A procession of wooden unicorns stands motionless on a circular wooden platform. Fairgoers clamber onto the unicorns’ backs, and a female centaur sets the ride in motion. The unicorns shake their manes and creak to life, cantering around the carousel to the delight of their riders.
A ride on the carousel costs 1 ticket punch.
The individual who checks tickets and operates the carousel is named Diana Cloppington. Once a human, Diana sought the help of Granny Nightshade of the Hourglass Coven, desperately wishing to be reunited with her warhorse, which went missing in battle. The cruel hag magically fused the bodies of Diana and her horse, giving her the appearance of a centaur. Diana fled Prismeer and befriended Mister Witch and Mister Light, who offered her a home in their carnival.
Diana greets patrons with good humor, but there’s a sadness behind her eyes. She’s quick to correct anyone who calls her a centaur, saying that she’s “a human who made a bad deal.” If Diana discovers that the characters are investigating the carnival for their own reasons, she tells them how a hag made good on a promise to reunite Diana with her missing horse; however, due to the nature of her bargain with the hag, there are several things that Diana can’t talk about:
The Hourglass Coven
Zybilna’s current predicament
Prismeer’s current state
If she tries to speak or write about these forbidden topics, she painfully coughs up brown tree sap, or mushrooms blister on her fingers until she ceases her attempts. The carousel’s wooden unicorns, however, can supply the characters with clues related to the hags (see “Riddle of the Carousel” below). Diana tells them that they must “speak to the unicorns,” but to earn their trust they must learn the names of all eight unicorns. Diana gives one of the characters a clay pot of gold paint and some paintbrushes. She says she can close the carousel for a short time while it undergoes some “essential repairs.”
The carousel’s eight unicorns ride in pairs, and each unicorn wears a name tag on its bridle. Some of the names are legible, while other name tags are worn and indecipherable.
The names for each pair of unicorns are key words from a well-known proverb. Before any of the unicorns share secrets with their riders, all of them must have their correct names painted on their tags. One unicorn in each pair has some letters missing from its name tag, but players who are familiar with the proverbs can fill in the missing letters.
First Pair. The first two unicorns are named Fortune and Bold, from the proverb “Fortune favors the bold.” Fortune’s name tag is complete, but Bold’s name tag reads B _ _ _.
Second Pair. These unicorns’ names are Pride and Fall, from the proverb “Pride goes before a fall.” Fall’s name tag is complete, but Pride’s name tag reads PR _ _ _.
Third Pair. These unicorns’ names are Stone and Moss, from the proverb “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Stone’s name tag is complete, but Moss’s name tag reads M _ _ S.
Fourth Pair. The last two unicorns are named Stitch and Nine, from the proverb “A stitch in time saves nine.” Stitch’s name tag is complete, but Nine’s name tag reads _ N .
If you are running this adventure for players who don’t have a good grasp of English proverbs, use different pairs of words that the players will have an easier time identifying. For example, each pair of unicorns might have names that are synonymous with each other, such as Jolly/Merry (M E _ _ _), Breeze/Gust (G _ _ T), Tale/Yarn (_ _ R N), and Dawn/Sunrise (S _ _ I S ). Otherwise, choose names from idioms or proverbs with which your players are familiar.
When the characters are done painting names on the unicorns, Diana offers them a free ride on the attraction. Any unicorn whose name is incorrect gives a disgruntled whinny, and the characters learn nothing from any of the unicorns if they are ridden. If all the unicorns’ names are correct, each unicorn telepathically shares with its rider three secrets about Prismeer or the Hourglass Coven during this ride. These secrets can be imparted in response to questions asked by the character, or they can be shared without a prompt if the character doesn’t know what to ask.
Lost Things Secrets. If you used the “Lost Things” adventure hook, a unicorn shares the following information with its rider:
The character learns which hag has the lost thing they’re looking for (Bavlorna Blightstraw, Skabatha Nightshade, or Endelyn Moongrave).
The character is told that Bavlorna’s lair is a rambling cottage on stilts in a fey swamp, Skabatha’s lair is a dead, hollowed-out tree in a sylvan forest, and Endelyn’s lair is a mountaintop theater.
The character learns a useful secret tied to the hag in question: “The hag you seek is allergic to seeing someone run widdershins” (for Bavlorna), “The hag you seek sleeps in a dollhouse and can’t remember the first creature she sees when she wakes up” (for Skabatha), or “The hag you seek has foreseen her own death, which happens during an eclipse” (for Endelyn).
Warlock’s Quest Secrets. If you used the “Warlock’s Quest” adventure hook, a character receives the following information while in telepathic contact with one of the carousel’s unicorns:
Zybilna of Prismeer is frozen in time.
Three hags have seized control of Zybilna’s domain and split it among them. Together, these hags form the Hourglass Coven.
The hags’ names are Bavlorna Blightstraw, Skabatha Nightshade, and Endelyn Moongrave, and their splinter-realms are called Hither, Thither, and Yon. The coven is so riddled with distrust that each hag is convinced her sisters are plotting against her.