The view from up high is breathtaking and somewhat relaxing, G'Reg attempts to persuade the dragonfly to veer this way and that but the creature seems to have a path planned out and doesn't seem too receptive to input. G'Reg does however keep a keen eye out for the shadow Gleam, wondering where it could have gone to. He passes over the cupcake contest ground and tries to get the dragonfly to follow the path that the dwarf had pointed out, over Northwind and Red where the last known location was and he tires to slow a little eyeing every alley, every back of a tent where someone or something may be able to hide out. (12 perception)

Seeing the kerfuffle happening by the lake and the evacuating crowd. Well, that's none of his business, and surely witch and Light would have some measure of security, G'Reg's general lack of duty, of responsibility means his interest isn't pulled much in the dramas of others, not at least when he had his own things to investigate. But with his dragonfly not particularly listening to him, he is inside if he will end up landing there despite his lack of intrigue.

     Is this finally your true form?  The words you speak do not match it.  Explain.  And tell us about the thieves.

Mulligan is dressed in blacks and browns and greys - colors that help hide the fact they may not have been washed as frequently as needed.  But while he gives an overall shabby appearance a closer look reveals his clothes are indeed well tended to.  They are old but not raggedy, and hole or tear mended or patched nattily in hobo chic fashion.  He currently is playing a banjo - a soft, slow tune - and wearing a bit of a chagrined smile upon his face.  He also wears a set of fake dragonfly wings on his back, they are askew and look ready to fall off.  Except for the shiny banjo, the dragonfly wings are the only colorful part of Mulligan. 

The dragonfly does indeed have a set pattern, like a pony that spends its days giving rides around a familiar track, and G'Reginald doesn't quite muster the skill to guide it away from its routine.

Spotting an errant shadow amongst all the movement and lights of the carnival proves even more daunting, although something does catch the gnome's eye. As he passes the Big Top, he sees a series of posters featuring some of the current and past performers in the carnival's history, some of which he vaguely recalls from his original visit. Among them is a pair of elven acrobats, one of whom has a headdress in the shape of a moon!

At the mercy of his mount, G'Reginald continues his circuit of the carnival, still taking in the sights and sounds, but observing no shadow fitting the description. The dragonfly lands once more on the large lily pad on the pond, and Greginald dismounts.

Still having no luck tracking the shadow, Greginald can only try to pick up the trail as best he can. Aside from the sighting at the Feasting Orchard, and the information that the shadow travelled toward the Dragonfly Rides, the next closest attraction is the Carousel, and its surrounding sideshows. But how does one track a shadow...?

If Greginald wants to start a fresh search in this area, then he can make a new ability check. Roll Perception if he is continuing with spotting the shadow directly, or roll Investigation if he is attempting to identify other clues...

(I'll switch the creature's dialog to orange so as not to confuse with Barria)

The crowd mills around, taking only passing note of the elf gripping the bird-creature with the dwarf watching. The only other unmoving fixture is the nearby banjo-playing hobo, and the bird-creature glances over at him once or twice. The creature struggles a little during the brief conversation between the elf and dwarf before replying...

Fine, I'll talk! Just... let's get out of the street. That dopey bugbear will be here any second. Look, over there... those standing stones.

It's only a short distance off the main path to a small ring of menhirs out of the view of the public eye, directly behind where the banjo-playing is standing. The bird-creature doesn't resist Rowan's grip as they relocate the short distance, glancing curiously again at the banjoist as it passes, with the dwarf following along for curiosity's sake. The bird-creature looks around carefully before resuming its speech in the male-human voice, although to Barria the mannerisms of the creature are decidedly female.

So, you're just a couple of curious dolts, eh? she says eyeing the two. Well it does me no harm to tell you. I don't know who your mind-speaker friend is, but they must be with you judging by their use of the first person plural...

Yes, this is my true form. I'm a kenku, and if you didn't know, we usually can only mimic what we hear. I'm Rowan Birch, by the way [it says in exact copy of Rowan]. Oh I would love to hear! [Barria's voice returns to her]. Some call me Kettlesteam, because [the kenku opens its beak and the uncanny whistling sound of a boiling kettle issues out]. Heckling is difficult though when you can only use second-hand sounds, so I borrowed the voice of a mime from the carnival, since he wasn't using it. [The kenku tips its head back a little and opens its beak as if to laugh, but the sound that comes out is like the laughter of a small crowd in a theater]. Promised to help him pay court to the mermaid in return, the sucker. [laughter sound again].

Anyway... so you've heard of Prismeer then. It's a fairy realm, the land of my fairy godmother in fact, Queen Zybilna. [Another sound issues from the kenku's beak, like wind blowing through willows and faraway tinkling bells]. She talks to me - or at least she used to... Grants me certain powers in return for favours in the material realm. Fair trade. But I've not heard from her for some time. Lost contact. [Kettlesteam mimics the sound of crickets chirping].

