Carnivàle · of · Shadows

The game begins at midnight with Nicholas Ironblade and Patches Baird attending the Summer Court gathering at the American Airlines Sports Arena. Both arrive and are greeted by Deathless Ivan, an ogre serving as Grandfather Thunder's Bodyguard. He is not big on social graces, but admits the two into the basketball court, where the others have gathered to meet some of the new Summer members of Miami. Nicholas and Patches notice that only a handful of Lost are gathered in the central court. There they meet: Pietro, a Gravewight, Marissa, a Swimmerskin and a pair of Wizened who style themselves after Hobbits, Merry and Pippin. Along with these they notice Myra Bell Star, the Wizened cowgirl. She flirts a bit with Nicholas and informs them that she has agreed to return to Anastagio's Carnival as a favor to Grandfather Thunder (and to serve as his eyes and ears). They also find out that other members of the Summer Court are not in attendance because this evenings event does not include the traditional duel, and because Grandfather Thunder has several motleys actively patrolling the streets of the Freehold.

After only about an hour of minor socializing, Nicholas and Patches decide its late enough and return to the carnival grounds for some much needed rest. They walk back to the carnival grounds.

Later, a few hours later in the Hedge, the Glenwood Motley are awakened by music coming from the Hedge-side door. William awakes and realizes that Benny is not sleeping by his side, he rushes out, met by Wally, Nicholas and Sigil. They follow the sound and see a young girl, bound, shackled and completely naked, covered in bruises and cuts; a thin chain around her neck, held by a small dog-faced goblin in dirty leathers. He proclaims he has a message from Benny's Keeper: "Come back to me, all will be forgiven if you return." He then cranks the small wooden Victrola which plays an old Patsy Cline record. The girl then sings the Patsy Cline song "Crazy"

"Im crazy, Im crazy for feeling so lonely...
Im crazy, crazy for feeling so blue...
I knew you'd love me as long as you wanted...
And then someday, you'd leave me for somebody new..."

As the girl finishes the song, the goblin is attacked, Nicholas rushes him, as William rushes forward to protect Benny. Just as Nicholas impales the goblin the girl's neck explodes in a spray of bright, arterial blood, the collar around her neck projecting blades that end her life. As the girls death-throes end, Benny begins to scream loudly, just as William reaches him and gently takes him back to the Hollow.

They all discuss what this portends and then set up guard duty.  Later that morning they inspect the Victrola and the broken record (having been destroyed by the Motley).

Later that morning, near noon, the Motley heads to the carnival to continue preparations for the opening Saturday night. Wally heads over to the Barlow's camper to meet Ivan who is helping him in his strong-man routine. Nicholas finds Rati, who is practicing her aerial acrobatics routine. Astarte is also practicing with her Bengal tigers in the central ring of the Big Top.

Sigil informs the Motley that he intends to spy on the Riptide bar, leaving for the South Beach side of Miami. Around mid afternoon Patches finds Nicholas and Wally, intent on following up on La Espada and their activities at the Riptide bar. They decide to take a truck over the causeway to the old Flamingo Hotel, near Flamingo Park (which houses the Riptide bar). As they head over Nicholas gets a call from Sigil, according to what he has gathered, the Riptide is La Espada's headquarters, seeing some Lost entering and leaving at various times that afternoon. He also informs them that he believes the bar to have a doorway to a Hollow, probably in one of the rooms in the hotel rooms above (the Flamingo seems to serve as a seedy, "by the hour" hotel). He also tells Nicholas that he also saw signs of human trafficking, (a young 13 year old girl being taken out of the trunk of one of the vintage Cadillac's and carried bound and gagged into the Riptide).

At the Hollow, William and Benny hear music again, and discover that this time his Keeper has sent a slave boy with a goblin delivering a similar message. William prevents Benny from going outside, just as the boy is also killed after delivering a love ballad. William bolts the Hedge-side door and heading to his workshop begins to forge a lock to prevent Benny from leaving the Hollow again. Its a mundane lock to which only he has the key.

That afternoon, Nicholas receives a call on his cell phone from Pedro Escobar, the fae-struck informant who's pledged to inform him of the doings of La Espada. He informs Nicholas that that evening they are to abduct a young girl and provide him an address. When they investigate further they discover that the address is actually a middle school. As they begin investigating and canvassing the grounds, the group hears a musical recital in progress. Inside the Nautilus Middle School auditorium a young girl of 11, is performing a piano solo, accompanied by a small orchestra (Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2, 2nd movement). The audience is captivated, and the players quickly realize why the True Fae would want this girl--she is able to literally hypnotize mortals with her music. As William and Wally investigate further outside, they hear as a white cadillac speedily approaches the auditoriums main entrance, two human gunmen emerge, one with a shotgun, the other with an automatic Uzzi. Inside, Nicholas is investigating back stage, seeing the girls parents off the side of the stage, as they too are enraptured by her performance. In short order the gunmen enter the main lobby of the auditorium, confronted by Wally who engages one of them. The other rushes forth through the main doors and fires his Uzzi, at first to get the crowds attention. Nicholas, hearing the gunfire in the main hall, decides to rush forward. Outside, William and Patches hearing the gun fire head to the auditorium.

Nicholas, drawing his blade, rushes at first the mortal with the Uzzi, but not before the gunman has half-emptied his clip on the crowd. Wally, confronting the one with the shotgun, is hit directly, falling back into an unsuspecting older man, crushing him. As pandemonium ensues inside the auditorium, Patches notices that only one gunman remains in the back seat of the Cadillac outside, who identifies himself as Pedro Escobar. As the melee ensues inside, William enters through the side, summoning the power of his hedge-spun dagger to distract one of the gunmen. Distracted by what appears to be a large dragonfly, the gunman is caught unprepared for the attacks from the Motley. After a few seconds, both gunmen lie dead. Wally is heavily wounded from the shotgun blast, but not mortally. The motley manage to sequester the parents and the young girl, (who's name is Ofelia Velazquez) and convince them to leave Miami for a few weeks, telling them that they have earned the attention of local gang members.

The motley returns to the Carnivàle later that evening. They seek out Astarte, who is offers to use her goblin healing contract on Wally, stabilizing his wounds. They return to the Hollow to prepare for Maria Thorn's soiree. Around 10pm, the motley and Patches head to Maria's party. Many mortals are in attendance, but the players see that some are fae. Maria soon appears wearing Williams hedgespun creation, and offers him payment for it in the form of a small glass ampule containing her first heart's desire. They also soon realize that Maria's soiree is replete with humans offering sexual favors to the fae, even approaching Patches and the motley. The affair soon becomes an orgiastic bacchanal of sex, food, wine and other carnal appetites; which reminds Nicholas too much of the banquets of his former Keeper. He informs the rest he has plans to leave. Close to midnight, the players leave Maria's ocean-front villa, heading back to the Carnivàle, wondering what just happened.

As the group gathers back at the carnival grounds, they decide to investigate La Espada, who are meeting at midnight at the Flamingo Hotel.

Picking up just after the bomb blast...

There were maybe 2 or 3 dozen people in the club when the bomb went off, many of them are now severely wounded or dead.  Those who are well enough, run for the doors.  There are multiple small fires spreading.  Three men have come into the club: an ogre in insectoid armor with an ax, a man in a suit wielding two semi automatics, and a man in a cape.  The gunman is shooting and killing anyone who is not running for the door.

Nicholas and William engage the men.  William attacks the caped man.  Nicholas takes on the gunman.  The ogre attacks Wally.  Sigil helps Wally fight the ogre, while Benny stands behind Wally healing him.  After Nicholas takes down the gunman, he runs to help William against the caped man, but the caped man sets off explosives that were strapped to his body.  William and Nicholas are blown back by the blast.  After a few rounds against Wally, the ogre drops his ax and flees into the Hedge through a door at the back of the club.  Wally and Sigil chase after him.  Patches and Astarte, who appears mortally wounded, follow through the door and then Benny, William, and a now unconscious Marco.  Nicholas carries the gunman out of the club through the front door, unaware that the others have gone into the Hedge. 

