The Fairy Faire (name will vary by locale) is an annual event that occurs on a specific hill, for three days on the harvest moon (pick your own day if needed). Two diferent kinds of merchants are browsing the Faire - Greater Fey and Common Fey.
Greater Fey refuse to deal with anyone who doesn't have a Story Flaw. They are balanced with the goal of their bargains producing 2 vis of value. The prices exacted by the Greater Fey are designed to be troublesome to get or troublesome to handle. None of their demands should be more than a brief or simple adventure (5xp).
The Common Fey are affected by the Gift and avoid magi, but are happy to make deals with any human creature. Their requests are very simplistic, but what they give in return are rather simple and temporary things. They tend to offer masterwork items, bags of coins, or stories and art pieces from far away. They're not designed to be interesting to magi, unless they are looking for an item to enchant, or as a gift for a mundane.
The faun will offer a drink to anyone passing, and will refuse to bargain with anyone sober. Being drunk imposes a -2 penalty to any other rolls until morning. The Faun is a friendly and helpful faerie, but refuses to compromise.
"A pure maiden's kiss, left upon my lips..."
"Your very first kiss..."
"The item sold by (another specific faerie), as I love them so much..."
"We have just finished my best jug of wine with you, and my thirst is... great. Would you bring me three new jugs, of differing vintage."
Something lewd offscreen.
"A feast is needed (on the last day of the faire). Fresh fruit, hot meat, beautiful company, fine pottery. Obviously, I have my own wine for it."
This tortured ghost is wracked with pain and usually chained to a gravestone, monolith, or some other marker. He is seeking things to try and achieve a final rest. He will gladly accept a magus casting a spell to destroy him, but obviously this will leave no reward. [The ghost rewards his customers with Mentem or Imaginem vis]
"I need a [something ephemeral] for my release." [The ghost of a sword, a whisper of death, thoughts of wickedness]
"Power, I need more power..." [Two pawns of vis of Imaginem, Mentem, Vim, Intellego, Auram, in return for two of one of the othere]
"I cannot remember my [event], so I seek your memory of it." [Major event - marriage, birth of child, death of child, Causes a point of warping in addition to the forgotten moments]
"Freedom requires I know [ability], and you clearly have no need of it..." [1 warping point, -15xp in chosen ability or related]
"A newly weaned child to carry my legacy." [Child becomes Faerie Blooded, the Ghost no longer appears in the future]
The Princess is only allowed out of her tower on these days every year. She will only talk with someone who seems nobility, or a very important servant. A gaunt and formal servant will offer payment in vis-rich coin or gem. [she pays in Rego or Terram]
"I need a new [crown, tiara, necklace, earrings, rings, bracelet] fitting my station!"
"I need you to deliver this letter to-" [Roll a die: 1-7 is a single letter, 8-9 is two letters, 0 is three or more letters. If the letter is not delivered, the Princess will not reappear until it is delivered]
"I am attending a [grand ball, unveiling, marriage, death] and I need a new and glorious gown!"
"A new servant for my tower, as the last one has withered and died..."
A gremlin-looking creature with large head and small body, whose maw can open to huge proportions. [Probably pays Perdo or Vim]
Something valued and stolen
"I want something new, gimme yer next year of meals." [They cannot taste anything for a year.]
"Gimme three rundlets o' moonshine."
"I wanna yer last good dinner... [He'll reach down the target's throat and pull it free, causing a medium wound unless something allows them to expel it safely.]
This is a small dryad who is stuck in a large potted sapling. She's the size of a child, and very temperamental. [She pays Herbam, maybe Creo]
"My sister, this sapling next to me, needs a new place to live. Transplant her to [distant location]."
"I need a [crown, cloak, robe] made of flowers and petals."
"My growth requires a large barrel of the finest spring water from a mountain peak."
"My home is becoming too small. I will need a new one - do be a good soul, fetch me a new one." [She need a new pot, at least twice as big]
This is a well-dressed wolf with a tall hat, clad in the most recent of noble fashions. [He pays Animal. Maybe Rego?
"I am having a party next month, and I require a full course spread."
"The hand of a noblewoman in marriage is required, to establish my line for the future." [He will not actually carry them off, but if they marry someone else, they become terrorized by faerie wolves. Future children may be kidnapped.]
"I am afraid my pack is restless, and need alliances. Would you have two young ladies who could marry into our bloodline?" [He actually wants female wolves or guard dogs.]
"I feel terribly uncouth, but I must demand three fingers for this beautiful item." [Recieve a light wound, and of course lose fingers.]
This is a drowsy cat with three tails. He talks. His name is different every time he is asked. He is usually asleep, and will refuse do deal with anyone who wakes him up. If left alone, he may call out to a passerby. [The cat pays in Animal, or Aq/Au for fish or bird bits]
"Feed me sixteen large, fat, healthy [squirrels, mice, rats, birds]."
