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CARNIVAL WORLD CHAPTER 20     Orlando Bard picture:

 

“Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. To the Bounty Hunter Bard’s Inn. I promised you that we would be starting Mystica Knorn’s story tonight. Last night I regaled you with the fact that Mystica did not arrive in our delightful Carnival City until the opening day of the carnival. However, there is a tale I tell called ‘Elfred’s Folly,’ much to his chagrin, which took place about a year before that infamous opening day.
“Elfred’s Folly’ is important to our Carnival City’s history, and Mystica’s family, being part of the high elf noble’s society, had a part in that cautionary tale! So, buckle your seat belts, boys and girls, kitties and doggies, it is going to be a wild ride! And here we go!”
Bard began, following a strum of his zither, to tantalize the inn’s gathered crowd with the tale.
“Then, just over a year ago, from the opening of the carnival, the royal families of Carnival World, had been cursed by a Darkling Technologist. Where hitherto, only Hobbits (and a few Naga) had seemed to be technologists, when Elfred Conner had come to the planet, suddenly humans began to be able to become Alchemist Gadgeteers.
There was a tall, dark-haired, human lady, from a small Barbarian village, in the coastal mountains of the southwest, that lived on an island called West Catalina. Her name was Hazel. While she never said a word to any of the residents of Carnival City, on West Catalina, she was called Witch Hazel by the residents of the island. She had purchased a college degree package and had joined a mix of hobbit and human students, before Elfred’s college was even built.
Elfred had used a room at Conner’s Inns and suites for that first class. As you may know, building had been very slow before the Dwarves entered an alliance with us, so Elfred’s college had not been built and he had worked out of a room at Conner’s Inns and Suites.
Although Hazel’s nose had been a bit large, and out of kilter, in my opinion, and her gray eyes flitted from side to side, with a nervous tick, she was voluptuous, free-spirited and very charismatic. Short for a Barbarian, she was still just a hair under six feet tall.
She had played Elfred like a legendary Stradivarius violin, crafted by the renowned Italian master, of Golden Period instruments, Antonio Stradivari. Hazel made life very worthwhile for the middle-aged Alchemist Engineer. Another student, Cedric Kerlin, a Tall-fellow Hobbit, should have been first student, as he showed more potential, and was really a genuine prodigy. Everyone knew that Hazel was the class favorite, and Cedric was consistently portrayed as the village idiot. At that time Kerlin rented a room here at my inn but attended Elfred’s college.
Bishop Patrick Conner, warned his brother as well, saying that her eye malady was not a nervous tick, but spiritual evidence that she carried a snake god taint, or evil spirit familiar. Elfred, I think, by that time was fighting his own clues and was in denial. Nor did he want to give up his Hazel perks.
Professor Elfred Conner had almost evicted Cedric from the class when he had tried to warn Elfred that he had heard her praying, not to Creator, but a snake god.
Just after graduation, Hazel had absconded to parts unknown with valuable supplies and equipment from Elfred’s classroom and personal quarters. Seven months later, a basket with a baby, bundled in swaddling clothes, mysteriously appeared in the lobby, not far from Elfred’s hotel doorways. Elfred at that time had one room for personal use and another next to it that he used for his classroom.
Under the basket was written, ‘Wayne Conner, son of Elfred Conner.” The infant also came with a note, pinned, open for all to read, that said, “This is your son, Elfred. His name is Wayne. According to the matriarch of West Catalina, he will be an average boy, who will know great events of the future, but just not when they will happen. He will also, in time, become greatly known for spiritual wisdom and have keen insight and a photographic memory for legendary artifacts and knowledge of animals and spiritual creatures, human, humanoid, and animal that exist in this world. I would have left him with the West Catalina matriarch, Elfie, but she prophesied that your boy will choose to serve the Creator and not the snake gods, so he is not welcome there.
And I, for reasons that will become obvious, my dearest Elfie, cannot bear this burden, nor raise a boy who will one day serve Creator.
I suppose I could have simply sacrificed Baby Wayne. But what is it that your campfire bard said that night when doing a show for Commander Zales and his Advance Team mercs? ‘Been there. Done that. Bought the T-shirt to prove it.’ No Elfie, what is the fun in that? Not when I can prick that insufferable pride and ego of yours and embarrass you with a squalling infant that your hotel staff can endlessly gossip about. I do not think, Elfie, that we shall meet again, but you will never forget me, nor I, you!”
Elfred, when contacted by the staff, demanded that the boy was not his and that the whole incident was a demented prank.
Patrick Conner had also been called to the scene. Since Elfred had refused responsibility for the child, Patrick had agreed to temporarily tend the needs of the surprise child.
Patrick had Baby Wayne’s blood analyzed, which as Zales’ medical team performed the honors, were available the next day. The results, which weren’t surprising to most, came back that Baby Wayne was in all statistical probability, the offspring of Hazel and Elfred.
Elfred doubled down, following the paternity test, and refused again to admit his fatherhood. Sir Elfred Conner literally replied, “It’s a damn lie and a hoax, Patrick! For all we know, baby brother, YOU are the one with the pride problem, and your holier-than-thou personality is keeping YOU from admitting your sin!
