Ben:

“Do not be afraid, young ones, we may be able to help you.  Tell me, what is wrong with the young dwarf here?” asks Ben with genuine concern as he moves into the room.

Titaani closes the door behind her and drops the illusion, so as to not frighten the kids. 

(If Ben is able to definitively determine this is a disease, he plans to use his Lay on Hands ability to cure it.  If he can’t tell, he plans to cast Detect Poison and Disease to make sure he has the right diagnosis before he uses the LOH).

Ben waits patiently for a response before getting any closer in order not to frighten the children.

Matilda looks at the other boy in the room, " You are a good friend to care for him so.  But we will take care of him now and I'm sure my friend can help him be well."

The human boy hisses for the Ben and Matilda to be quiet, nodding toward the balcony where you can see a couple of tin soldiers march by the window.

"Brottor is poisoned," whispers the boy, after doing a double-take at the sight of Granny transforming into a gnome. "He fell gravely ill after eating something from the garden. I'm taking care of him."

(Ben or anyone may make a medicine check to verify this or to try to learn more, or he may act on either of his more arcane plans.)

Titaani slips in (ditching the moths?) and presumably Horatio has also joined you. (Did Titaani just shut Sowpig out on the landing?)

Sowpig knocks. "Hello?"

Ben:

Moving over to the ill child, Ben looks carefully for signs of poisoning…though he is better at finding weaknesses in stone than flesh.

Medicine:  12

(Original roll of 3).

Unable to confirm the friend’s diagnosis, Ben casts Detect Poison and Disease, then uses his Lay on Hands ability to cure the correct malady.

Titaani does shut sowpig out, and at her call, opens the door just slightly.

"Could you distract this girl, please?" she politely asks the moths outside, and then shuts the door again. 

Animal handling: 19

With an arcane word and a wave of his holy amulet, Ben casts Detect Poison and Disease. He then has a clear vision of the young dwarf eating nightshade from granny's garden on a dare. Ben knows that if this poison remains untreated, the dwarf will fall into a coma in a few hours and may well die. But applying his blessed touch, the paladin lays his hands upon the unfortunate youth and neutralizes the poison within him. The dwarven boy is cured.

Titaani has less luck with the moths. Half of them swarm through the crack and inside the room; they cling in a huge clump to the window overlooking the balcony and pumpkin patch below. The good news, however, is that the tin soldiers on the balcony now have no way to see what's happening inside.

"Are we playing a game?" asks Sowpig of Titaani as she lets the moths in.

"I feel better," says the young dwarf sitting up. "Thank you, mister."

Ben:

”No more Nightshade, young one.  Come, let’s get out of this place, unless there are other children trapped here,” responds Ben, adding, “My name is Ben, by the way.”

" Ok....now to get everyone out without getting murdered....."

" Any ideas?  The hag has to be back any moment."

" Do any of you kids know a quick way out of this place?", Matilda asked quickly.

"Yep! A game. We're definitely playing a game," Titaani lies through gritted teeth. "Hide and seek. And it's your turn to hide! Quick, hurry, or I'll find you!" 

I'm going to have to remember not to tell my moms how much lying I did during this adventure, the gnome thinks to herself, closing the door on Sowpig once again. 

Deception: 19

Sowpig contemplates Titaani's response. Contesting INT check: 6  She turns and looks for a place to hide, her demeanor serious and businesslike. She begins to go back downstairs.

"I'm Pud," replies the human boy to Ben, still keeping his voice quiet. "This is Brottor." Brottor, getting up slowly and testing his legs, nods.

"Granny's probably still in her garden," continues Pud to Matilda. "She usually is there a few hours, but soon she will come back – into the kitchen or maybe the study. Before bed she does an inspection of the sewing room, the textile mill, and the workshop. Then I guess she miniaturizes herself and sleeps inside the dollhouse in her bedroom. But Cradefall is around somewhere, and her tin soldiers, and her boggles, and her redcaps... Any of them could catch us if we try to leave..." 

Horatio suggests, "This place is just a big tree on its side, right? What if we slip out a window on an upper floor and run north on top of the tree side? We could jump into the stream and escape to the woods unseen that way."

Matilda looks to Ben and Titaani to see if they agree with Horatio after Puds explanation.

Ben:

”Not a bad idea, but it is a long way down and a fall might be deadly…maybe scout the route first, realizing we will need it to be safe enough for the children to traverse,” responds Ben.  

“Or we could just try to go out the way we came in, but they may be expecting that,” he muses.

Horatio looks out the Northernmost window to determine the drop - if it is severe he looks to the exterior stairs down from the Western door as a way to gain roof access.

(( image posted in Discord for reference ))

(The windows are small, but you reckon you could all squeeze through, one by one, if you wanted to. There are branches outside the window that you could climb down or try to transverse, although they look both fragile and scratchy. Exiting through the balcony would obviously be more comfortable, but you recall seeing at least one tin soldier just outside the door, at least before the moths blocked your view outside.)

Ben:

"I can be a distraction if we need one," says Ben, "And I have a little healing remaining if someone falls and gets hurt.  Do we have anything that can be used as a rope to help everyone down with less risk of falling?  I can hold the end of the rope and come down last, healing any who have fallen enough to get them on their feet."

"I don't have a rope," Titaani informs Ben sadly. "Also, we can't forget we have a unicorn we need to save." 

Ben:

”Good point.  We did pick up some new people lately,” answers Ben.  “Tell me,” he asks the newly freed captives, “has anyone seen a captured unicorn or have any idea where he might be imprisoned?”