Neatly-printed advertisements circulate through civilised channels:

We in the small but lively town of Weftwell are looking to hire enterprising, skilled and genteel individuals for our annual midsummer

*~*~*~*~*VILLAGE FETE*~*~*~*~*

You will help set up, run events, and deal with any mischief which might arise, all the while benefiting from perusal of the festivities and enjoying the sights of our wonderful day!!

Applicants should present themselves to the Mayor the evening before the Fête, in the public house of The Even Warp. We in Weftwell produce quality goods for the luxury cloth market and rates will be highly desirable!!

We are proud of our Fête and hope that you will be as inspired by it as we are excited!!

*~*~*~*~*FREE LUNCH*~*~*~*

• Simon Carter - Zac
• Tabitha Terrec - Emma
• Dan South - Chaos
• Lucian Graves - Michael
• Alexander - Jay
• Felicity - Lee
• Verro - Vicky

They meet the Major, Marjorie, in The Even Warp. She explains the terms of the work: free accommodation and helping themselves at tomorrow's feast, in exchange for gathering materials, helping set up and minding the creche. The materials they need are rowan wood, primrose and yarrow, to make bonfires and garlands in keeping with tradition. Her efforts to explain away the townspeoples' reluctance to venture into the woods as a fear of getting lost in the flux doesn't entirely sidestep the fact that Margushian immigrants to this area brought with them stories of fairies in the woods, who at midsummer are at their most dangerous. One must guard against the creatures by burning rowan, and wearing yarrow and primrose if one really needs to venture into the woods. And couples certainly have needed to venture into the woods for some “peace and quiet” after the most ancient of festival rites: jumping over fire holding hands to declare fidelity. Marjorie, though she enjoys the quaint customs and particularly the scrummy vegetable and chutney competitions in the festival's modern incarnation, scoffs at the stories. They are silly old wives' tales… until the Upheaval, Lucian points out. Well, yes.

The party are so enthused by the Fete and the perks of the job that they don't even pause to negotiate pay before heading out through the abandoned village of Old Weft. They pass stone cottages and at least one duckpond. Here the townspeople regularly gather fruit from the orchards, but not at this time of year… Before long, swarms of bees rise from hives and attack them. Soon, the party has rallied and Lucian has flux-shaped a smoker. Verro uses his medical knowledge and concoction skill to almost completely treat the bee stings. They proceed to where Marjorie indicated there would be a cluster of rowan trees.

They start to harvest rowan, but are in for a fresh surprise: dryads emerge from the trunks, guarding their timber from the thieves. They demand payment: an equal volume of human flesh for their flesh. This seems an impractical deal, and so after some futile negotiation and discussion over the merits of leaving the forest to gather corpses, the party attacks the dryads. They are nearly all downed but Dan South stands firm in his role as Tabitha's protector. Dryads defeated, they move to gather primrose and yarrow. Here are encounter tiny sprites which giggle and dance in midair. They join in the dancing and have some moments of liberated joy before realising that the sprites, too, will need to be dealt with in order to gather the flowers.

Lugging rowan logs and bunches of flowers, they return to Weftwell. Their journey is only briefly interrupted by malodorous mushrooms in strange colours which vomit spores over the party; most of them start to sprout little mushrooms soon after. Despite Verro's success in removing them, they regrow.

Marjorie is pleased with their haul, and taken aback at the fierce opposition encountered; normally the orchards are full of pears, not bees! Oh well, she promises, that's the hard part done. Please enjoy your stay in The Even Warp and be up nice and early to braid the flowers into garlands and set up the marquees.

Simon takes Marjorie aside and confides that he has a problem at nighttime. Marjorie is relieved to discover that this is because his skeleton leaves his body and his control. They resolve to lock him in the inn's cellar and warn everyone about the strange noises.

The party swing by the Tender church where some low-ranking priests get rid of the fungal stigmata, in exchange for some donations. Less itchy, they head to bed.

They work as agreed before the Fête is officially opened. From then on, half of them are free to explore the festivities, whilst half are to watch the crèche. Simon spends too much money on a ragdoll which the vendor promises him has magical powers, whilst Alex resorts to bribing a small child with tombola prizes in exchange for its good behaviour. Tabitha is taken in by a child's tall stories of evil grown-ups dumping children in the forest to sacrifice them if they have been bad. Meanwhile, the coconut shy man is accused of fixing the coconuts and Rosemary the Saga is disbelieved. A breach in security of the livestock fences leads to a small herd of prizewinning goats escaping just before judging time. They are ushered back with minimal harm, although the breeding pair does need to be resuscitated by the adventurers. The goat breeder is left thoroughly angered as Farmer Miller's goats are now sure to be crowned victorious.

Fortunately their catastrophic management of the crèche is ended by the Fête's feast, which really did deserve to be advertised. Few towns bake such tasty rolls or produce such delicious sticky baby sweets. The adventurers relax with the townspeople. Rosemary the Sage spreads her philosophy that jumping over the fire is done too easily these days, and really young people do it on a whim to spend the night together. Others are happy to explain the festivities. Young Antonio is looking for someone to jump over the fire with, and Felicity and Alexander start to compete for his hand. The coconut shy man wins a bet against Marjorie when the two decide to jump together instead. Simon hexes the dodgy ragdoll dealer with this own personal raincloud. Tabitha and Lucian share a dance.

Upon return to Weftwell, the afterdark festivities are in full swing.

They enjoy the fête, with the exception of Felicity, who flees as soon as possible. Tabitha seeks out gossip and new friends, whilst Lucian forms connections with the weaving trade. Simon corners the rogue dealer who sold him a ragdoll and a bull story about its powers. He gets his money back and ceases the man's permanent personal raincloud. Verro chats to Brother Miller, whom he has identified as refreshingly sane.

In Acryn, Tabitha, Felicity, Alexander and Verro go to the Tender church and are examined. They are invited to one of the blessing ceremonies where they are rid of their dermatological issue. Verro opts to pay for surgery instead, whilst Simon brews a consumption ritual to give his blood fungicidal properties. Tabitha and Alexander go on a tour of Acryn.

Lucian spills volumes of information to the Wayfinders' Guild, including divulging Brother Miller's role. He pushes for further investigation and action at next year's midsummer fête, which the Guild notes down and noncommittal says they might do something about it if they aren't too busy at the time. Lucian also leverages many notable citizens into wearing Weftwell cloth, keeping his end of the bargain.

Simon goes unchallenged for the ownership of the Mesmirror and goes happily on his way.

Verro:

• The Tender is pleased with you
• 50R

Simon:

• The Mesmirror
• Minus the money spent on the tombola
• 50R

Tabitha:

• Friends in Weftwell
• A curse from the Faerie Queen
• 50R
• Minus money to Tender priests

Dan:

• 50R

Lucian:

• 50R

Alexander:

• Minus the money spent on the tombola and Tender priests
• 50R

Felicity:

• 50R

Brother Miller:

• The Wayfinders' Guild knows you are the Champion of the Faerie Queen