‘Baby Wayne’ is really yours, Patrick! Admit it! That test you had done – without telling me- isn’t worth the paper it is printed on. And what’s more, baby brother, you know it! You are the one, Patrick, who won’t admit it! Put that in your pipe and smoke it! Baby Wayne is your problem. Take care of that illigitimi infans yourself!’
Patrick had already hired a wet nurse to take care of Baby Wayne. Shortly thereafter, he hired a governess to watch over Baby Wayne Conner and raised him as his own.
And no, “Elfie” Elfred Conner, never saw Hazel again. But, on with the story.
Our guess was that Hazel had been the one, using her knowledge gained from studies with Professor Conner, and the assistance of her Imp Lord, a high-level Prince of the fallen Fey, to put a curse on all royal family children.
Mystica Knorn, while she was on one of her initial missions, after accepting an important quest for the Flying Serpent Guild, years later, found her hiding place, quite by surprise, and permanently ended her reign of terror. Hazel’s Imp Lord master, merely irritated, vanished and after many years, regenerated, but was a prince without a kingdom. But back to Elfred’s Folly!
Hazel had then sent couriers to all the kingdoms on Carnival World, explaining her curse, and promising only to negate it, for any castle who surrendered sovereignty to her master, within thirty days.
There was much wailing and saber-rattling, but none acquiesced to the ransom demand. No king hoisted the skull and bones flags over their village, castles, or, in case of the Dwarves, their upper cities, signaling their acceptance of her terms.
Shortly afterwards, royal children under the age of eleven began to sicken and die. Barbarian chief’s sons and daughters sickened, but usually after several weeks, grew well again. It was much the same for the White Dwarves. Sickness, even for the elderly, was rare on Carnival World and fear became rampant among the royal classes.
Elves and Black and Red Dwarves seemed to suffer the worst. Their royal children, if they lived, were forever sickly and weak, if they failed to take the alchemical serum created by Elfred Conner and administered by the medical tent clinic that would one day become St. Patrick’s hospital.
Mystica Knorn had not even developed a sniffle. Some opined that it was her strong Nordic Elf genetics that had given her immunity. The malady had affected the children of Zandar’s guards, servants, and the small village beyond the castle walls. Most cases were mild to moderate, in intensity. Arlahi Village, up mountain, where Mystica’s mother had been born, happened to have several children with noble blood, at that time, and they became desperate for a cure. They were not sons or daughters of the Kings of Ayengard but were part of the lesser nobility. Many of their cases had been quite serious.
Elfred felt responsible, and, to mitigate his carelessness, worked night and day trying to use alchemy to find a cure. The best physicians from Earth, who were working out of a Military Tent next to the unfinished St. Patrick’s Hospital Building, with the help of Zale’s science crew, also tried to find cures. Nothing worked.
Serendipitously, Elfred one day, had taken a break from study, and had sent couriers to the nearby Fae villages and asked them to visit him in the town. They had arrived at the meeting place, little orbs of light, that appeared in the center of the Mushroom Circle in the Mall Commons. The Fey could teleport from any village into the large mushroom ring inside the Mall Commons of Carnival City.
Conner was sitting in a lawn chair, but today he wore a sleeveless purple robe, instead of his usual green full dress robe garb. Elfred was smoking a pipe and drinking whiskey with ice chips taken from the hotel ice machine.
He had maid staff from the hotel set up several fancy children’s chairs arranged around a circular table, with a bright red and white tablecloth, full of candies and cookies bedded in fancy porcelain dishes. Tiny clip-on white porcelain mugs, colored with bright sunny daisies, sat hooked to a large amethyst punch bowl filled with red Hawaiian punch.
Elders from five different Fey Villages decloaked from their orb chariots and activated their antigrav belts which hummed lightly. They greeted Elfred. Not much larger than good-sized toddlers, they flitted back and forth between the punch and sweets assortment.
After greeting them formally, and thanking them for accepting his invitations, Elfred Conner presented his oration of understanding and then asked his first question.
“The Dwarves have been attempting to build the Carnival Game grounds, but every morning there are two mushroom rings that are appearing on our game board. They have used shovels, poisons, and plastic explosives to no avail. While they are smaller than the rings in the Mall Commons, where we are gathering, dear Fey friends, I would guess that one of your villages, probably the nearest is responsible for this..uhh…conundrum.”
Fire Fey Clan spokesman grinned and said, “Guilty as charged for the north side of the Carnival Game Fairgrounds.”
The Sparkie Fey spokesman replied, very politely, “Yes, our children have been making the Fairy Ring in the south of your Carnival Theme Park.”
The Electric Fey spokesmen, their village being in a mountain forest, just east, over the mountains on the Irish Pub Theme Park side of the Borderlands said, “As for the commons where we are now meeting, this has mushrooms from several villages around the Borderlands, in case we are called to manage the inner estate, here, as the job was given to us by Creator to tend it. Thank you, by the way, for the great work you are doing in mowing the lawns and tending the gardens here.”
“We are not so sure about the other building that ruins the natural esthetic beauty, but Creator has told us, that your people are responsible for caring for the Star Portal Sanctuaries, and as you have been given dominion, have the right to build as you want.
“But Creator did not say we cannot put our teleport rings here, so we promise to build no more, but this center ring has been placed by the adult Fey, in case you call us to help or parley. The other small rings belong to the Fey children of the Sparkie and Fire Fey.”
