(That picture is absolutely adorable!! Also pretty funny even though Titaani is super upset right now)

"Can you fix her?" Titaani sobs, leaning into Ben's arms. "I've only known her for a little while, but to be honest..even in that little bit of time..she's become like a sister to me. So Ben...can you make those fairies change her back to the way she was? Please?"

More and more pixies pop into view, until a full two dozen are staring at you from the branches of the dying tree.

"Your friend Matilda is okay. See?" The goat transforms back into Matilda. She is unharmed.

"We'll release her new pet soon, too, although fearsome creatures like owlbears make us a little nervous. I'm less inclined to allow Zarak free quite yet – his motives are self-serving and dangerous. But we have a more immediate problem – those three awful homicidal redcaps will return to their true forms in the next ten minutes. We can return them to goats, of course, but only for so long. We don’t know what else to do. Are you familiar with these redcapped stone-throwers? They started appearing when Granny Nightshade took over the forest. Like their creator, the redcaps appear to have no redeeming qualities. The hag grows the redcaps in a garden near her lair, which is inside a fallen tree that spans a ravine."

"My name is Amaryllis," says the spokespixie. "And this is Calluna and Zinnia," she adds, waving to her two closest neighbors with a smile. "As to Lamorna, she will be okay. This wasn't the first attempt. They captured her mate, you know. But she'll be back in a week or a month."

Matilda returned to her human form on all fours and chewing on some grass seemingly none the worse for her experience. 

" That was interesting!"

" Redcaps?  Weird little men with iron shoes and bloody cleavers?  I thought they were just Grans stories...."

" I'm feeling a little homicidal myself...", she growled looking around for Zarak.

She threw an arm around Titaani, " What do you say, Sis? Should we take care of these murder-goblins for our friends?  Maybe they can permanently change Zarak into something?"

Ben:

Translating if needed as the pixies speak, Ben bows and says, "Many thanks for sparing us and capturing the foe who attempted to kill Lamorna.  Yes, she was able to tell us of her kidnapped mate before she was attacked.  We were contacting her to look for help freeing some kidnapped children from Granny Nightshade.  Will of the Feywild and the Getawag Gang told us about their friends enslaved by Nighshade and we want to help them.  Now that we know of her mate we will endeavor to rescue him as well."

Looking at the goats, Ben says, "Well, we could slaughter them while they are in goat form, but that seems heartless.  Is there a place nearby where they can be stranded to live out their lives without being able to escape and threaten us again?  I noted there was misdirection magic around the unicorn's Wayward Pool.  Is there a similar place we can take the Redcaps?  We could take Zarak there as well."

"Good idea, sis!" Titaani beams, giving Matilda a hug. "I'm so glad you're ok."

Titaani turns back to the paladin. "Ben, are you sure the pixies can't keep the assassin in this form?" she goes over and picks up the chicken. "I mean, he just seems so harmless."

" Or......I could.....like on the farm....its quick...Zarak wouldn't suffer."

Even as she said the words Matilda regretted them but the anger at the Assassins targetting of the unicorn was still there......

Titaani considers the chicken for a while before sighing. "Part of me wants to...I mean, you all saw how I tried to earlier...but..."

Titaani places the chicken down, before plonking down on the ground herself, watching the bird peck at the ground. 

"But the thing is, my moms taught me that all life is precious. I mean, we don't even eat meat back home. But I was willing to kill this man...I wonder if I'm losing myself in this place."

For the first time, Titaani seems genuinely unhappy to be in the feywild. 

"Please don't hurt the goats. Or the chicken. If you kill one, they will just return faster to their true form," instructs Amaryllis. "We can't keep them in these forms long. We are not so powerful as that! They will return all too soon. What can we do?"

"Iron shoes - yes!" cries Calluna to Matilda. "And sickles. Are you familiar with these terrors?"  She points to the three rusty sickles lying in the dead leaves

"Grandfather Oak is very sick. We can't have these redcaps throwing rocks at us. And as for this Zarak – he is clearly a danger."

Ben:

Translating as needed, Ben says, “If you don’t mind, may I take a look at Grandfather Oak while you decide what to do with these interlopers?   I have been blessed with some small amount of healing that may prove beneficial.”

If the answer is yes, Ben will pull out his holy symbol and look into its reflective depths, summoning divine magic to allow him to Detect Poison and Disease.  He then focuses the mirrored surface on Grandfather Oak to see what he might find.

Matilda picked up each of the rusty sickles and pitched them into the distance in random directions then went to check on owlbear.

Still somewhat sullen, Titaani, remaining where she is, sadly takes her crystal off and recreates the same ritual she used on Tiny when she was in the goldspinner's cave. However, this time, she does it over an empty space on the ground roughly Tiny sized. 

"I hope this works," She mutters as her eyes begin to glow purple with fey power. 

(find familiar using pact of the chain feature to summon Tiny again if possible. Cast as a ritual)

Gerrard examines the health of the sickly old tree. "Grandfather oak, upon whom we built our village, is sickened by Granny Nightshade's presence," explains Amaryllis. "Ridding Thither of her might be the only way to return the tree to good health." Gerrard finds neither disease nor poison within the old tree – whatever is harming this tree must be of an arcane nature, unless it is simply nature taking its course.

Matilda flings the sickles deep into the underbrush. Owlbear-goat is contentedly munching a fern.

With a subtle >pop< Tiny quietly returns to the world.

Ben:

Taking advantage of the spell to scan for poisons and diseases in his friends and the other creatures nearby, Ben says, "Yet another reason to rid this realm of Granny Nightshade."

"If there is no place we can take the enemies where their threat can be neutralized, we may have to just drive them off in goat and chicken form, hoping they will become lost an unable to find this glade again.  Anyone else have ideas?" asks Ben.

"Trap them in a cage maybe?" Titaani suggests, her smile returning as she buries her face into Tiny's fur lovingly. "Horatio is good at working wood, maybe he can - hey, wait a minute!"

Titaani pulls herself away from Tiny and looks around wildly around for the fighter. "Oh no...did we leave him on that island?"

Still distracted by...well...everything Matilda looks around in response, " Oh dear! Where is he?"

Meanwhile, somewhere behind them, Horatio finally pulls himself out of the comfortable waters of the lake.

The aged centaur continues his sad talk with Horatio. "Loomlurch is just over the river and past the fairy ring. Where the forest becomes dark. Over one of the bridges of tree roots that crosses a dried-up riverbed – Granny's garden is on one side, the goblin market is on the other. Nightshade lives there. But it may be too late, anyway. I expect this pool will be the last place of peace to be corrupted, but it's only a matter of time..."

-----

"Our concentration is wavering," says Amaryllis to Gerrard. "I'm not sure what to do with these redcaps. They will return any moment..."

The goats' forms begin to waver...

" Maybe they'll be smart and run away now they are unarmed?"

" If not....", she held her dagger ready.

( Readied action, attack the nearest Redcap if they attack first.)

Ben:

Shield and magical dagger drawn, Ben prepares for the resumption of combat.  He speaks as they begin to return to their true forms, saying, “Leave now and never return, lest we be forced to slay you!”

Intimidation:  18

Three small creatures – resembling hunched, wizened gnomes – appear where the goats stood peacefully grazing a moment ago. Their huge red hats glisten with wet blood. They look around for their missing sickles, then glare at the readied party.

They scoff at Ben's attempt to bully them, and stomp their massive iron boots. "Give us back our sickles! Immediately!"

Owlbear-goat backs away nervously, while Zarak-chicken runs for cover under a bush.