"Songbirds fly. Get me a pair of suitable wings."
"Get me a bowl of fresh cream. Quickly." [Conjured milk tastes foul. Milk that has sat overnight is unwanted. Anyone rushing to get milk from outside of the Faire will be beset by hungry (faerie) cats.]
"I have no thumbs. Open those jugs of fish for me." [The three jugs have stuck stoppered lids. Breaking the jars spills live fish out, angering the cat. Opening the jugs requires a Strength Simple roll, which they will fail unless spending a confidence point. Or, I guess, a 15+ roll.]
A rich and pompous noble court faerie whose language skills are imperfect. From a faraway land. Usually conversing with a group of sycophants and grovelers, drinking sweet cherry-flavored wine. [He oft gives Corpus vis in blood, his rivals' or maybe his]
"I have been craving a good fight for decades. If you give me a duel..." [Fight to heavy wound, the Duelist has Single Weapon equal to the opposing duelist +3, up to 13. If they win or if they have a score of 8+, then he is impressed.]
"My vile companions have brought only swill and bathwater to drink. I need a cask of wine worthy of my palate." [Any temporarily conjured liquor will be claimed as swill, no matter how fine. Craft:Vinter of 8+ required.]
"I need a new sword of the highest quality. This one has a nick on the blade." [Must be a very fancy expensive blade.]
"It is time. It is finally time. The feather on my hat has given up the ghost. I will need a new hat for my perfect head. It should have a feather."
"I have been offended by a swine. Go deal with him for me." [The Duelist wants the players to kill another vendor, but no other merchants will talk to them afterwards.]
A hugely rotund and jolly woman, nearly spherical in form, four feet around, with pudgy paws and hands. She is here selling the same stew she has sold for the last seventeen generations. She assures the shopper it is a vegetable soup. [As a cook, she generally gives Muto]
"Am preparing for the spring stew, we need this list of [exotic plants and mushrooms not found near the area]."
"The stew is beginning to get thin, thus we needs the heart-blood of an ancient tree, to thickens it."
"The fires go low, and we be needing fresh dragon-fire embers."
"Stew is fresh! Stew is hot! Stew is ready! Drink drink! One bowl per customer." [The soup is scalding hot, and requires a Stamina + Concentration roll vs 9 to drink, causes a light wound. They will have terrible stomach pains for the next week before depositing a pawn of Perdo vis in the middens.]
An ancient and bent man, almost gnomic in appearance, huddled over his tools as he works on the shoes of other faeries waiting. He is looking for materials with which to do his work. As a craftsman, his 'trades' are rego vis. Warning: some things he wants could be used as Arcane Connections.
"This damned gentlefolk, [gestures to a drowsy troll] he needs some very big nails for these boots. NO IRON. Bronze nails, can you get me sixty-two five-inch long nails."
"My customer - very discerning [nods towards a fifteen inch tall faerie] - needs new dancing slippers. I demand quality. I need a pound of un-damaged insect wings - gossamer quality, not horseflies."
"The prince here, his boots are tall and fine. I'm weaving him laces of maidenhair. [whispers] Unfortunately, he has also made it very hard to find maidens anywhere near him. Can you fetch me the hair of a maiden? Enough to make the laces, at least sixteen inches length."
"Phew.. I have been quite busy [the line of common-seeming faeries are stretching long]. I need fresh soles. Can you fetch me spare soles? Thirteens soles, not too used. What are you staring for? You've never traded in soles before?"
Short, emaciated, with large ears and a narrow face, this goblin-like creature has a twelve-foot long beard and wisps of hair atop his head. He sits atop a lumpy 'throne' of copper coins, and wears a threadbare robe of red and blue. Tiny little bronze beetles scuttle around, sometimes bringing loose coins up to the miser to examine, before he adds them to his hoard. The Miser gives Rego vis.
"This market is good, but too expensive, too expensive. Much too expensive. They demand such prices as I will not pay, in copper and tin. You there, young cygnet, you there, little one. I need four dew-beaded spider-webs, undamaged. Bring them to me, to me" [He tosses a shaved-down copper coin on the ground before them, if they pick it up it is considered a bargain. If they return with his spiderwebs the next day, he will begrudgingly give them three more coppers, one of which is a pawn of vis.]
"That little rat-faced fish-brain. [He references another merchant, the most rich-seeming one], they have a [item the faerie sells] they had promised to me. Promised! To me! They refused my price, refused it! Now the lying serpent-guts has tripled the cost. I need it not, not really. I do not need it. But I refuse to be bullied, cheated, bullied nor cheated. Go fetch it for me, and I will pay you seven copper for your courier service." [However they acquire the item, the Miser takes it and gives them vis equal to the item's worth, but in Rego.]