Elfred frowned then said, trying to be diplomatic, and wishing he would have invited his brother Patrick, “Mr. Diplomacy.” The term was more a quirt swipe than a compliment.
“Thank you for your honesty, Elders of the Fey,” said Elfred. “Not to be rude, but I am a straightforward man, and diplomacy is not my best gift. What can I do to persuade you not to build Faerie Rings on our game board? It is after all, the property of my two brothers and me. In a sense, Colonel Zales, as he has been given the responsibility of protecting us and our venture, also has authority here.
“As far as Creator giving you limited rights, concerning the Mall Commons ring, for now I will grant it, but I will be notifying my brothers and Colonel Zales about the issue.”
Both the Sparkie Fey spokesmen and the Fire Fey rep said, almost as one, “We are disinclined to acquiesce to your request, Sir Conner, concerning the small Fey rings.”
“Now! Now! The head of the Dwarf guild has threatened to quit if we ask them to clear the rings one more time! Let’s be reasonable here, ladies and gentlemen!” exclaimed Elfred with a huff and a toss of his snifter, spilling a generous gush of Hennesy over the top of the glass and onto his sleeveless LARP robe.
“Well,” smiled the Fire Fey rep, “we will happily help you solve your problem, Sir Conner! Just don’t ask the Dwarves to remove our children’s faerie rings.
“They are just pranky, sir, but they grow out of that to be kind and level-headed adults like us.
“Unless someone attacks them, or gets mean with them, they might teleport them outside of the domed Star Portal, but mostly when that happens, or if they don’t have any shinies for them, they will just teleport them here in the commons.”
“Why are you all manipulating me gathered Elder Fey? Just tell your children to make their faerie rings somewhere else, not on the main board. If you don’t move the rings, it will negatively affect the game rules we have in place!”
The Sparkie Fey replied, “Sir Conner, we don’t mean to be manipulative. We are just being logical and creative at the same time. Negative rule affects? How terrible. We will be glad to help you with that issue. Your Carnival Game is a game, right? Games need challenges. Safely teleporting players somewhere else on the board, or in the Mall Commons, is not only safe, but it provides a wonderful challenge.
“And if a player doesn’t want to teleport, all they must do is step around, rather than into the faery ring.
“And we will have a talk with our children and make sure that they know they have a great and honorable responsibility. And they are feeling left out. They have sent you a letter, have they not, by courier even, asking to be given a part in your game? We think that is a splendid idea and it would, of a certainty, help us understand that we have an alliance with you!”
Elfred sighed loudly, frowned, shook his head, gulped his fine brandy, then iced and sloshed another. Following a burst of insight, or just luck of the draw innovation, Elfred, feeling the sharp, but enjoyable warmth and tingle in his throat and stomach, hoped for but did not really expect that the overtly polite, but conniving and manipulative, diminutive Fey might have an answer to his other quandary. He thought to himself, Well why not give it an old college try?
Following a long sigh and a contemplative sniff of his Hennessy, and a slight wrist jiggle, followed by the clink of ice against glass, Elfred Conner, not thinking they would have good advice concerning his other catastrophe, finally popped the question. “Maybe,” asked Elfred, “there is something else you can help me with, Fey Elders.”
“Yes,” said all the Fey in unison, “Help? Of a certainty, Sir Conner! We would be honored to help you, unless it would be something Creator won’t like.”
Elfred Conner sighed, rubbed his golden-brown van dyke, then his eyes and temples, and offered, “I am trying to make an alchemical concoction to alleviate the young royal children of this world. Have you heard about it?”
The Fey Elder spokesman said, “Yes, Elfred Conner, we have heard of the curse. If there is any way to help you, we will. It is terrible. The witch that did this is not any place within a mile of any of our villages, or we could inform you of her whereabouts so that you might capture her and end her dark enchantment.”
Professor Conner continued, “You Fey are immune to all diseases, resistant to elemental damage, and are unaffected by curses, except the Reprobate Curse, where Fey who become evil and stop serving Creator, grow horns and hecked tales, toothy maws, and flee from good Fey.
“May I take blood samples from your people? I am willing to trade one gold piece to anyone of your people who will donate blood to me. And real ones, not the plastic golden tokens we have made up for the game!”
After some thought amongst the elders, knowing how dire the situation was, following a great deal of emotional debating, they finally came to a majority agreement in favor of the exchange. The fact that the High Elves, who were rarely having children, and had taken the brunt of the ancient Monster Men battles, was what really overcame their initial resistance of trading their life essence and they accepted Professor Conner’s trade.
Finally, every Elder lifted their little Atlanticean rods into the air and one after the other said, “Aye.” The last one said, “real gold or plastic gold, we don’t care. Some of that candy – what do you call it? Chocolate Pirate Gold, that would be good, too. Not the tiny gold size. The Doubloon ones – our children adore that kind of confectionary!”
“So then,” asked Elfred, “Do we have an accord?” Once again, the miniscule Fey Elders, who had flown over the dessert table, to snag candies or cookies and more punch, exclaimed with a chorus of “Here! Here! We agree!”
The Electric Fey rep said, “Sir Conner, it would be remiss of us if we did not warn you. I am certain your idea will work and stop the Royal Children’s Plague. Our blood is powerful. We were created to maintain parks and holy places, by the Good Atlanticeans, to make the land beautiful and to help people.
