laugh, welcoming but bold disposition, definitely likes to swing his axe around
10 silver to enter
Entrants use the two handed hatchets and need to chop the tree stump in half in the least number of hits possible.
1d8 chopping damage per strike
15 AC
30 HP
Rewards:
1st place = 40 tickets
2nd place = 20 tickets
3rd place = 10 tickets
Drinking Contest
Near the Feasting Grounds, you see a stage with a table set up, next to the stage you can see 4 kegs set up, and a smaller table with a cluster of large steins on top, next to a towering female goliath, bellowing about handling your ale, probably splashing herself a bit with the ale in her hand
Zakha, a tall, female goliath, quite jovial in comparison to the expectations of her kind, but creates fierce competition, drinking a fair bit herself throughout the day
10 silver to enter
There are three rounds, entrants must drink and finish a large mug of ale per round and make a constitution saving throw each round. A failed save means the entrant is eliminated, a save failed by 10 or more involuntarily vomits. Entrants drink till there is one person remaining.
1st round - Mug of Sprightwalk ale, from Thenatere (DC 11)
2nd round - Mug of Wildlight ale, from Thydle (DC 14)
3rd round - Mug of Hardcarver ale, from the Dorse Isles (DC 17)
If more than one person remains:
Bonus round - Mug of Death Hauler ale, also from the Dorse Isles (DC 20)
Reward: 20 tickets and a silver chalice (worth ~25gp)
Performers
These are the performers that are only found during the Winterspark Faire
Fortune Teller
You see this little tent along the main thoroughfare with a hand-painted wooden sign that says 'Fortune Teller', with beads and herbs hanging from the tent on various ropes and such. (roll a d20).
1-10 - The curtains in front of the tent are drawn closed with a smaller wooden sign that says 'come back later'.
11-20 - The curtains in front of the tent are open and if you peer inside, you see a firbolg sitting on the ground in front of a small table with a crystal ball in the middle. Her eyes are closed, seemingly meditatively, but they flicker open when you step inside.
Sylkian, a female firbolg with long ears that flop a little, she has very curly brown hair that frames her face, but it's not until you get closer that you notice her white eyes. She speaks very calmly and gently.
"You can ask about the past, present, or future. You may not always get a complete answer, or the answer you're looking for, but you will get the answer I can give."
3 gold to ask a question
She asks everyone who isn't part of the question to leave the tent, and with a wave of her hand, the curtains close and orbs of light appear inside as she mutters to herself, her hands gently cusping the shape of the crystal ball, but not touching it.
Roll a d20
1 - fizzles out very quickly, flashes of shapes and colours, can't take any more questions
2-5 - seems to fizzle out, only gets a little bit of information, can only take one more question
6-15 - will have most of the answer, but no very specific details
16-19 - will be able to answer the question very well, with numerous details
20 - able to answer the question with ease
Contortionist
You see what looks to be an elf, quite thin with his blond hair in tight braids, standing in front of a small crowd on one leg as his other leg is up and around his neck with seeming ease. You watch as he brings his leg back down and lays on his stomach amongst the grass and falling snow, bringing his legs up and over till his feet are either side of his face, making the crowd grasp and clap, tossing a few coins into a hat in front of him.
Tavzion, or Tav, quite chatty and friendly, enjoys freaking people out with that he can do, sometimes walks around on his hands for fun and uses his feet to do things, his blond hair is always braided as to not get in his face, might spy him in the Pavilion's performance
Plate Spinners
Two identical female halflings are spinning plates on top of tall, thin poles, keeping them almost perfectly balanced, passing them from one pole to another, between each other and back again, even balancing the poles on various limbs, even their noses, at one point one halfling climbs onto the shoulders of the other halfling, plates still spinning perfectly
Calvira, and Marula, halfling identical twin sisters, their black hair is tied into identical buns on the top of their heads, rather bubbly but ditzy
Summerflight Faire
The Summerflight Faire appears at night, all the tents, decorations and uniforms of the staff are in varying shades of lush green, a gentle, warm breeze makes its way through the air as dancing lights float up above the crowds, almost fooling you into thinking it's day time if you don't take a moment to focus on the stars in the sky
Games
These are the games and activities that only appear during the Summerflight Faire
Snail Race
You see a small crowd gathered around what looks to be just a box, but you catch glimpses of a humanoid rabbit figure hopping around the fox, calling out for people to place their bets, the race is about to begin. Approaching the box, you see a wooden frame with 4 short rows inside, and inside each row is a rather large snail, trapped at one end of the row by a wooden sheet that is connected to the other wooden sheets containing the other snails. Each row and snail appears to be assigned a colour, green, pink, purple and yellow.
