Mrs Plenty's Carnival

"Oh, so piquant, these little ones. Like capers." Beyond this point lie minor spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, or Sunless Skies. Proceed with cursory acknowledgement. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"Smoke and mirrors! Light and shade! Bright paint and squealing children and the roar of lions! And the music, as a great man once said, is like electric sugar."

Mrs Plenty's Most Distracting Carnival, or Mrs Plenty's Carnival, is a year-round fair held in London.

The time is now 09:30 UTC. All is well.

Distracting

"Have you been to Mrs Plenty's Most Distracting Carnival? Wondrous. Wondrous! – but watch your purse. Good place to make friends."

A carnival ticket.

Mrs Plenty's Carnival is a popular and crowded attraction near Spite in London. It's a spot of light in the darkness of the Neath, decorated in bright colors and filled with delightful music. Mrs Plenty is the Carnival's owner and namesake, who arranges and manages the Carnival's festivities.

The Carnival can be accessed via a path through the Prickfinger Wastes, but the route is surrounded by the Wastes' sharp stone formations. A single misstep can be a one-way ticket to the tomb-colonies.

The Carnival is a great place to meet others and make friends. Since the stuffy rules of polite society are relaxed here, individuals from London's many social classes and factions mingle freely. The Carnival is both well-funded and brimming with inattentive patrons, so it's also a favorite target for pickpockets and other criminals.

The Carnival's stalls require tickets from customers. Tickets are usually purchased through a machine that accepts moon-pearls and dispenses tickets automatically. They can also be obtained in exchange for secrets from Madame Shoshana, who uses the secrets in her fortune-telling business. Tickets can also be bought using souls, and the cashier's tent has thousands of souls from clientele stored within.

The Big Top

"A riot of colour! A sea of sound! A place where polite society's rules relax and a costermonger may rub shoulders with a bishop."

The Big Top!

The Big Top is the main tent of the Carnival. It has performing wolves, bears, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters and fire-breathers, plate-spinners, a monkey, and caged tigers. Hephaesta, a strongwoman of Mahogany Hall fame, also performs here.

Disguised Masters of the Bazaar have been spotted at the Big Top, guarded by Neddy Men. Mr Apples and Mr Wines are reportedly genial towards patrons, but Mr Iron is very much not.

The Sideshows

"The ragged little tents around the edges of the carnival. Throw quoits! Bet on the shell game! Get a tattoo! Have your pocket picked five times in an hour!"

The Sideshows are the less grandiose tents found near the Carnival's outskirts. They boast shell games, quiotes, weasel pits, a musical donkey, and a drownie choir. Some stalls also offer tattoos with outlandish designs that are popular among zailors.

There is also an Overgoat here; we request no further inquiries.

Refreshments

"The pavilion is less civilised than it sounds. Some of its wares are surprisingly tasty, if you're brave enough to try them."

Rubbery Lumps.

The Refreshment Pavilion offers many interesting foods and drinks. Rubbery Lumps are the Carnival's most famous delicacy, which are apparently made of battered and fried zee-monster meat. Their texture is often tough, but consuming Rubbery Lumps may incite feelings of vigor and a desire to swim in the Unterzee - or induce further hungers. Spore-toffee is another snack that onlookers consider popular among criminals. Made from mushroom spores, its sticky texture belies its remarkable restorative effects. The Pavilion's cooks sometimes include a shard of glim in the pan when making spore-toffee, along with a quick incantation for luck.

The Pavilion also offers cheap wine, the sort one improves by adding heat and spice. Other foods served here include pink-colored moss-floss and toffee-puffballs.

Carnival Games

"The air thrums with the furtive energy of money changing hands. Games of skill. Games of chance. The occasional thrown lizard snatching a bat from the air. What could be better?"

A pair of Carnival dice.

The Games Tent hosts many games of both skill and chance. The dice games here use symbols instead of numbers, including honey-drops, bats, daggers, hearts, and candles. Players can also throw a lizard in the air to catch bats, with blue lights set up nearby to attract moths and the bats who hunt them. Card games are offered at high and low tables, using jade chips for stakes.

Philonous the Uncanny is the Carnival's mesmerist and mnemonist, who wears neathglass goggles to cover his eyes. He challenges visitors to a game of chess, but his gaze can be distracting.

Mrs Plenty's Shooting Range is known to exist, and offers prizes for crack shots.

Beneath the Neath

"At MRS PLENTY'S CARNIVAL, ENJOY a DIVERTING EDUCATIONAL AND THRILLING RIDE into the CHASMIC ABYSMS of SUB-SUBTERRANEAN TROGLODYTRY! SEE the FOSSILS OF the ELDER PAST! ENJOY our PAINSTAKING RECREATION of the HELLS OF ANTIQUITY! (REFUNDS NOT AVAILABLE in case of UNWISE DEATH.)"

The Carnival's big wheel.

Beneath the Neath is a partially submerged Ferris wheel that takes passengers into a cavern below the Carnival. Most passengers return soon after. The cavern has large fossils embedded in the walls and is also used as a hiding place for valuables. One might find jade trinkets along the way, souls, or infernal contracts.