This carnival is originally from Prismeer. So it follows that the owners must know more about that realm than anyone. I've tried talking to them, asking them if they know what happened to Zybilna, but they clammed up. Cold shoulder. Well I won't take no answer for an answer... [The kenku mimics the sound of a dog gnawing a bone]. If they know something, then I'll make them tell. Hit them where it hurts until they cough up. Hehe. See how they like consoling their precious prima donna singing mermaid. [laughter].

I've heard about the thieves too. Not caught any glimpses though. Owners must know about them, but I can't see how that's connected. So... What you going to do? Turn me in? Curry favour with the owners so they give you a gig? Or are you going to let me go... Better still, do you want to help me make them tell what they know, and you can find out more about Prismeer, since you're so interested... [mimics the sound of a clock ticking].

The area just about spent and the trail of a shadow seemingly non existent, G'Reg moves to the carousel and begins an investigation, looking for clues and asking the more senior looking carnival workers (who may already know who gleam is and that her shadow is around,) where she might be or if they have spotted her recently.

Investigation 16

Rowan also looks over at the banjo playing hobo each time Kettlewhistle does. He almost doesn’t catch the reference but then he does make the connection.

”The banjo player speaks to you with telepathy. That’s clever. I wonder how he does it.” Rowan says. “No I don’t know him. Is he friendly?”

Once they’re in the stone circle and the kenku is talking freely, Rowan releases his grip and waves at the banjo player.

”So do you think the carnival has something to do with what happened to your fairy godmother? Wait, you really have a fairy godmother? Like from a fairytale? is that common in Prismeer? Hmm. And the carnival is keeping secrets? Secret secrets are no fun. Secret secrets hurt someone.”

Rowan looks over at the dwarf and is quiet for almost a whole second before continuing on.

”I want to play music but I like people getting what’s coming to them too. Why don’t we go talk to the owners? How do we find them?”

     Mulligan watches the trio approach and does his best to act nonchalant about it despite watching the bird-man (are they called Kenku? Mulligan thinks they are but isn't sure) glance over to him suspiciously several times and the Elf follow his eyes to do likewise.  When the Elf asks if he is friendly Mulligan can't helped but to "heh" silently and smirk a bit.

For Rowan:

     Mulligan listens as the conversation progresses, still not fully joining the trio but rather still a step or two away, mostly looking away and playing his banjo as he listens.  He does give a small nod when the bird-man confirms that they are indeed a Kenku.  Good to know Mulligan does know some things...  But his playing stops abruptly when Kettlewhistle mentions that they "borrowed" the voice of a mime.  Further, Mulligan turns to face the trio (the Kenku in particular) and his demeanor grows sour as he listens to them explain how they tricked they mime. Mulligan didn't like this Kettlewhistle from the get go but upon hearing that they actively screwed over and stole from Candlefoot...  And what he stole...  The anger in Mulligan builds but he lets the conversation continue for as long as the Kenku continues to dole out information.  Once the Kenku starts opining on options of what can be done, however, Mulligan steps up to look at him straight on.

For Kettlewhistle:

     If the Elf or the Dwarf discuss amongst themselves what to do next or such Mulligan will mostly ignore them and allow them to carry on.  But if either (or both) try to engage Kettlewhistle or himself while Mulligan is focused on the Kenku then he will extend on hand out towards whichever it is that tries to interrupt and hold up one finger in order to tell them to wait a damn minute...

With so many questions already being asked of the kenku, and the banjo music continuing, Rowan almost misses the words when they appear in his mind. Friendly to friends. Rowan is momentarily amazed and amused by the words just appearing there. But then he starts thinking about the meaning. I think he probably doesn't have many friends then, Rowan thinks to himself. How do you make friends if you're only friendly to friends you already have? 

Rowan mulls that over for a bit as he waits for responses from the kenku.

Greginald moves from tent to wagon to booth, seeking clues and asking carnival workers for any sightings, but the staff seem unusually unfriendly when the topic of the shadow is brought up, or oddly ignorant about thieves of any kind. It seems obvious to the gnome that there is an institutional cover-up in play.

There is one thing that Greginald does notice, which encourages him to stay on track. Three young human boys slouch glumly against a food stall. As the gnome passes, he hears them bemoaning the misfortune that has befallen them, and whether it is because they slipped into the carnival without paying. One of the boys claims to have lost his color vision and can only see in shades of grey. Another has lost a few inches of height from his stature, while the third says he can no longer taste anything sweet. They discuss whether their curses might last only until the end of the carnival, or if buying a ticket might remedy the situation, however there is no mention of any shadow or any other thief. If Gleam is the culprit here, it seems the boys have no memory of it.