“Even though Creator had not been happy that the Atlanticeans made us, for those of us Fae who serve Him and His Son and put out hearts into it, he blesses us and does not judge us concerning the mistakes of the Atlanticean scientists.
“There may, Sir Conner, be unforeseen consequences, both good and bad, even if your experiment is successful. Let it be known that we warned you, and it is your decision, and you take full responsibility.”
“I agree.” Elfred sighed again, rubbed his temples, swirled his snifter, and sucked a long draught of his brandy, then continued, “I think you are all willful, but kind, little manipulators. But the folly of my former actions must be atoned for, or may I say, alleged actions, real or falsely conflated, must be atoned. People are now dying or living life maimed and crippled, if they do survive this terrible plague. That is a terrible onus for Carnival World and I possess the mind and means to intervene,” offered Elfred.
Using the blood transfusion equipment of the clinic, the doctors used Elfred’s blood serums supplied with freely and calmly donated adult Fey blood for the procedure. The alchemical medicine worked almost instantly on every child that was brought to the clinic via Blimp or skip jack that still lived. Even though warned that there may be side effects from the serum, when assured that there was a ninety-nine percent chance of success, almost every parent or guardian sent their sick or dying child to St. Patrick’s Clinic. Another large army tent was taken out of storage with beds to accommodate the sick children being quickly flown in by the blimp and skip jacks.
However, the Fey Elder’s warning had proven accurate. There was an unforeseen side-effect. Each child, depending on which Fey Blood had the highest percentage of inclusion, went through a sudden change. With the children who were born later, nothing happened until they reached puberty. For the vaccinated Men, Elves, Half Elves, Orc, Catlings, Ratlings, Deer Men, Centaurs, Bull Men, and Dwarves, of royal decent, who were inoculated with the sermon, they became Feyhoomon within hours.
Their skins turned blue, and if they did not develop the ability to will an elemental bolt of acid, poison, fire, frost or electricity from their off hand, while holding a weapon in their hand of proficiency, they would melt in an incident of spontaneous combustion of their blood element. And using a shield would block their elemental ability and might even backfire and injure them.
Second, from that time on, when each Feyhoomon child was born, they had a fifty percent chance not to be born with blue skin, and then be marked to suffer from the post puberty malady.
Third, while in the past, only Nordic Elves or Atlanticeans could produce offspring with a Fey; any child who had been given a Fey Blood transfusion could mate with the Fey.
Fourth, any Feyhoomon had a twenty-five percent chance to be able to use any Atlanticean artifact, weapon, armor or tool that would only work for a Fey or Atlanticean.
Fifth, the onset of Feyhoomon Personality and Stunted Growth Disorder.
Males became very aggressive and domineering by personality. They loved to cast insults and tell rude off-color jokes. They would either become Lightening or Acid based as far as their elemental weapon augmentation ability.
That is, if they were Acid Feyhoomon, they could bite for acidic damage or any weapon they touched with their offhand would do both physical and acid damage. They gained a %50 chance to intimidate their way into free beer and food and other wants and desires.
While up to several inches taller than the females, they usually averaged four to five feet in height. With the children of Barbarians, Elves and Orcs being the tallest, and other races being less than four feet tall.
Females, unlike the males, are generally good natured but tend to be a bit self-centered, three to four feet tall and very mischievous. They loved to prank people. While their constitutions, wisdom and strength were slightly below average, they are very intelligent, dexterous, and charismatic.
While they will not use intimidation to get their needs and wants satisfied, persuasion is their middle name. Their elemental Fey blood gives them Fire or Frost ability. They have a %50 chance to talk their way out of food and beer tabs in Carnival Games. If they meet a Sanguineous Leprechaun, during a game, on a D6 roll of 1, 2 or 3, they convince the pickpocket to steal from someone else and split the proceeds with them.
Goblins had been known to impregnate Fey, but it was opined that the Goblin must have either Nordic Elf or Atlanticean blood in their genetic profile.
So, the curse had made the High Elves frantic, as it had thrown them from the frying pan into the fire. No new High Elf cities had been built, and some high elves, male and female, had left High Elf Mountain and joined in marriage with southern Barbarians that lived in villages in the mountains north and south, but few brought their marriage partners back home, and instead lived away from the kingdom.
Many royal families of different races were worried, although only a few Barbarians and White Dwarves took the serum. And the Naga, while symptoms were mild, noticed a fall in their fertility rates, but not anywhere near as badly as with the High Elves. The fertility decline suffered by the Naga was the result of another curse, akin to the Reprobate Curse, but that is another story for another night.
Diplomatically, there were mixed reactions among the races of Carnival World. People saw the quickness and seriousness about rectifying the malady, from free skip jack and blimp rides, and free hospice rooms at Conner’s Inns and Suites, as well as free hospital care for the victims. But for some the cure was almost worse than the bite, especially for the male children, which because of their personality changes, were often hidden away in dungeons, or given a bag of gold and a ‘good luck, don’t come back under pain of death,’ warning.
“But folks, enough on ‘Elfred’s Folly,’ back to Mystica and her family, the Royal Knorns.

