Fishmonger's Festival
The party is journeying along the Gadai River on their way to the city of Fernesse, located within the Tarael Mountains. Weary from their journey, they decide to stop into a small, rural fishing village on the edge of the Dhmor Sim'rana to seek shelter for the night- only to find that there’s a Fishing Festival in full swing when they arrive.
About a year ago, though, things began to change for the village and no one knows why, either.
The fish harvest began to grow smaller and smaller. Nets came back lighter each month. Catches that once fed families for weeks could barely fill a single barrel. Then the fishermen began to vanish. Their boats were found days later empty, either splintered or drifting into the reeds.
There is a foul briny smell on the wind some nights, and some mornings a thick fog clings to the eastern side of the lake. Many fishermen have stopped fishing altogether, while others speak of seeing dark shapes moving beneath the surface of the water. Some say they hear strange songs in their dreams at night.
Villagers across Vosilan have been experiencing confusion, nausea, and mysterious bouts of sleepwalking. Everyone is becoming uneasy, and most now avoid the water at night; lanterns burn low, and old charms are being nailed to doorframes again ... The festival continues, but beneath the music and the bonfires lies a shared collective fear of the lake.
Native connections (If a party member is from the village)
Vosilan Village
Vosilan Village was founded not far from the mouth of the Gadai River, along the shores of the deep, icy, mist wreathed lake known as the Dhmor Sim'rana. The village began as a seasonal fishing camp for river traders, drawn by the lake’s abundance of silverfin and reed perch. Over time families built homes on the stony shore, and what was once a camp eventually became a permanent settlement.
In its early days, Vosilan prospered and the lake was bountiful; nets came up heavy with fish, and smokehouses filled the air with their scent. Trade was constant, though the village never grew too large in size. The villagers credited this prosperity to a pact with a band of Merfolk who lived beneath Dhmor’s surface.
According to local legend, the pact was created when a local fisherman saved a Merfolk child tangled in her nets. In gratitude, the Merfolk promised to bless the waters. No one is quite sure what the bounds of the pact were, or where the Merfolk went, but over time their numbers dwindled- and so did the fish.
Every autumn Vosilan holds the a 3 day celebration at the end of the fishing season. The festival is as old as the village itself and used to honor “the People Below” (the Merfolk who once shared the lake with them). Over time, however, with the Merfolk’s disappearance, the festival has simply become a way to celebrate the end of the fishing season before winter.
Vosilan
For expediency you may make at least one player character native to the village; this is now an unofficial homecoming of sorts for that character, and they know all of the village NPCs; Cami has decided to be the village native.
Buildings
▼ Tavern ▼
The two story Lakeside Tavern and Inn stands proudly at the heart of Vosilan, its weathered driftwood timbers silvered by the years of salt spray and mountain wind. A broad stone chimney leans slightly to one side on the left side of the building. Faded blue-green shutters frame the many windows upstairs, each one etched with curling wave patterns and runic symbols (an old tradition said to ward off misfortune from the deep).
Inside, the first floor is brightly lit by mismatched lanterns hanging from a series of exposed rafters above. The floorboards below are uneven from years of boots- while a menagerie of nets, shells, and bits of boats and polished driftwood, taxidermies fish, and other trinkets hang proudly on the walls. It is a large, open layout with a broad stone fireplace to the left of the door, surrounded by a number of cozy chairs. To the center and right, numerous long tables fill the hall.
At the back of the center of the room stands a dark wood bar counter flanked by numerous stoold. Behind it, a door leading into the kitchens. Beside it, a trap door that one assumes leads down into a store room.
A narrow staircase winds up to the second story, where low ceilings and shuttered windows create a quieter, more intimate space. From its balcony, one can look out over the lake. Several small rooms line the hallway, each with a finely polished driftwood door- each washed a slightly different color, with a brass plate at the top etched with a room number.
