Harpers Quest Two- Beyond the Mists

Chapter Six

Basically the Band try to get into the carnival in this Chapter

The Demiplane of Dread- Mirtul 1373

"So, you are a travelling troupe are you?" the Carnival master asked Varharland and the party.
Varharland said, "yes we originally came from beyond the Mists, we ended up here several months ago when we were finishing up a show and suddenly these Mists surrounded us and we ended up here, bereft of most of our equipment, save the clothes we had on our backs and little money, we lost our ponies and everything! And although we have been making some money we are now flat broke and down on our luck and looking for some work and well we heard the carnival was in town and we thought that maybe you could use us".
"From Beyond the Mists you say?" he asked.
Varharland nodded "yeah".
"You're not from here?"
"No we are from a place called Faerun and well we discovered that the people here haven't seen many like us here so we kind of stand out".
"So, you're not freaks or outcasts?"
"No, we are just demi-human; we are supposed to look like this! On our own world we aren't that unusual but here we kind of stand out and we are finding it hard to earn a living," Varharland said.
The man said, "if you are not freaks what explains him then!" he indicated Mendis whose wings were fully visible at the moment "or them?" he indicated the rest of the Halflings.
Varharland said "Mendis was changed by powerful magic and they are what are known as Halflings, their basically small humans, a demi-human race fairly common to our world, look will you please consider taking us on? We really are flat broke, desperate and need work".
The man said "maybe? What can you and your troupe do?"
Varharland breathed a sigh of relief this part he was expecting "I'm Varharland Silverflash, Thespian extraordinaire! I can sing and dance and I know the Art of Magic, my illusions will delight and astound you!" he paused, cast a couple of simple illusions and then added "I'm also the leader of the Troupe".
Mendis taking his cue spoke then "I'm the Mysterious Mendis Mindshadow, Master of the Mind, am I a Mage or am I not? That is for me to know and you to decide" he made the stone of his headband glow and shimmer briefly and summoned some of his little bolts and threw them above his head.
Meriel said, "I'm Meriel, Mistress of the Forest" Caladan and Twinkle started to do tricks "my power over the animals will delight you!"
Darkstar spoke then "I'm Darkstar the Dark! My magic will keep you enthralled and astounded" thus saying he cast Moonfire.
Narache took his cue "I'm Narache Nightwalker, Master of the Blades watch me dance with my magical blades" and showed off some of his fancier moves.
Varharland indicated K'hari "and this is the Enchantress K'hari. Mistress of the Harp, her enchanting voice will hold you spellbound".
Skyla spoke then "I'm Skyla, Mistress of Wonders watch me do tricks that look like magic but aren't and see my amazing clockwork constructs!" so saying she made the top of her staff flash.
Tevon took the cue then "and we are the Clowns Three, Courageous, Tenacious and Brave, we will make you laugh and we will make you cry our talents are many but our brains are few!"
Dinan said "I'm Dinan the Daring! I will do tricks with my blades that will astound you" so saying he pulled out his daggers, lined them with faerie fire and started to juggle them.
Callina said, "I'm Callina of the singing sword" so saying she pulled out her magical sword and it started to sing.
Varharland said, "also, Baldur, Myself, Callina, Narache and Dinan are also fair warriors and also know our way around a blade we also act as guards and Baldur is also our priest".
"Ok" said the Carnival Master "you are obviously all quite multitalented, ok we will take you".
Varharland said "oh thank you! We really do appreciate this you know!"
The Carnival Master said, "we have some spare Vardos we bought off the Vistana, you can have those to sleep in, we will pay you all we will figure out the figures later and we will work out your show schedules as well, the Vardo's are that way, there are three of them we bought them cheap so they probably need some work but you can have them, feel free to fix them, enjoy your time here with us, I will bring you all the terms of your employment by later tonight".
