@Isolde, @The Carnival's leader, is an @Eladrin (an elf native to the Feywild). She is a @Fey who uses the @Isolde stat block in combat. She is never seen without her @Holy Avenger @Longsword, @Nepenthe, which glows red with hate. Nepenthe, not Isolde, is the Carnival's Darklord.

@Isolde

@Isolde was a holy warrior devoted to a pantheon of elven deities called the Seldarine. In this role, she defended the Feywild against dragons, demons, and other threats. In time, her heroics caught the eye of an archfey named Zybilna, who had forged secret pacts with some of the @Fiends Isolde and her companions had slain. Rather than be angry at Isolde, Zybilna was impressed by her. She enlisted a powerful fiend known only as "@The Caller" to corrupt and slay all of Isolde's companions, leaving Isolde alone, bitter, and vulnerable. The insidious archfey then befriended Isolde and offered to help her forget her terrible losses. Isolde became the master of a traveling @Fey carnival that served as a gateway to Zybilna's domain. The carnival did what Zybilna hoped it would do: it brought comfort to Isolde and quelled her thirst for vengeance.

Zybilna and @Isolde enjoyed a strong partnership for years, but as time wore on, they grew distant until their relationship finally soured. @Eladrin crave change, yet Isolde felt like she was frozen in time. She wished to leave the @Fey carnival and pursue other dreams, but Zybilna wouldn't hear of it and secretly used Wish spells to make Isolde place her devotion to the carnival above her desire to leave it.

When @Isolde's @Fey carnival crossed paths with another carnival from the Shadowfell, the @Eladrin found the escape she longed for. Isolde orchestrated a trade with the other carnival's owners, a pair of @Shadar-Kai (elves native to the Shadowfell). Isolde would become the master of their carnival, and they would become the masters of hers. To appease Zybilna, this arrangement would remain in place only until the two carnivals crossed paths again.

Zybilna was intrigued enough by the @Shadar-Kai to let @Isolde go, but not without casting a spell that made Isolde forget about Zybilna and her Feywild domain, thus preventing the @Eladrin from divulging the archfey's secrets. As a further punishment, Zybilna sent malevolent @Fey creatures to hound Isolde and her Shadowfell carnival. Isolde doesn't know who is behind this petty torment, nor does she care. Her hunt for @The Caller and her thirst for vengeance have become all-consuming.

@Nepenthe

The @Holy Avenger named @Nepenthe was crafted by @Shadar-Kai to mete out justice as an executioner's weapon. In its lifetime, the sword has beheaded thousands of criminals, not all of whom were guilty of the crimes for which they were convicted. The sword cannot distinguish the guilty from the innocent. With each beheading, it hungers for more justice and blood.

@Nepenthe came to @The Carnival in the hands of a retired @Half-Ogre (Ogrillon) who moonlighted as a sword-swallower. When the half-ogre died of old age, the sword was deemed the property of the Carnival. It was given to @Isolde by the Carnival's previous owners, who claimed that the sword would help her protect the Carnival against any threat.

In @Isolde, the sword found a partner who shared its blind malice toward the guilty. Isolde uses @Nepenthe to behead anyone found guilty of stealing from @The Carnival or inflicting harm upon it.

As soon as @Isolde took up the blade, it rekindled the grief and fury she had suppressed for so long, awakening the desire to avenge her long-dead companions by slaying the @Fiend she knows as @The Caller. Isolde always chooses @The Carnival's stops based on her predictions of the Caller's next steps, and if her pursuit forces the Carnival into danger, so be it. Only by ridding Isolde of @Nepenthe can she truly escape the Dark Powers' clutches. But Isolde will never part with the blade willingly, and if it is taken from the Carnival, the sword will always find its way back.

In addition to having the properties of a @Holy Avenger, @Nepenthe is a sentient, neutral evil weapon with an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 8, and a Charisma of 18. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 60 feet. It can read and understand Elvish. It can also speak Elvish, but only through the voice of its wielder, with whom the sword can communicate telepathically. When using its telepathy to speak to @Isolde, the sword can mimic the voices of Isolde's fallen companions as it drives her to catch their @Fiendish killer. Unlike Isolde, whose motives are good, the sword is corrupt and irredeemable.

Freedom of @The Mists

@The Carnival travels through @The Mists and between other Domains of Dread as @Isolde pleases—though the Dark Powers occasionally send it off course. The Carnival provides one of the few means of escaping from another Darklord's domain, since it ignores the closed borders of other domains. Other Darklords cannot travel with the Carnival to escape their own domains, however.

Closing the Borders

@Nepenthe can close the borders of its domain, as detailed in the Featured Domains & The Mists lore article. With the sword's consent, @Isolde can do the same. When @The Carnival's borders close, the Mists are filled with eerie, colorful lights and distant music, echoing memories of past carnivals.

Isolde's Torment

@Isolde is both protector and prisoner of @The Carnival.

The following truths endlessly weigh upon her:

• @The Carnival constantly grows, bringing additional souls dependent on @Isolde's guardianship. She's tortured by her obligation toward the Carnival's troupers and her vow to avenge her murdered companions.

• @Isolde obsessively plots the perfect confrontation with her immortal quarry, @The Caller. But the small concerns of @The Carnival nag at her ceaselessly, exacerbated by the @Fey interlopers drawn to her presence. Her burdens drive her to seek seclusion to keep her legendary temper in check.

• @Isolde dreads the day when @The Carnival crosses paths with its @Fey counterpart for a second time. Were that to happen, Isolde would be forced to relinquish the Carnival to its true @Shadar-Kai masters, and @Nepenthe along with it.

Roleplaying Isolde

@The Carnival is the closest thing @Isolde has to a family and a home, and she expects everyone who works for her to carry their weight. She endlessly overburdens herself, struggling to protect those around her as her hate for @The Caller drives her forward at any cost.

Personality Trait. "We all contribute so that we all benefit. Those who do not carry the burden do not eat."

Ideal. "Those most deserving of aid are those who never ask for it."

Bond. "You share a bond with those you travel with, a bond closer than blood. Choose well who you share the road with, lest you carry them forever."

Flaw. "For my victories and scars, I deserve more than a nursemaid's duty."

Adventures in the Carnival

@The Carnival deals in fabricated spectacles and cheap surprises, but it disguises actual marvels of a far deadlier sort. Even as the Carnival's troupers astonish their visitors with amazing performances, a surreal world of outlandish beings, dangerous bargains, and deadly tricks encroaches on the festivities, threatening performers and audiences alike. The Carnival provides a safe place for a time, but the longer it lingers, the greater the danger grows—whether from intolerant common folk, jaded troupers, dangerous @Fey, or @Isolde's tireless quest.

The Carnival Adventures table provides examples for adventures and plots, but the DM should come up with original ideas as well.

Carnival Adventures
d4 - Adventure
1 - One of @The Carnival's performers has been arrested by a local sheriff. @Hermos the Half-Giant asks the party to return the trouper, either to save them or to make them face Carnival justice.
2 - A local hires the party to find a loved one who disappeared at @The Carnival. The trail leads to a @Litwick Market vendor whose trinkets turn people into their favorite animals.
3 - @The Carnival adopts a new performer escaping their family. The performer asks the party to deter family members intent on bringing them home.
4 - The characters find a mirror holding the disembodied reflection of Tindafulus, a @Mage trapped by his own reflection. He wants the party to find his duplicate, who escaped with a mysterious carnival.