13 Kythorn 1491

Skabatha hears a creak in the floor as Phee tries to back away, and the hag rushes to slam the door to the balcony shut. As Phee slips through the door, it slams painfully down on one of her wings. She stifles a cry and starts trying to wiggle her wing out of the door, to no avail. Gritting her teeth, she blows on the tiny whistle to summon the fairies, the ones who are friends with Clapperclaw. Thankfully, they almost immediately appear. As she whispers at the pixies that her wing is stuck, she hears a ‘click!’ from the other side of the door. She begs Maypole and her friends for help. All three pixies try their best, but she’s not budging. Maypole suggests trying to pick the lock, but Phee is worried the pixies will get caught. Maypole turns smugly upon hearing this and elegantly picks the lock. Phee grins and jiggles the handle carefully, ears sharp for any noises as she frees her wing. Thanking them, she fills the pixies in on rescuing the children and lets them know that if they wished to help, to find Mell and Yndrus.

Meanwhile, Yndrus muses to Mell why they thought it was a good idea to send Phee off to do a complicated mission. Mell nods and points out she’s had pixie dust this whole time.

Phee carefully opens the door a crack in an attempt to free her wing. As it opens, it creaks and there’s a cry from inside and the door is yanked open. As Phee darts away, Skabatha is standing at the threshold staring straight through her. Phee cheekily pokes out her tongue while standing on the balcony fence and dives backward off the edge. As she does so, she hears Skabatha mouthing an incantation, which Phee recognises as a detect magic spell. Phee isn’t sure if Skabatha has caught on to her or not, but it’s clear that she’s on high alert at the very least. She flies back frantically to Will to let him know it’s time to execute the plan.

Where the rest of the party is hanging out, three manic little pixies show up and fill them in. Mell says in all seriousness that they were integral to the plan, Phee couldn’t have done it without them. Pixies are well chuffed.

The party fills Will in and they all decide to lurk around Loomlurch until dark.

As Phee and Will make their way to the designated plan area, some of the children get bogged down in the muddy bank they’re trying to cross. Phee does her best to flit along above them and lift them up, assisting their journey.

Once the kids and Will are settled in the woods, Phee flies up very sneaky like to the window of Skabatha’s room, looking for the witch. She’s nowhere to be seen! The room doesn’t look particularly used. She peers more closely at a dilapidated dollhouse, but is unable to grasp any further detail.

She attempts to break in, the door to the balcony creaking at first, then settling into silence as she presses into the room. She creeps into the room, and goes to release the moths from the nearby bell jar. As she does so, she hears a noise from the dollhouse, and locks eyes with a diminutive Skabatha. Skabatha looks back, and expands in size to full humanoid, looking in the area where Phee is standing. Phee slips away, knowing she’s invisible to Skabatha now, but uncertain if she can detect her in other ways.

Phee appears, worse for wear, and Yndrus heals up her sad little wing.

It’s not long until there’s a disturbingly loud screeching from the gardens. The party books it stealthily to the front of the tree palace. When nothing obvious is forthcoming, they push through to the workshop, Mell commenting derisively about the sub par decor.

They enter the workshop and Yndrus listens in at the next door. He hears some clanking and walking, which continue for a short period then a slamming of a door, whereupon the noises stop.

Inside are a series of tiny houses, all the doors open. In one corner is a Jack in the Box. No children to be seen. Phee sniffs around and Mell investigates the box. She starts turning the crank of the box, and it plays for 10 seconds. As the final note sounds, the lid springs open and the box is empty. Phee hurries up the stairs and checks a door midway up the staircase.

More workshop space, but no obvious signs of kids. She swings the door wide open and a creepy doll in the room turns to look at her. Phee curtsies at the doll in greeting. It asks “should you be here?”
“I believe that our fate leads us to be where I need to be at all times” - Phee

The doll confirms and curtsies back.

Something erupts beneath Phee, like the floor is moving to grab her. She tries to fly up and away from it, but the carpet on the floor wraps around her, grappling her and making it difficult to breathe. The doll eerily chuckles “Yes, you are in the right place!”

Phee flails, panic rising in her throat as she wriggles and cries out for help, unable to break free.

