"Okay, so there's a bird, but not a masked bird. A short bird or a small bird, I guess? And it stole something? I think there was something about a book earlier, maybe it stole a book of some sort. Although I'm not sure how that would end up with Candlefoot losing his voice, so maybe it was something else."

"Wait!" Chase exclaims. "Do you mean a bird person? Like a kenku? Did someone like that steal your voice for some reason?" Whether she's right or not, Chase feels sympathy for Candlefoot and wants to help him. Restoring his voice would surely lift the Carnival's spirits. "And where did the thief go? We could try to recover your voice for you, old friend."

"Are they still in the carnival?" Scratch asks. "How long ago did they ... steal your voice?"

As Illuwen mentions a bird, Candlefoot begins to slowly nod his head waiting for the rest of the thought to become vocal. When Illuwen suggests a small or short bird Candlefoot begins to shake his head side to side, but then a puzzled expression lands on his face and he scratches his head with a single finger. At the mention of the book Candlefoot sprouts a look of exasperation and shakes his head and waves his hands around as if to try and erase that thought.

At the mention of a kenku, Candlefoot puts a finger to his nose. As soon as Chase suggests that they stole his voice he touches a finger to his nose with a very excited look on his face. He then claps to applaud you all. Unsure of where the kenku went, he only offers a shrug to the question. When Chase offers to help get Candlefoot's voice back he gets the most excited look on his face! He begins hoping from one leg to another while spinning around and pointing his fingers up from his sides. With each point of his fingers, Candlefoot produces small bursts of fireworks and continues his little dance.

When Scratch begins his questioning, Candlefoot nods to him somewhat unsurely. At the second question, Candlefoot gestures to the entirety of the carnival with his arms wide then takes his hands together at the finger tips and seperates the tips of his fingers moving his hands at the wrist. This seems to resemble a set of doors opening. He then gets a look of hopeful sadness as he looks over at the halfling. He places a hand on his chest, drops to one knee, then opens a small pretend box by the lid. While still on his knee he reaches for his throat and pulls away quickly while mouthing words. As he rises to his feet his head hangs low.

Chase is happy to see Candlefoot happy when her guess turns out to be correct, but there are still more signs to decipher. She follows the clown’s gaze to the halfling girl who was just about to be proposed to, then watches as Candlefoot bends to one knee, mimicking the action of opening a small box. Her hands fly to her mouth in surprise. "Grandma's whiskers! Were you proposing to someone when the kenku stole your voice!?" she exclaims. "That is AWFUL! What a terrible bird person! If someone did that to someone proposing to me I would ... GAHHH... I'm so angry!!! I’m going to kick that kenku's feathered ass, I promise you! We’ll look for them—it can’t be that hard to find a kenku in this place, can it?" She turns to her friends for confirmation.

The orange tabaxi scratches her fur pensively before hesitantly adding, "Uhmmm... may I ask—who were you proposing to, Candlefoot?"

Scratch turns to Illuwen. "Do you remember seeing a kenku in the carnival before we arrived?"

As Lex gets back to his feet and catches his breath, he looks over at the young halfling woman. “That…was a strange feeling. Iluwen’s right, your friend’s in there I think,” he says, gesturing to the tent. “Do you need help smoothing things over? I can definitely vouch for what you were feeling.”

Turning, he smiles a bit at Chase’s petulance. Watching the clown, he says, “It seems to me also that he’s indicating that it happened close to the opening of the carnival maybe?”

Quote from DirtyDogP >>

Scratch turns to Illuwen. "Do you remember seeing a kenku in the carnival before we arrived?"

 Illuwen shakes his head. "No, none that I can remember, although I've never really been looking for one. I guess that's one more thing to keep a lookout for today."

"Well, why don't we try the Carnival entrance as Lex suggested?", Chase asks, though she turns to Candlefoot to confirm "You meant that door? Or some other door?"

