The Minister of Murder

 Vicio seeks to systematically eliminate all of the prominent townsfolk who openly opposed his father, Karlas, to ensure the success of the Gilded Carnival.

 Vicio has an unrequited love for his father Karlas. He pursues him relentlessly and would do anything to gain his approval.

 Vicio is simple-minded and unable to learn from his own mistakes. He believes that killing his father’s “enemies” will win his love.

Vicio’s story begins with his father, Karlas, a ventriloquist and the headmaster, titled the ‘Minister of Merriment,’ of the traveling Gilded Carnival. The beleaguered Karlas was burdened by the strained relationship with his wife and children, who resented the time he spent away from them in order to keep his struggling entertainment business afloat. His carnival employees, too, resented Karlas for his increasing inability to deliver their payments on time and in accordance with the agreed upon amounts. Feeling attacked and isolated, Karlas retreated from his family and further into his ventriloquism and built himself a new puppet he named Vicio. Of course, as a puppet, Vicio could not share in Karlas’ burden or provide encouraging words when Karlas lamented his situation. Vicio wasn’t a person; Karlas knew that. But he wished he was. He wished he could be loved unconditionally.

One day, Karlas met a mysterious woman in town with a warm and caring demeanor. Before he knew it, Karlas found himself spilling his troubles to this woman, who listened with pleasant nods and friendly smiles. The woman asked what Karlas wished for. Karlas wished that his carnival was successful and that Vicio was as real as his other children. The woman smiled, and then the two parted ways. Karlas returned home to find that Vicio was alive, with a personality all his own. Karlas was amazed and wondered about the woman he met earlier, but delighted in his new son. Over many weeks, Karlas kept Vicio a secret in his workshop, where the two shared countless conversations.

Vicio learned of the troubles that afflicted his father and the misery that he suffered. He knew that he had to do what he could to help, so he murdered Karlas’ wife and children so that they would burden him no longer and Karlas could focus on the Gilded Carnival. Karlas, horrified, immediately fled, the crime too painful for him to face. Vicio, confused and quickly growing angry at his father’s dismay, began to murder more people about whom his father had previously complained, hoping upon each death that his father would come to his senses. After several more bodies, Vicio was engulfed by the Mists, as the Gilded Carnival and the surrounding town of Dewsbury were transformed into a Demiplane of Dread with Vicio as its Dark Lord.  

While shrouded by the Mists, Vicio, Gilded Carnival, and the town of Dewsbury are further twisted by darkness and doomed to remain in unholy purgatory. Vicio searches endlessly for his father Karlas, who flees throughout town, hoping to never have to face his creation again. The townsfolk of Dewsbury live dreary, repetitive lives under the watch of Vicio, who demands that everyone attend the Gilded Carnival and enjoy themselves, or else. The GIlded Carnival and its employees are touched by the Mists and exist alongside fairytale manifestations of Vicio’s mind brought into existence by the Dark Powers. Vicio has taken it upon himself to win back his father’s affection. With or without his father’s help, he will ensure that the Gilded Carnival is a success. He has committed to murdering anyone who has made his father’s life difficult — anyone Karlas has ever complained about, from carnival employees owed their paycheques to the shop owner who once acted slightly rudely. The show, too, must go on, and Vicio, in his father’s absence, has appointed himself as the carnival’s new Minister. Nothing, however, can ever really change for Vicio or anyone else trapped within the domain. People murdered by Vicio are soon resurrected, doomed to suffer the same fate. Vicio pursues his father but can never catch him. The shows of the Gilded Carnival continue despite withered funding and sparse audiences. This hell will remain infinite without outside interference.

 who squatted in a ruined manor on the outskirts of Dewsbury. Because of her involvement in Vicio’s creation and his subsequent murders, the Dark Powers decided that she would be absorbed by the Mists along with the unfortunate residents of the sleepy town. Deranged Elaine maintains a distant motherly affection for Vicio, though Vicio is not aware of her role in his creation and maintains only a passing awareness of her. Vicio can only be permanently destroyed if he is decapitated where he was first created — in the workshop. Deranged Elaine is the only one who possesses this knowledge. 

Vicio has very little patience for children, an intolerance born out of his painful awareness that they are “real” and he is not. He is especially aggravated by their greed and incessant whining. When a child draws Vicio’s ire, he sends them to Elaine, the godmother hag, who is happy to turn them into a 

 as punishment. Elaine believes she is doing the children a favor, and maintains that she can change the children back to their original forms at any time after she is satisfied that the punishment is sufficient. The sweetie tots are sent back to Dewsbury to help Vicio and the carnies maintain the Guilded Carnival.

One of the Gilded Carnival’s featured attractions is the Olminster Funhouse. After murdering Karlas’ family and Jumpy Jack, Vicio set his sights on the employees of the funhouse, who had threatened unionization, much to Karlas’ anxiety. Vicio murdered every single one of them, who then returned as 

 that now infest the funhouse’s hall of mirrors. 

