Avaria tromps down the stairs the next morning and as she appears you can all see how badly she slept.  Her fur is in all directions, large bags under her eyes and a very grumpy demeanor.

Heading into the kitchen where she hears others moving around, she attempts a smile, "Morning." and sits down, heavily.

If Maisie is the one in the kitchen, she'll ask without preamble, "Did you recall where you saw that fabric from last night?"

"Rough night, eh dear?" Maisie says, noting Avaria's fly away fur. "The life of an adventurer is hard. Practice getting sleep when you can. It'll save your life one day."

Maisie goes back to fixing the inn's breakfast. The smell of aromatic herbs mixes with that of eggs, root vegetables, notably turnips, and the distinct smell of bacon.

She looks back over to Avaria as she wipes her hands off on a towel.

"Emma reminded me where I'd seen it," Maisie says, looking around the kitchen. "Where is that girl?"

Eventually she gives up and turns back to Avaria.

"The Lintoll," she says. "A number of their performers where something very much like that. You might have seen them outside of town when you came in yesterday."

Marrin comes down looking as refreshed as Ava doesn't and smiles at Maisie and Avaria.

"Good morning to both of you! It is lovely to sleep in a real bead again, not some boat bound padded bit of wood."

She sniffs and continues,

"Smells delightful as well."

Her face becomes more serious,

"Avaria, I think I need to visit the Lintoll today. I might be able to track the owner of those clothes you found."

She'll lift the tunic.

"I'd love some company, unless you have other plans?"

"Couldn't sleep very well after that imposter got away." Avaria grumbles.  Then remembering her manners, "But your accommodations were most refreshing, thank you for letting us stay here with you all."

"Performers?" Ava's eyebrow raises in a sort of question, letting the information sink in.

As Marrin joins them, she smiles up at her friend, "Well, I see the night treated you well.  And funny, we were just discussing the Lintoll.  I would love to join you, and it seems we should be looking for performers."  Avaria smirks at the other plans question knowing full well that Marrin knows this is all that is on the shifters mind.

Jan would have rested after staying up a bit with Ethel, but only needing four hours, is able to be ready to face the day, and joins the others for breakfast.

"The night treated me as well as could be expected given the unpleasantness, but I have been deprived too long to let even that keep me from enjoying a nice bed!"

Marrin smiles at Ava agreeing to join her,

"I'm something of a performer myself, beyond the bard work. My family are traveling performers and we did some good work, if I do so my self."

She takes on a dramatic, pleading pose and says, changing her accent and voice to a plaintive cry,

"Oh, plaise Lord Sherriff! Not or only cow, the chillans wont have no milk!"

Performance (min of 19): 15

"Taking Todd. That one is always a hit in villages."

((Oh, and given her background has Marrin heard of the Lintoll before? History?: 5 ))

Yes, Marrin has heard of the Lintoll. Many of the groups she performed and travelled with spoke of the Lintoll with equal degrees of admiration and envy.

The Lintoll is a traveling fair that has been moving about for hundreds of years. It’s managed to survive famines, wars, and all manner of natural disasters. It’s known for the exotic goods on offer, games, tournaments and performances of all kinds.

The stories Marrin has heard, without fail, mention how the Lintoll is always welcomed with open arms in every community it arrives at. 

Even the best troops Marrin was with never received the same welcome. Everyone thinks of the Lintoll as the local fair even though they know they’ve come from away.

"I'm excited to finally get to see the fabled Lintoll. We mostly did music and plays, occasionally we had some food, but nothing like the range I've heard they have."

She looks back at the tunic and rubs it between her fingers. She continues a bit distracted,

"It'll be nice to talk to the performers too. I'm sure they'll have some tips, might even be willing to share some trade secrets with a solo act."

Emma comes bounding into the kitchen, her hair sticking out in all directions, like Avaria but not making any effort to smooth anything down.

Maisie takes one look at her youngest and shakes her head.

"I don't know what to do with that mop anymore," she says. "I think it's time for you to go see Joope and get your haircut."

Emma opens her mouth to complain when a loud knock can be heard from the kitchen's back door.

Maisie forgets about Emma's hair for a moment and opens the door. One of the city guards stands there with an envelope. The guard scans the room, sees Jan, and comes in without waiting for an invite. Maisie raises her eyebrows and her wooden spoon but the guard quickly hands the envelope to Jan and then departs before Maisie can get too angry at the intrusion. 

Jan:

When Jan comes down, she places the newly cleaned and polished brass bowl in the place Maisie had handed it to her from.

K'oshash is in the form a dirt colored spider, just hanging out in the corner.

Jan looks up a moment before the guard knocks, and has already stood when Maisie hands her the letter. She reads through it and turns to the others.

"It seems if we want to get paid for turning over the pirates, we have to take part in a bit of a show for the Mayor's ego this afternoon. They want us there by mid afternoon for a dress rehearsal.", Jan says wrly.

Marrin claps her hands,

"Well, best we see what the Lintoll has to offer so we're back in time for paid roles."

Avaria giggles a bit at Marrin's performance, happy to see her friend in good spirits.  She is startled by the appearance of the guard and stands up as he enters the room uninvited.  But, as Maisie, he leaves before her fur gets bristled as well.

Listening to what the letter held, "Yes, let's go check out this Lintoll that you're so interested in.  I'll grab my stuff." and in a completely different mood then when she descended the stairs, Ava runs up, grabs her pack and weapons and heads to join the rest to the Lintell.

Throughout the night, Ethel nods in agreement or grimmaces in disagreement to the assorted observations shared by Jan.  Clearly, she is frustrated at the prospect of the group being under threat by unknown foes and her own inability to put the pieces together yet.