"Ok thanks" said Varharland "err what's a Vardo?"
"A Vistana wagon, they live in them, and so do we, you can't miss them," he said, "you lot really aren't from around here are you?"
"No sir we're not" said Varharland.
"I'm Rudolpho by the way, if you have any problems bring them to me," he said.
"Are you one of the entertainers?" Varharland asked.
"No, I'm the Carnival Master, the Ringmaster so to speak" he indicated the Carnival "this is all mine".
"Oh, I thought you might have been," said Varharland.
"So, what do you call yourselves?" he asked.
Varharland said "The Silver Stars".
"Ok I will put that down, I take it you're the troupe leader".
Varharland nodded " my name is Varharland Silverflash, my troupe are as follows, Callina Silvermane" this was the dark skinned Half Elf girl with the singing sword "Mendis and Meriel Underwood, their married" this was two of the little people including the one with the wings.
"I thought you said his name was Mindshadow".
"That's my stage name," said Mendis.
"Ok then" he said.
Varharland said, "the brown haired Halfling one of the clowns is Tevon Thistlewort, the youngest clown is Caldon Underwood"
"Son?" he asked Mendis.
"No, brother" said Mendis.
Varharland said "the other clown, the Dwarf is Baldur Battlehammer, he is also our Cleric, the blue haired male Elf is Narache Nightwalker, the Drow twins are Darkstar and Dinan Arcarna, the red headed Half Elf is K'hari Greywing, the Drow elven woman is Skyla and oh yeah the final member of our troupe and our only human is Jack Romannose, he forgot to introduce himself" this was the young pale human man.
"So, what is his thing?"
"Jack the Incredible Ghostly Man, he is I guess the only true freak in our troupe, he has all the powers of a ghost without actually been one".
Jack said, "yes that's me".
"Ok" said Rudolpho "I will take you to your Vardos".
Mendis followed him and turned to Dinan "where you learn to juggle?"
"My Uncle taught me, he's a Blade, they are a kind of Bard who do tricks with their blades," Dinan said.
"Uncle?"
"Well he's not really our Uncle; we just called him that, he lives on the Promenade and is a good friend of our parents, he's a Half Drow from Damara who ended up in Skullport, he's never told us why he ended up in Skullport I suspect he's on the run or something and whose going to risk looking in Skullport for a renegade anyway? he's a good sort though, Skullport is the perfect place to disappear" Dinan said, "yeah I know what they say about Skullport that it is cursed and the like, but well it is home".
"oh" said Mendis.
"His technique and skills aren't that great for combat but for showy purposes it's perfect he taught us all some of his moves Dark and I use them to keep in shape".
"oh".
"I can use them for a show here," he said.
Their guide led them to three slightly run down looking Gypsy Caravans "here we are, you can all have these, fix them up if you want we got them cheap, they work fine and are in fairly good nick but they are a little old we even got the horses to pull them and drivers as well".
Meriel went up to the Vardo and looked at its beautifully carved exterior "these are a work of art," she said running her hand across a carved design.
Mendis looked at them with a carpenter's skilled eye "these are beautiful! And sound!" he said.
"Can we go inside?" Meriel asked.
"Sure" said Rudolpho he handed her a key "like I said they are in fairly good nick they are just a little old, the Vistana who sold them to us said that the former owners had died and they were willing to get rid of them".
"How many do they hold?"
"The Vistani live in these things they raise families in them and everything! so up to about six". He said.
"Ok" said Mendis "thanks Tevon and Caldon, you can share with me and Meriel, Skyla, Callina and K'hari can have the other one and the rest of you can have the other".
"Sounds fair," said Varharland.
"Actually, we don't have a problem with Narache bunking with us" said K'hari "it's not like Jack needs a bed, we need a big strong man to protect us seeing we only have Jack and I can't get rid of him! And that would evenly distribute us all".
"Well Ok" said Varharland "does that suit you Narache?"
"Guess so" said Narache with a shrug "I don't sleep much either anyway!"
"Ok then" said Varharland.