Daily Services
- Food and Drink
- Rooms: 5 CP per night
- Baths: 1 SP
- Mending: 1 SP per item
- Stabling: 1 GM per day
- Fried Grassnut: 1 CP
- Stewed Beetroot: 1 CP
- Light Broth: 1 CP
- Flatbread: 1 CP
- Sunswift Fillet: 2 CP
- Roast Amberhen: 3 CP
- Sunsweet Bourbon: 1 SP
- Blackfruit Sangria: 5 CP
▼ Mercantile ▼
Thane’s Mercantile sits just off the main dock road, but a little apart from the bustle of the docks; close enough to hear the lapping of the lake, but far enough from the noise of fishermen and traders. It is a solid, broad building built of pale stone and lake worn timber, and like most of the buildings in the village, the whole structure leans just slightly to one side. A faded wooden sign carved with a simple knotwork design of reeds swings above the door, its paint long gone. Beneath it, a brass bell shaped like a fish hangs over the door, chiming softly whenever someone passes through it.
Inside, the air is cool and heavy with the mingled scents of oil, wax, and dusty parchment. Light filters in through warped glass of the front of the building, scattering into rippled patterns across the walls and creaky wooden floor.
Shelves climb the walls on all sides, stacked full of various curiosities and clutter; browsing lightly, one finds trinkets from distant coasts, scraps of old maps, chipped idols, and unmarked jars; glints of metal, coils of rope, jars of dye and spice, and more. Various nets, scales, and carved wooden markers hang from the ceiling alongside strings of drying herbs and bundles of reeds, giving the space a warm, slightly chaotic charm. Near the sturdy counter to the left of the door, apart from all the rest, however, hangs a small brass charm shaped like a fish with many colorful ribbons and bells, tarnished and smooth from years of touch.
Everything seems to have been kept for a reason and arranged in an intentional fashion, though only the shopkeep knows why.
Daily Inventory
Common- Bone needles and thread
- Shovels
- Woodcarving knives
- Leather satchels
- Backpacks
- Small bundles of chalk
- Portable stools
- Metal cups and plates
- Simple fishing hooks and lines
- Smoked venison jerky
- Hardtack (1 lb bag)
- Wool blankets
- Hand-cut slate tiles for roofing
- Small clay charms shaped like fish
- Pressed waterlily leaves
- Carved netting needles
- Cloth talismans marked with blue sigils
- Bundles of lake reeds for basketry and thatching
- Vials of lake-glass beads in blue and green
- Bundles of waterproof parchment
- Sets of polished shell clasps
- Shell-inlaid combs
- Thin glass vials of luminescent plankton
- Spindles of fine flax thread
- Carved driftwood totems
- Phials of distilled marsh oil
- Hand-carved paddles
- Wooden whistles
- Small charms made from turtle shell
- Imported fine silk ribbons
- Polished stones and gems
- Small hand mirrors framed in ivory
- Bundles of dyed feathers
- Carved wooden figurines
- Gullwing Cloak: A light gray cloak lined with downy feathers from seabirds, soft but resistant to saltwater. It flutters unnaturally even without wind; Grants advantage on Acrobatics checks made to balance on unstable or slick surfaces (like ship decks). Once per day, the wearer can cast feather fall as a reaction.
- Floodline Coil: A tightly wound coil of silver-threaded rope that stays dry no matter how long it’s submerged. It glimmers faintly under moonlight; 50 ft rope. Can automatically anchor itself to any solid surface within 30 ft when the command word is spoken (bonus action). As a reaction, the rope can pull the user to the anchored point (up to 30 ft), granting advantage on Athletics checks to escape flooding or being swept away.
- Golden Whirligig: A small, shiny spinning toy made of polished metal, decorated with gems; When spun, it emits a faint sparkling display and cheerful jingling sound. People nearby may pause to admire it, but it has no practical use. It can spin indefinitely once started, unless actively stopped.
▼ Candy Shop ▼
Salt and Sweets is nestled in between the last two docks on the lake, and an old, weathered boathouse; it is a small, crooked little building with a cheerful facade, and many bright, colorful glass jars in its wide storefront window. A hand painted sign hangs above the door designating the business as a "Candy Shop". Inside is simply painted and moderately lit, with just enough room to stand before a single counter with a row of shelves behind it. The shelves bow under the weight of brightly colored confections, each wrapped in wax paper and labeled with odd, hand-painted names. A door leads to another room in the back, with a beaded curtain over it to block the view.
Current stock for the Festival includes:
- Bubblefin Drops: Makes bubbles shaped like fish.
- Glowscale Taffy: Makes your body shimmer like it has scales.
