Along the northeastern coast of Haelion, just beyond the permafrost that occupies the continentâs northern tip, lies the small city of Fahyrst. Though for most of the year Fahyrst is too cold to attract many visitors, its summers are temperate and comfortable, and it is commonly thought to be the farthest south travelers can go in order to see one of Haelionâs finest sights: the Night of the Endless Day. On the days surrounding the summer solstice, the sun in the north of Haelion does not set for five full daysâand in Fahyrst, infamous for the carnival it holds in honor of the solstice, the celebration begins when the sun first touches the horizon on the first day and does not end until it sets completely five days later.
Fahyrst, it is said, spends most of the year preparing its humble habitats for the hospitality of the Carnival. As its greatest attraction, there is a massive increase of traffic to the small city for the festival. This means an influx of trade, of tal, and of intrigue: they say those who venture to Fahyrst for the Endless Night never get bored.
The city itself holds several possible sites of interest: an open-air marble temple to the cityâs patron god Laimyre, god of winter winds, the healing of old wounds, and the melting frost; a tall tower from which people claim to be able to see the edge of the continent, though the veracity of this claim is disputed; and the wide fields of frost-flowers, a rare potions ingredient with healing powers, grown only in the permafrost and cultivated only in Fahyrst.
CARNIVAL OF THE ENDLESS DAY
The Carnival of the Endless Day is an elaborate celebration that has grown out of what was once a much humble festival. The sun provides unusual warmth for so far north in the continent and so close to the tundra, which means absolutely no one wants to be inside for as long as the sun is out and the weather is warm. The streets and plazas of the city are flooded with bustling excitement and joyous celebration.
Among these celebrations, you can expect to find:
COSTUMES: bright, colorful silk costumes are the traditional garb of the festival, light for the warm weather and elaborately decorated. merchants eagerly sell fine costumes in every imaginable hue, each brighter than the next, and anyone not in costume can be expected to be stopped frequently by those selling their wares as they navigate through the festival.
COCKTAILS: the cityâs taverns throw open their doors and pour into the streets for the duration of the festival, with plentiful outdoor seating set up. to attract business, tavern keepers craft elaborate and colorful cocktails in floral flavors to serve to anyone passing by, some swearing magical properties to the drinks, others with elaborate showmanshipâdrinks set on fire, drinks with flowers growing inside the glass, drinks that exude puffs of pink smoke, each more over the top than the next.
BLESSED BEADS: some say that the Carnival of the Endless Day was not always a festival centered around the idea of luckâthere used to be a winter solstice festival famous for such, long ago. and yet, luck is what many people make their way to the Carnival for these days, those looking for a little extra fortune purchasing strings of blessed beadsâcolorful glass beads with small flakes of metal inside them, crafted by the priestesses of Laimyre in the temple, a skill unknown to anyone outside the temple walls.
DANCING CONTEST: a two-day long dancing contest occupies the central city square, free for anyone to join. tradition states that the longer you can dance without falling, the longer your luck will sustain you for the year to come.Â
SOLSTICE LOTTERY: for the low price of a small donation to the temple of Laimyre, you are granted the chance to blindly draw a glass bead from a large jar just outside the temple, with each color representing a fortune for the new year. red beads mean conflict, friction, growth; white mean neutral fortune, a steady and reliable year; silver means good fortune, a little extra tal in your pocket and perhaps a fortuitous encounter or two; and gold signifies great fortune, the kind often reserved for kings.Â
PERFORMANCES, PARADES, AND OTHER SPECTACLES: great outdoor stages are erected around the city for musicians and other performers to entertain upon, and often the crowds from these performances spill back into the streets and move through town. from almost anywhere, you can catch a glimpse of a crowd of people in costumes, dancing and singing. not to mention, of course, the elaborate fireworks show the moment the sun finally sets at the end of the carnival.
TRAVELING MERCHANTS AND ARTISANS
In addition, the carnival is filled with performances, parades, and various other spectacles, as well as a wide array of merchants and traveling artisans setting up stalls on the outskirts of town to sell their wares.