Morgort hears Phee crying out and rounds the corner to see Phee getting beaten by a rug, the doll just visible over the chaos. She starts slashing at the angry carpet.

At this time Yndrus dashes up the stairs and phase steps next to the doll. The doll cackles.
Mell appears at the door and attempts to charm the doll, but it doesn’t respond.

She whips out her lute and sings a daring tune towards where she believes Phee to be. Phee manages to wriggle out, popping from the wrapped carpet like a cork from a wine bottle.

Morgot takes the opportunity to slap at the carpet again, and it looks decidedly worse for wear. She then vaults over the sad carpet and stands off against the doll.

The doll giggles again and reaches out for Yndrus, but he manages to avoid her terrifying allure.

The carpet lashes out at Phee once again, and hits, the wee fairy collapsing under the onslaught, unconscious.

Morgort valiantly attempts to grapple the carpet, only just losing the enemy as it twists out of her grasp. Yndrus goes full bear, but even with the jaunty tunes of Mell, is unable to free Phee, so he turns on the doll instead, laying into it with heavy damage. The doll is looking deeply unwell.

Eventually, the party manages to destroy the doll, Bear-Yndrus shattering into a bunch of tiny pieces.
The carpet relinquishes Phee in favour of attacking the carpet, and Phee weakly gasps, crumpled on the floor. Bear-Yndrus rips apart the carpet for good, and the party is alive, but worse for wear.

Yndrus prances gleefully at his success while Phee groans on the floor, waving at him pointedly for assistance.

Phee yanks out a bit of wool from the downed carpet in a minor fit of vengeance.

The Party, aware of the time pressure, rush up the stairs to see if the kids are there. They are! Mell shifts into the child form of Will and calls out to the kids, let’s get out of here!

Phee passes out flowers and calms the kids by telling them that the flowers will keep them safe.

They are resistant to being taken from the room. Eventually, with some magical suggestion, Mell convinces them to follow the party and they flee back down the stairs (a glance out the window by Phee showed that the alternate exit had incoming Tin Soldiers). Will is out the front of the area, waving emphatically to the party as they appear with the kids.

As they fly past the Jack in the box in the corner of the entrance, they hear a chiming and the handle begins to turn… the party urges the kids to bolt to Mugin, and everyone save Morgort (who is carrying a sick child) whirl around to face the box. Summation, it’s a nightmare in the form of a small Green Dragon. The party eventually drives it off back into the box, but Phee is unconscious again. Bear-Yndrus claws at the box, along with Morgort. It snaps open, Cradlefall breathes toxic fumes, and Mell is down. The box snaps shut again, and when prised open, the creature is gone! Bear-Yndrus changes back to human form and stabilises Mell, who wakes and groggily checks on Phee.

Morgort scoops up the unconscious fairy and runs towards freedom, Mell hobbling behind, Yndrus following close behind. Upon reaching the edge of the area, Yndrus looks back and sees a hazy silhouette frames atop the giant log of Loomlurch.

Deciding that the Alicorn is job for another day. As the party flees into the woods, they hear clanking behind them, but eventually leave the sounds behind.

They catch up to Will and co. and head back towards Little Oak. During their escape through the forest, those conscious overhear Blinkdogs fighting amongst Tin Soldiers. The party makes it back to the treant, and Phee worries over the sick kid, who has lapsed into a coma. She’s deduced that they’re poisoned, but nothing more. Another kid states that the child has been eating from the garden again. Yndrus looks over the child as well, and the two discuss. Phee has an idea of how to slow the poison to help the kid, and goes to forage for herbs to aid her in the creation of a potion. The potion stabilises the child enough until someone can cast a restoration spell on him.

Mell and Yndrus recover as Phee tends to the child. Eventually Yndrus convenes with Mugin about the chances of being found now that they’ve pissed off Skabatha. Since Little Oak is always moving, they’re as safe as is possible in these lands, but she will be looking for them. Mell is determined to go back, not only to talk to Chucklehead, but to free the Alicorn.

Mell passes time by chilling in the branches of the wandering oak, singing a compelling travel tune with Peke Peke for accompaniment.