The first section of Beneath the Neath has riders travel through various underworlds. First, riders are taken through a recreation of the classical Hades, then a model of a fire-and-brimstone Hell. The latter is staffed by actors who may or may not be actual devils.

The second part of the ride is in a deeper and pitch-black part of the cave. Glowing horse-sized slugs are the only source of light down here. A mysterious pulsation reverberates throughout the surroundings, like a heartbeat or breathing. The ride ascends back to the surface after this unsettling segment.

The House of Mirrors

"Are you quite sure you want to know this?" Beyond this point lie major spoilers for Fallen London, Sunless Sea, Sunless Skies, or Mask of the Rose. This may include endgame or major Fate-locked spoilers. Proceed at your own risk. You can find out more about our spoiler policy here.

"The House of Mirrors squats like an ape in a quiet corner of the carnival. Strange mirrors are labelled in a neat, scholarly hand. It is not a popular attraction."

The House of Mirrors is an unpopular attraction in an obscure section of the Carnival. It contains many labeled mirrors with strange properties.

Don't fall in.

• Dream's Mirror is decorated with bronze cats and silver lizards. Looking into this mirror shows no reflection, but peer in far enough, and it will lead to a new view of the world - and a stay at the Royal Bethlehem Hotel.

• Heart's Mirror smells like blood and dust. It also shows no reflection, but anyone who gazes into it is instantly killed.

• The Winged Mirror is a mirror of dark glass with a frame covered in black feathers; one corner is chipped and removed. This mirror is associated with July of the Calendar Council.

• A mahogany-framed mirror, inscribed with beetles and tree-roots. Anyone who studies this mirror is sent to the Mirror-Marches.

"BE WARY"

• A bronze-framed mirror, with gargoyles said to be carved by a student of Dalou, a famous French sculptor. The mirror's surface is said to be made from glim melted in the furnaces of the Brass Embassy. This mirror has the inscription: "BE WARY".

• An iron-framed mirror, said to be forged from cannonballs from the Crimea, with a backing made from silverware stolen from a church. This mirror has the inscription: "BE UNDEFEATED".

• A gold-framed mirror, forged from idols stolen from the Pale Tabernacle, which is a place of "unearthly delights" spoken of by zailors. The inscription on this mirror is unknown.

• A lapis-framed mirror has decorations said to be from the Second City, but the mirror itself is recent. It has the inscription: "LOOK BEHIND YOU".

The Anatomy Exhibition

"The NOTED PEDAGOGUE Mrs Plenty presents an INFORMATIVE and EDUCATIONAL EXHIBITION of ANATOMY and DANCES of ANTIQUITY for DISCERNING GENTLEFOLK. You will BE IMPROVED!"

The Most Educational Anatomy Exhibition is an strictly educational exihibit staffed by various performers. Known performers include Miss Forward and Mr Adonis. There is also a tomb-colonist performer, who is really Mr Adonis wrapped in bandages.

Rubbery Men also perform at the Anatomy Exhibition. Sadly, they are often heckled by audience members. The Rubbery Men also do not approve of the arrangement, and they often rescue their fellows from the Exhibition in daring escapades.

Other Known Peformers

"Madame Shoshana's shabby, perfumed little tent is tucked away behind the House of Mirrors. Cross her palm with silver, er, tickets, and choose your method of divination."

Madame Shoshana

Madame Shoshana is the Carnival's fortune teller. She has a tent behind the House of Mirrors, and she uses tea-leaves, palm-reading, unique tarot cards, and a crystal ball for her divinations.

Jervaise, butler to Mr Wines and husband to Mrs Plenty, works as the Carnival's Bearded Lady.

Mlle Lefebvre is a renowned French accordionist who's known to perform at the Carnival. The Human Cannonball is another known performer. The Carnival is also known to employ acrobats, contortionists, and pole-vaulters, as well as firework displays, trampolines, and trapezes for flair.

Other Attractions

"Well, the fire-eater is quite the show-woman. And those plate-spinners are rather amusing. But look - a monkey! Weren't you supposed to be doing something here? Never mind, it can wait a little longer. This place is most distracting."

During a fad for bones and skeletons in London, Mrs Plenty established a new Tent of Terror and stocked it with horrifying skeletons purchased from the Department of Menace Eradication.

Another attraction that was recently set up is a prize-fighting tent, where a seven-foot tall goat-demon named Yule Lad faces various challengers in a wrestling ring of honor. So far, no opponent has made it past the first round.

The Feast of the Exceptional Rose

"In honour of the Feast of the Exceptional Rose, Mrs Plenty has set up a pleasure garden of heady delights. These include an 'exotic' roast chestnut stall, and a miserable juggler."

Matters of the heart?

To celebrate the Feast of the Exceptional Rose, the Carnival hosts a decorative garden that includes a lounge, dancers, a chestnut stall, and a juggler. It also serves a food called Deviled Hearts that taste of fire and can set the mind alight. The food's unique blend of spices can form sigils in a consumer's eyes for a split second. The garden also displays a fake Exceptional Rose, and presents the Wheel of Affection, a miniature replica of the Carnival's Ferris wheel. Each model gondala contains a small delightful token, such as a charming poem, or a dead bat in a box (marvelous!).