In the Hedge, Sigil and Wally chase the armored ogre through the swamp to a large cypress tree that he disappears into.  Sigil finds a doorway into the tree, revealing a rope that leads down into a large pit.  Sigil climbs down the interior wall of the tree.  Bugs swarm Sigil, but he is able to fend them off with his elemental fire glamour.  At the bottom of the hole is a locked metal door, (a hatch like you would find in a naval ship or submarine) with the image of a blade upon its surface.  Sigil climbs back up to the top of the tree where Wally is waiting for him.  Sigil marks the tree, suspecting that this is the entrance to a hollow.  They head back to the others.

Patches, Astarte, William, Benny, and Marco stay near the door that led them into the Hedge and tend their wounds.  Once he is sure that William is going to be okay, Benny goes off to find Sigil and Wally, walling William in with plants so that he cannot stop Benny.  When Wally and Sigil rejoin the group, Benny has not returned, but they find a note from Benny among the tree leaves.  It says that he has returned to the hollow and will meet us there. 

Outside the club, Nicholas carries the unconscious gunman into the street.  María Thorn, getting out of her limo, runs up to him, wanting to know what happened.  She is in shock seeing her new club destroyed.  She leads Nicholas back to the limo.  After tying up the prisoner, Nicholas goes through his wallet and finds business cards for La Espada in the his wallet (the cards have the same emblem, a cross-hilt sword, that Sigil saw upon the metal door in the tree).  Maria goes pale at the sound of the name and explains that La Espada is a group of lost who are still loyal to their keepers.  Despite the apparent threat, Maria says it would be inappropriate to disturb Grandfather Thunder at this time and she does not want to bring the prisoner to him.  Nicholas says he will question the prisoner and Maria is pleased by that, though she does not want to be present.  Instead she loans Nicholas her limo and driver so he has a private place to conduct the interrogation. 

Nicholas reviews the gunman’s recent cell phone calls and notes the following names: Galena, Arioch, Parsifal, Rachel, and Salazar.  Also, the name Sean Banshee is written on the back of one of La Espada's cards.  When the gunman, Pedro, awakens, Nicholas questions him.  Pedro is scared but hesitant to reveal too much.  Nicholas turns on the righteous rage and then refers to himself as the Vengeance of the Lord.  This terrifies Pedro and loosens his lips.  Pedro works for people who he believes are demons, including Arioch, the ogre who was with him in the club.  Sean Banshee and Salazar are two other “demons.”  Pedro has killed and kidnapped normal people who associate with “other demons.”  He knows of other mercenaries who also work for the demons, but it is not a regular group.  They sometimes meet up at a local dive bar called Riptide.  He knows that some of the people they kidnap – particularly pretty women and children – are then sold to more powerful demons.  That night they were targeting Maria.  They blew up the club early because their “informant” mistook Astarte for Maria due to the red roses in their hair. 

After showing Pedro the Hedge through the car door, Nicholas extracts a pledge from him.  The next time they call Pedro with a job, he will call Nicholas and tell him everything.  If he breaks the pledge, he will go mute.  Nicholas keeps Pedro’s phone and then throws him out of the limo.

During the course of the early morning, the motley meets up back at the Glenwood Guard's hollow and exchanges info. 

The next morning, we see that the big top has been erected.  The Carnival plans to open this weekend on Saturday.

We learn that Maria has spoken with Grandfather Thunder and convinced him to let her deal with the La Espada situation.  She invites the motley over for a dinner party soon.

The motley and Patches head to Riptide before Nicholas and Patches go to meet with the Miami summer court.  The bar is located on the ground floor of the old Flamingo Hotel, a dive with vintage Cadillacs, some convertible, parked in front.  Nicholas stays in the truck while the others go in.  Wally and Sigil – disguised as a girl – have a drink.  William checks out the bathrooms and back area.  Patches sits down next to one of the leathery old Cuban men who are scattered around the bar.  Patches tries to get info from the man, but doesn’t have much luck.  Meanwhile, a man in a white suit comes in from the patio and heads to the bathrooms.  Sigil senses that there is something magical about the man and tells Wally.  Patches storms out of the bar, frustrated, and Sigil goes after him.  Wally asks William to check out the bathroom again because the man in the suit has been gone for a few minutes.  William checks, only to find himself looking down the barrel of a handgun. 

On the motley’s first morning in Miami, Benny discovers that a brown fungus has taken root in the goblin fruit garden. It has killed the Amarinthine goblin fruit tree and is spreading to others. Upset, Benny runs out into the hedge. William follows and they discover that the hedge in Miami looks quite different than the hedge in Chicago. It is swampy, filled with strange plants, and appears to have been neglected for some time. 

The rest of the motley leave the hollow and survey their new surroundings in the real world. The Carnival is camped in a grassy park with an amphitheater. Across from the park are the Atlantic Ocean and a small island covered in nice houses. Not far down the road are a marina and the Bay Front Market. 

Anastagio wants the motley to become part of the Carnival joining as performers. He is pleased that Wally is going to be the Carnival’s strong man and that Nicholas and Rati are developing an acrobatics routine. He is hoping that the others will also become performers, but is willing to compromise. He suggests that William could manage or purchase the carousel. Benny wants to run a first aid station, but Anastagios suggests that he sell healing herbs and love potions, as its more profitable than healing cuts and bruises. Sigil offers to work as the Carnival’s seamstress. 

That night Grandfather Thunder welcomes the Carnival with a small reception at his council hall at Freedom Tower. The changelings from the Carnival, including the motley, attend. At the party, Sigil meets Patches Baird, a handsome, though patchwork, changeling who Astarte hopes to hire for his ability to enhance people’s physical ability to perform. Nicholas meets Myra Belle Star, a Wizened and member of the summer court who used to work for the Carnival. She does not seem fond of Astarte. William and Benny meet Maria Thorn, who asks William to make her a gown and invites them to come to the opening of her new club, the Condor. Other members of the Miami courts are present at the party, including Deathless Ivan and Queen Naamah, but overall there are few Miami Lost present. Benny, Nicholas, and Wally start drinking together. Benny and Nicholas get drunk. 

At about noon the next day, Patches comes to the Carnival and meets with Astarte. They agree that he will take over the wagon of the Museum of Oddities, at least temporarily until he gets his own quarters. Astarte then sends Flash Barlow to summon the motley. Flash hounds Nicholas and then William and Benny, all of whom go to the hollow for some peace and quiet. Something knocks on the hedge door to the hollow. It is a beautiful, talking snake claiming to be from Benny’s keeper. William kills it. 

Eventually, the motley meets up with Patches, Astarte, and two of the Scribunda Sisters, who are having tea outside their wagon. Patches is hoping to use the Broken Mirror, (which we took from Auberon’s office) to find the child that his fetch fathered. Patches believes that the blood of a fetch-child can be used to kill the True Fae. He is determined to murder his former Keeper. The motley agrees to let him use the mirror in exchange for a future favor. Patches sees an old man named Collin in the mirror. As is typical of Florida weather, a mild seasonal rain hits and it begins to pour.

Benny, Sigil, and Wally agree to go to Coral Gables with Patches to find the old man. Concerned about how things might play out, Nicholas and William take William’s new motorcycle (a gift from Benny) to Coral Gables. Nicholas leads them to Coconut Grove Retirement Village, an old folks’ home, and bluffs the attendant into taking them to Collin. Nicholas had the address because this is where Rosie’s fetch now lives. Masquerading as two priests – Father Wilcox and Father William – they briefly talk with Collin. He seems to be a lonely and nervous old man with ailing health.

During the ride to Coral Gables, Sigil, Benny, and Patches continue their discussion about whether or not the fetch child has a soul or is an Arcadian creature. Patches agrees to wait a few days as Sigil and Benny try to answer their own questions about the fetch child’s nature. They head back to the Carnival. Eventually Nicholas and William head back as well. 

That evening, while Benny is working on his goblin fruit garden, driving out the fungus and replanting some of the damaged plants, something bangs on the hedge side door of the Motley's Hollow. At the same time Patches knocks on the mortal world side of the other door. We let Patches in. The knocking gets louder on the hedge-side Hollow door and a booming voice threatens to blow the house down. Benny opens the door to find a little wrinkled goblin. The goblin has a message from Benny’s Keeper professing his love for Benny and begging him to return. Benny seems stunned, until the goblin’s insistence on a tip pisses him off.