 

CARNIVAL WORLD, CHAPTER 21

 

Photo of Carnival World Game Board for Role Playing Game:

Orlando Bard sat in his cushioned stage chair and drank water from the oaken mug on his small wooden stage table.

After sitting the mug back down, he smiled and said, “Welcome! Welcome! Welcome! Guys and girls, doggies and kitties, as promised, tonight I will regale you all with the tale of Mystica Knorn, High Elf Ranger, and the Bounty Hunter of the Bounty Hunter Guild.

“Our dear Mystica is not in the audience, or I would introduce you.
“Mystica is a Nordic Elf. Strong, fast, nimble and deadly with bow or blade. She can be a bit shy and then when least expected, she will be bold as a lioness. Strong-willed is her middle name. One of the staff informed me, just before show time, that her door is open just a crack! Those pink pointed ears are probably twitching as we speak! Nordic elf hearing is even keener than that of the smaller, shorter elf peoples of Carnival World. Being born with super genetics, it goes without saying, as the old earth expression goes, Mystica ‘has all of her ducks in row.’ That said, dear folks, one of those ducklings is swimming backwards! Another is spinning like a top! And the last one is somersaulting! And of course, at this second her nose is high, her thumbs are in her ears, fingers wiggling, in my direction, and her tongue sticking straight out, and audaciously wiggling! That is our endearingly eccentric Mystica Knorn for you!” Bard tipped his green felt archer’s cap, smiled once more, strummed his lute and said, “The adventure begins!”
***
Mystica Knorn was five feet and six inches tall, with a tom boy figure, when she exited Carnival World’s blimp and onto the sky dock. The date was Octomon 28, or on Earth, October 31st. She was fourteen. If Mystica’s lifestyle had been sedentary, as she loved deep fried chicken, fruit by the bowl, bread, cakes, candy and pastries, she may have been slightly plump. And she rarely ate anything else, especially vegetables or casseroles. However, her body burned calories at a fantastic rate, even when she was quiet and still, so maybe not. I can remember a few good stud stallions owned by a friend’s father when I was young. They stood in their stalls with very little exercise and yet they were lean and muscled like body builders. Good genetics.
Dressed in light leather, of emerald-green, with wide purple trim, expensive dress armor, fitting her station, Mystica escaped her parent’s clasped hands. She dashed and literally skipped, with smooth fluid movements like a dancer, ahead of her parents, Prince Faerune of Ayengard, and her mother, Princess Latraya. While they dressed and spoke befitting their royal heritage, both of Mystica’s parents were very humble and compassionate people, who refused to look down their noses, at “commoners” or the “unwashed masses,” as was common vernacular at court.
Mystica had her great grandfather’s eyes, as people were wont to say, burnished copper with a hint of yellow. Beautiful scarlet irises were the most common color, followed by emerald for high elves. The common eye color of the Nordic elves, which Mystica had, was very uncommon amongst the High Elves. When the Nordic Elves interbred with the Barbarians of Carnival world, High Elves were the hybrid product. Fast, strong and dexterous, but not as strongly gifted in these traits as had been the Nordic Elf Cosmic Super Soldiers of antiquity.
While it was court protocol to refer to Zander, as Faerune’s uncle, the present king of the high elves, was actually her grandfather. Following too many cups of strong wine, on his birthday, in the years long after his adventuring days were over, the feelings he had smothered for a certain lady of the court, became uncompressed.
“Why would I want to ruin my life with a love-woman?” had been a common snide comment of the king, during his adventurer’s years and as ruler of the land. He had paramours and always escorted beautiful women to social functions, but he had meticulously avoided “getting attached with a ball and chain, no matter how fancy the curves or melodious the voice.”
And the sins of the father, one night came to pass. Zandar had a dalliance with that lady court advisor, and greedily partook of his secret longings. Following said birthday, Faerune came into the world nine months later. Zandar was too proud to marry her, and he was king. He did present her with a fine monthly stipend and royal chambers. The king gave her the title of Court Courtesan and while he did not call Faerune son, did see to all of the young boy’s needs. Zandar also had an Uncle’s Soiree for him, which he always attended, once per month, starting on the second birthday. On the anniversary of Faerune’s advent into the world of Elves, Dwarves and Men, Zandar always gave Faerune special attention on that anniversary.
He had done the same for Mystica Knorn during her years in the castle. She had not been allowed to walk the hall of her “Uncle” Zandar’s wing of the castle or the royal court room, so except for special occasions, she had rarely interacted with her uncle. Although Zandar had tried to be a better uncle following his “consort’s” assassination by the Dark Naga Assassin’s Guild, his efforts in this endeavor were minimal.
Mystica’s body type looked as if she would be her father, when she grew up, but her facial features were that of her mother. Mystica’s mother was plain, but very eccentric and highly intelligent, a scholar and tutor, from Arlahi Village, up the mountain from Castle Zandar. Arlahi was one of the few villages that had escaped the destruction of the Monster Men war. Few people had survived that great war, one thousand years past; even now their population grew only slowly.
By personality, Mystica’s father was not like Zandar. He was like Zandar’s father, the former king, a natural diplomat and good natured, always looking out more for the needs of his people and not so much for his own. Mystica had developed Zandar’s desire to excel with bow and sword. Her father, Faerune, had only learned the basic skills of combat and had been much more interested in general academic prowess and courtly skills.