- Minnow Mints: Causes your breath to smell like fish.
- Tidepool Gummies: Changes flavor based on the tide.
- Lakefoam Fizzies: Makes harmless foam spill from your mouth.
- Sugar Pearls: Shimmers with a soft inner glow.
- Silverhook Caramels: Shaped like fish hooks.
- Fisher’s Lollies: Tastes different with each lick.
- Mermaid Breath: Makes your voice echo while you talk.
- Conical Crunch: Crackles as you chew.
▼ Tchotchke Booths ▼
Minnow’s Memory
The booth is draped in nets and strings of glass baubles. The merchant is a cheerful older man with a perpetual squint who sells cute little keepsakes “to make your day sparkle a bit longer” Festival Inventory:
Laughing Lantern
Run by a pair of siblings who bicker a lot. It’s surrounded by paper lanterns, streamers, and ribbons. Festival Inventory:
Petalcraft
A cozy stall decorated with woven mats and garlands of dried herbs. The owner is a soft-spoken young woman who hums while she works; the booth appears to sell delicate charms and curios. Festival Inventory:
Briny Bites
A compact, half-canopy stall of weathered driftwood bound together by lake reeds, with a roof strung with nets hung with shell charms and festival treats. Beneath the counter, bundles of sage and reedgrass smolder faintly. An older couple man several grills simultaneously. Festival Inventory:
The booth is draped in nets and strings of glass baubles. The merchant is a cheerful older man with a perpetual squint who sells cute little keepsakes “to make your day sparkle a bit longer” Festival Inventory:
- Small glass bottles filled with shimmering “lake light” (glowpowder mixed with mica)
- Individual preserved flowers, each labeled with the flower’s “meaning”
- Miniature driftwood boats
- Silver thread friendship bracelets that glimmer when wet
- Carved lakestone fish that “swim” in your hand when wet
Laughing Lantern
Run by a pair of siblings who bicker a lot. It’s surrounded by paper lanterns, streamers, and ribbons. Festival Inventory:
- Hand-sized festival lanterns that change color
- Confetti pouches
- Wooden noisemakers that like seagulls or frogs
- Ribbon wands tipped with tiny bells
- Folding fans painted with scenes of lake spirits
Petalcraft
A cozy stall decorated with woven mats and garlands of dried herbs. The owner is a soft-spoken young woman who hums while she works; the booth appears to sell delicate charms and curios. Festival Inventory:
- Miniature painted clay water animals
- Polished lake pebbles etched with runes
- Flower crowns that never seem to wilt
- Woven reedgrass talismen
- Fish trinkets with blessings carve into them
Briny Bites
A compact, half-canopy stall of weathered driftwood bound together by lake reeds, with a roof strung with nets hung with shell charms and festival treats. Beneath the counter, bundles of sage and reedgrass smolder faintly. An older couple man several grills simultaneously. Festival Inventory:
- Smoked Silverfin Skewers
- Crispy Reed Cakes
- Deepbroth Cups
- Fisher’s Ember Cider
- Lantern Jelly
- Fish on Sticks
NPCs
▼ Mara Fenlow ▼
Race: Human (Fereni)
Gender: Female
Age: Late 50’s
Occupation: Retired fisher and informal Village Matriarch Personality: Gruff but warm-hearted; pragmatic; loyal to the village’s traditions. Fiercely protective of her community but open to outsiders who prove themselves. If a PC is from the village, she treats them like family. Voice: Speaks plainly, but often punctuates her sentences with “hmph”.
Gender: Female
Age: Late 50’s
Occupation: Retired fisher and informal Village Matriarch Personality: Gruff but warm-hearted; pragmatic; loyal to the village’s traditions. Fiercely protective of her community but open to outsiders who prove themselves. If a PC is from the village, she treats them like family. Voice: Speaks plainly, but often punctuates her sentences with “hmph”.
- Festival Role: Oversees the River Duel; one of the festival’s oldest organizers.
- Hook: Her eldest son was one of the missing fishermen. She’s been rallying villagers to keep the festival alive despite their fear of the lake.
- Use to Players: Knows the names of the missing fishermen. Can point the party toward the eastern cove if trust is earned. May offer food and a safe place to stay if they help.
