“Our play is called…the um…the tragedy of the princess who befriended a dragon!” Titaani said quickly. “A tale so sad it has been known to make even the coldest of hearts melt with tears.”

(On mobile, so no fonts)

Matilda bowed clumsily to the audience.

"...Uh..." continues Stagefright, still focusing his attention on the balcony above, "May we present { '𝕋he 𝕋ragedy of the 𝕡rincess who 𝔹efriended a 𝔻ragon' } – A tale of sadness and cold hearts and tears!” 

He bows again deeply before hustling away, but not before hissing to the trio on stage, "Don't forget your lines!" 

The audience looks up at you expectantly. Stagefright watches anxiously from the wings.

-----

Meanwhile, Ben peers through the arcane door-mouth as Gleam invisibly searches the prison. Ben can see little from his vantage point. But then he sees one of the levers near a door swing by an unseen hand, and a door open, then quiet voices. Finally, a figure emerges. An elf, her face partially hidden under a sun mask, carrying a book in one hand and a thin crystal goblet in the other. She approaches the door nervously. "Am I free?" she asks Ben from the other side of the door.

Ben:

"Are you Gleam's sister?  She is here, invisible, and has freed you--she is probably still in there checking the other prisoners," says Ben.  "Come, step outside of the prison while the blade keeps the door open.  You are on the way to freedom, but the only way to be truly free is to defeat the hags and restore the fairy queen...and for that we need your help.  Oh, and take these clothes to disguise yourself--you and Gleam need to not be seen until it is time."  Ben takes off the outer layer of clothing he had been using as a disguise (like one of the audience members) and hands it to the elf.

"Gleam," he calls into the prison, "Free whomever else you can and let's get out of here.  The show is probably starting soon and we need to get back--after maybe disabling that orrery."

"Uh.." Titaani starts, immediately forgetting her lines. Looking back at Matilda and Pud, the little gnome decides to improvise, placing her hand on her forehead dramatically. "Oh! Oh, I am so terribly alone! If only I had a friend to keep me company, after all, what use is a castle," she pauses to cast minor illusion to create the silhouette of a castle behind her "If I have no one to share it with?"

She glances at Matilda out of the corner of her eye, hoping she'll continue. 

Quote from queen_of_ashes19 >>

"Uh.." Titaani starts, immediately forgetting her lines. Looking back at Matilda and Pud, the little gnome decides to improvise, placing her hand on her forehead dramatically. "Oh! Oh, I am so terribly alone! If only I had a friend to keep me company, after all, what use is a castle," she pauses to cast minor illusion to create the silhouette of a castle behind her "If I have no one to share it with?"

She glances at Matilda out of the corner of her eye, hoping she'll continue. 

Matilda bunched up her muscles squatting before leaping impossibly high into the air to spread her 'wings' and dive down toward Titaani. ( Casts Jump)

" You can keep my belly company! And I'll have your castle too!", Matilda growled draconically.

Performance- 7

Stagefright rolls his eyes and hisses at Matilda-dragon, "Am I to make pie from these crumbs?"

---

Upstairs, Glister puts her goblet and book down (Tales from the Gloaming Court, Vol. 8. It's a hefty, green-covered tome with a withered frog stitched into its spine) and crawls through the opening. She nods at Ben's comments and takes the cloak. “My sister and I need to reach the Fey Beacons, so we can use them to return to the carnival. But first, we'll help you destroy Endelyn for good, if that's your plan.” Then she adds, "Thank you for helping Gleam find me."

"Aah! Save me, servant!" Titaani cries to Pud, running away from Matilda. "I only wished to be friends with this dragon, but now she will surely eat me alive! How terribly tragic!"

Performance for this post and the other post (because I forgot, sorry): 18

The audience watches, rapt. Stagefright hisses at Titaani, "'No, master! He turned to stone.'" 

Ben:

Ben nods and says, “Yes, that is our goal, Glister.  Please, put on this disguise for your protection.  If we can smuggle you and your sister into the audience, perhaps you can stay hidden, then make your appearance at the right moment.”

Turning back to the prison, he says to the invisible Gleam, “Let me know when you are out of there so we can move on. I don’t know how much longer this prop will work.”

While he is waiting, Ben glances over at the orrery, wondering how he might try to disable it.

Perception:  24

Glister puts on the gray cloak. “I overheard some goblins talking about a belfry in one of the turrets. Endelyn boarded up the belfry to prevent others from ringing the bell. Apparently, it’s a way to reach the Palace of Heart’s Desire.”

"We will not be separated again," adds invisible Gleam. 

Ben examines the scene in the next room. It's a cylindrical chamber that houses a whirring contraption bolted to a revolving metal disk that serves as its base. Metal spheres and sickles are attached to the ends of long metal arms that sweep back and forth, clicking loudly and rhythmically like the hands of a giant metronome. The apparatus is inlaid with characters from strange alphabets, and smoky wisps in the shapes of these letters rise from the contraption as it revolves. The whole device hums and crackles with lightning.

Rising from the middle of the mechanism is an eighty-foot-tall copper pole made of eight ten-foot-long lightning rods attached end to end. It extends upward past a ring-shaped gallery that forms the chamber’s upper level, through a hole in the fifty-foot-high domed ceiling. Based on the crackling of potent electrical charges, approaching the central lightning rod – let alone touching it – looks lethally hazardous.

