Blinsky

On the road west a Vistani rider called Aragal fell in beside us, warned us about wolves and "will-o'-wispies", and explained that Vallaki does not let his people through the gate. Then he asked a favour: "there is a store in Vallaki, Blinsky's Toy Shop. I have a daughter, Arabelle. She would love a Blinsky original toy… I would pay you 20 gold on top of the cost of the Blinsky toy if you could bring one to me." We said we'd get a nice one.

It took us nearly two weeks, but on the morning after the festival we finally went through Blinsky's door. We told him the truth about who the toy was for, and he didn't mind in the least. We passed on the creepy jack-in-the-box and chose a set of nesting dolls, and they are in our packs.

Then we carried them two hours north to the camp and found it out searching. Aragal's daughter had been missing since the morning. When we told him we'd brought her a doll, he said "Oh, cruel irony." The dolls are still with us. See Find Aragal's Daughter.

Who: The toymaker of Vallaki. He speaks a broken, cheerful English and keeps a monkey that stares at people.
Where: Blinsky's Toys, on the street of shops.
Status: Alive, delighted, and holding a paid commission for two dolls.
First met: Session 16, the morning after the festival.

Is no fun, is no Blinsky

Aragal sent us to him back in Session 6, for a toy for his daughter, and it took us the better part of two weeks to get through the door. "Welcome, welcome, welcome to Blinsky's Toy Shop. Remember, is no fun, is no Blinsky." It is the happiest place we have found in Barovia. Fëanor said it was the first time he hadn't felt homesick, and Drew says that if the adventuring doesn't work out, she's coming to work here.

He sells toys for all little girls and little boys. "All toys in Blinsky's are original Blinsky's. Every toy unique." The shelves held headless dolls (some people in Vallaki have a morbid sense of humour), a jack-in-the-box we found creepy, a mouse that runs, nesting dolls, spinning tops, and two buckets of free tin whistles. We told him the truth about who the toy was for, and he didn't mind at all. We bought the nesting dolls for Aragal's daughter. Drew pitched him a line of headless dolls with interchangeable heads. One of us hid from the monkey.

Exploding toys

He told us, without being asked, that the guards made him stop making exploding toys several years back. Drew, who has been in the same trade, pointed out that they were happy enough to have her exploding devices when the wolves came. "Some Blinsky dolls may explode much later." Drew has promised to have a word with the new burgomistress on his behalf.

The commission

Sirius ordered two pieces: a Morning Lord and a Clancy. It went badly. Blinsky asked what the Morning Lord looks like and pointed at Fëanor; Sirius found a picture in which the god appears to be eating a baby, and Blinsky offered a lever for the jaw; and Sirius's description of a sunburst behind the figure could have been worded better. Blinsky summed up the order as "big yellow man, sun out of bum, jumping out of heart." Asked whether the horse could do its business, he said "it will have multiple poop options." Sirius went outside in a huff. Drew paid for both. "A day per doll. Two days for two dolls."

What we owe each other

He owes us a Morning Lord and a Clancy, paid for, in two days. We owe him a word with Ireena about his exploding toys.

What we still don't know

The smith at Thimdul's says Bluto bought a doll from Blinsky's a few days ago and had it filled with lead shot. Did Blinsky know what it was for?
Which of the poop options did we actually agree to?