During the next few days, Sigil goes undercover to the retirement village in Coral Gables, impersonating as an old woman to get to know Collin. After a few days he witnesses a rather disturbing outburst, in which Collin offers to tie Sigil up and bleed her dry. Collin spirals out of control and spoils the trip to Denny’s for everyone. Later that day, William meets with Maria Thorn at her swanky sea-side home, to get her measurements, he befriends her haughty but insecure servant Marco. William makes Maria a gown of green mist and fireflies and then swears a pledge with Marco. Myra Belle calls Nicholas and invites him to a Summer Court event the day after Maria Thorn’s club party.  

Wednesday, May 19th, the Club Opening
Three days after Grandfather Thunder’s party, the motley and Patches arrive at the Condor, Maria Thorn’s new club in South Beach. Astarte is already there, upstairs in the VIP room. Marco leads the motley and Patches to the elevator. Just before the elevator reaches the VIP room, a bomb explodes, tearing the club apart, killing some of the party-goers and maiming many others inside and outside the club. Nicholas pries the elevator doors open and is able to hoist Benny and Patches out of the elevator before the cables snaps. The elevator plummets to the ground with Wally, Nicholas, William and Marco. Benny runs to the stairs to help the others. Patches rushes to help Astarte, who looks critically wounded, a large shard of glass imbeded in her chest. Maske men with guns run into the club and begin executing anyone left alive. 

Two weeks pass between the defeat of Auberon and the Carnival's departure.  During that time:

• Sigil and Benny learn that the goblin market in Chicago's Oz Park was driven out by Auberon 2 years ago and is now a hidden black market.
• William forges the Dancing Knife for Benny and the Singing Spear for himself. 
• Nicholas hires a private investigator and learns that Miss Pruit, Miss Fowler, Nurse Warren, and Father Wilcox have all passed away.  Father Wilcox died in Los Angeles a few years ago.  There is an obituary for a Nicholas Maguire from San Francisco in 1938. Rosie's fetch, now named Rosemary Goldsmith lives in Coral Gables, FL. 
• We learn that Auberon's mirror allows a changeling to see his fetch (ubiquitously called the Cracked Mirror).  Benny, William, and Nicholas use the mirror and only see themselves, so their fetches are probably all dead. 
• After Auberon's death, most of his gang disbanded.  Enkidu tried to take over, but was driven out by Juan the Snake.  Juan and his gang members were then executed by a "Spring Queen", presumably Bertha. 

 
After two weeks of preparation, Anastagio's Olde Time Lunar Carnivàle & Midnight Circus begins final preparations to leave Chicago for the balmy and humid clime of Miami, Florida. Also called the Freehold of the Trident, Miami is the City of Endless Summer, ruled by Grandfather Thunder, King of Summer. Trailers, flat-bed trucks, and U-Haul's are packed, the famous Carousel horses are salvaged and what can be cobbled from the destroyed Ferris Wheel are also packed into trucks. Many long-time loyal carnies and motleys begin the journey south. The game begins the night before the auspicious move as the Glenwood Guard motley awakes in their communal Hollow.

The day the Carnival is set to leave, we wake up only to find that the wagon is alone in a great field of wheat, like the one from our shared dream of the MWTES.  A wind blows the wagon over and rips off the door.  There is an old Victorian mansion in the distance with someone standing on the porch and 3 cyclones touching down.  Benny is able to control the cyclones and sends them over to the mansion, which is leveled.  While some of us tip the wagon upright, Benny runs toward the ruined mansion, intent on finding and killing MWTES.  The rest of us follow. 
 
In minutes the tornadoes cut a swath of destruction, leveling the manor, leaving only the brick and mortar foundation. As they begin to head towards the house, they realize that a bolted, padlocked storm cellar door is built on the foundation. Wally, using his Ogrish strength, manages to teer one of the doors off its hinges. Stone steps lead to darkness below. Sigil, summoning his Darkling witchlight, illuminates the passage leading down. A vast chamber filled with rotting bags of wheat, many which are covered in a brown-yellow fungus. At the far end a wooden door beckons. Opening the door reveals a long, vast darkened hallway where the sounds of screams can be heard issuing out of small cells. The motley inspects to realize that the cells contain the dream-selves of mortals driven mad, ranging in ages from childhood to old age.

We head down a hallway lined with metal doors, like those of an old asylum.  There are gibbering lunatics behind the doors.  Sigil opens one using the key from Auberon's office.  Benny and William go inside and talk to the crazy little girl within.
 
A disembodied smile appears in the hallway.  Nicholas talks with it.  It is MWTES.  He says that he is the one who brought us back from Arcadia as part of his pledge to Bertha.  Then Bertha betrayed him and cut off his head.  For breaking her pledge, now all that she loves will turn to poison.  She betrayed him after our return to Chicago but before we encountered Bertha. 
 
They attempt to use a key to open a cell, Benny decides to speak to one of the mad souls. He gathers only a few lines of an unknown rhyme or poem, which the insane occupant repeats over and over. Outside, near the end of the long, winding hallway, a door opens and a nightmarish image steps out. Nicholas and William are the first to recognize the Man with the Ergot Smile (MWES). His forhead drips with the blood of a carved T shaped cross, and his smile is all too familiar. He motions for them to approach him, beckoning them to step into one of the cells. As the motley moves ahead, they see the door closed. As they attempt to use the same key,

***

Nicholas and Wally follow MWTES into one of the cells.  The door opens, revealing a heavily ornamented Victorian parlor, replete with antique piano-forte, oil paintings on the walls, colorful, heavily patterned velvet wall paper and massive ferns growing in antique Chinese porcelain vases.  The smell is the cloying stink of verdigris and opium. At the far end, elegantly attired in 19th century black tuxedo is the MWES, except this time he appears the perfect, civilized English gentleman, white gloves, top hat and polished silver topped cane. His voice is inviting. "Come, sit, join me for tea. Make yourselves at home."

            Nix claims not to know much of anything about Auberon, his plans, or his supporters. She tells the motley that Auberon didn’t know what might be in the back pack, but he knows witches are powerful and wanted whatever she was going to give us. After William unties Nix, they tell her that Astarte would grant her asylum is she asked for it. Nix breaks down and admits she was lying. Auberon wanted us to bring the head back to the pier because it’s cursed. She says she’s sorry but now everyone on the pier is doomed.

            Benny goes up to the Carnival to alert them that there might be trouble. The rest of us go to the street and head toward the subway, intending to destroy the head. Nix follows with us, wanting to help. A few blocks from the Pier, Wally throws the back pack into a garbage can and sets it on fire. The garbage and back pack burn, but the head is undamaged. In fact, its eyes are now open. Wally transforms his knife into a broadsword and starts stabbing the head over and over.  Smoke issues forth from its mouth. We all begin to back away. Nix screams. Nicholas grabs her and begins to carry her away, but the smoke rushes into her open mouth. Her eyes go black.

            The power goes out in the area. A strong wind picks up and the clouds overhead begin to move in a large circle, as if a tornado is about to touch ground. Nix whispers something about a thousand madmen dreaming as one and opening a gate, which references the dream we’ve all had about the Man with the Ergot Smile (MWTES). The motley begin to scatter, but Nicholas draws his sword and stabs Nix. “If you try to kill me, you will kill her,” the True Fae possessing Nix says. Then Nicholas is lifted by the winds and drawn into the tornado forming overhead.

            Sigil knocks Nix down, but the tornado is already fully formed. William is sucked into the tornado, while Sigil and Wally find shelter down an open manhole. Within the tornado, Nicholas and William find shelter inside a taxi cab, bukling themselves in. Then the tornado drops them through a ceiling of glass and in among trees and flowers. It’s the Navy Pier arboretum. William and Nicholas get out of the car and survey the damage.

            The tornado touched down on the pier. The arboretum is severely destroyed. The Ferris wheel was torn up and dropped on the Big Top, destroying the tent and killing many of the animals – including both of Astarte’s Bengal tigers. Another ride is completely missing as is the roof of the carousel and the Scribunda Sisters’ wagon. William rushes back to the warehouse to find Benny. The freak tent is gone, ripped away from the wooden floor, Astarte’s trailer has tipped over, as have many of the other wagons and trailers. The motley’s wagon is on its side, one of its wheels damaged, but William is able to enter the Hollow, where Benny is sound asleep, oblivous to the chaos outside.     

