Matilda waits and watches ready to assist if asked.

Horatio and Pud have returned to the Banquet Hall, and look up, studying the balcony thirty feet above. It may take a few attempts, but it seems like a thrown, looped rope could be affixed onto the balcony rail with a good throw.

Ben and Titaani stand in the Servants' Quarters, where the servants are frozen in time, the sound of Titaani's tune on the bells attenuates to silence, and Ben wracks his mind for a "secret" to finish his rhyme with.

What looks at first to be a stray piece of parchment sliding out from the edge of a nearby dresser, a stick-thin man appears. Dressed in a faded brown dress coat, stockings, and buckled shoes, Thinnings asks, "What secret?"

Ben:

Turning slightly red-faced, Ben moves over and whispers to the new arrival.

Titaani hovers nearby nervously, respecting Ben enough to stay out of ear shot of his secret but desperate to hear what Thinnings has to say. 

Thinnings listens to Ben's confession and pauses thoughtfully, as if weighing this important information. Finally, he nods with a measure of approval.

"I see. Thank you. And who are you all? Why are you here? Who are you with?"

Pud looks up at the balcony and back at Horatio. 

“I got an idea. I got this rod that can expand. Hows about we tie it to the rope, you throw it up there, I make it expand and get it stuck in the rail? 

Or I can have Rizzo fly it up there. 

Or I can use magic to just send you up there.”

"Oh... umm, can we just throw it first? See if that works? I just wanted help. Hemp is heavy and that balcony is pretty high up there. If that doesn't work then we can try other things?" Horatio suggests. 

Matilda watched the boys work with a slight smirk...

"Or...we can throw it..."

Pud says with a shrug.

"Here, would you like some help ?

Ben:

”Greetings, Thinnings,” says Ben in a more normal voice.  “We are travelers from the mortal realm, brought here by the magic of the Witchlight Carnival.  We also have friends who have helped us here along the way as we defeated the hags usurping the rightful queen’s realm,” he continues.

”We seek to rescue Queen Zyblina from the depredations of the League of Malevolence, as well as help those whom they have harmed,” he concludes, trying to sum up their purpose succinctly.

Horatio ties one end of the rope to the heft of one of his hand axes, having Pud check the knot and ensure the tie-off is in the correct place for a jury-rigged grapple. Then he tries to throw it between two balcony bannisters. If it works, the hand axe will be wedged at the "T" between them. "Here's to hoping we don't lose this rope!" 

(( Athletics check, with advantage: 24 ))

If successful, he will climb up to secure it for the others. 

With Pud's help, Horatio manages to hook his makeshift grapple onto the railing of the balcony 30 feet above. 

Horatio climbs up to find a narrow balcony with two sets of double doors near the north end.  A harpsichord decorated with painted panels is situated at one end of the balcony between the exits.

Pud looks up from the bottom of the rope in the banquet hall while Matilda watches from the doorway.

"Rescue Queen Zyblina? Yes, then we are allies," mutters the thin man in a raspy voice, to Ben. “I have pledged my fealty to Zybilna of Prismeer, and I am nothing if not her loyal servant.”

"The hags left the League of Malevolence in the palace to guard the cauldron," he continues quietly, "although I thought I heard at least one of their voices not an hour ago, so perhaps they have returned. They used Zybilna’s cauldron to freeze her and most of her court. Only three members of the league—Kelek, Warduke, and Zargash—are in the palace presently, that I know of. Those miscreants have been searching Prismeer for a unicorn horn so that Kelek can free Ringlerun, his archenemy, from temporal stasis and steal his staff of power."

"Wait, so the unicorn horn unfreezes everyone?" Titaani says, shocked. "Do you know how?"

Horatio ties off the rope to secure the bannister better, retrieving his hand axe as he does. Then he gives Pud the thumbs up and calls down, "There are two sets of doors up here. Did you want to help me explore? If not, I'll wait for the others. I hate it when we get too split up. There's also some big... instrument? I don't know." 

Ben:

”Zargash is no more—he attempted to deceive and evade us, but we prevailed,” says Ben.

Smiling at the news of the horn, he adds, “Indeed, is this a unicorn’s horn that is needed separate from the unicorn itself, or would it be effective if attached to its proper owner—and not injure the unicorn itself?”

"To free a creature frozen in time, one must touch it with a unicorn horn while speaking the creature’s true name," answers Thinnings to Titaani. "Although I happen to know that 'Zybilna' is not Zybilna’s true name."

"I honestly don't know whether the horn must be attached or detached. I just know that the League was actively searching for one, so that they could steal the frozen wizard's staff," he adds, turning to Ben. "I would have hoped you might have found an alternative to slaying Zargash, as horrid as he may be. I abhor violence, although the League certainly thinks otherwise." Thinnings shakes his head sadly.

--

Meanwhile, up on the balcony, Horatio notices that one set of doors near the harpsichord –  the one on the west wall – is decorated with the crowned lion motif they saw downstairs on the library's door.

Ben:

”Thank you for the information, Thinnings.  We could also use your aid in getting through the doors, as the queen is indisposed and can’t give us permission.  We seek to get to her private library—hopefully the key to finding her true name lies within,” says Ben.

"I like your eyes, by the way," Titaani adds somewhat unhelpfully, pointing to Thinning's glowing eyes. "Can you see in the dark?"

Matilda shrugs and follows after Horatio....