Carro, a bit of a timid male harengon, manages to get a bit of courage to yell out but struggles for the most part, tends to draw people closer because they didn't hear him, rather than actively wanting to participate. Only with the snails because it was the only game he was good at and not scared of. Mostly.
Entrants can bet however much they'd like to, minimum of a silver
Once the wooden sheet is lifted and the snails begin moving, a d4 is rolled for each snail to determine how far the snail is moving, first snail to roll a total of 15 is the winner.
Rewards:
90% of the total pool of money gambled is divided amongst those who bet for the winner, along with 5 tickets for each winner.
Strength Tester
You see a large cube of stone half propped onto what looks to almost be a see-saw, a long, flat piece of metal, about a meter with a center, pivot point. On the raised end of the see-saw, there's a round piece of metal attached to the flat piece with a target painted onto it. Next to this contraption is a centaur whos wielding a very basic stone hammer, yelling about testing your strength for a prize.
Delreth, a female centaur, her upper, human torso is sun-kissed with black tattoos covering most of her skin in tribal patterns and runes, and her equine lower half is covered in black hair, she's very encouraging, and actively challenges anyone who looks like they're strong, or even looks remotely interested.
1 silver per attempt
Passed the hammer and roll a strength check
DC 1-4 - basically dropped the hammer, or tripped, etc
DC 5-9 - successfully hit the target but the stone doesn't move
DC 10-14 - the stone is lifted a couple of inches off the ground
DC 15-19 - the stone is lifted a good few foot off the ground, but it doesn't tip
DC 20+ - the stone is lifted and is tipped off the see-saw and you win
Reward: 10 tickets
Imp Toss
You see a figure that seems to be a humanoid turtle, waving at passerbys, holding what looks to be a rag doll of an imp, with several more on the ground next to him, and past him, you can see several holes in the ground of varying sizes
Yortyr, a yellowy green tortle, quiet but encouraging, and eager when people come to play
5 silver to play
Entrants must throw three rag doll imps into one of the three holes in the ground, they make an improvised ranged attack (d20 + dex modifer) into the hole of their choice.
Big hole, 1 point (AC = 10)
Medium hole, 2 points (AC = 12)
Small hole, 3 points (AC = 15)
Rewards:
9 points: 20 tickets and a dragon ragdoll toy
6-8 points: 10 tickets
3-5 points: 5 tickets
Ring Toss
You see a dark elf standing by a line of small poles in the ground with a bunch of metal rings hanging from her arms, challenging those who walk past on their accuracy and precision.
Nizana, a female dark elf with long white hair to her hips, seems rather regal and elegant, despite her part in the Faire, her Faire clothing has clearly been altered to be more revealing
10 silver to play
Entrant has 6 rings to toss onto 6 different poles in the ground that are further away each time, they must start with the closest pole and attempt to toss onto the poles in order, but if they miss, they have to try again until they land the ring on that pole before moving on.
- 1. AC = 11
- 2. AC = 13
- 3. AC = 15
- 4. AC = 17
- 5. AC = 19
- 6. AC = 21
Rewards:
6 points - 80 tickets and a Ring of Luck (allows d20 reroll once a day, requires attunement)
5 points - 50 tickets
4 points - 30 tickets
3 points - 10 tickets
2 points - 5 tickets
1 point - 1 ticket
Log Throw
You see a small crowd of people next to a large, sectioned off area, with a dark dwarf boasting about strength and something about logs? You see a collection of wooden logs on the ground, there's a few people already standing by a few of them.
Thelgrim, a dark dwarf with his white hair tied down his back and a wild white beard, picks up the wooden logs for fun sometimes, very loud and encouraging.
10 silver to enter
Entrants have three tries to throw a wooden log as far as they can, the throw is only counted if the log lands upright. Entrants make an athletics check, the result is the number of feet the log travels. Immediately after that, entrants must make a dexterity check (DC = entrant's athletics check - 5) to land the log upright. Furthest successful throw wins.
Rewards:
1st place = 40 tickets
2nd place = 20 tickets
3rd place = 10 tickets
Darts
You see a scaly humanoid holding a collection of darts near a target, throwing them absentmindedly at the target while encouraging people to try their hand at the simple game.