           Wally and Sigil follow the trail of the tornado back to the pier. Once the motley is reunited we learn that the Scribunda Sisters, Cof, and Blotto’s son, Malcolm, are all missing. Astarte seems not to have emerged from her Hollow. Most everyone else is fine, though in shock from what has occurred. Hermes and Aphrodite use their powers to learn that Bertha is responsible for the tornado.   This makes sense as we know that she had an alliance with the Man with the Ergot Smile and she has control over the witch who gave us the head. She must now be working with Auberon. The Siamese twins want us to exact vengeance. They can use their magic to take us to Auberon and, hopefully, her. 

The motley discusses how to proceed. Wally insists that if we are going to face Auberon and Bertha, then Astarte, the Barlows, and some of the others should come with us. We go to see Astarte only to learn that she and Anastagio have left. After the twins told her that we would be facing Bertha and Auberon, she went to get something for us. When Astarte returns, she gives Nicholas the Blade of the Morrigan (the rapier), which she has glamoured back from the police. Astarte tells Nicholas that the best way to defeat Auberon is to face him in a Hedge duel. Auberon cannot refuse the challenge if it comes from her and she will choose Nicholas to fight as her champion. Nicholas is uncertain about this, as he would prefer to fight with his motley mates at his side, but Astarte is firm that this is the best option, particularly since Auberon is unlikely to back away from a challenge from a lone changeling. Nicholas asks to have time to recover before the duel.

Benny shapes Nicholas’ dreams to help him recover more quickly.   

In the morning (Wednesday) Astarte announces that the Carnival has decided to begin its move to the Miami Freehold, seeking the shelter offered by Grandfather Thunder. The damage to the pier is too great and they need to make money before they can repair it. Since they are still missing the Autumn and Winter emblems, they plan to travel the trod without proper protection. William suggests that they take mundane roads instead, as that will likely be much safer. 

Wally agrees to let Nicholas wield the shifting dagger to use in the duel. 

The motley, Astarte, Anastagio, Hermes & Aphrodite, Blotto, and his wife Daisy take a "borrowed" school bus to Auberon’s place, an abandoned hotel on the South Side. Two thugs stand guard in front. The thugs allow them entry, but they will only allow Astarte and the Glenwood Guard to enter. We go up an old elevator to the penthouse floor, which is run down and tatty looking now, devoid of the magical glamour the motley remembers. There are gang bangers all around and a few changelings, including a Beast runnerswift by the name of Enkidu. Auberon sits on his throne with two beast-headed women chained to it base. Malcolm, Blotto’s son, also has a chain around his neck tying him to the throne. Cof sits in an alcove happily being fed. 

Astarte challenges Auberon to a hedge duel with Nicholas as her champion. Auberon declares that Cof, his trusted lieutenant, will be his witness. The motley will serve as Astarte’s witness. If Auberon wins he wants Nicholas’ life, the summer emblems, and Malcolm. Astarte will not agree to include the boy in the deal. Instead she agrees that she and her people will leave Chicago and never return. Auberon agrees to this. If Nicholas wins, he wants Auberon’s life, the summer emblems, and the butler, who had helped them escape before. Auberon laughs and offers to give us the butler "in a bag." A large garbage bag is brought out and set before Nicholas. Inside is the butchered body of the butler. 

Malcolm is released and Astarte escorts him safely out of the building after giving Nicholas a glamoured kiss, her thick red lipstick leaving its imprint on his cheek.

Auberon, Cof, and the motley cross into the Hedge, the thick thorny vines and spines react, moving and encircling to form a ring in which the duel will take place. Cof boasts that he will cook the motley and eat them when the duel is done.  

Nicholas strikes first and draws blood. Auberon brutally stabs Nicholas in the arm, severing an artery and doing serious damage. Nicholas disarms Auberon with a graceful twist of his blade. Auberon claws at Nicholas, tearing open his chest, drawing more blood. Then Nicholas plunges his rapier through Auberon’s chest. Blood sprays out, drenching Nicholas, a mortal blow. Auberon swings his massive, horned head, goring Nicholas with one of his horns. Nicholas stabs Auberon in the stomach, almost killing him, but Auberon hangs on and claws Nicholas once more. Nicholas stumbles, barely able to stay on his feet, but administers the coup de gras. Auberon falls, blood-soaked. Nicholas takes a moment to eat a piece of goblin fruit, equally drenched in the Beast's blood. Then Nicholas transforms the shifting dagger into an axe, cutting off Auberon’s head. 

Cof is squealing and terrified. Wally runs at him and cuts him, determined to make him suffer for the part he's played in the ruin of the Carnivàle. Cof screams, soiling himself in sheer terror at Wally's attack. Then he scurries away, propelling himself on his small, almost useless legs, opening a door back to Auberon’s demesne. The Motley emerges from the Hedge, following Cof to the mortal world. Nicholas stands before the throne and lifts Auberon’s head for all to see. The gang bangers start grabbing drugs and money and make a break for it. One of the changelings, the female Beast, Enkidu, comes forward. It is unclear if she is angry or just shocked that Auberon is dead. Then Bertha (now calling herself Green-Eyed Gerta) steps out of the shadows.

Nicholas and Wally attack Gerta, brutally wounding her, but then she glamours the motley, inciting her furious Bedlam, and they fall under her spell of lust and desire. As the rest of Auberon’s followers flee, Gerta-Bertha commands the motley to tend her wounds, forcing William to lick her side, tasting her blood. They offer her goblin fruit and William bandages her. Then, under her thrall, they are forced to touch and make "love" to her. After she has climaxed, she tells them that she must go. She walks some distance away, whispers something to a door and disappears into the Hedge. Once she is gone, the motley shakes off her glamour. 

Searching the penthouse unearths the following:

1.      The women chained to the throne are seemingly derranged hobgoblins.
2.      In the library there is an old leather bound book about herbs and goblin fruit, which Benny takes. Sigil reveals through his Kenning and sees that it is magical.
3.      Sigil finds a very familiar onyx statue of a cat, which he takes.
4.      There are effigies of all us which we destroy.
5.      There are very old toys that had belonged to us as children, which we take.
6.      Sigil reveals through Kenning that the antique, gilt-ornate mirror over the fireplace is magical, (the mirror has a hairline crack along the lenght of it). We take it.
7.      $5500 in cash.
8.      a locked, wooden box that Sigil reveals through his Kenning as containing magic.
9.      Auberon’s financial ledgers.
10. In Auberon’s bedroom, William uses Kenning and finds a leather arm band under the pillow and a silver dollar coin in the wall safe. He takes them both.
11. Nicholas takes Auberon’s wallet, with his ID and credit cards, and a small electronic key. 
12. We take the remains of the butler so that he may be put to rest properly.

The Motley are greeted outside by Astarte, Anastagio, Hermes & Aphrodite, Blotto, Daisy, and Malcolm. They are elated to see us. We tell them that Auberon is dead, but that Gerta-Bertha used her magic to enthrall us and escape. Cof must have escaped into the Hedge, as they did not see him come out of the building. As we prepare to leave, Sigil says he has something to do and stays behind.

Sigil frees the hobgoblin women and releases them into the Hedge. 

On the school bus, the Siamese-twins are able to open the locked box. Inside is the Living Doll of Queen Mab, the Autumn Court emblem. They are very grateful and say that they are indebted to the motley. They agree to investigate the mirror and let us know what power it has. 

The Carnivàle will be heading to Miami in about two weeks. They really want the Glenwood Guard to come with them. Blotto and his family have even said that they would feel safer with the Glenwood Guard staying with the carnival folk, unwilling to leave Chicago if they do not travel south. 

Other outstanding issues for the Motley to consider:

•      Green-eyed Gerta/Bertha is still loose
• ·        The witch is still under Gerta's-Bertha’s power
• ·        Nix remains possessed by the Man with the Ergot Smile
• ·        Cof is at large
• ·        The Scribunda Sisters are still missing
• ·        Enkidu and her motley are at large
• ·        With the death of Auberon, there is now a power vacuum among the Chicago Lost, which our enemies might easily fill    

            On Friday, the day after Bertha leaves, there is screaming from Sigil’s room. Benny and William are concerned, but realize that Sigil wants to be alone. When Benny finally enters the room hours later, Sigil is unconscious and the symbols on his body have changed. Benny tends to him and enters his dreams to confirm that Sigil will be all right. Benny learns that Sigil’s understanding of the Wyrd has grown, but that the process was painful for him.  

