Fun on Ice (day 1, Lamashan [October] 4708 AR)

Further interrogation of Jeva revealed that the string and needle she gave the heroes will hold off a great evil, if given to a monkey next to a box. The masterminds of this evil are an elven woman and a beast with horns, and it will take place within the next 24 hours. The woman and the beast were apparently Jeva's friends, but they captured her and gave her to the carnival after she saw them murdering multiple people, including women and children. They must have covered their tracks well, because the heroes could not find anyone in the carnival that had heard of such a crime in the area.

As the heroes wandered through the fairground, they overheard snippets of conversation and sought to learn more about the unusual carnival. They learned that Quinn is the carnival master, but people said that he rarely showed himself these days. The half-elf used to be an adventurer, one of the most famous about. He led some of his fellow carnies in a party called the Nightshades along with his wife Tessa - at least until some horrible monsters in Darkmoon Wood killed her. Quinn has never been the same since. Quinn's cohorts were pretty disreputable curs before he rehabilitated them. The heroes heard that since Tessa was killed, Quinn didn't take much interest in the carnival's minotaur. People wouldn't be surprised if he returned to his old ways without Quinn to bring him to heel.

Eventually it was time to meet the sheriff at the strong ale tent. The clank of tankards and roars of laughter swelled from this bustling tent filled with sweaty lumberjacks. Casks of ale were stacked nearly fifteen feet high behind the tent. The thirsty patrons here downed pint after pint as they caroused, tussled, guffawed, and staggered about.

This tent was propped over a clear swath of frosty ground, formerly a cutyard but now just a collection of stumps the drunk lumberjacks used as stools or toilets. Fine ale shipped in from the Hawkberry Brewery in Lord's Crossing was served by the pint here, tapped from more than fifty casks and kegs. Sheriff Deldrin Baleson wanted to discuss with the heroes a possible alliance against the nefarious Thuldrin Kreed. His proposal left the heroes unimpressed.

At one point, a very drunk lumberjack stumbled through the crowd, spitting out a slurred challenge to the heroes. He pushed into Aranthor before proclaiming, "Elves think they're so tough, but they're really all a bunch of low-life wimps". He challenged Aranthor to a fistfight, and without waiting for a reply he swung wildly at his head. The heroes subdued him without dealing lethal damage.

The man was drunk and threw his tankard at the heroes to get their attention. He swung wildly and carelessly. Filled with liquid courage, he fought until magically rendered asleep.

Wrack ended up setting up his brew wagon, the Flagon Wagon, at the lakeside. The frozen lake had been transformed into a wonderland of winter fun. Several ice skaters twirled and danced across one half of the shimmering surface, while on the opposite half two teams of men struggled as they attempted to tug each other back and forth across the slippery ice.

The carnival minotaur the heroes heard about was the monster Gradzaal. A small encampment of wagons and tents rested near the entrance to the ice maze. In the center of this encampment sat a tremendous iron cage. Inside paced a hulking dark haired minotaur performing displays of strength for an unruly audience of carnival goers who gawked and jeered at the great beast. Children dared one another to pull the beast's mangy hair or pelt it with snowballs, hoping to elicit a fierce snarl from the terrible beast, which then sent the kids scattering. A brightly painted plaque bolted to the bars of the cage read "Mighty Gradzaal! The Monstrous Minotaur!" The shaggy minotaur served as the carnival's strongman, bending steel bars, lifting marble benches with as many as six grown lumberjacks sitting on them and biting through masterwork manacles.

Two tall columns of hard-packed snow marked a gaping entrance into the ice maze. Beyond, shimmering ice walls climbed into a mammoth labyrinth of twisting frigid corridors.

The ice maze was one of the carnival's premier events. Spanning several hundred feet of meadow on the northern side of the river, its twisted corridors were designed to confuse and confine its thrill-seeking explorers.

Throughout the maze, the carnies placed many playful obstacles to confuse, frighten, and mislead; they consisted mostly of harmless snow sculptures, slick patches, and other awkward terrain. In addition, five carnies darted through the ice warrens, each emulating Gradzaal's fierce countenance by wearing a papier-mache mask of a large bull. The masked carnies snuck about the maze, popping out at fairgoers and eliciting screams of excitement. A gold ring pierced the nostrils of one of the bull masks. Anyone plucking it from the mask could cash it in for a carnival doll. Unfortunately, the heroes failed to win a doll.

Adjacent to the ice maze was the ice carving area. A trio of bizarre little gnomes furtively scurried about, struggling to lug tremendous blocks of ice onto a small field on the northern riverbank. The area was roped off and signs posted about read "Do Not Enter!" As ice blocks were moved into rows, the strange creatures draped the blocks with blankets to obscure them from the public view all the while shooing away fairgoers attempting to watch. A banner above the field read "Gruttlemugger's Travelling Ice Carving Contest! 100 gp to the Grandest Chipper!" The gnomes chased away Wrack when he attempted to pry into their business.