▼ Villiam Tamm ▼
Race: Gnome (Forest)
Gender: Male
Age: Early 80’s
Occupation: Owner of “Lakeside Tavern and Inn” (so original) Personality: Boisterous, nostalgic, a little drunk but kind. Loves to tell old stories of “when the lake was bountiful”. Puts on a bit of bravado, but cracks when speaking of the disappearances. Voice: Speaks loudly with a thick accent.
Gender: Male
Age: Early 80’s
Occupation: Owner of “Lakeside Tavern and Inn” (so original) Personality: Boisterous, nostalgic, a little drunk but kind. Loves to tell old stories of “when the lake was bountiful”. Puts on a bit of bravado, but cracks when speaking of the disappearances. Voice: Speaks loudly with a thick accent.
- Festival Role: River Run Champion 5 years running in his youth; an announcer and drink slinger now.
- Hook: He trained many of the missing fishermen. The last one who disappeared was like a son to him.
- Use to Players: Knows where the missing fishermen liked to fish. Offers free drinks to competitors who impress him. Has old maps of the lake that could hint at old Merfolk territory.
▼ Hen "Reedscale" Olfin ▼
Race: Orkind
Gender: Masculine
Age: Mid 80's
Occupation: Runs "Thane’s Mercantile"; trader Personality: Polite but calculating; a hoarder of oddities; quietly superstitious: constantly mutters old lake blessings when handling coin (“May the current carry it kindly”). Voice: Speaks in a quiet, measured tone; rarely raises their voice.
Gender: Masculine
Age: Mid 80's
Occupation: Runs "Thane’s Mercantile"; trader Personality: Polite but calculating; a hoarder of oddities; quietly superstitious: constantly mutters old lake blessings when handling coin (“May the current carry it kindly”). Voice: Speaks in a quiet, measured tone; rarely raises their voice.
- Festival Role: None; doesn't participate in the festival.
- Hook: Once saw glowing shapes moving beneath the eastern cove while trading there.
- Use to Players: Serves as a neutral lorekeeper as they know a little about everything that passes through the village; may sell or lend unusual goods for the investigation.
▼ Zaren Todaro ▼
Race: Halfling (Lightfoot)
Gender: Male
Age: Mid 30’s
Occupation: Owner of "Salt and Sweets" candy store Personality: Flamboyant, chatty, loves a bit of harmless mischief. Voice: Speaks quickly, with exaggerated gestures and winks often; loves knowing secrets.
Gender: Male
Age: Mid 30’s
Occupation: Owner of "Salt and Sweets" candy store Personality: Flamboyant, chatty, loves a bit of harmless mischief. Voice: Speaks quickly, with exaggerated gestures and winks often; loves knowing secrets.
- Festival Role: Festival pickpocket who gives candy instead of taking coin. Runs the candy stall.
- Hook: Knows all the festival gossip and hears what the villagers try to hide.
- Use to Players: Overheard whispers about fishermen vanishing and villagers avoiding the lake. Saw suspicious lights over the eastern cove a few nights ago. Can point PCs toward people worth talking to.
▼ Brixída Rede ▼
Race: Human (Castian)
Gender: Female
Age: Mid 60’s
Occupation: Seer, Fortune Teller, and Herbalist Personality: Calm; unnervingly accurate in her tellings; doesn’t give straight answers. Voice: Speaks softly, rhythmically or sing-song, and often in metaphor.
Gender: Female
Age: Mid 60’s
Occupation: Seer, Fortune Teller, and Herbalist Personality: Calm; unnervingly accurate in her tellings; doesn’t give straight answers. Voice: Speaks softly, rhythmically or sing-song, and often in metaphor.
- Festival Role: Offers fortunes for 1 gold; her tent is surrounded by various hanging bells, herbs, and shells.
- Hook: Knows fragments of what lurks beneath the lake through visions.
- Use to Players: Drops ominous prophetic hints about the Merfolk and the Dragon Turtle. Can nudge the party toward the Dragon Turtle nest indirectly. If pressed, warns that the lake’s anger is personal in nature.
▼ Nella Fenlow ▼
Race: Human (Fereni)
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Occupation: Mara Fenlow's youngest daughter; Fisher’s apprentice Personality: Curious, bold, and far too clever for her age. Cheerful on the surface, but deeply worried about the lake and her missing brother. Voice: Speaks fast, often in bursts of half-finished thoughts.