OUT OF CHARACTER
After several weeks of traveling eastward from a stop near Lodorwind, the Gambit will reach Fahyrst on the day before the Carnival begins, and stay through its duration before heading south along the coast, hoping for a chance to have some fun and make some tal doing odd jobs around the festival. A shop inventory of items available for purchase in the city and at the festival can be found below the cut â please message the main if you would like to purchase anything while in town.
Missions in and around Fahyrst can also be found below the cut. To claim a mission, please post the title of the mission and the two characters claiming the mission in the #mission-claims channel on discord. Fahyrst missions should, to the best of your ability, wrap up around the 16th of May.
MISSIONS
1. THE LAIR OF THE BEAST. Several travelers to Fahyrst have reported being attacked by a massive, shaggy, snow-covered, unidentifiable beast on the road into town. Worried that the beast will disrupt travel into the city for the Carnival, Fahyrstâs captain of the guard Ellora Kel is commissioning any brave enough to find the beast, slay it, and return to the city with proof before the outset of the festival. ( REWARD: 50 tal ) GWYN & VASHKA
2. SECURITY DETAIL. The Mayor of Fahyrst, Darwen Oaswell, fears that his estate at the center of town may be broken into or vandalized during the course of the festival. A recently elected and rather unpopular man, he believes members of his opposition will use the festival as cover for robbing him or otherwise embarrassing him, and to avoid this, has offered to hire you to guard the mansion for a portion of the festival. ( REWARD: 60 tal ) OPEN TO MULTIPLE PAIRS
3. A MISSING CHILD. A young girl named Misty Ridenour has gone missing, and her mother Sera believes she ventured into the fields of shimmering purple frost-flowers just outside of town and got trapped or hurt somewhere inside. The frost-flowers, which grow on stalks of up to eight feet tall, are prickly and difficult to maneuver through, but Sera is willing to provide a reward to anyone willing to venture into them to locate the missing girl. ( REWARD: 25 tal or 3 oz. of frost-flower petals ) ADRIK & TATSUO
4. MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK. A student magician from Lodorwind, Razia Morn has traveled to the Carnival because he desperately needs luck this year, as he embarks upon his final year at the Academy. His best friend Kolra, tired of Raziaâs superstitions, wants your help to fix the lottery draw to ensure that Razia gets a golden bead and stops wasting their money on foolish endeavors. ( REWARD: 35 tal ) GAVRIL & OVID
5. THIEF IN THE NIGHT. While the priestesses have been distracted by the Carnival, someone snuck into the temple undetected and stole an important relicâthe jaw bone of the blessed frost-dragon. It is imperative that someone track down the thief, recover the relic, and return it to the temple before they have a chance to escape. ( REWARD: 75 tal ) GAVRIL & VASHKA
6. A SURREPTITIOUS MESSAGE. A mysterious cloaked figure with a raspy voice approaches from behind your left shoulder and slips a piece of paper and several coins into your hand. On the paper, instructions to find an elf named Solaire somewhere in the crowd of dancers and tell them the red will run when the hawk calls thrice. The instructions promise more coin if and when the task is completed. Seems easy enough, right? ( REWARD: 35 tal ) OPEN
7. THE SHOW MUST GO ON. World-renowned lutist and singer Clarion Call has been commissioned to perform on the third day of the Carnival, but mere hours before they are meant to perform, their manager Markia finds them dreadfully hungover at one of Fahyrstâs many outdoor taverns, unable to perform. Sheâs willing to pay heftily for anyone capable of impersonating Clarion and performing in their stead, so as not to ruin their reputation. ( REWARD: 85 tal ) CALLIOPE & OVID
8. THE PERFECT DRINK. Adarius Contravere, one of the Carnivalâs two most impressive drinkmakers, has invented what he swears will be the perfect drink. The only problem is: heâs missing an ingredient, and a rare one at that. Desperate to one-up his competition, Ravenswing Ebonaria, Contravere has offered quite the fee to adventurers willing to venture northwards into the permafrost to bring back the necessary ingredientâa small piece of crystal known as giantâs tear, which instantly freezes anything it touches. Â ( REWARD: 60 tal ) GWYN & TATSUO
