The Carnival is now two hours along, and passersby can be heard talking excitedly about their experiences with various attractions. The Snail Racing sounds like a particularly popular event, and some of the older children boast to each other of their individual bravery in the Mystery Mine. Nearby can also be found Silversong Lake where a mermaid's warbling soprano voice can be heard, which also serves as the commencement of the Gondola Swans ride...

Faelan:

At the end of the ride, there is a slight sadness on the otherwise always merry Faelan. He pets the unicorn that he was riding on. "Ah ain't gonna forget ya. Ah'll remembah." He listens to Zeg. "Talkin's about mirrors." Faelan addresses the others. "You guys wanna go check the Gondola Swans ride real quick, and meet me at the Silversong Lake? It's the next ride after the Gondolas." He get the group closer as he looks at Zeg. "Zeg, ya mentioned about mirrors... Ya see, there are plenty of mirrors in the Hall of Illusions. Maybe I can get the fella that takes care of it to leave us inside all for ourselves. We can stay in there undisturbed. Ah just need to have a quick talk with the Mermaid that's in Silversong Lake real quick too. Then we head to the mirrors. Does that work for y'all?" Faelan gives the OK sign.

Before leaving, Faelan approaches the Centaur with a serious expression. “Diana, ya don’t have ta say anything, ya just have ta nod if yes. Is da hag’s name that made you like this Bavlorna Blightstraw?”

Flynn follows Faelan

"Or perhaps Endelyn Moongrove?"

In case anyone was still uncertain, the solution to the unicorn names riddle is the following four phrases:
FORTUNE favors the BOLD
PRIDE comes before the FALL
a rolling STONE gathers no MOSS
a STITCH in time saves NINE

Diana thanks the group as they depart. As prompted by Faelan, she shakes her head to indicate 'no' to both Faelan and Flynn's inquiry. Clearly the hag that she encountered was neither Bavlorna Blightstraw or Endelyn Moongrave.

Now armed with more information about their plight than before, the group continue their tour of the Carnival. Now it is known that the precious and personal things that were lost all those years ago were taken by three hags, who reside in the fey realm of Prismeer, which is also the origin of the Carnival itself. Perhaps these hags are responsible for the other things - and people - that apparently go missing from time to time. But why? And how? And by what means does one cross to this Feywild realm? These thoughts dominate the minds of the four new friends as they approach Silversong Lake.

The warbling voice of the mermaid trills above the heads of the onlookers, and gasping Oohs! and Aahs! are heard from the crowd in response to some kind of watery action from the lake. Faelan and Flynn are as yet unable to see for the crowd, but Navi and Zeg are able to fly up high enough to witness the display. In the center of the lake, in a giant glass bowl, is a scantily-clad blue-skinned mermaid. Her glorious, haunting song not only captivates the spectators on the lakeshore, but causes the lake water to coalesce into magical sculptures that whirl around the bowl: dancing nymphs and cavorting satyrs, pixies and faeries at play, leaping dolphins with horns like unicorns, and all manner of exquisite patterns with a geometry that even Zeg can barely comprehend.

Looking past the sides of the crowd all can glimpse the giant swans that float downstream away from the lake, to the right, clockwise around the Carnival, as well as back into the lake from the left. Anywhere between two and eight people sit or stand on the backs of each swan. Faelan recalls that the swans like to talk to the passengers as they transport them on their peaceful tour, but that their conversation is a little too sophisticated and erudite to hold his interest.

Suddenly a loud and grating yell pierces the graceful music, as a voice from off to the right of the crowd calls out with unnatural volume: Ha! You sound like a rooster with a sore throat! Haha! The mermaid's song falters, and a wave of malcontent ripples throught the crowd, souring the mood...

Zeg watches and studies the patterns of the dance but there is so much going on and it is so well executed that it is hard to take it all in.  And suddenly, like the needle of a record player being ripped away, the booming voice of that disturbs the music calls out.

Zeg's attention is quickly turned in that direction and he looks to see if he can pinpoint who or where it came from. 

Perception 14

FLYNN is enjoying the music very much. Appreciating  it even more than the show. Until that voice. He scans the crowd looking for the heckler

Perception: 14

No one dares to offend Palasha, not on his watch. Faelan thinks to himself as he tries to contain his anger. He flies like the wind, and tries to track down the source of the insolent voice.

Perception: 18 (If allowed to use Survival add 2 to the roll)

Unicorn Horn. Unicorn Horn. Unicorn Horn, hey hey hey hey!  With help, the little fairy would eventually come to realize that their experiences were similar but different. Of course she was plenty distracted though. There was just so much amazing pretty things to pay attention to!

"Hey, listen!" Navi pops her hands on her hips. "That's rude!" She scolds the voice.

However instead of searching for it Navi flutters on down over to the mermaid to check on her. On her way down her light dims to a warm comforting glow.

Zeg and Flynn search the crowd for the heckler, searching for a male, probably human (judging from the voice) but whoever caused the ruckus has fallen silent, and all in the area seem to be moving and jostling about. Faelan sees the same, however one extra detail stands out: one of the figures moving through the crowd away from that area is a female elf - and she is walking with a limp!