She gathers her things and rises to stand beside Marrin, weary from her overnight vigil, but determined.  "Keep your eyes sharp and be mindful of those around us.  If our quarry is there, and is some kind of shapechanger, they will surely recognize us, but we may not know them.  Be watchful for any gazes that linger too long upon you."

She clears her throat to emphasize her next point.  "If we are lucky enough to locate the assassin, do not try to engage it alone.  The poison on that blade last night was wyvern venom.  It can be deadly, even in small doses.  No doubt Hammerdasher's dwarven constitution played a role in him still dwelling among the living.  If one of you faces the assassin alone and they have more of that poison available, you could be dead before any of the rest of us can come to your aid.  If you think you've found them, alert the rest of us.  If you find yourself under assault, disengage and link up with the rest of us."

Marrin listens patiently to Ethel's warnings but offers,

"If we're afraid of being recognized, why don't we make ourselves unrecognizable? Everyone but Ava is able to easily enough and, if I have a few minutes and some makeup, I think I can make her look like a wholy different person. I'm sure I've got a nice yellow jacket that'd fit her nicely."

She smiles over at Ava,

"With your permission of course."

She'd look to Maisie for some makeup she could use/purchase.

Ava raises her eyebrows, "You want to give me a makeover? ha ha, how are you going to cover up all this fur?!"

She sits down willingly and looks at the others, "Um, good luck.  But sure, if you want to try.  As for not going after the assassin from last night.. I can't promise anything, but I'll try.  Best not to let me go looking alone." she shrugs.

The group makes their way down the cobblestone streets as Spandeliyon begins its day. While shopkeepers begin opening up, you notice a general flow of townsfolk, especially youth, making their way in the same westerly direction you are.

As you make your way to the outskirts of town, you can now clearly see the Lintoll. A rainbow of coloured canvas and ribbon conceals a fence around the entire fair. Over the temporary wall you can make out the flags of a multitude of tents.

Giant dragonflies whir overhead, trailing streamers, and a low mist curls over the ground. Through a floral archway, you glimpse wondrous and vibrant creatures — outlandishly dressed stilt walkers, dancing faeries, and painted performers. Everywhere there is laughter, pixie dust, bubbles, and the wistful tune of a whistling calliope.

Through the archway, the party can see a lane with tents on either side. Carnies call out to passersby, offering games of chance, daring performances, the answers to the mysteries of the world, exotic goods and much more. Music, singing, shouting and laughter pours out to greet you.

At the end of the lane you can all make out a big top tent.

Beside the floral archway is a ticket booth. A silver statue of a dancing faerie is mounted on the roof of this ticket booth and surrounded by fluttering butterflies. The booth is decorated with an animated depiction of the night sky, with shooting stars arcing across it.

An elderly hafling perches behind the ticket counter, peering at you quizzically through a spyglass. He lowers the spyglass and calls out to you: “Greetings, fair fairgoers!”

The halfling hops up onto the counter itself and calls out to you and several other townsfolk coming to the fair.

“Come one, come all! Come with your missing pieces and your extra screws. Come with your hard edges and your soft spots. Come with your bowed heads and upright spines. Come all you flamboyant and drab verbose and quiet fidgeting and lethargic. All you with large vision and tender hearts. All you with small courage and tender fears. Bring your stutter and your song. Bring your anger and your joy and your righteous indignation. Misfits and conformists and everyone in between. Come into this space and be welcome! Bring who you are, bring where you’ve travelled, bring what you long for and let us enjoy us together.”

He settles back behind the counter and asks “Now, who wants a ticket?”

Jan has taken on the appearance of middle age woman with a blond bob and a permanently displeased appearance. On the way over, she let the others know that they can refer to her as Karen.

"How much are you charging for tickets?", she asks querulously.

"We hide the fur with a jacket, a pair smart trousers and a gender change!"

Marrin runs up to her room and goes through her costumes and finds the jacket and pants that will fit Ava, jacket a pale shade of yellow and pants a darker blue. The jacket has a high collar and a plenitude of brass buttons. She also grabs a tan leather wide-brimmed hat and a loose white shirt before bringing it all down and presenting it to Ava.

"Okay, you put this on, and then we'll work on the hair."

The plan is to pull her hair into a tight braid and add a bit of makeup around her chin and lips to give the impression of stubble extending from Ava's already lush mutton chops. She'll stand back and look at her work. She'll slowly shake her head,

"No... The hat is the wrong color."

She wiggles her fingers and prestidigates it to match the same yellow as the pants and jacket.

((Any rolls for this?))

"There we go! Okay, I'll be right back."

And less than five minutes later she is back as wiry mousy brown haired late teenage human 'man' with a patchy mustache, loose grey shirt, too tight pants and acne. Marrin does a spin,

"Say hi to Martin!"

His voice cracks on his name.

((Had to change the color of the pants. I had Marrin unintentionally dress Ava like the Man in the Yellow Hat a la Curious George.))

---

Martin makes a show of gawking around at the Lintoll as they approach, not even really needing to act.

He tugs on Karen's sleeve and says,

"Mooooooom, can I get some money? I wanna try some games. Come on, mom? Please?"

(Re Avaria - if the goal is to make Avaria unrecognizable, let’s go with a performance roll from Marrin and a deception roll from Avaria - as the above is a great description and the fair is a collection of bright distractions both rolls at advantage please).

The Halfling smiles at Jan. “Eight silver for eight experiences or one gold for a day pass. Two gold for the VIP pass.”

He taps a little sign below the counter that explains that each exhibit, show, game, experience inside the Lintoll requires a separate entry. The eight silver ticket will get entry to the ticket holder to eight separate tents. The one gold ticket gets entry to all tents one time. The two gold ticket gets unlimited entry to each tent over the day.