In response to Chase's question, Candlefoot gestures to the map on her person. Opening the map alongside her he points to the Silversong Lake, then holds his hands to his heart as his cheeks turn a slightly different shade of grey.

The halfling woman, still catching her breath, says to Lex, "I would really appreciate the help if you are offering. I feel like he's more inclined to believe me if someone else experienced the same feeling as I did around that thing. Oh, I hope I didn't ruin this. I really do love him, and would have said yes in a heartbeat. Only, that spell was much faster that my heart in that moment."

At the mention of the carnival entrance, Candlefoot shakes his head side to side and points again to the Silversong Lake. He then gestures towards the moon in the sky, then moves his pointed finger across the sky in the direction that the moon had come from. He halts his movement just above the horizon indicating a time of around 8pm, the time the carnival opens for business.

OOC: 

 Lex turns to the others, “I’d like to help this woman, that spell was quite the doozy.  And if we can settle this, maybe we will have improved the mood at the carnival some.  Then maybe we can go look for this kenku at the lake?”

Scratch considers for a second or two then says, "Let's help Lex first. Then Candlefoot." He gives the clown a reassuring smile.

Chase nods. "Sure, of course." Turning to the female halfling, she adds, "Let's not leave things as they are—love must triumph! Your husband-to-be went to that tent, right? Let's go find him. I'm sure Lex will help calm him down."

Chase is ready to follow Lex and the rest toward the tent.

As you all rally to go into the Hall of Illusions, Candlefoot stops you and hold up his ticket punch with a look of, "Sorry, but I still need to do my job."

The young halfling looks at you all and says, "Thank you all for your help. My name is Ween. Ween Sundapple. If you don't mind, I think I'll wait here. I think the situation should be explained before poor Rubin sees me again or he might just continue to run."

"Oh! Sorry, Candlefoot." Chase presents her ticket to the clown so he can punch it. "We are not the little rascals of old—we are esteemed guests, with wings and tickets and all!"

She waits for the others to have their tickets punched, then asks Candlefoot, "Are we good to go in now?" If he agrees, the tabaxi will turn to Ween. "Don't go away! We'll return with your Rubin in no time!"

Scratch produces his ticket and holds it out for Candlefoot to punch, ready to enter the tent and hopefully find the halfling quickly.

Illuwen grins as Candlefoot holds up the ticket punch. "No ticket here, but I hope you don't mind if I escort our guests in. Official carnival business, after all."

Lex smiles wistfully at Ween, “I’m Lex, and these are my friends.  I‘m sure we can find Rubin and get things right again.” He hands his ticket over to Candlefoot and prepares to go inside with the others.

Candlefoot punches your tickets one by one, then mimes the tipping of a hat to Illuwen. Once the final ticket is punched you make your way into the Hall of Illusions.

Inside the Hall of Illusions tall mirrors line the interior walls of the tent and continue to form a maze of reflective glass. The mirrors near the entrance reflect each of you exactly how you looked as a child. The further you proceed through the maze the older you start to look in your refection. Mirror by Mirror, year by year, you and your reflections proceed.

As you first start your search Rubin is nowhere to be found, this might be a little bit harder than you originally expected. You continue your search... (I need a group Perception Check. Everyone rolls; 3/4 successes needed.)

Chase lingers at the first mirrors, staring at the child reflected back at her—a young tabaxi with wide eyes and an easy smile. Her tail flicks once, betraying a moment’s hesitation, then she keeps moving. As the reflections age, her face grows sharper, more familiar. But something is wrong. The Chase in the mirrors keeps smiling. No matter how old she gets, the expression never fades. Her breath catches in her throat. She lifts a hand to her face, tracing where a smile should be but isn't.

Sighing, she turns away from the glass and keeps walking, only now realizing that finding the halfling will be more difficult than she anticipated...

Perception:  nat 1. I'm going to use the Tides of Chaos feature to roll again. I don't believe this, I got another nat 1!!!