Gender: Female
Age: 12
Occupation: Mara Fenlow's youngest daughter; Fisher’s apprentice Personality: Curious, bold, and far too clever for her age. Cheerful on the surface, but deeply worried about the lake and her missing brother. Voice: Speaks fast, often in bursts of half-finished thoughts.
- Festival Role: Festival helper who runs errands for various people and booths during the Festival.
- Hook: Saw drag marks near the reeds last week while skipping stones.
- Use to Players: Can act as a guide for players exploring the festival.
- Mara is a family friend.
- Zaren will greet them with a playful jab and a wink, and give them free candy.
- Villiam will reminisce about teaching them to fish when they were younger.
- Reedscale grew up with them and will remember trading them trinkets for fish as children.
- Brixída will say “Ah, your fate is tangled with this place” if they visit her.
Festival activities of interest
▼ River Duel ▼
Strength and Dexterity based contest; two players take up positions on two different boats that sit anchored 5 feet apart, just off the shore of the lake (but still in shallow water). Once positioned, the purpose of the contest is to duel their opponent using only Quaterstaves, while remaining on their own boat. This is done through a series of Mele Attack / Damage Rolls using Dexterity Checks in place of the standard AC challenge.
A Dexterity Check with a DC of 12 (or DC 6 if the player has the Sailor Background or proficiency with Water Vehicles) is made before every movemement, or any attack is made against their opponent. If they pass, they successfully hit their opponent and roll damage. The damage is then subtracted from their opponent’s HP. If they fail their Dexterity Check, then they miss their attack and do not roll damage. They must then make a Dexterity Saving Thrown to determine whether or not they fall off the boat instead.
The first person to knock their opponent off the boat (i/e reduce their hit points to 0, which does not knock them unconscious) wins. If you jump to your opponents boat, you are disqualified. If you fall off the boat yourself, then you loose.
▼ River Run ▼
Acrobatics and Athletics based competition similar to a Tough Mudder event; participants start out by rolling a log 30 feet. They then pull a longboat another 30 feet to the water’s edge- at which point there are a series of 10 stumps embedded in the riverbed, which players must successfully hop across to the other side. The first person to complete all three tasks and get to the other side of the river wins.
To roll the logs, players must make one athletics check per every 10 feet the log is rolled (30 ft total; DC 12). A failed check means they were unable to move the log and must re-roll.
The same rules apply to the Longboat Pull (30 ft total; DC 12) except that the checks are made with disadvantage as the player is walking backwards towards the river.
The Log Jump portion of the challenge is done by rolling an Athletics check per log (10 total; DC 12), and a failure results in falling off into the river.
▼ Fish Races ▼
Betting opportunity; 6 fish are placed in individual lanes of a long tub. The fish that reaches the finish line first wins; Players may bet on Fish. The pot equals 10 gold + any sums the player bet, and is awarded equally among the players who bet on that fish.
To perform the race as DM: Name 6 fish as desired and assign a value of one through 6 to them. Next, roll 5d6. The resulting rolls correspond to the fish in the lead at that moment, and may be used to inform the narrative of the DM when describing the events of the race. The result of the last roll, and the fish whos value corresponds with it, is the fish that wins.
▼ Dragon Turtle Egg Hunt ▼
A single Dragon Turtle Egg is hidden somewhere within a sandy cove with scattered rocks, reeds, and half-submerged logs. Players must be divided into teams of two. Each must make 5 Survival and Perception (DC 10) rolls to find the right path to the Egg, with each team taking the highest of the 2 rolls. The one(s) to make the most correct rolls finds it. On a tie, a tiebreaker is rolled.
▼ Fortuneteller ▼
1g per fortune
▼ Candy Pickpocket ▼
"Garishly-dressed Pickpocket doesn't take your money, he puts candy IN your coinpurse. He's really a salesman for the candy booth”. (Thank you Reddit)
▼ Folklore Play ▼
The story is about Merfolk that the villagers used to have a good connection with until they disappeared (cultural).
Long before Vosilan had docks or smokehouses — before the river road was carved and houses were built — there was only the lake, and those who dared fish its waters.
