Adair Cerulean is a young cartographer and arcane painter who finds himself in the middle of a carnival with no memory of how he got there or why he’s wearing pajamas. Equipped with kindness, tea, and bribery pie, he befriends a cluster of carnival performers. Together they discover that Adair’s sleepwalking is the key to locating his stolen map. With the help of the carnies’ zany inventions and assorted magic, Adair tracks his thief to the coast, and in the process learns that one of their own knew the burglar’s identity all along.

Meanwhile the presence of elementals heralds two mysterious foes who threaten the safety of Adair’s new friends. When magic returns by starlight, a plan is made, and the group rushes headfirst into danger. Although Adair is marked and forever changed, their gamble pays off in the end, and he happily acquires a new carny family along with his missing map.