            Wally attends T-Bone’s funeral. T-Bone is laid to rest in the park in front of the Navy Pier.

            On Saturday we learn that the Carnival will officially reopen the next day. Astarte and Anastagio have manged to bribe some city officials to restoring electrical power to certain sections of the Pier. William dedicates himself to making sure that the carousel is ready and Benny tends to the arboretum. Anastagios asks us to work as security on opening night. He orders black “Security” T-shirts for us. He also gives us a package that he says is from Auberon. He assures us that the package represents no immediate danger. Inside, there is an unsigned note and a scarp of fabric. The note invites us to a meeting on Monday night at 10pm to discuss “the Man with the Ergot Smile’s plans.” The meeting place is in the downtown Loop. Astarte tells us that the fabric is from the Living Doll of Queen Mab, the Autumn Court’s missing emblem. The handwriting on the note is not Auberon’s. 

            Nicholas goes to the Scribunda Sisters and asks for a reading. Meridia, the middle sister, agrees to do the reading if Nicholas and his motley mates move the Scribunda wagon to a prime location for opening night. Nicholas agrees.

            Nicholas is concerned about what might happen on opening night and at the Monday night meeting. Meridia warns Nicholas that his angry nature will color the reading she gives. Essentially, the fate she will see is one which assumes that Nicholas will be true to his current nature. But, she says, if he acts out of character, then things might unfold differently. She then says that something lost will be found tomorrow by someone Nicholas already knows. This thing will bring our doom unless we recover it. Meridia says that we have made an enemy through a slight and that the enemy has already set things in motion against us. Someone who knew someone who Nicholas loved deeply is moving to town with good, though misguided, intentions. Lastly, she says that the motley will suffer much grief and reap many rewards.

            Nicholas and Wally move the Scribunda Sisters’ wagon to a grassy lawn between the carousel and the Ferris Wheel, in hopes of attracting customers on opening night. Most of the rest of Saturday the motley spends resting or relaxing.

           Later that evening at supper, Helga, manager of the Hetaerae, asks that one of our motley work as security when the Heterae perform. She promises us a share of their profits.

            Sunday night the Carnival opens at 7pm.  Everything seems to go well although not as well attended as usual. Anastagios and Helga pay the motley for the night’s work (each member gets $260). The Big Top features varous headlining acts, like Blotto's clowns, Astarte's Tiger-taming show, and the Bishop's clowns. 

            On Monday, William and Nicholas go to scout the location of the night’s meeting. The meeting is to take place at the James Thompson Center at Clark and Lake, downtown. In the large plaza outside they find a massive white sculpture in the which the note refers to as “The Standing Beast” (it is actually by reknowed modern artist Jean Dubuffet and measures 29ft). 

            Benny goes to see Michelangelo, a Beast Runner-swift. They talk about Aurora, but Michelangelo acts less interested in her than Benny had thought. Michelangelo talks about various changeling women he knows and tries to talk to Benny about sex. Benny begins to cry and runs off. On his way home, Benny buys 5 cell phones, one for each member of the motley. After handing out the cell phones, Benny goes to see Aurora. He confesses that he talked to Michelangelo and she gently reprimands him for being a busybody.

            William gets the address of a gun shop with lax rules.

            On the way to meet with whoever sent them the package, the motley agree that Sigil, Wally, and Nicholas will go meet with the person, while William and Benny stay out of sight, just in case. Benny summons a heavy downpour of rain to provide cover from snipers.

            At the appointed time, Wally, Sigil and Nicholas – who have taken shelter inside a café – see someone standing by the statue. They go out and see Verbena, the last survivor of the mages they’ve met. She offers to give us the doll if we recover her soul stone for her and either tell her where Bertha is or kill Bertha. Her soul stone is a necklace made of opals. The witch then gives us a back pack. Inside is a head, which has apparently been cut from the body of the Man with the Ergot Smile. The witch regards him as having been an easy kill, but confesses that she did not face him herself. We agree to try to do as she asks and then part ways with her.

            In the subway station below, Nicholas, Sigil, and Wally tell the others what Verbena said and show them the contents of the back pack. The conversation is interrupted by the arrival of Nix, a darkling changeling, and two thugs with guns. They want the back pack. Nicholas tosses it over the rail toward the rails of the subway trains. After a brief skirmish, the darkling flees after being critically injured, one gangbanger escapes while Wally kills the other, and Sigil and William capture Nix.

            The motley head back to the Navy Pier close to midnight. They take the head of the True Fae and a bound Nix under the pier for questioning. 

Game date: Saturday, April 10 & early Sunday morning, the 11th

(posted from Kip's game notes)


The next morning, when we’re waking up in the communal Hollow, William notices that Benny is asleep with his eyes open and is totally unresponsive. Benny’s breathing is shallow and his eyes are twitching slightly, as if he is dreaming. After consulting with the rest of the motley, William goes into Benny’s dream. Nicholas, Sigil, and Wally leave William to his oneiric meditation and go to take care of some errands.

The three go find Cof, who had wanted to speak with us the day before. He asks us to steal back some enchanted banners that the freak show previously sold when they fell upon hard times. A rival gypsy circus now has the banners and, since Cof lacks the money to buy them back, he wants us to steal them. In return, he will give us access to one of his sources of glamour. Before getting into further details, we told him that we had more pressing matters that we needed to deal with first. We did not rule out the possibility of performing the task later, though none of us have any interest in it. 

Using Anastagios’ office phone, Nicholas calls the mages and leaves a voice mail message for them.  Then Wally, Sigil, and Nicholas go to a subway station to harvest glamour. When we return, William is just waking up.

In Benny’s dream, he is in the Glenwood School, which is now done up as a private mansion. Our old dormitory is now a dining room, where Benny was. There was someone else there, a woman with wooden, doll like fingers. Benny was not afraid or upset by the other person, until she told Benny that she wants him to bring all of his friends to her and that she’ll grant us all everything we want if we promise to love her. She then dragged Benny upstairs and locked him in the old attic, which is now scattered with abandoned, broken toys. William could hear Benny pounding on the attic door and calling his name. Benny knew William was there. 

While Wally stays with Benny, the rest of us seek the Red Queen, who is practicing her tiger taming routine, the tiger is a magnificent white Bengal, whom no one else has seen before (or in any cages). After hearing about Benny’s condition, she agrees to go into his dream to analyze it. William wants to go with her, but she says that he may interfere with her ability to help Benny. When William goes to get Benny, she confesses that she may learn some very personal things about Benny, but promises to keep any secrets to herself. While William stays with the Red Queen and Benny, Sigil and Nicholas go talk with Blotto. Nicholas grills Blotto about the politics of the Miami freehold (all the information about the freehold that is in the core book is considered public knowledge and we have access to it). When asked if Grandfather Thunder is any different than Auberon, Blotto is disparaging of Auberon, but he does not actually say anything reassuring about Grandfather Thunder or his power play.

Anastagios gives us a message left by one of the mages that they will meet us at the club Crowbar the next night. Nicholas and Sigil get Wally and go to see the Scribunda Sisters, but Aurora is with a client. She asks us to come back in an hour. 

The three return to the Red Queen’s trailer to find her and William having tea. The Red Queen tells us that Benny is in a poisoned dreamscape. The Green Queen, who holds him prisoner, is a powerful changeling who is connected to all of us. Bertha? Miss Pruit? The Green Queen is a powerful Spring Court Elemental and she has taken over the building that was the Glenwood School and the surrounding town by capturing all the children. She has made a deal with the Man with the Ergot Smile, who is the True Fae from our shared dream (the man in the brown derby, long wild hair and dirty black suit). We have already learned that he is in possession of the Winter Court’s emblem and that he is trying to get back to Arcadia. Supposedly, the mages are the Green Queen’s servants and they do whatever she tells them to. She has obtained all of our true names and given them to the mages, along with personal items that belonged to us as children. They used this information and old toys that had belonged to us to initially draw us out of the Hedge and capture us. The mages were instrumental in trapping Benny in the dream. They chose him expecting that he would be the most vulnerable. 

That night, the motley decides to seek out the mages. The Red Queen advises us to be careful. We head to Crowbar, hoping to get some information about the mages there. 