Navi floats gently toward the glass bowl, where the mermaid's song has faltered. Seeing the delicate fairy approach brings a smile to Palasha's face, and she takes up the song once more... albeit a little less enthusiastically.

Suddenly another cry pierces the crowd: Not again! My ears are still bleeding from last time, you old banshee! Navi sees Palasha clap one hand over her mouth as the song again ceases. The crowd stirs even more disturbingly than before, and Zeg and Flynn find themselves a little disoriented as the voice is now coming from another part of the crowd.

Faelan however sees that the latest torrent of abuse has indeed come from the vicinity of the limping elf, although a new detail confuses him: The voice sounds distinctly like that of his fellow carnival hand, Candlefoot! The elf limps away, pushing through the crowd once more and out of Faelan's sight...

Not seeing the cause of the ruckus Flynn turns back to the mermaid and pulls out his birdpipes   "your song was beautiful and a true inspiration" he says to her and attempts to mimic the tune to give her some accompaniment 

Performance:12

(Attempting to aid the mermaid and/or draw the attention of the heckler)

Faelan is even angrier now that he sees someone trying to pass as Candlefoot, and he, or whatever it is, has the temerity of disturbing Palasha's show. He concentrates on this impostor, and tries to stealthily follow the limping elf.

Stealth: 3

Survival: 10

(UGH!! Perhaps he could use the help from the last roll...)

Zeg swoops the other direction trying to follow where the person calling out is at, but he is having trouble.  How did they get so far so fast, where did they go.  Then he tries something different. Hoping maybe they call out again he changes direction to a part of the crowd he hasn't heard the voice from yet and looks.  Maybe he'll get lucky and the person will heckle again and he'll be ready to spot them.

Perception 18

Flynn calls out his reassurances to the mermaid, and then begins his song. His artistry is expert if not original, and the crowd starts to fall silent once more as the music wafts across the lake. Palasha removes her hands from her face, smiles briefly at the nearby Navi, then begins to sing once more, but this time creating a high descant as a counterpoint to Flynn's melody. New sculptures begin to form in the water once more.

Faelan can make out the culprit's distinctive limping tracks in the dirty, but not for long as the moving crowd quickly obscure them from view. Furthermore, his attempts to push through the crowd are starting to cause a scene, as some onlookers complain about 'yet another' pushy person. The harengon can't spot the dark-haired she-elf either. Zeg meanwhile thinks ahead and flies to the south end of the crowd, surmising that the next outburst will originate from there. The keen-eyed owlin scours the crowd, taking in each face, many of whom look up curiously. Surely enough, another loud voice screams out, though with not the same unnatural amplification as before...

Is someone squashing hellcats around here? Please, make it stop!

The sound is coming from the exact spot that Zeg is staring at, but no-one is moving their mouth! In fact, everyone in the vicinity seems to be looking at each other, wondering who made the sound. Quickly Zeg surmises that the perpetrator is using a simple illusion cantrip to make the sound this time, and scans the crowd within a thirty-foot radius. Just at the edge of vision, Zeg spots a limping figure: a male human with a long brown pony tail limps into a nearby amusement tent. The banner over the tent door reads: "Goblin Wrestling".

Palasha the singing mermaid can take no more of the abuse, and with a wail of dismay she leaps out of her water bowl, splashes into the lake, and swims away to the south. A groan of disappointment goes up from the crowd, and Flynn notices that the music of the distant calliope at the entrance to the Carnival begins to sound less jolly.

Faelan goes to the last location that he saw the person with a limp. Losing track of his quarry, he looks up at Zerg. "Do you see anything?"

Eyes burning with anger Flynn puts the bird pipe away and shifts his bagpipes.  After a moment the drone begins and he starts following the calliope. But this soon shifts in his anger and in attempt to draw out the heckler his tune changes to "The Black Bear"*

*real song

Zeg calls down to Faelan "Goblin wrestling!  They went in there!" as he dives down to that spot.  He doesn't wait for the harengon o catch up he immediately enters the tent to look for the person with the limp.

Flynn's jaunty song of bravery blares out over the crowd, at first supplementing and then overriding the calliope. The effect on the listeners is instant - the brash tones take their minds off the unpleasant scene with the heckler, the jolly shanty-like tune bolsters their spirits, and with more than a few mutual slaps on the back, they return to their Carnival merriment. However the culprit himself seems to have departed the scene.

While Navi flies off after Palasha to console her, Faelan clearly hears Zeg's alerting cry and sees the owlin go zooming toward and into the Goblin Wrestling tent, then hops along to catch up.

Zeg bursts into the tent, and briefly observes a ring of half a dozen people surrounding a small arena in which two goblins are wrestling with a stocky dwarf. A few pairs of eyes turn to look, but this is all Zeg sees before a small cloud of gas suddenly blossoms in front of the owlin's face, slightly obscuring his view and making him feel suddenly very sleepy...

Zeg: Please make a DC 13 CON save or fall unconcsious for 1 minute.