Greginald's last stop is the operator of the carousel, a dappled female centaur. She greets Greginald with a smile, but there is sadness behind her eyes. She is the first to not close off when the gnome asks about Gleam the shadow thief, but simply says with a wistful sigh, as if talking to herself:

She was my friend. I hope she hasn't befallen a fate as hopeless as my own.

Then speaking to Greginald more directly she asks:

Why do you ask? Have you made a deal you can't get out of?

Kettlesteam does her best to ignore Mulligan's demands, and attempts to converse further with Rowan, but the mind-speaker's insistent mental prodding is difficult to shut out

Well, I call her a fairy godmother, but she's...

     Hey, I didn't break any bargain, he just didn't specify when to fulfil it...

I'm not from Prismeer. I've never been there. I just...

     Hey, you don't know how hard it is to not be able to - well maybe YOU do...

Try to talk to the owners in public and they'll clam up. The rest of the time they stay in their wagon. If we could get past that pumpkin-headed bugbear, maybe you could...

     All right! All right! Ugh, you're so irritating!

I tell you what, you all sound like you want something from Witch and Light. How about I agree to return Candletoe's voice to him, or whatever his name is, and in return we work together. Deal? I think I might be able to help you get past the bugbear...

     You return Candlefoot's voice first.  Now.  Only after that can we discuss working together.

After some dismay at the cold front this conspiracy seems to be putting forward, G'Reg is relieved to find someone willing to speak. He notes but doesn't investigate further the complaints of the human boys, youth will make mistakes and they will learn just as G'Reg has had to, the responsibility of education is not on him, he thinks to himself.

The dappled centaur takes Greg's attention, his brow furrows at her words, self absorbed despair aside he offers a hand though remains suspicious that she would be willing to speak. "My name is Reginald, could I have yours before I answer your questions?"

There is a sigh, and downcast eyes turn slowly to Reginald. She notices his outstretched hand, looks at it for a brief moment and then extends her own to shake.

Diana. She says languidly, then with more forcefulness: And before you say anything else... I'm NOT a centaur, okay?

Diana turns her face away again, looking wistful, then adds half to herself: ... just a human who made a bad deal.

The kenku's eyes narrow at Mulligan before it speaks with Candlefoot's voice one last time:

Fine, it's a deal. But if you back out on me, I'll just borrow someone else's...

Kettlesteam's eyes close, there is a soft 'puff' and another small burst of black feathers, after which the kenku opens its mouth and issues out a sound that includes not just the voice of a sailor, but complete with the sounds of creaking ship timbers, snapping mast lines and crying seagulls:

All ship shape, captain! Ready to sail...

     I lost my voice last time I visited this carnival.  It was not from a deal.  I suspect it may have been stolen because I snuck in without paying back then.

     As always, the words are toneless. Emotionless.  Just... there.

     I think I saw you at Lost Things as I was leaving, I hope you found what you lost.  

     The words are just there in your head.  Not as if they were your own for these words are flat, emotionless and without tone or texture.  Like early attempts at a computer reading words... If you had any idea what a computer was.

     What did this thief you saw look like?  I am told there are three who seem to prey upon those who sneak into the carnival without paying.

A grin forms on G'Reginald's face, or should I say G'Reginald Diana's face.

"Diana, a nice name, one that I will treasure on your behalf, as under the feywild influence that this carnival presides, you just agreed to give me your name... Of course this is just a precaution, answer my questions truthfully and It will be returned to you by the end of this conversation." Greg waits for the girl to realise what she has done before continuing, "and so... Girl, in the spirit of fairness I'll answer your questions first, I have my shadow and to my knowledge nothing has been stolen from me by the one you know as gleam, but I have come across some information which makes me believe that she could help in my endeavours to retrieve an item that was list by myself last time I attended this carnival in my youth, also to the best of my knowledge I have not made any deals here, though I am being made acutely aware that this carnival has no need of deals to take what it wants when it feels it has been slighted. Now onto my questions, how long have you worked here? Why is there such a cold front out on by the workers in regards to Gleam and Glister? Are you intentionally acting differently from your colleagues, in terms of their secrecy, as some kind of trap? And what do you know of the old carnival, the one Isolde runs?"

The girl-horse does indeed appear to 'realise' what Greginald is doing, and in the pause he sees a look of alarm cross her face, after which she turns away. The gnome delivers the remainder of his well-crafted and devious speech to the back of the girl's head, and it isn't until he finishes and waits for her reply that he realises... she is sobbing.

You work for... one of them, don't you! she blurts, before returning to weeping. Haven't I suffered enough?