The four of us enter separately. Sigil disguises himself as a young woman who is enamored with the group. Nicholas overlooks the club from a balcony. William harvest glamour by dancing with some of the women there. Wally drinks. We then see one of the mages setting up his equipment on stage. The mages’ band – Sin is Grace – is scheduled to play that night. Sigil and Nicholas talk briefly. Then Nicholas goes to Wally and the two of them head back stage. Sigil goes onto the dance floor to let William know what is going on.

Backstage, Nicholas tries doors off the hallway until he finds one of the female mages getting ready in front of a mirror in one of the dressing rooms. He rushes her and, avoiding lethal force, tries to punch her. He misses and she disappears. Wally closes and blocks the door, while Nicholas opens an inner door, only to find the other female mage snorting a line of cocaine. Deciding to use a more effective attack, Nicholas draws his sword and soon this mage is seriously wounded and unconscious. Then he is hit by a powerful kinetic magical attack that does quite a bit of aggravated damage, crashing him into a wall and nearly knocking him unconscious.

Wally listens and is able to hear the invisible mage. He attacks her, swinging blindly through the air. Then she casts her kinetic attack spell again, knocking Wally through the door and doing aggravated damage. Nicholas comes out of the bathroom holding the unconscious mage as a body shield.  He leaves the unconscious girl with Wally and runs back toward the stage. Valerian, the mage and guitarist who was on stage practicing, is just coming behind the curtain. Nicholas stabs him. Then he hits Nicholas with a spell that not only knocks Nicholas out, but leaves him nearly dead. These attacks are visible to some of the people in the club and chaos ensues.  

Valerian and the previously invisible female march toward Wally, demanding that he hand over their friend. Wally throws the unconscious girl at the mages (later we learn that she did not survive being tossed). William and Sigil come upon the scene and soon Valerian is also dead. The other girl, however, turns invisible again and gets away. 

Wally performs first aid on Nicholas and is able to keep him alive until the EMT's arrive. The police are there by then and question people in the crowd. William says that he knows Nicholas and acknowledges that the sword the police find belongs to Nicholas. When the police finally leave, they take William with them for questioning. Nicholas is taken to the hospital. 

Wally and Sigil get back to the pier and go to the Red Queen's trailer, seeking her for help. She does not hesitate to respond. The Red Queen and Sigil go to the hospital to get Nicholas, while Anastagios and Wally head to the police station to recover William. At the hospital, the Red Queen uses a Goblin contract to fully heal Nicholas by taking his wounds upon herself, however, Nicholas' wounds are so grievous that the Goblin contracts drawback is triggered, rendering the Queen in critical condition as she collapses. Sigil, in the guise of a young woman, gets a wheelchair for the now unconscious queen. A police officer comes into the room and Nicholas manages to knock him. Nicholas puts on the cop’s clothes and takes his gun. They ward off hospital security, when Nicholas draws his gun and takes Sigil and the Red Queen “hostage”. 

After a completely illegal questioning, in which he is threatened, William is eventually released to Anastagios and Wally. The police keep the antique rapier and Nicholas’ clothes, however, as that is all evidence in the homicide case of two of the slain mages. 

Several hours later, as morning dawns, everyone is back at the Navy Pier.

Notes from June 21^st session (Game Date: April 9, 2004):

(From Kip's journal)

            After the attack by the armed gangbangers, (mostly latino and black gangbangers wearing Chicago Bulls jerseys) the motley is helping the wounded. Nicholas goes looking for someone in authority. He encounters two of the Barlow Brothers who tell him that Cof has an offer for the motley.  Nicholas tells them that Cof can come out and find the 'Glenwood Guard.' Nicholas tries to harvest glamour from the Barlows and they end up having a bit of a stand off. Nicholas gets some glamour and leaves.

            Wally learns from Star (of the Barlow Brothers) that Ivan (also of the Brothers) was critically injured and might “never be the same”. Since Ivan is Wally’s only real friend outside of the motley, he is really worried for Ivan. 

            Wally confronts Nicholas as he leaves the warehouse and tries to blame him for Ivan’s injury, by saying that Nicholas should have been faster to react. Nicholas has no patience for this flaccid accusation and sharply tells Wally that if the ogre had not been hiding in the Hollow then maybe Nicholas would not have had to fend off the attack on his own. Then Wally goes to find Benny, who agrees to heal Ivan, even though he has already begun to push himself past his limit. After Benny is done, Ivan is almost completely healed. Wally is very grateful for Benny’s help. 

            Nicholas finds Sigil and they talk. During his reconnaissance Sigil has learned that Arabesque’s motley is looking for her. In particular, a summer court runnerswift seems determined to find her and is hunting high and low for her.  

            Still wanting to talk to one of the leaders of the Carnival to formulate some sort of response to this attack, Nicholas and Sigil go find the Bishop. He and his troupe are in the circus tent. The Bishop’s overall attitude seems to be one of  we’re all going to die anyway. During this conversation, there is one particularly tense moment, to which Queenie replies, “Ooo, this is just like on Tyra!” 

            When the Glenwood Guard, (the name the motley assumes) meet up again, we decide to go speak with Cof. As we head back toward the warehouse, we notice that the sky has darkened and become stormy. A cyclone is coming in from the lake toward the pier. We hear the sound of many hooves coming in on the wind, quickly followed by flashes of lightning and booming thunder. Sigil confirms that it is a supernatural storm. We make it into the warehouse. Nicholas and Wally secure the large front doors and Sigil freezes the rain water on the doors to help hold them shut. 

            Then a cyclone hits the pier and tears away the north-east end of the huge storage warehouse. Tendrils of fog reach into the warehouse wooden floors and begin to take the forms of a dozen men on fae-like horses with smoke-like hooves. Also, half a dozen large wolfhounds, and fifty or so goblin creatures. One of the riders lifts a rams horn to his elfin lips and the piercing blast drives the creatures into frenzy--It is the Wild Hunt.

            Benny opens the door to the Hollow and we flee through it. As Nicholas, the last one to retreat, is about to go into the Hollow, he sees that the goblins and dogs shy away from the doorway, clearly unwilling to go through the door to the Hedge. Then Nicholas hears Star calling for someone to help her with Ivan. Somewhere nearby Blotto’s wife Daisy is screaming. Nicholas runs out to help.  Sigil follows close behind him. Then William and Benny follow. Wally hesitates and is then unable to get out before the wagon door closes. 

            All the other changelings seem to have already taken shelter. The Wild Hunt attacks the carnies who are almost defenseless against them; many are dragged screaming into the thick fog...

            An armored horseman is attacking Blotto with a lance that has wrapped itself around Blotto, like a whip-like vine, sprouting sharp thorns that dig into his flesh. Nicholas tries to cut through the lance, but it has no effect; it is like trying to cut through barbed wire. Sigil creates an area of debilitating cold and tries to keep it centered on members of the Wild Hunt.   William swings his dragon tail under the attacker’s horse, knocking the horse and rider over and freeing the now unconscious Blotto. Nicholas kills the fallen rider and it turns into smoke. 

            Wally reopens the door to the Hollow and joins the battle, willing his enchanted dagger into the shape of a medieval broadsword.

            A wolfhound and a goblin attack Benny, who is still by our cart. William throws his spear at the wolfhound, killing it. Benny defends himself, killing the goblin. 

            Nicholas lifts the unconscious Blotto over his shoulder, picks up little Malcolm, who seems emotionless, mentally having shut-down, and helps the hysterical Daisy to her feet. He gets them into the Hollow. 

            Another rider approaches William and catches him with his whip. Benny, Sigil, and Wally attack the rider, trying to free William. The horn blows again, sending waves of fear through the carnies and changelings and the Wild Hunt begins a retreat toward the open corner in the back of the warehouse. Outside the thunder booms and flashes of lightning illuminate the dark interior of the vast warehouse. Before the rider who has William caught can retreat, Sigil jumps on behind him and Benny grabs hold of the whip, unwilling to let William be taken away from him. The rider spurs his horse on and William, Benny, and Sigil are taken back into the fog at the rear of the warehouse.

            In the fog, William is able to pull on the vine-like whip and unseats the rider. The whip snaps. William catches hold of something and is able to prevent himself from slipping on the icy, rain-slicked floor. Sigil leaps off the now riderless horse. In the thick fog they cannot see anything, but they hear the waves of lake Michigan crashing into the pier, and then a distant splash as Benny hits the cold water below. William and Sigil dive into the water to help him. The three work together to make their way safely back to the pier. 