While she was not a diplomat, like her father and her mother, she was good-natured, except in the morning. Mystica could curse, if angry, during battle, just like Zandar. She, like her mother, was highly intelligent, but eccentric, and especially following her first night at Carnival City, a minor form of autistic behavior, seemed to become more noticeable in her personality.
Unlike her parents, who were known for possessing large vocabularies and great speaking skill, Mystica was much the opposite. Her sentences were laced with pausal uhhms, and a frequent use of the word “basically.” After working the carnival as a carny, the word “you” was replaced by the word “yous.”
Mystica picked that term, “yous,” up from a Carny catling named Smokes. Several Carny ride and game guys and gals liked that charismatic cat, with his friendly but blustery exterior, that hid a compassionate heart. Smokes was one of those guys who did not have the most exemplary grammar, but people loved to listen to him tell stories, which were very creative, but only believed by the most gullible.
Finally, her favorite word was an exclamatory “One!” That word of course was zealously exclaimed as she would dramatically lift her pointer finger for emphasis. And even if she had two or three points, her word choice was always “One!”
Her parents had tired of finding new tutors for her. Mystica had never been fond of study, especially if reading or memorization was involved. But if a subject really interested her, she would read it and memorize most of the material in one or two readings. Mystica also seemed to suffer from a form of compulsive hypergraphia, not so much in drawing, but she scribed many journals concerning information that interested her, from animal facts to weapon statistics to dictionary information on exotic animals or humanoids from alligator-men, to modern and ancient Zebu cattle. Zebu are a variety of auroch that roam the eastern Borderlands plains.
Except for her weapons trainers and ranger skill trainers, Mystica was not interested in having tutors of any kind. Those tutors, the martial, and ranger trainers, Mystica liked, and they tended to praise her and work well with the young High Elf princess.
There had been a young male teacher, Filiai, who taught language and creative writing, when she was seven. Mystica loved stories about Fae and dragons and the wonderful monsters of the Badlands.
The teacher, knowing she did not like to read, read the stories out loud to her. Suddenly Mystica had refused to attend Filiai’s tutoring class. The young princess, who could never stop talking with others about tutor Filiai’s recitations, had suddenly demanded that nothing had happened to her, but that she no longer wanted to be around the young teacher. There were rumors floating around the staff, that the tutor, when in Arlahi, had left the village quickly, paying a small ransom, to leave alive, as it had been discovered that he was “fond” of children.
Both Zandar and Faerune had angrily demanded that the guards escort the tutor to the dungeons and torture him to find out what had happened. When the guards found Filiai, in his chambers, he was slumped over a table, with a bottle of wine, a crystal glass, and a small green borosilicate vial. One sniff of the bottle and the captain of the guards said, “poison.”
Latraya herself had given up training her daughter. Mystica was very strong-willed against the whole idea of studying. She could read but preferred not to do so. Her best way of learning was to observe or listen, then do. Once she learned a method of doing a task, it was only with great difficulty that she could change-up to a better way. Her sentence structure was simple and unadorned and because her parents – and she loved her parents – were not fond of “gutter talk,” she rarely cursed. Unless she lost her temper, Mystica refrained from that type of language.
“Mystica dear,” scolded her father, “do not run ahead of us! We shall stay together as a family. Except for tonight, your mother and I are going to take a romantic moonlight walk together, but you must promise us that you will not leave the lights of the carnival until we come find you!”
Mystica did not answer but slowed her pace. She snorted slightly when her mother giggled.
Mystica kept stride with her parents as her family walked down the sky port stairs into Carnival City. They walked to the commons and glanced at the circling of little stores and gift shops with its circle of paving stones and five mushroom rings in the center. Latraya pointed excitedly, “Look honeys there is a library being built. I thought only our castle, the Centaur holdings, and the Dwarf Strongholds had libraries!”
“Yes, yes dear,” laughed Faerune, “when it is built, we shall return here and visit it. For now, honeys, let us check in at Conner’s Inns and Suites and await our luggage. Then, after we freshen up, we shall eat, then return and visit the shops.”
“One! Uhhm…I don’t care for shops,” said Mystica, “unless there is one that sells dragons. Basically, I want to ride the rides and play the games at the fair.”
Prince Faerune patted his daughter’s dark brown hair, tickled her long, pointed ear and laughed, “The fair does not open until quarter of three, using the Earth time format common here. We have a bit of a wait. Nooning has hardly passed.”
Latraya, her laugh musical like the peal of fairy bells, exclaimed, “Mystica honey, I have read in the brochures, that you can win a dragon toy at the carnival. It is one of the grand prizes, so either you will have to score well or trade in many smaller prizes, but I am certain you will win at least one. Your ranger skill tutors, and blade and bow trainers, say you have excellent hand eye coordination, and quick eyes and quick hands. We will, I am certain find it necessary to buy extra luggage to contain all your winnings, fine daughter!”