Vicio has always loved fairy tales, and would delight in the ones shared by Karlas on most evenings after a long day’s work. His favourite was “The Wolf and the Hare,” a tale about an unlikely animal duo who work together to steal food from a cruel and greedy farmer. The 

 are dark manifestations of Vicio’s consciousness, facilitated by the Mists. Each of these creatures lurks in the outskirts of Dewsbury and in the surrounding wood and farmsteads, endlessly tormenting hunters, farmers, and other townsfolk. 

A carnival barker named Fabio, one of the few employees on good terms with Karlas, was transformed into a 

 when Dewsbury and the Gilded Carnival were claimed by the Mists. As a reward for his loyalty, Vicio has appointed Fabio as his second-in-command and charges the former barker with ensuring the oversight and maintenance of the Gilded Carnival while Vicio is out and about committing more murders. Most employees of the carnival harbor a great fear of Fabio, ever wary of his watchful eyes and gleeful harassment.

Compounding Dewsbury’s misery is the persistent and unassailable 

 infestation that it is afflicted with. Most of the townsfolk are unable to get enough sleep as they are constantly disturbed by the aberrations feeding on them during the night, which furthers their irritability and stress. A few more knowledgeable townsfolk correctly suspect that Deranged Elaine is the cause of the infestation, but nobody has the courage nor the means to be able to fight the infestation or confront its source. 

Vicio was always interested in the puppet-making of his father, and decided early on that he would take up Karlas’ hobby for himself. He has constructed several 

 in his carnival trailer that are eager to do his bidding. To challenge himself, Vicio is trying to build an effigrim over ten feet tall, several times the size of a normal effigrim. Vicio uses these effigrims mostly as extra eyes and ears around Dewsbury and the carnival, alerting him to any clues to his father’s current whereabouts or informing him of any vocal complaints from townsfolk or carnival employees. Such complaints are not to be tolerated — only happiness is allowed. On certain occasions, the effigrims are allowed to take punishments into their own hands.

Before the Mists, Jumpy Jack was a clown of the Gilded Carnival and one of the most outspoken critics of Karlas. In the immediate aftermath of the family murders, Vicio set out to kill Jack, who Karlas had grown to loathe as much as he loathed his own family. When the Dark Powers brought the Mists, for reasons known only to them, they resurrected Jumpy Jack as a 

 bound to serve his murderer. Enchanted by this development, Vicio was happy to reinstall Jumpy Jack to his former role within the Guilded Carnival. Whenever he visits the carnival grounds, Vicio makes sure to demand that Jumpy Jack tell him a new joke. If the joke is not up to Vicio’s standards, he scolds Jumpy Jack and murders a random carnival worker in disappointment. 

In addition to the puppet-making that he learned from his father, Vicio is also skilled in tinkering and carpentry. He loves cruel surprises, and so has constructed several 

that he has littered throughout the carnival grounds and areas of Dewsbury that he wants others to keep away from. 

is another of Vicio’s dark creations. During the day, all are encouraged to attend the Gilded Carnival and enjoy themselves. Past midnight, however, the carnival shuts down and its grounds are strictly off-limits to everyone, save for a handful of designated carnies. Lanternhead patrols the carnival grounds at night to ensure compliance with this rule. Any unauthorized persons detected by lanternhead are relentlessly pursued and torn limb-from-limb if caught. The carnival grounds echo with the persistent creaking of its joints as its ghostly light wanders between shuttered kiosks and darkened attractions. 

, and has served Deranged Elaine, the godmother hag, faithfully for many years. When Elaine was absorbed by the Mists, so too was Azibo. He lives with her in the ruined mansion just outside Dewsbury, providing companionship just as well as servitude. Azibo assists Elaine with all manner of household tasks, including gathering food, water, and spell ingredients. He also assists with more nefarious doings, such as kidnapping Dewsbury children.

loyal to the Court of the Blooming Sun has recently stumbled into Vicio’s Demiplane of Dread after becoming sidetracked attempting to reach a particular court in the Plane of Shadow. Taking note of the misery present in Dewsbury, the yellowcaps have decided to stay for a while in an attempt to find anyone that might be able to be saved from the demiplane. The villagers and carnies seemed doomed, but perhaps the adventurers might need help finding their way out?

Every good villain needs a lair. The locations in the following table include Vicio’s lair as well as a few other locations relevant to him, his minions, or the plight of the Gilded Carnival and the town of Dewsbury in general.

Vicio is stealthy and strategic enough to try to avoid engaging with all members of the party at once, and instead would prefer to attempt to isolate single targets or employ hit-and-run tactics from the cover of darkness or distraction. Once he has an awareness of the fact that the party is coming for him, he will take all reasonable measures to ensure he won’t get caught by surprise. In combat, Vicio will use his Fan of Knives ability if there is more than one target within its radius. Otherwise, he defaults to his normal Kunai attack. Vicio’s Nimble Escape bonus action and his legendary actions should be used to facilitate his hit-and-run tactics. He may use Crippling Poison and then an Attack action to slow down and deal immediate damage so that he can catch up to or escape a target. Alternatively, he might use his Pin action and then Homicidal Whistling to turn invisible so that he can easily sneak up to that creature on his next turn.

A sentient, deranged puppet will do whatever it takes to make his father happy. As long as "whatever it takes" involves a lot of killing. 