10. HEALING TOUCH. A short way outside of the city you encounter an injured traveller on the side of the road, alone and in desperate need of healing. Though you watch several other travelers pass by her without making any stop to help, you decide to see what you can do for her. She turns her head up to you and says, âyou have shown that you are true of heart. if you are true of strength as well, you will be rewarded.â ( REWARD: a spell of choice ) CASSIAN & VASHKA
11. THE CURSED ORB. Arlo Higgenbothom, a traveling wizard and showman who is in town to sell charmed trinkets at the Carnival, has approached you with a dire problem in need of solving: he misplaced a small and terrible cursed orb roughly the same size and shape as the glass beads used in the templeâs lottery drawing, and he fears it may have ended up in with the other beads, or in someone elseâs hands. ( REWARD: 55 tal ) TATSUO & ZHENYA
12. THE OVEREAGER VANDAL. A young upstart political revolutionary wants to plaster the temple, the tower, and the mayorâs home with pamphlets advocating for the Peopleâs Movement of Fahyrst. The only problem is: heâs banned from every major building in the city thanks to his last attempts to sabotage the mayorâs campaign by vandalizing public buildings, and every guard in Fahyrst knows his face. To get his pamphlets in place, he either needs a very good disguise, or he needs someone else to do it for him without also getting caught by the guards. ( REWARD: 45 tal ) OPEN
13. A PROLONGED ENGAGEMENT. A young halfling man named Basil has asked for help locating his fiance, Cedar. The two are from different towns, and met three years ago at the Carnival, and though they have written letters, they have only been able to see one another here each year, and thus had planned to wed before the end of this yearâs Carnival. However, having been unable to locate Cedar, Basil is worried either that Cedar thought better of it, or that something has happened to prevent him from reaching the city. ( REWARD: 65 tal ) GAVRIL & ZHENYA
14. MIRROR OF SHADOWS. Among the wares of a traveling merchant, you find a mirror thatârather than showing your reflection when you look into itâshows instead a swirling void of shadows, with something you can very nearly make out within. When you touch the mirror, it whispers to you that it must be taken to the top of the tallest tower, where it will reveal its secret. Unfortunately, the salesman refuses to part with it for less than 1600 tal. ( REWARD: the location of a much-desired object, person, or goal ) LUCKY & OVID
15. ESCAPE ROUTE. A young woman in a hooded cloak stops you, offering all the tal she has to help her to escape the city undetected. When asked why, she is hesitant to provide further details, only insisting that her life is in danger if she has not safely left town by the time the sun goes down. ( REWARD: 75 tal ) OPEN
SHOP INVENTORY
if you would like to purchase any gear or supplies from the shops in Fahyrst, message the main. the following items are available (estimated prices listed):
a show-stopping cocktail ( 3 tal )
a blessing from the temple of Laimyre ( 5 tal )
a bag of crushed frost-flower petals ( 10 tal per oz. )
a fine healing potion ( 60 tal )
lucky Carnival beads ( 10 tal )
a fine colorful costume ( 15 tal )
basic spell or potion components ( 10-30 tal )
an enchanted sapphire ring with freezing powers ( 75 tal )
a cloak of disguise ( 80 tal )
a hand-sized harp that never goes out of tune ( 35 tal )
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the sun has finally set on Fahyrst and the Festival of the Endless Day, andâfollowing a lead Ovid picked up from one of the partygoersâthey will be traveling to Catelia, the Ringed Isle, a ten day trip south along the Haelion coast, through the edges of the desert. new members may join the Gambit during this ten day trek or once the party arrives in Catelia.
the location post for Catelia will be posted at 5pm ESTÂ today, and will include information about the city, information about the Gambitâs job there, and extra missions in and around the city. missions can be claimed in the #mission-claims channel on discordâthere should be enough for roughly every character to have one mission related to the job and one outside mission, though if more are needed, I will add them at a later date.Â
please take a look at the rewards from any Fahyrst missions you completed, and add these rewards, and anything purchased in Fahyrst, to the gear section of your shipper. all members of the Gambit are now considered level 3-4, so feel free to add new skills and abilities to your shipper as appropriate.Â