Three goblins wearing overalls and tinted goggles use brooms to sweep the floor, seemingly untroubled by the noise.

Horatio tries to ascertain the best way to help Titaani, Pud, and Matilda in case they have to flee quickly. He makes his way to the southern stage access area by the elevator and looks up at the ceiling, trying to ascertain if there are scaffolds or catwalks above. If so, he looks to see if there are counter-weighted sandbags or other heavy objects up there that could be used to cause mayhem, as well as any armed guards from above. (( Perception 13 ))

Ben:

Once he is sure that Gleam is out of the prison and has freed anyone else who might have been in there, Ben retrieves the scimitar from the door's mouth.  Looking at his own armored at totally visible self, he says, "Glister, Gleam, you stand a lot better chance to sneak through the library and into the audience without me tagging along.  Go ahead when you are ready, and I will see what I can do about that orrery while I give you a head start."

Ben heads into the orrery room and looks for a way to gum up the mechanism without actually touching the metal parts and getting electrocuted.  "Any ideas, Golmo?  Can we wreck this machine without being killed?"

(Ben is considering using the scimitar or maybe one of the goblin brooms to wedge under the rotating disc support and make the machine grind to a halt.  He could also pelt it with radiant damage if there is a necrotic component powering some portion of the machine).

Matilda looked at Stagefright and rolled her own eyes, before racing around the stage and around her fellow actors at blistering speed before stopping dead in front of Pud. ( Expeditious Retreat)

" DO NOT CRY! Do not fret so, Princess for I propose a trade.  I will be your friend and my hunger will be sated. All needs be your servant given unto me as my repast."

Performance- 14

"Oh, dragon, you are too kind!" Titaani says, kneeling down in front of Matilda. "Forgive me, servant, but it must be this way. Your life for the happiness of your monarch."

Performance: 4

I'm going to spend a luck point on that roll: 13

Gleam (invisible) and Glister (disguised) depart downstairs. "There are no other prisoners in there," notes Gleam to Ben before she goes.

Next, Ben examines the machine in the next room. There’s nothing very delicate about it. The parts are large and heavy and everything crackles with electricity. A scimitar would probably do little, at least physically, to jam it. The three goblins sweeping the periphery look up at him but then go about their business. As the contraption turns, it emits smoke in the form of letters that occasionally spell out words. Golmo peeks out of Ben's pocket. "I have no idea what that is, but don't touch it whatever you do!" remarks Golmo. "I guess you could knock the big lightning rod down if you hit the bottom with enough force, like a catapult maybe. It doesn't seem to power anything other than this weird machine!"

----

Stagefright exhales in exasperation at Matilda, Pud, and Titaani. "Lines, Lines!" he croaks, his voice trailing into a pleading whine.

Suddenly, Elkhorn scrambles onto the stage, clumsily. He takes a bow to the audience and shouts, woodenly, "Strange bedfellows, these ones!!" Then he takes a second bow. "I am a cowardly noble, and I fear for my safety!" He looks around dramatically for an escape.

--

Horatio peeks out of the southern hallway, looking up into the heights above the amphitheater. He sees no guards, but he can see a dozen shuttered cylinders operated by the goblins in theater masks using oddly hairy iron ropes. The shutters on the cylinders open and close to project light of various colors from heatless-looking flames within each. There are no formal catwalks, but rather a web of cables and wire overhead (and dangling down) which the goblins climb and traverse. He can also see the hag forty feet above, on a balcony built into a tower, watching the stage through opera glasses. There is no ceiling - the amphitheater is open-air. Black storm clouds roil low overhead, and lightning flashes in the distance, followed by low rolling thunder.

Pud shuffles about with his hunched back. He approaches the crowd and speaks in the most mean spirited spiteful voice he can muster.

“Oh, joy! Please, swallow me up you wretched beast!

Doing so would rid me of my pitiful existence living a life in servitude of this princess! One so spoiled rotten and blind to her old crone of a mother’s true nature!

But, know this! You’re wretched old mother’s days are numbered!”

Performance check: 3 

Ben:

"Interesting, Golmo, do you think one of these statues of armor with the halberd would be enough impact if I got a running start and hurled it?  Or are you thinking a true siege engine kind of impact?" Ben says, eyeing one of the statues flanking the entry to the prison...

If Golmo thinks it could work, Ben gives it a shot:

Stagefright covers his eyes with one hand and shakes his head defeatedly. The audience stares silently, as does the figure high up on the balcony. They watch expectantly for more of this odd performance.

--

Golmo is somewhat skeptical that throwing things at the base of the lightning rod would take it down, but he confesses his complete ignorance as to how this thing might be built. 

The 80-foot-tall lightning rod forms the machine's vertical axis, and is divided into eight 10-foot sections. The bottom ten-foot section alone looks like it weighs at least 100 pounds and is probably relatively difficult to damage (i.e. a high-ish AC.)

Examining one of the rusty suits of armor, Ben discovers that it contains the inanimate skeleton of a goblin propped up inside it; lifting the rusty visor on its helmet reveals its grinning skull. But suddenly the poorly-balanced suits topples over, producing a loud clatter as the armor and skeletons break apart on the floor.

In response, the mouth on the door reappears. “You shall not pass! Back, I command you!”