Lotesh, a male lizardfolk, dark green scales, a yellow mohawk of scales on his head and a long dark green tail.
10 silver to enter
Given a 3 darts, entrant makes 3 ranged attacks to hit the target as accurately as possible.
- 1. AC = 22 Bullseye (10 points)
- 2. AC = 18 Yellow band (8 points)
- 3. AC = 16 Red band (6 points)
- 4. AC = 14 Blue band (4 points)
Rewards:
24-30 points = 40 tickets and golden dart (worth ~20gp)
19-24 points = 30 tickets
13-18 points = 20 tickets
8-12 points = 10 tickets
Eating Contest
Near the Feasting Grounds, you see a stage with a table set up, next to the stage you can see a table with a huge pile of pies, and an albino human, calling out about an eating contest.
Celestina, an albino human female, her long white hair is in a braid over her shoulder and her red eyes are quite gentle, she makes the pies herself and she's very proud of them, they're potato and meat pies, very hearty.
10 silver to enter
Entrants have to eat 3 pies as fast as possible by making constitution checks, they can choose:
Fast (3 seconds, con check with disadvantage)
Normal (6 seconds, straight con check)
Slow (9 seconds, con check with advantage)
A failed check means the entrant gags and loses 9 seconds, and a failed check by more than 10 chokes and loses immediately.
DC = 16 constitution check
Rewards:
1st place = 30 tickets and a pie of invisibility
2nd place = 20 tickets
3rd place = 10 tickets
Performers
These are the performers that are only found during the Summerflight Faire
Medium
You see this little tent along the main thoroughfare with a hand-painted wooden sign that says 'Medium', with beads and herbs hanging from the tent on various ropes and such. (roll a d20).
1-10 - The curtains in front of the tent are drawn closed with a smaller wooden sign that says 'come back later'.
11-20 - The curtains in front of the tent are open and if you peer inside, you see an aasimar sitting on the ground in front of a small table. His eyes are closed, seemingly meditatively, but they flicker open when you step inside.
Mekiel, a male aasimar, he looks like a human with a mop of messy brown hair and a pretty standard frame, but the giveaway is his glowing white eyes, he speaks very peacefully, quite relaxing to be around.
"We all have loved ones passed into the next world, and we all have questions we didn't have a chance to ask. I may be able to help you find those answers, if you'd like."
3 gold to ask a question
He asks everyone who isn't part of the question to leave the tent, and with a wave of his hand, the curtains close and orbs of light appear inside as he speaks out loud the name of the person passed, asking them to pay a visit and answer a question
Roll a d20
1 - you hear a very faint raspy voice that sounds familiar, but you can only make out one or two words, probably can't do another encounter
2-5 - nothing more than a phrase, not much help, might be able to do one more
6-15 - there will be a mostly complete answer to the question, not many details
16-19 - will be able to get a complete answer, with numerous details
20 - able to get an answer with ease
Juggler
You see a humanoid figure covered in red feathers and a long black beak, juggling. They juggle 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, balls then in one hand, then you watch the balls magically turn into knives that they successfully catch by the hilt and keep juggling in a very impressive display.
Kritch, a red and black kenku juggler, most of their phrases are picked up from the calls of the employees yelling out about their games, but they're friendly and intrigued by new folk.
Stilt Walkers
You see a duo of tabaxi on large, meter, meter and a half tall stilts, walking amongst the crowds. The black tabaxi is on an orange pair of stilts and the orange tabaxi is on black stilts, occasionally they pull to the side of the thoroughfare and do a few tricks, like walking on their hands with their stilts, or balancing on just the one.
Malte, a male black tabaxi, very proud of his skills and not afraid to show off, or explain every injury he's had in excruciating detail, but quite friendly.
Maya, an orange female tabaxi, the much calmer one between her and her brother, less likely to share the trade secrets but more likely to grab a drink with you after.
Other key NPCS
- Temerity (Zayis), a little red tiefling girl who was born into The Faire, she's probably mid teens, always eager to learn, part of the acrobatics and tricks part of the big performance in the Pavilion, her parents are both part of the same team, Courage (father) and Bliss (mother).
- Courage (Ozmir), Temerity's father, tall, stoic, protective of Temerity but friendly enough, not particularly one for chatting but one of the best acrobats they have and best teachers.
- Bliss (Valki), Temerity's mother, a bit shorter, a little chattier than her husband but loves what she does, and very proud of her husband and daughter