***

At three P.M. Mystica and her parents were standing in line outside of the ticket booth. They had just passed two Cullen’s Constables, dressed in costume as American Rangers, rather than paladins. All part of the show, they stood at attention outside of the entrance to the carnival. They had fake fifty caliber rifles, but each had a mace, his and her real weapon, hanging at their belt and each had a round shield resting against the tall mesh fence that surrounded the carnival.
Thirty yards to the north was another gate, now locked. The sign above the gate read, “Carnival Game Bleachers: $5 to enter. Free with Carnival Stamp.” A small empty booth sat to the right of the entrance that was manned when the southern ticket booth, into the Carnival fairground area, was closed.
After entering the Carnival area, they joined the line of Carnival World residents and earth visitors, men, women, and children, lined up at the ticket booth.
Mystica stared at the beautiful little blue lady, behind the counter – her first view of a Feyhoomon, who handed her father a roll of blue carnival tickets. The beautiful and slender, but tall fellow Hobbit sized, smiling Feyhoomon lady, had also returned several American dollars in change. Faerune, earlier in the day, had traded in a small bag of gold for several hundred dollars at the Conner’s Bank in the commons area of the circle of shops in the southeast corner.
Mystica didn’t mind at all, but Faerune and Latraya were taken aback by the familiarity, as the blue lady, ink stamped the Carnival symbol, flag topped, red circus tents, onto the backs of their hands. The blue lady smiled and said, “if one of the wondering guards or bounty hunters asks if you paid the entrance fee, just flash them your stamp!”
Latraya drew back her dainty hand and harrumphed, “Well, I never!” Faerune just shook his head, grimaced, the frown above his long, pointed chin, resembling a shark, then looked into his wife’s bright, faceted, scarlet eyes, laughed, then exclaimed, “I bet you did!” Latraya flipped her long brown hair and laughed, “And you, dear Faerune, will always remind me, no doubt.”
As they left the ticket booth, the Feyhoomon lady said, “Don’t forget, folks, the general park closes at 6 P.M. sharp. Just go to the other Carnival entrance door and show the guards this stamp. So don’t wash the stamps off after the fair! You will get free admission back into the bleachers, tonight, and then you can watch the eight contestants of tonight’s game, compete in the Carnival Games competition. That’s at seven tonight. Don’t miss it!”
“How is the Carnival Game different than the fair?” asked Mystica, her face exhibiting a puzzled expression. A giant man and woman behind her, with a gaggle of three youngsters in tow, all dressed in animal furs said, “We are friends of Orlando Bard. He got us tickets to watch the practice game yesterday,” said the man, handsome, just about six inches or so, under seven feet tall, taller by several inches than Faerune and wider in the shoulders. “When you step past the ticket booth you will step onto a special walkway, called paving stones, little senorita. They are just like the ones in Carnival Town where they have the fancy shops.” While the mother Barbarian paid for tickets for her family, the male barbarian smiled his movie star smile at Mystica and her family and continued his explanation.
“When you are playing the game, little senorita, you cannot just freely wander the carnival. There are big foam cubes with little spots called pips on them. If it is your turn, you kick them. They are called dice. The Game Masters will announce your roll to the audience, and with their trained radio personality voices, provide a running commentary on the game.
You can only go forward the number of steps that show on the tops of the dice. If you stop across from the entrance of a game or amusement ride, you can play the game or ride the ride. You may find lost cash, tickets, and colored tokens under the rides or ride seats. If you do well, playing the games, you can win prizes, like colored tokens or the golden penny dollars, that can be traded up for large or jumbo stuffed toys!
Movement dice are white with black pips. If you roll doubles, you win $25 or five blue Carnival tickets. If you roll a seven, Tommy the Ticket Scalper will appear and offer you discount game and ride tickets and gives a free plastic gold coin, small carnival prize, with any purchase. If anyone is sharing your square, though, or are nearby, then it becomes an auction. His white tickets can go from cheap to expensive, really rapido – quick!
“Some of the pavement stones have a symbol or a message and has some painting or object on it. For example, two squares have fairy rings. If you don’t pay a gold piece to the three faeries that appear, you may be sent backwards around the board game square, or even out to the fairy rings of the town commons!
“Another square is called the Carnival Chance space. You get to kick two green six-sided foam dice if you land on one of those. There is an extra bonus for doubles rolls. If you roll a two and a one, on the green foam dice, you must pay $25 to the Carny Party fund. If you roll any combination of eight pips, on the green dice, you win $5 and a token of choice. Either a red, blue, green or white game token. And of course, if your pips are double fours, you win a really big bonus! In the advanced game, the green dice roll is replaced with a one card draw from an American deck of cards. The penalties and rewards are very close, but not exactly like the chart used with the two green D6 chart for the basic game.
If I were playing as a Barbarian, unless I am drinking Pepper Jack Juice, I can only roll one dice, for movement, so that rule stinks! A Barbarian can roll two green dice, but only one white movement roll die, so that class doesn’t get much for bonuses. You roll movement more often than Carnival Chance rolls, so as a Barbarian, you lose most of your bonuses for the whole game! It is a poor attempt, in my opinion, to offset the Barbarians special advantages.
“Si, little senorita, you may even be instructed to buy Carnival Food for all the contestants, if you land on the Carnival Food Wagon Square! And there are some squares, where, if you step on them, a wandering monster may appear. It may be real, or it may be a hologram. Usually, it is a hologram. You will have to fight it and if you win you will receive extra gold, gems or prizes.
The board game has the Carnival area taking up the whole inside area of the inner oval of the Cyclopean walls; in real life, the Carnival Game grounds are only the southwest corner. In the board game, each of the 20-sided dice icons connects to an archway, where if you go through the archway onto the cobblestone road that surrounds the outer Cyclopean wall, wandering monster rolls are more likely to bring monsters and the monsters are stronger and more numerous! But in the basic beginner’s game, players aren’t allowed to exit the park, and the monsters that enter the board are weaker and less numerous.
“You have to kick a special twenty-sided or thirty-sided dice and depending on that roll, it will determine the type of monster or what you win, if you defeat it. The Game Master’s Assistants, called Pages, will see that you have the correct foam dice to kick.
“There is also a tent, but it costs money, halfway around the board where you can get training to play the games better, or improve your chances, to spot lost carnival tickets, money, carnival gold tokens, or colored game and ride prize tokens.
“But little Senorita, beware of the Sanguineous Leprechaun pickpockets! If one sneaks up on you, he or she can sneak-steal your winnings.
“And you have a choice of what kind of character you want to play. It is called a class. You have several choices. I am not going to explain each class. During the game, if there is a bit of down time, the game announcers may provide details for each class. Here are the eight classes.
1 SANGUINEOUS LEPRECHAUN ROGUE

