The Dragon's Vale Podcast

Hello again after a long, long Winter break.

We’re experimenting for episode 21, with a post for both Part One and Part Two of “There’s a Show?”, in hopes of making the listening experience easier. Let me know your thoughts in the comments ❤️

The Dragon’s Vale | 21 | Part One

We pick up with our adventurers as they explore Cailum’s traveling carnival, The Illume Saturnalia, in which the party begins to congregate around the main tent. On hearing that a show is about to start, they head into the tent to find a good spot.

As the audience gathers under a sprawling tent, the anticipation crackles in the air. The crowd are eager for a fantastical showcase of arcane artistry. But for Nadya Zinfi, the night’s performance holds a deeper significance, marking nearly a year since she lost her beloved Papa. Despite the ache of loss, Nadya stands at the heart of The Illume Saturnalia, her life forever bonded to the troupe she now calls family.

Amidst the vibrant tapestry of performers—acrobats defying gravity, actors spinning mystical tales, and illusions that transport the crowd to the enchanting Feywild—the adventurers find themselves captivated. Beneath the dazzling light displays, an undercurrent of mystery winds its way through the carnival. The origins of The Illume Saturnalia unspool a tale of ancient magic, hinting at secrets tethered to the elusive realm of the Fey.

A sudden darkness descends, leaving only a solitary spotlight fixed on Nadya. Her steady voice cuts through the hush, weaving the carnival’s storied history with threads of forgotten pacts and ancient conflicts. An applause thunders through the tent as the actors take a bow.

But the evening’s last performance unravels off-script. Mr. Ebony Wood, invokes his puppeteering magic to command his little bean babies. During his performance, he is provoked into a raging confrontation. In a sudden burst of fury and wild sorcery, Mr. Ebony Wood attacks the crowd by commanding his ‘children’ to terrorise the bystanders, dragging the adventurers and audience alike, into a night of carnival horror.

In the Episode…

“Goodly people of Khern, we the Troupe of the Illume Saturnalia welcome you to enjoy a night of wonderment; a night of arcane artistry and magic galore and of course, illumination!

Please now enjoy the story of the History of the Illume Saturnalia, a performance that has been a year in the making…

Once a long, long age ago, a man with a lute wandered through a magical land. This land was known to all as the feywild…

… The man traversed this magical land, learning all that he could about his craft, his musical arcane talents and playing his lute wherever he could…

One hot day, he stopped in the clearing of a forest, where he saw an old carnival being beseeched by three hags. They were attempting to cross from their realm into the Feywild through a magical tether within the carnival itself…

Seeing this, the man was horrified. The hags were wildly powerful and breaking through the tether of the realms would destroy the carnival for good. He could not allow this to happen, so he helped the carnival owners to trick the hags with his music, and trap them within their realms…

As a reward the carnival owners granted him one wish. He wished above all else, that he could take the carnival back to his home plane for one year, so that all the people of Cailum could enjoy the arts and entertainment the carnival had to offer…

The owners granted his wish with one exception. He was to return the carnival to the Feywild within one year and one day. They bestowed a feywild shard within the carnival to maintain the fae magic that kept the carnival tethered to the Feywild. Then the man brought the carnival across realms to settle on the Prime Material plane…

The man set about establishing the carnival. He hired workers and performers, artists and actors to populate his carnival. It was a raving success! Throughout Cailum, people came from miles around to see the spectacle. The man, his performers and stage hands grew rich and had a wonderful time…

On the eve of his one year anniversary, there began a great war throughout the realms of Gods and Men. It raged on, long and bloody. As a result of this, some of the open doors to worlds beyond our own were closed off. The carnival was stuck here, on our plane….

Seeing there was nothing the man could do, he continued touring around Cailum and the old Carnival name was lost to the ages. The man continued to perform with the carnival and all her inner workings, and all those she touched felt joy…

We continue to hand this carnival down through generations, our children’s children’s children now guard our heart and our extended family. We still travel and traverse the world today and are known by the light and magic that we bring. We are the Illume Saturnalia.”

_{Nadya Zinfi
The Dragon’s Vale | 21 | “There’s a Show?” Part 1}

The Dragon's Vale | 21 | "There's a Show?", Part 1 – The Dragon‘s Vale Podcast

We're back after a long, long rest!   In Episode 21, "There's a show?" the group experience the wonderous and magical show presented by The Illume Saturnalia. But the night quickly takes a turn for the worst, when a critic steps on the last nerve of one performer…   This episode continues in 21, part 2! Follow along with our story below! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Visit us thedragonsvale.co.uk Like and follow us instagram.com/thedragonsvale Contact us tothedragonsvale@gmail.com

The Dragon’s Vale | 21 | Part Two

Continuing from part one, an intense fight breaks out between the group and Mr. Ebony Wood falls into an intense rage after being heckled one too many times. He immediately charms Caithe with a spell to get her on his side, as he commands his puppets to attack the party.

Nadya runs over to help and uses her psychic arcane abilities to try and stop the events unfurling. Mr. Wood then commands his Bean Baby to throw a needle, piercing Nadya through the side. The charmed Caithe cannot understand why her friends are attacking this sweet old man, and feels the need to protect him.

Mr. Wood proves a difficult adversary for the party by using his Bean Baby puppets to cover more ground. With the party taking more hits than actually dealing them – has their carnival luck run out?

The Dragon's Vale | 21 | "There's a Show?", Part 2 – The Dragon‘s Vale Podcast

Fight.   In the second half of episode 21 "There's a Show?", after hostilities brake out, William, Zagreus, Ever and Caithe stand off against Mr Ebony Wood and his little bean babies.   Follow along with our story below! Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts: Visit us thedragonsvale.co.uk Like and follow us instagram.com/thedragonsvale Contact us tothedragonsvale@gmail.com

Sounds featured in this episode

• Stream Countdown (Intro & Outro) – Alexander Nakarada
• “Fun Time Carnival” – Nucky44 https://environment-other.ambient-mixer.com/fun-time-carnival
  • List of audio files used:
  • Vintage Slot Machine by *)
  • Ship two bells by Benboncan from https://freesound.org/people/Benboncan/sounds/77692/ – shortened edit +)
  • happy party by freesound.org +)
  • Circus drums by harri from http://www.freesound.org/ +)
  • Forest Night by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PjjojjUn0bk +)
  • Chatting Crowd by Leandros.Ntounis from http://freesound.org +)
  • Circus Organ by RTB45 from http://www.freesound.org/ +)
  • Crowd Amusement by The People +)
    +) Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License *) Soundsnap.com license
• “Living Puppets” – Nucky44 https://horror.ambient-mixer.com/living-puppets
  • List of audio files used:
  • Forgotten toys by foolboymedia from http://freesound.org +)
  • hearth beat w reverb by sby strongheartbeat – freesound.org +)
  • Clown laugh by scotcampbell from http://freesound.org +)
  • Detuned piano impression by thanvannispen from http://freesound.org +)
  • Howling wind by http://www.soundsnap.com *)
  • +) Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License
  • *) Soundsnap.com license