What Pud thought were the bones are another piece of debris in his pack. There is nothing to mend here. Then he remembers:

Touching the two pieces of the wishbone together, Pud hears Bavlorna’s unsettling voice in his head. She says, “Skabatha forgets the first creature she sees when she wakes up, although her memory of it returns each night when she sleeps. A creature forgotten by Skabatha in this manner is invisible to her.” And then the charm dissipates, and the wishbone crumbles to dust.

Matilda gathers an armful of books to lug toward the hallway. Ringlerun takes the cue and grabs a second armful. "Ah! A fellow book lover! So many curious books here! Let's take what we can to try to read later!"

The party finds itself frustrated, in a bit of a dead-end, standing in the black, windowless library surrounded by mostly blank books, ebony bookshelves, and eerily floating candles.

Titaani can feel the arcane power here, in the mysterious books, the levitating candles, and the strange boat that brought them here. (Nothing else catches her eye here is obviously arcane.)

Matilda and Ringlerun each have armfuls of books.

Where to? What next?

Ben:

When Ben is satisfied everyone has done what they wish to here, he suggests, "Let's get back in the boat and check that door we missed.  Maybe there will be a clue there."  He moves to get back on the boat unless someone else has a task to complete first.

Horatio follows.

Matilda drops her handful of books in the water, " Oops."

"Ohh! OH!" squeaks Ringlerun. He dumps his armful of books unceremoniously into the boat and begins madly reaching into and splashing the water in the flooded hallway retrieving Matilda's floating books. The faces and visions in the water scatter. He finally gathers the last of the dripping black books and begins wiping off each with his cloak. "Tragic!" he mutters, although the books look mostly salvageable, if bloated with absorbed water. A thin black film remains in the water where the books were recovered. The faces soon return.

Unless you have further business here, the boat turns, and with everyone back aboard, soon sails back down the hall in the direction it had arrived, its sails filled with an undetectable wind. It pauses briefly at the open door to the foul nursery (several misshapen, clawed hands still reaching, unsuccessfully, for the Elven mobiles) before stopping again at the overlooked door.

Opening it, you see what appears to be a costume room – the chamber within contains eight wooden mannequins in tall glass cases. Each mannequin wears a different outfit.

Ben:

Assuming no one wants to go into the nursery, Ben waits until the new door opens, then steps through.  He looks at what appears to be a display/dressing room with little enthusiasm.  

“You can tell much about someone by their choice of attire, but I doubt true names are in that list,” he says, though he still takes time to look at the clothing for any hints—especially if there is writing of any kind or perhaps clues left in pockets.

Perception:  15

Titaani is none too happy about being back on the boat, but excitedly jumps off at the prospect of exploring a new room. She looks at each outfit cheerfully, once again looking for any traces of magic. 

"We may not figure out true names, but there's no knowing what else we might find!"

Arcana: 19

The tall glass cases open easily. Nothing here appears to be obviously magical, although the fashion style skews toward those who like to advertise their magical powers. There is a child mannequin wearing a witchy dress, an adult mannequin wearing a flamboyant, off-the-shoulder dress, and others adorned in a dark, alluring gown, a green flowing cape, and several other outfits. All their pockets are empty, although the name “Natasha” is stitched into the collar of a cape sized for a child on the small mannequin. All the outfits are feminine in style.

Anyone who wishes: Make an Intelligence check. (If you have proficiency in History, tell me the roll with and without.)

Ben:

"Hmm, Natasha.  I wonder if that is the name of the little one in the nursery...Or maybe we have gotten incredibly lucky and that is the queen's true name and the garment is from her youth," says Ben, although he doesn't seem to think he could have gotten quite that lucky.

Intelligence check:  5

Pud steps out and inspects the fancy clothing. 

“Wow. Fancy stuff here.

Hmm…Natasha…?”

Int check: 19 + 6 for 25

DM: other than the child sized mannequin, are the others the same size? Or do they get increasingly larger?

Ben has never been well-versed in fashion.

Pud recognizes the adult mannequins, at least, as all representing Zybilna. These must be her outfits. He also vaguely recalls seeing one of these outfits in a woodcut he saw in a book once, several years ago, where it was identified as “The Witch Queen of Perrenland.” The mannequins are all adult-sized except the one smaller one.

Matilda leans against the wall looking annoyed and sullen....she may be exiting tween and entering teen....

Matilda, unlike the others, recognizes one of the mannequins as virtually identical to the one in the glass cabinet they passed outside the Hall of Illusions in the Witchlight Carnival. Another is dressed like the figure in Granny's thorny portrait gallery in Loomlurch – the one that was later replaced by her brother's terrified visage. 

" Thats her?  There was a mannequin like that one at the carnival."

" Is the carnival hers as well? Guess so since everything lost there ended up here...."

Matilda was becoming less and less convinced that waking up the queen was going to result in anything good.......but she didn't say anything because she didn't want to upset Titaani.

Titaani, oblivious to Matilda's concerns, takes the child like cape and drapes it over her own shoulders. "Let's take this with us! It could be useful!"

“…Natasha. That name rings a bell. I feel like it’s right there, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.”

Pud squeezes his eyes shut and scrunches up his nose as he tries to remember why all of this is beginning to sound so familiar. Then it hits him and his eyes pop open in amazement and he stares at one of the outfits on a mannequin.

“The Witch Queen of Perrenland? It can’t be. I remember, years ago,  flipping through some books that were all weird and spooky. I can’t remember where I was or when it was, that part is kinda foggy, but I remember seeing an old woodcut of someone wearing that outfit and the title of that person was The Witch Queen of Perrenland.

Don’t ask why, but that picture and that name is something I can’t forget.”

Pud turns to Matilda. 

“You saw this outfit at the carnival before you got stuck here? And then now it’s here?

I wonder if I saw that book at the carnival too. I could’ve. It makes sense. There was all kinds of weird stuff there.”

He looks at anyone else to see if they have any thoughts on the matter. 

“I dunno bout this. We gotta find a way to get Matilda’s little brother outta that thing. That’s for sure. And everyone seems to think that the Queen can help. So I guess it’s worth a try. But I just don’t know about this Queen lady anymore.”

Ben:

”Let’s try ‘The Witch Queen of Perrenland’ as a title in one of the blank books,” suggests Ben.

Where to? What next?