2 DWARF CLERIC

3 HALF ELF PALADIN

4 ELVEN RANGER

5 HOBBIT ALCHEMIST GADGETEER

6 FEYHOOMON: ELEMENTAL, 1 WEAPON, NO SHIELD, DEX WARRIOR

7 STANDARD WARRIOR OF ANY RACE – BASIC OR ADVANCED GAME
8A PEASANT- BASIC GAME: STARTS WITH NO WEAPONS OR ARMOR
8B LIZARD MAN-ADVANCED GAME: STARTS WITH NO WEAPONS OR ARMOR

Each class has specific special abilities and special penalties. There is no magic in the game, but there is technology. You can be a hobbit technologist. He or she can make bombs, use flamethrowers or zap wandering monsters with electric bolts.
Peasants were just added to the roster of game characters prior to the start of the practice Carnival Game and are zero level characters. If they gain three hundred experience points, during the game, they can change their class to any of the first seven. Usually, two players in a game cannot share the same class. This character is the exception to the rule.
As a zero level character, they have no bonuses to attack or armor class, unless their statistics or a special weapon or armor provides a bonus. They have no weapons but their hands and no armor when they start the game.
But, unless they cannot use a weapon or armor for some reason, they may pick up and use any weapon or armor they find. Peasants can throw stones (1-2 damage/ roll of natural 20 or more, with a modified 20 plus, is a knockout) for a ranged weapon. Sanguineous Leprechauns call them names instead of stealing from them.
Anytime they land on a square that is occupied, any other player must give them one gold piece, one small prize or two tokens of any color, or a weapon or armor piece, unless that armor or weapon cannot be used by that player.
Peasants can ignore all Food Wagon Penalties or penalties that force them to pay for Carnival repairs, guild fees or items to other players. If they have a wandering monster encounter, they have a choice of fighting the monster, or call for the “Castling Option.”
When a peasant uses the castle option, he appears in a square with one or more other players, and the battle occurs. While the peasant cannot claim any tokens, gold, or items from those players, the other players must fight the monster; all players who are part of the combat, including the peasant, share in the battle loot.
A Lizard Man follows the Peasant stats, but they receive double damage (1-3) x2 for each hand. Stamina damage with fists. If an enemy reaches zero or a natural twenty is rolled: knockout. Clawed hand attacks do the same damage, but the damage is to health. Natural 20 is a knockout.
Lizards are amphibians and can breathe underwater. If they gain more than three hundred experience points, during the game, they become a level one lizard man, and follow the same charts as a standard warrior. Lizard Men, if they have a wrist crossbow, they receive a double damage bonus on all successful hits. Any other type of bow, crossbow, or sling is at -2 to hit for zero level lizard men and minus one for level one or higher lizard men.
“And there are medicines called potions. And rather than cleric “spells” a Dwarf Cleric can pray to Creator or use a med kit. They have bonuses to their dice rolls for asking for prayer. A technologist has better bonuses for using potions and the med kits. So, those are two of the eight characters.
“And I think the famous Bard, Orlando, told me that there will one day be more than eight types of characters. My family and I sat in his inn, yesterday, before the practice games, and Bard explained the game rules to us. Some of the new characters will be able to have pets, like a dog, wolf, a domestic cat or a big cat, mini-mammoth or mini-dragon!
“We are renting a room from his inn while we stay here a few days to visit the fair. I have two cousins who are about to become thirteen or older. Anya is a year younger than her brother, Keegan. They have both said they want to come here to the Adventurer’s Inn and work for Orlando. And it may be more than talk. They might just do it.
“Or, back to the game, little senorita. You could play a Barbarian like me. Or another class. Players are better off playing characters they have the proper skills to use, but the choice is yours!
“My name is Santiago, by the way.
“I think the penalty for the Barbarian class is too strong! If you play a Barbarian, you get bonus battle points, and heavy damage resistance, but you can only use one of the six-sided movement dice. And you only need battle points or damage resistance on the rare occasions where there is combat. Unless, that is, you buy expensive energy drinks called Pepper Jack Juice. A Barbarian can drink one per turn, if he or she has the drink, they use two movement dice instead of one. At five gold per bottle, they are not cheap! And, theoretically, if that is the right word, the faster you move around the board, the more likely you can win the tokens, and game and ride prizes that you need, to win the game. My leap ability is nice, though. I can leap one space backwards or forwards, to avoid landing in a spot, or redirect my landing one space back or ahead, farther than the foam dice kick, but that special ability, in my opinion, does not outweigh the penalties of my class!
“Or betting on the type of armor you are wearing, and being a high elf, if you ever play the game, little senorita, you would be an excellent Elven Ranger.”
“One!” exclaimed Mystica as she raised her pointer finger, “I am an Elven Ranger! I am Mystica Knorn.”
Everyone laughed as Faerune said, “My Mystica is young, but she actually is an Elven Ranger. Her initiate level of training is almost completed.”
Latraya added, “Her tutors say she is at the top of her class!”
“Impressionate!” exclaimed Santiago the Barbarian, “Well, it is time for me to get my hand stamp. That is my wife tugging at my arm and reminding me!
“If you ever come to the Barbarian village in the Smoky Mountains called Trading Post, come visit us! I am a member of the famous Quijada family. My uncle is the famous trader Cordova.
“Have fun at the carnival!” His wife gently moved their two boys and girl along as they waved at Mystica and her parents, and after receiving his Carnival Game stamp, rushed ahead to join his family.