            Once the Wild Hunt has left the warehouse, retreating back into the storm, the fog begins to clears and the storm swiftly retreats... 

           Nicholas returns to the Hollow and retrieves Blotto and his family. He stabilizes Blotto and tries to calm Daisy down. 

            Once a head count has been taken, we learn that one carnie has been killed, Georgia. Three carnies, Cash, Bovel, and Gilly, are wounded. Three other carnies, Tem, Chavy, and Patia, are missing, presumably taken by the Wild Hunt. Benny does what he can to heal the wounded. 

            Astarte appears and says that everyone is to meet in the big top later that night to discuss what to do next. When the meeting begins, Astarte speaks. She is wearing fine hedgespun clothes and holds her emblem, the long-stemmed blood-red rose in full bloom. Auberon claims responsibility for both the attacks we have suffered this day. He is demanding that the summer emblems be returned to him or the attacks will continue. Astarte says that we are meeting to decide if we will leave Chicago to escape him or if we will return the summer emblems to him. She has journeyed south to Miami, (which she refers to as the "Freehold of the Trident") and met with Grandfather Thunder, the King of Miami’s summer court. He has invited the Carnivàle to come to his city and is eager for Astarte to take on the role of Spring Queen there. However, he has had some trouble with a group of rebellious changelings and would ask our help in dealing with this group. She says that Grandfather Thunder’s rise to power took place during the carnival’s captivity so she knows little about him or the situation he is dealing with. Then she opens the floor for discussion.

            The manikin twins Hermes and Aphrodite say that they want to stay and make war on Auberon. The Bishop wishes to stay and is willing to do whatever is necessary to be able to stay. Overall, people seem to follow the courtly lines, with the winter and autumn courts wanting to stay in their city and the summer and spring courts feeling that it might be safer to move to Miami. 

            It is suggested that if the Carnivàle stays and the summer emblems are given to Auberon, that part of the agreement would be a pledge of non-aggression from Auberon. Nicholas asks if Auberon can be relied on to keep such a pledge, given that he has already broken a pledge to the Carnival when he imprisoned them. Astarte confesses that she is the one who broke the pledge when she killed someone who Auberon was in love with – someone who she too was in love with. This sets Wally off and he calls into question whether or not Astarte is fit to rule. Despite his accusations, the members of the spring court fully rally to their ruler and, as she is their queen, it is up to them to decide whether or not she is fit to hold her title. 

            After Wally suggests that Benny should be the Spring King and Benny responds with an uncharacteristically inappropriate reply, Benny leaves the tent and goes to the arboretum. 

            Sigil asks how the Carnivàle would move to Miami, since we are still missing two of the emblems and, therefore, are unable to open the Trod to Miami through the Hedge. To travel mundanely will require time and money, both of which are sorely lacking.

            William brings up the prospect of contacting the werewolves to see if we can form an alliance with them against Auberon, since he has been using spirit creatures, which is something the werewolves are rumored to oppose. 

            When it comes to a vote, the Carnival chooses to stay in Chicago by a narrow margin. The key figures of the autumn and winter courts – despite earlier talk of fighting Auberon - vote to surrender the summer emblems to him, in order to obtain a truce. They have the majority. Nicholas storms out of the tent. Lastly, Astarte asks for a vote on whether or not we should contact the werewolves. William is alone in voting to do so. Then the meeting is done.

            Nicholas is waiting outside and approaches Astarte when she comes out of the tent. He suggests that now that the rabble have dispersed, the Glenwood Guard and the seasonal rulers should meet to have a real discussion of strategy. Astarte asks if Nicholas disagrees with the carnival’s rule of democracy. Nicholas says no, he respects that she put it to a vote as to whether we should stay or go. But he feels that everything after that should have been discussed by those who have been appointed to make the decisions. Strategy is not to be decided by the rabble, but by those who have the wisdom to be able to make good choices. Astarte agrees to call the courtly monarchs together if the Glenwood Guard request it. 

            The Glenwood Guard meet in their Hollow to discuss what to do next. We agree that we will make our own decisions about how we proceed from here. We hold the summer emblems and the Carnival has been relying on us solely to provide them with protection and more. We believe that we will need to act quickly as Astarte tries to negotiate a pledge with Auberon. We set the following short term goals: 1) to contact the werewolves, 2) to contact the mages and see if they can give us any help, 3) to learn how to use the guns we have, 4) to learn more about Auberon’s defenses, 5) to meet with Cof and hear what he has to say, and 6) William will try to forge a suit of hedgespun armor for Nicholas. 

(A tapestry from Semirami's Loft)

The Hetaerae are the strippers and courtesans of the Carnival. They perform at night in Semiramis’ Loft, a many roomed tent that they have to themselves. Their shows are inspired by traditional strip tease and burlesque, evoking a sense of the forbidden which is a rare thing in modern strip clubs and titty-bars. There is no tipping and no lap dances. There is the music, the performers, and the rapt audience - and the bouncers. 
 

The Hetaerae also work as courtesans. For this, they work in the back rooms of the Loft. Each member has her or his own room and there are two extra rooms that they have at their disposal, along with a waiting area.

The Hetaerae, as a part of the Carnival, predates any of its current members. The Hetaerae has always had at least two changeling members and has often had some humans among their number. Some previous members eventually left the Carnival to pursue other work or to settle down, while others have died or gone insane. Some have been fired and exiled from the Carnival and one or two have simply disappeared. 
The current members of the Hetaerae are:
 

Helga, a sleepwalker who manages the Hetaerae. She has been with the Carnival for twelve years. She came to the Carnival seeking protection and was accepted by them because it was foreseen that they would need her. 

Rati, a Spring Court Darkling who has been with the Carnival for ten years. She enjoys her work, especially seducing the audience with her dances. 

Apollo, a Winter Court Fairest, who is the first male Hetaerae. He has been with the Carnival for eight years. He sees both male and female clients. He enjoys the attention the job gives him and he feeds on the guilt and regret that his clients often feel.

Iolanthe, an Autumn Court Elemental, who has only been with the Carnival for three years. The sexual desire that men feel for her excites her almost as much as it frightens her and she cannot turn away from it. 

 
As the manager, Helga sometimes handles booking the clients, but the dancers are free to book clients themselves, as long as they keep Helga informed about their schedule. The Hetaerae’s agreement with the Carnival includes a minimum amount of business that they must bring in each month. Often this is almost completely covered by their show, so the Hetaerae are free to see as few or as many clients as they like. While Helga has reduced her client load so that she can focus on managing the business, the others continue to see numerous clients. Depending upon the nature of the show, either Helga or Apollo emcees for the Hetaerae. 

Smiling Sid, is the barker for the Hetaerae. He has only been with the Carnival for a year and a half. There are also a number of carnies who work as bouncers in the Loft during working hours, though they often rotate duties so that none of them become too familiar with the Hetaerae.

While the Hetaerae are free to see or reject whichever clients they like, there is a firm rule that they cannot become involved with any of the men who work the house, including Smiling Sid and any of the carnies who might be positioned there as bouncers. There are no rules against them dating or sleeping with the other performers, though Helga tends to keep a close eye on such things, as they can end poorly.

Roland Bond -- The Bishop

             Quote: “Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless. Ecclesiastes Chapter Seven, verse six.”

The Bishop is a clown of moderate stature, neither small nor large. He is very agile for his age, however, and is an expert in juggling and balancing. His specialty is walking on a large rubber ball while juggling torches and balancing a goblet of wine atop his tall miter. For performance, he wears a red robe and oversized miter with a smiley face. His face is painted white with arching black eyebrows and a big red nose. He is balding, but keeps a set of thick grey mutton-chops. 

His banter is typically to recite biblical stories which are performed in some grotesque way by his clowns, or to quote scripture that is interrupted by the shenanigans of the others.

(written by Adam)

Hermes & Aphrodite

Elemental manikins


The Alchemical Twins
 

“There's a tall tale of two cities, and its all in double-dutch
Some two-bit hustler double-crossed the heavenly twins
One with his lily-white boys (They're too-too and he's too soon; too much)
The other brother would have doubled up and quit for just two pins
But with deuces wild the Jack was aced, decked by the old one-two
When he threw snake-eyes they were holding all the cards
Down Casenove Road, where first offenders find their second chances few
There's Bobbies bicycling, two by two, towards Millenium Park.
So like two Hierophants dispensing double visions, double talk
The dopplegangsters, living by their binary code.

