"Best not to look in there," grumbles King Gullop with paternal authority. "Private business of Bavlorna's."

Titaani notes that the book's title is "Big Book of Bad Blood" and from the quick glance she got, seems to be a handwritten journal, with headings like "Molubb XVI"

"Bultis will fetch you a rowboat you may take to see Bavlorna," he continues, gesturing to one of his underlings.

" Give the fly brooch", Matilda whispered to T.

Titaani hurriedly slams the book shut. "What a psycho," she mutters under her breath. At Matilda's suggestion, she goes over to the king nervously, unpinning the brooch and holding it up like an offering. "Your honour, please accept this humble gift as a...uh..token of thanks from us. It's a brooch that is more befitting of your status than mine." 

Ben:

”Ah yes, and Duke Ickrind sends his regards,” adds Ben, “though I am sure he is still recovering from his valiant attempt to save the balloon factory from the fire.”

OOC:  not that any of the rest of us know about it, but does Cadwallader have any side quest to accomplish before we leave?

"Oh, goodness, you shouldn't have!" swoons the King taking the brass brooch and holding it up for all to see. "Very thoughtful of you."

"Now run along and get that book back to Bavlorna, quickly now," adds the King.

A bullywug with a tall, beehive-like wig has summoned a pair of rowboats to the muddy islet containing the king's gazebo. The rowers get out and hand you both sets of oars.

"That way" whispers the wigged frogoid as he points south into the fogbank. 

"I'll wait here for you," pipes in Clapperclaw quietly, who's been hanging around the party ever since you met him on the bridge. "She makes me nervous. But please do look for my head!"

"Of course!" Titaani beams back to the king, giving him a curtsy. "We'll take our leave then, your grace."

On her way to the rowboats, she passes Clapperjaw and gives him a hug. "I promise we'll look for your head! You deserved better than to be stolen from." she then turns back and looks around at her party. There is a ferocity in her eyes, tempered only with loyalty. "All of us did." 

Ben:

”May what has been taken be returned” replies Ben hopefully, as he gets on the boat and prepares to meet the entity likely responsible for his mysterious loss these many years ago…

Horatio:

A sigh of disbelief accompanies a mixture of fear and determination. Once the group are in the boats heading away from the strange noble court he says, "What is our plan, exactly? I mean, she's got magic right? We almost lost to that rabbit guy, and he was afraid of Bavlorna. All of these people are. She... she made those heads talk... forever like that. What is it that we think we can do to even harm her? And how do we intend to do it faster than she can respond?" 

"Well, I'm good at making things that aren't real," Titaani says, using minor illusion to make the image of a small rainbow to prove her point. "We can use this kind of thing for distractions, if you like. I can make them more complicated too."

Matilda nodded, " She is very powerful.......I don't think we have much of a chance but maybe she might take me in exchange for my brother."

" And if not......I'm planning on stabbing her in the face a lot."

The party is given two small rowboats, two sets of oars, but no guides. 

Nevertheless, pushing off into the fogbank on the pungent but placid waters of the lake, your destination becomes immediately clear:

Barely fifty feet from the king's muddy island, a rickety wooden staircase with no railing rises from the lake, wrapping around a slender ancient stone cylinder extending up into the dense fog. A shadow suggests something very substantial overhead. Tall, thick wooden stilts extend upward, supporting something quite big.

It's easy enough to approach and tie your boats up at the bottom of the stairway.

Ben:

Moving up the stairs cautiously, Ben says, "Those of you given to prayer, now might be a good time."  He himself seems to be either lost in thought or in a divine connection himself.

Titaani shivers. "This place is so spooky...also, Matilda, please don't give yourself up. You're my friend!" she declares, drawing her boomerang. "We can do this. As for prayer, well..."

Titaani places her crystal to her lips, kissing it. "Please protect us, Queen Titania." She whispers fervently into it, and Tiny nuzzles her in response, recognising her anxiety. 

Cadwallader:

The "morning" had been all hustle and bustle with never a moment unobserved to speak with the others about his note. Then they were immediately shooed off after their brief meeting with the king. And now here he was, sitting in a rowboat, wearing a ridiculous cape, staring up at a hag's lair. The humid swamp air now seemed to carry a chill that settled into his veins.

"Is there any advantage to subterfuge? Other than presenting ourselves as representatives to get in the door, is there any reason not to simply attack her once we're all inside? I can't imagine she will be more willing to just walk away than Longscarf was."

As they near the landing Cad casts mage armor upon himself.

Horatio starts to climb the steps, then stops suddenly. "Stop! I have sn idea!"

He starts pulling tools from his bag until he produces a saw and a small hatchet. "I'm a carpenter, remember? We don't need to go up when we can just cut these ridiculously long stilts and cause her home to crash down to us." 

After tying up your rowboats, the party climbs four flights of rickety wooden steps through the dense fog. It ends at a trapdoor on the underside of a large wooden structure suspended some 35 feet above the lake on stilts. The trapdoor consists of moldy wooden planks, many of which are swollen and warped. All is quiet.

The party pauses below the strange structure, held up on stilts 35 feet above the lake in the fog. The only sounds are the buzzing of the flies and the faint drifting off-key music from the bullywug palace somewhere to the northeast. 

You contemplate Horatio's idea of sawing through the stilts. There are many stilts, but they are relatively thin (many just six or eight inches in diameter) and many look rotten and unsound. It would take some time and might create attention-gathering sounds or vibrations, but it certainly could pay off in a satisfying way. There is also the issue of the stone cylinder rising out of the swamp directly under the center of the building. It's about five feet in diameter and appears to be made of ancient, but quite solid, masonry. It may also help support the building.

The trap door at the top of the stairs under the building is also rotten and unsound by the looks of it, but unlocked and unguarded.

" My brother might be in there...."

" If he's not we could set it on fire........but you might lose the things you have lost."

Cadwallader:

Cad sizes up the building. "It might burn, but it's so damp it won't go up in a whoosh so she'll have time to get out. And sawing through the stilts will take a while and will definitely alert her. I think our best option is to go in under the guise of peaceful visitors, and on some signal all let her have it. Another thing: when we go in, take care not to all bunch together; there are several spells that are very effective against grouped enemies."

Ben:

While a peaceful outcome is unlikely, I hope that negotiation will at least help us understand better what is going on,” says Ben hopefully.