Matilda's key does not fit. But the clothes more-or-less do. Vansel holds up the colorful, threadbare housedress and shrugs. "I've worn worse." He throws it on, and looks a bit like a flamboyant, and rather hairy, washerwoman. An unidentifiable stain runs down the back of it, and one seam is split. "Much obliged! What do we do about this lock?"

"Let me try and pick it! I've got these magic gloves that work wonders on these things," Titaani suggests cheerfully, moving to the lock. "So hopefully this should work!"

Sleight of hand: 12

The door to the cage easily pops open under Titaani's expert (and arcanely-enhanced) attention. Vansel steps out onto the balcony. "Ahhhhhhh!" he exhales heartily and begins to perform some stretches and calisthenics, his worn dress hanging off him like a stained rag. "Much obliged, much obliged. I was getting a bit cramped in there! Now, have you seen a pool or spa about? I would love a good soak after that."

"Nothing but a disgusting, stinky swamp," Titaani says, wrinkling her nose, "And a pool inside filled with the remains of a slime monster."

Now that clothes have apparently been donned Matilda risks a peek and rejoins Titaani.

Vansel strides inside, off the balcony. "Ah! Nice kitchen!" He nods to the others and takes a small bow. "The name's Vansel. Nice to meet you! What's for dinner?" He scrapes something off a dirty pan with one hairy finger and samples it. "Onions! Tart! Wow!" He wrinkles his brow.

"Would you happen to know where this 'slime pool' is that Titanic was speaking of? I'm somewhat of a bathtub connoisseur, you see. Quite curious..." Peering into a cabinet, he discovers a mold-covered bottle of wine. Popping the cork, he begins to guzzle it. "Hey! Not bad at all!"

(Where to, next?)

"What say we leave this place to the satyr and commandeer that balloon?" offers Morgort. "The Soggy Court is too corrupt to have any moral clarity here. When they see what has become of Bavlorna they will only think of revenge. We might best retreat until the coming storm passes."

Ben:

”I still feel that what I lost at the Witchlight Carnival is here.  After we find that—and free any more prisoners along the way—I will be ready to leave,” says Ben.  “Oh,” he adds, “And perhaps we can drop off this stag head as we go to the being missing it on the bridge of talking frog king heads.”

“Let’s check if there is a secret passage at the top of the inside staircase,” suggests Ben, considering the rooms they have checked so far.

Horatio thinks for a moment before suggesting "We should not leave. We should ambush the soggy court. Capture them, and then appoint a regency or something. That is how the ducal succession fight, the one my brother went away to fight in, was eventually worked out. Then the lesser crooks who thrived under the hags can be held to justice. Like those evil rabbits, the toadstool things, and probably that witch-looking trader lady. We would also finally have a safe harbor in this strange land until we have made things right."

"I don't know much about politics," Titaani says, scratching her head in confusion. "But I don't think we should try to change things. We should save the fey queen first, and she can fix everything for us! That's what the archfey do best!"

" We need to find what Ben has lost.  Me and Pud have found ours....though I don't really feel like I've found Wirrun properly....but when I release him I will."

Horatio shrugs. "I haven't met anyone here who makes me think the Fey can handle things. If they could, why are we having to take all this on - to free a queen! - but virtually every capable adult does nothing. Sorry Titaani, but I know street crooks with more heart than most these people."

"Well, the way I see it, Titania sent me," Titaani counters, "And the lady Ben worships sent him, and maybe the fey compelled you and the others to come as well. Maybe we are the archfey's solution to the problems here."

Pud stands back listening to the debate while he wrestles with his own question of purpose.

He raises his hand as if asking for permission to speak.

"Honestly, I dunno what the heck I'm doing here. Was I sent here as part of some master plan?" He pauses, looks down and shruggs. "Maybe. I dunno. But you guys saved my butt and helped me find what was taken from me.  And now I wanna return the favor. That's my number one goal."

He turns to look at Matilda with a look of sadness and disappointment on his face. 

"Matilda, we still gotta get your little brother back. I promise you we'll figure things out. We still gotta help Ben, too. And Titaani, are you looking for something that was stolen from you too? After all that we've been through I can't believe I'm barely asking you this now.

Maybe once we're whole again we can fix all these other problems."

"Wait...." Horatio says, "You would be okay with that? Some evil Fey steals things from children, so the supposedly good ones send those children to fight the evil Fey? We nearly died, still might... and these supposed good ones, where are they? Why can't they show up to the fight?"

"Anyone want some?" offers Vansel, holding out the mold-covered bottle of wine for any takers. "It's not bad!" He takes another heavy swig.

"I think this whole swamp detour is a waste of time," grumbles Elkhorn, still nervously eyeing the wasps. "Sure, we all have an obligation to fight atrocity and corruption, to whatever extent we can. But I also need to find out what happened to my old adventuring companions –  Strongheart, Mercion, Ringlerun – we were the Valor’s Call, you know. We were in a mighty battle with the League of Malevolence in the Palace of Heart’s Desire, home of the archfey Zybilna... but then it all went black. If Zybilna can be freed, she will sort this mess."

"Oh yes! I completely forgot!" Titaani replies to Pud. "I've been so obsessed with heroics that I forgot the whole purpose of coming here in the first place. Yes, I did lose something. But I, um, I don't really know where it is. It could still be here. Or maybe it's in this wand?"

Titaani plays with her new wand for a moment while listening to Horatio, her brow knitting together into a troubled expression. "I don't know...sometimes I wonder if Titania even cares about me...but then again, every so often I feel my magic growing stronger, and that must mean that she does, right? I mean, when we were on the bridge in the mine, she sent that fey creature to protect us. And I think...I think that that means something, right?"

Titaani's sense of uncertainty disappears when Elkhorn speaks about Zybilna. "See! Elkhorn agrees with me. If we release the fey queen, she will fix everything for us."

Matilda nodded, " I think we go rescue the Queen...then she can fix the unicorns, and free my brother and fix everything else and stop any of the Hags from coming back."

Pud turns to Vansel, looks back at the gang debating stuff way over his head and then snaps back at Vansel.

"What the hay, I'll take a drink. Who knows how long I've been here and how old I really am."

Pud walks over to Vansel and takes a swig of whatever they're drinking. 

Vansel hands the bottle to Pud. He's already drunk most of it. Pud finds it sour and not something he'd like to drink any more of. "Not bad, eh?" asks Vansel. "Just need some music to enjoy it with. I wonder if there's more wine here?"