“Lead on Flash, Cof and Your Holiness the Bishop, in a two-step Potowatomi Walk…

Off to a Looking-Glass House (two up, two down) back at the Navy Pier
But there's two sides to every story and the door to every cell
Two wrongs to every right; two backs to every beast
And now they've looked at life from both sides it's a sentence hard to spell:

Double your money in the White City, but you'd better think twice up North
And the muscle is bunched in the Carpenter's Arms
In their opposite corners sit Justice and Crime
But in matters of grievance or bodily harm
They're like peas in a pod, or the sides of a dime.

“As law condemns larceny, kettles call pots
Much better than one their crop number two heads
From the Blind Beggar, someone receives a black spot
They say two can keep secrets if one of them's dead.”

During the week of down time everyone was up to stuff:
 
Wally was initiated into the Carnival's Autumn Court and accepted a position as the royal bodyguard for King Hermes and Queen Aphrodite (the creepy China doll Siamese twins). 
 
Benny shaped and designed our motley's Hollow.  He also set up the Hollow's rather extensive garden and tended the Carnival's arboretum.  Due to the demands of planting goblin fruit, he developed a short term obsessive-compulsive derangement. 
 
William worked in the Hollow's workshop to construct a rather impressive suit of hedgespun armor for himself. 
 
Nicholas borrowed the amulet and sword that we took from Arabesque back from Sigil and examined them to see if they are tokens.  The sword is finely made but mundane.  The amulet, however, is a token that allows the wearer to alter his clothing's apparence at will.  We sll agreed that this should go to Sigil as it compliments his natural abilities so perfectly. 
 
Nicholas also went to a dance club with Apollo - one of the Heterae - where he encountered the 4 mages who previously held us prisoner.  The mages, who have formed their own rock band, were there to perform.  After their show Nicholas confronted them.  They explained that they did not return because they felt that the contract had been completed.  They remain interested in us, however, and offered to give us free access to their dreams if we let them observe us using our "Arcadian powers" and take them to the Hedge. 
 
At the end of the week William began to repair and repaint the carousel animals.  At this point he learned that the carousel organ was taken by some hobgoblins/dwarves who used to work for the Carnival.  William decided to recover the organ.  Anastagios agreed that we should do it and he volunteered to accompany us into the Hedge to negotiate with the hobgoblins. 
 
That night we had dinner together in the Hollow and discussed possible names for our Motley (we narrowed it down to 4 options, which Adam has.  We agreed to wait until all of us were present before we voted on one).  We also discussed what our next priority was.  William wanted to recover the organ.  Nicholas felt that we should focus on recovering the other 2 emblems, that is of course if the Scribunda Sisters had any new leads for us.  There was also talk of taking the fight to Auburon and disposing of him.  Benny agreed to speak with the Scribunda Sisters and then join the rest of us when we went to meet with Anastagios about the carousel organ.
 
When he went to visit the Scribunda Sisters, Benny learned that the Living Doll of Queen Mab - the Autumn Court's emblem - is somehow linked to/in the possession of a man in a wheat field bearing the cross of St. Anthony on his forehead.  Benny realized that this was the man from the nightmare that haunted us both before we were taken and just after we returned.  Aurora told Benny that this man wants to return to his home, that he is coming to us, and that he will destroy us.  After a bout of hysteria and tears, Benny joined the others in Anastagios' office.
 
We made plans with Anastagio to meet tomorrow at dawn and go into the Hedge.  Sigil said that he would stay behind as he has some other business to attend to.  Then, after leaving Anastagios' office, Benny told us what the Scribundas had told him.  Then Sigil told us what he had been up to over the last few days.  Sigil had passed himself off as Arabesque to Nix.  Auberon did not yet know that Arabesque was dead, but had tasked his best man - Juan the Snake - with finding her and bringing her back.  Nix had also told Sigil a bit about Auburon's history both before and after his Durance. 
 
Wally revealed that he doesn't know what happened to Bertha as they were separated in the goblin market.  Nicholas told the others that Rosie was poisoned by his keeper.  After she died he killed his keeper and then escaped. 
 
The next day, April 9th, Benny, William, Wally, Nicholas, and Anastagio went to the motley's hollow at dawn and then headed into the Hedge.  Benny was able to lead us to the hobgoblins' cave.  Along the way, Nicholas learned from Anastagios that he has been with the Carnival since the 1850s and that he is the man we met when we were children at the Carnival.  Also, in order to get past a flock of steel-beaked crows, Wally agreed to pay the toll of revealing a secret.  The secret he shared was that when he was in Arcadia he killed babies (this had not been revealed to the characters yet).  The crows were quite happy with that succulent secret. 
 
At the cave, we negotiated with the dwarves, who demanded the 120 gold coins that were owed to them in back pay.  A fight almost broke out when the hobgoblins/dwarves offered to lower the fee in exchange for a wide-hipped mortal girl to be their servant and sex slave.  Luckily, William was able to restrain the overwrought and violent Benny.  Anastagios and Nicholas concluded the negotiations.  The dwarves agreed to come back to work and to bring the organ with them after 1) the 120 gold coins due to them was paid and 2) the current ruler negotiates a new contract with them. 
 
Upon returning to the Carnvial, Anastagios collapses.  The time in the Hedge had been very difficult for him.  We told the Red Queen about our bargain.  She does not currently have the money, but she seems satisfied that we now have an understanding with the dwarves.  We told her about the vision that the Scribunda Sisters had that relates to a shared dream we have all had.  She offered to teach us the art of Oneiromancy so that we can revisit the dream and learn more about it.  Benny was quite interested in this.  Wally became enthused when he learned that he might be able to use the dream to find Bertha, who had also had the dream when we were children. 
 
We decided to experiment with Oneiromancy that evening.  In the meantime, Benny, William, and Wally all retired to the Hollow.  Benny went to sleep and attempted to manipulate his dreams.  William, finding Benny asleep, entered Benny's dreams and helped Benny to heal his short term derangement.  Then they had funky dream sex. 
 
Nicholas, in the meantime, went to visit the Heterae.  During his visit, he heard gunshots and screams.  He ran out of the tent and saw 5 thugs near the ferris wheel opening fire on the Carnival folk.  The thugs matched the description of the gang members who work for Auburon.  Nicholas raced out to face them.  Nicholas managed to kill all 5, only suriving the battle due to the healing powers of his sword.  He and Blotto managed to stabilize or heal the three carnies who were seriously wounded (including one of the Barlow Brothers).  Three carnies were killed in the attack.  Nicholas did a quick perimeter check, only to see a car squealing away when he ran out the front doors.  After flicking the car off, it turned around and opened fire on him. 
 
Nicholas then went to the Hollow to get the rest of the motley.  We recovered 1 uzi and 2 automatics from the fallen thugs (the Barlow Brothers took the other 2 guns). 
 
And that's it. 
 
-Kip

After meeting Michaelangelo, (a Beast Runnerswift) a vagabond and homeless street musician (violinist) who plays in the subways and EL stations near Hyde Park station (55^th & 57^th El Station). They meet Nix, a junkie darkling who takes them to meet Auberon, ruler of the court of Summer. There they discover that this brutal beast-like changeling is responsible for trapping the changelings and mortals of Anastagio's Midnight Circus and stealing their tokens. After meeting a manikin who was servant to the changelings of the Carnivàle, they escape, stealing two powerful Summer tokens. They also find the object, a snowglobe which contains a miniature circus scene, that has entrapped the changelings of the circus in a mystical Hedge prison. They escape via the subterranean parking structure. Once they return to the Navy Pier they discover, through the instructions of the Manikin man-servant, that breaking the snowglobe in the central ring of the Big Top will release the inprisioned changelings. The characters free the captives, and in gratitude the seeming ruler, a beautiful gypsy woman who goes by the name of Astarte, give the characters shelter, a home and a place to live if they so want it. They also request that the characters provide them with protection while the carnival members recover their strength, for which they are rewarded with the Queen's own goblin purse. The characters agree to help the circus changelings after they are freed in exchange for a home and understanding of the modern world of men. They also agree to help the Freehold purchase food and supplies:

Chicago Food Co.

Food Emporium (a large metropolitan super market)