Among them was Liora- a daughter of no great house; a fisherwoman who rose each dawn with a net on her back, and calluses on her hands. She above all of the early fishmongers loved the lake far more than she feared it.
One mist-thick morning, when the water was still as glass, Liora cast her net wide into the icy waters. It sank deep, catching on something alive. The net jerked — once. twice — and she braced her feet and hauled with all her might.
What she pulled up was no fish.
Caught fast in her was a Merfolk child not unlike a normal boy, with hair like rivergrass and eyes like moonlight. He thrashed and cried out with a tongue that sounded like rain on the thin reeds that line our shores.
Liora drew her knife and moved forward. She cut the net loose, knot by knot, sparing the boy’s life even as it ruined the only net she owned; she knew the net could be remade. But a life could not.
When the last knot was cut away, the child slipped back into the water — but he did not flee. He lingered. And from the depths, a Merfolk Queen rose, her scales shining like green fire! Her voice filled the air like a spring storm: “Your hands have taken what is ours, and yet your hands have returned it. What would you ask of the lake, Fisherwoman?”
Liora fell to her knees on the rocky shore. She did not ask for gold- nor for power. She was too humble for that. She only said “Let my people live as yours do: Fed by the lake, sheltered by its tides. We will take no more than we need”.
The Queen dipped her clawed hand into the lake and drew out a single pearl, clear as the first drop of rain. She pressed it to Liora’s brow. “So long as your kind honors these words, the lake shall feed your children. Break this promise, and the lake shall remember”.
The Queen and child vanished and the lake shone bright as a mirror. As time went on, fish crowded the nets so heavily at times, they split the seams. The village grew, and the people kept the Queen’s pact. Each autumn, they lit their bonfires and sang to the lake so that it would remember their kindness, and not their cruelty. And so they tell it still: “The lake remembers mercy, as it remembers betrayal”.
Something Beneath the Surface
While the villagers are still participating in the festival activities, there is an air of both tension and sadness to the village.- Perception checks (DC 10) will reveal this is not due to the party, but due to an underlying cause the party is (so far) unaware of;
- Further successful perception checks (DC 12) will reveal that villagers are staying as far away from the lake as possible.
- If villagers are questioned, they will be resistant at first. Successful charisma checks (DC based on NPC) can be used to get them to open up, however.
- Successful checks will reveal that the harvest wasn't as plentiful this year as last year; the fish harvest is getting smaller and smaller every month now, in fact.
- Pressing will reveal that a number of villagers have also been complaining of confusion, nausea, and sleep walking for the last year regardless of whether or not they're fishers; it seems to be effecting the whole town.
- “That’s the fourth boat this season”.
- “They go out and don’t come back”.
- “We never know who it’s going to take”.
- “Bad water, now”.
If a player is native to the village, they have advantage on any insight and charisma checks made against NPCs they know.
If anyone visits the fortune teller, vague hints are dropped via visions of the future (one subject per player that visits her).
- “Dark waters stirred by scales”.
- “Dragons not of sky, but of water”.
- “A mountain rising from the lake”.
- “Darkness assaults a mother and her child”.
- “You’ve got strength. Real strength. We need help. Folks keep disappearing. My brother was one of ’em ... Please”.
- If they learn the names of some of the missing fishermen and speak to their families, they will discover that many of the missing fishermen favored the Eastern Cove; their families are frightened and desperate.
- If they are approached and asked directly, the fishermen will also inform them that they tend to favor the Eastern Cove.
- An investigation check (DC 12) reveals a number of drag marks on the muddy bank.
- If anyone has expertise with water or nature, they will be able to tell this is a turtle species of some kind- though not what kind.
- A perception check (DC 14) will reveal a cracked boat with several deep gouges hidden in the reeds.
- Footprints, turtle tracks, Strange sigils carved into rocks, stone figurine offerings sunk into the mud, etc; each one requires a perception or investigation check (DC 15 because of the overgrowth).
- Diplomatic: She can be persuaded to remove the curse if she can be convinced that the Fishermen meant no actual harm, and the village agrees to no longer fish on the Eastern side of the lake.
- Battle: She and the Dragon Turtle can just be killed, which will also end the curse and allow the lake to naturally repopulate.
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Author's Notes