-Snores loudly- [He is asleep. He will not wake up to anything short of combat, or stealing his money. Anyone stealing from him needs to succeed at a very difficult legerdemain check (stress vs ease factor 9 and spent confidence, or ease factor 15). if they check for vis they can find one to steal, otherwise one coin will become vis the next sunrise.]
[There's a sign in front of his throne in unreadable text] "Loans. You look... poor. Beleaguered. Bestial in mind and instinct. I can offer such a creature as you a loan. A loan to learn your place better. Four copper coins. You must repay me in coin of equal value, two coins per year for six years. I reserve rights to collect. To collect, in absence of honor." [He'll offer a vis-loan, demanding payment of three times as much vis. Coins given to him with no vis value are worthless, vis given to him in non-coin form are distasteful. If the covenant fails to pay him back, his 'right to collect' is taken as permission to enter the covenant and its aegis. He will sell this 'right to collect' to other faerie troublemakers.]
A squat merchant from distant lands, he is clad in brocades and silks, wearing a mask of carved stone. The stone mask seems to have a subtly different expression whenever you look at it. All of the items set before him look to be of notably inferior quality, with glassy 'gems' and tinny gilding, a dagger that is so dull it could not cut the softest fruit, a pair of gloves with only three fingers instead of four.
He is looking for a handful of gemstones, each of a different hue. The Trader has very, very large hands to fill.
An example of the finest craftsmanship. A useful item, rather than an artistic piece. The item must be of Excellent quality, and in a condition close to new.
A piece of art showing a nobleman dying. It must be of the finest quality.
A market stall with cushions and furs scattered across the floor, and hanging from strangely distant rafters above are threads of woven starlight, moonlight, firelight, and twilight, forming a complex web. Dangling from the web of light are a collection of glittering crystals and stoppered bottles, as well as the 'merchant'. The merchant is a child sized doll (Size-3) carved from char-black wood, clad and wrapped in cheap, rough fabrics that have been tailored into the finest noble styles, as if in mockery. The doll hangs from starlit spider-threads, being manipulated like a marionette. [she offers Imaginem, Mentem, Intellego]
She can sell you your own dreams. Lay down and relax. [The weaver can grant the Puissant (Ability) virtue in any appropriate General ability for the duration of a year. This grants a warping point, and the bearer of the blessing gains a long-term fatigue that refreshes whenever they awaken, effectively making them permanently winded.]
Would you like a nap? [She'll actually let you rest in the quiet enclave. No reward, no demands. A sweet, dreamless rest. Wake up at dawn in a dewy field.]
Perhaps you want a new dream? Pick a bottled dream, and trade your own glamourous goals. [They can gain 1 pawn of imaginem vis, but are unable to remember the 'traded' dream anymore. This has no real effect, but the storyguide could use that traded dream as an arcane connection if sold to someone with illicit intent.]
The bent and ancient crone wears ancient noble attire. She wears a worn-out satin robe and dress, worn thin and patched with newer satin and lace to replace the part that are worn out. Her movement leaves trails of dust and cobwebs behind her. Examining her closely, one might see traceries of starlight and fog used as thread binding her patched ancient clothing together. (You may notice the lack of description of the actual crone, because she has a glamer stopping anyone from percieving her true self... Come up with a decision on that. A burnt-out broom, a pile of spiders, nothingness?) She sells little hand-sized dolls sewn out of rags [Could be any Form].
"Child, fetch me new thread of silver, spun in the moonlight, bound on a threadle of clay."
"I need new thread. Your hair. All of it." Not acceptable from a grog...characters Story Flaw only.
"I am sewing a new doll, and I need hides, thin and delicate. Like yours... Your left arm is very... gentle." (Medium Wound as they are skinned, and if the person is awake, trauma. Sta + Concentration.)
She needs perfect components for her dolls. The light of your eyes, a piece of your tongue, a few teeth.....
The Widow is a woman of surpassing beauty, though she is veiled with ebon spidersilk hiding her features, other than a glimpse of luminous sapphire eyes. She wears no other garment, with skin like pure ivory bared, her hair a rich mahogany and bound into a floor-length braid. She wears numerous pieces of jewelry on her wrists and arms, ankles and waist, and woven in her hair, as well as a single leather cord around her neck upon which are nineteen wedding rings. [The widow's rewards are corpus, possibly Perdo.]
"I must have a husband of greatest virtue, and not a common-folk. Young and newly a man; but still untouched by other women. I must be his first, on our wedding night."
"My last husband has died, alas. His bones must be buried, and I am in need of a casket of rich wood, and well appointed."
"I must have a fantastic dress for my wedding this Spring! Fine silk and sewn pearls. A veil of gossamer. Purest, purest white."
Many Common Faeries
Buying:
a song about the faerie (Or a story?)
A song about yourself (Or Story?)
three drops of royal blood
a broken musical instrument
Your favorite Word
A grand lie
A Contest:
A drinking contest!
A brawl
A contest of Strength or Speed
Eating contest
A duel of honor
Contest of lies