Pud takes a closer, arcanely-enhanced look at the thin vial. It turns out to contain mummy dust, an inhaled poison. (Upon shattering, it will release a cloud of poisonous dust that fills a 10-foot-radius sphere centered on the vial. The dust spreads around corners and settles quickly. Any creature in the dust cloud must succeed on a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or be cursed with mummy rot. A creature cursed in this way can’t regain hit points, and its hit point maximum decreases by 10 (3d6) for every 24 hours that elapse. If the curse reduces the target’s hit point maximum to 0, the target dies, and its body turns to dust. The curse lasts until removed by a remove curse spell or similar magic.)

As you slowly ascend the dead, rocky moonscape higher into the mountains, a cold, hard rain begins to fall. The winds become fierce, howling through gaps in the rock. A winged beast – a huge bird of some kind, but with antlers – is silhouetted in the distance against flashes of lighting. "Almost there!" cries Amidor again, cheerfully.

After thanking the brigganocks for the chain, Titaani heads out with the others, riding on top of Tiny. As she goes to ask Ben if she could borrow his wish stone, the figure in the sky catches her eye. Momentarily distracted, she rides up beside Amidor and points it out to him.

“Hey, Amidor, what do you suppose that thing is?” She asks curiously. “Some kind of flying moose? Or a bird with two pairs of wings?”

Ben:

A bit worried that they are traveling up into the mountains to get to a swamp, Ben realizes the Feywild may not have the same geographical rules as the world he is used to.  Still, some doubts begin to form and he wonders if they are being led astray…

Insight:  12

"Pantomimists, I'm told," answers Amidor. "Known as the Greyhawk Mummers. Don't know much about them. Deal with Endolyn gone bad, I expect."

Ben watches Amidor carefully. Amidor seems to be genuinely confident in his actions; Ben doesn't detect any malice or deception on his part. 

You continue to climb. The wind is cold, the rain stings, the rocky crags grow steeper and higher around you as the slope continues to increase.

But then a small shelf opens up on your left, carved out of the stone, walled on three sides with the natural wet rock. At its center is a throne hewn from a boulder and etched with symbols. An inscription is engraved around the seat of the throne, in a script you recognize as...alas...Elvish.

"The Astronomer’s Throne, they call it," announces Amidor. "Don't know its history. A poor place for a throne, in my opinion. Nothing but rocks to look at. Depressing."

As Pud focuses in on this tiny glass vial, his eyes bug out wide as he realizes what it is. He questions whether or not to get rid of it or keep it. He can toss it off the side of this mountain and be done with it. 

Pud decides to keep the vial. Who knows, it might come in handy. He secures the vial on his belt pouch along with his other elixirs. He makes sure to keep this vial a few slots over by itself so that he doesn’t get them mixed up. 

Matilda looks at the others, " Should I sit on it?"

Ben:

”Sure, give it a try.  Maybe it reveals some great truths of the stars, and we have been dealing with the moon and sun recently—it could be important.  If only someone here could read Elvish,” Ben responds.

Not needing to be told twice Matilda jumped up and sat on the throne.

While the others take a much-needed break from the climb, Matilda hops up onto the throne.

She immediately begins to feel cold and drowsy, overcome by an almost irresistible urge to sleep...

Pud hops off horse to check out the throne. Then he notices notices Matilda looking a little funny.

"Hey...uh. Matilda. You okay? You look a little tired."

Pud waves his hand in front of her face and snaps his fingers. 

"You okay?"

Matilda is utterly exhausted from all the fighting and talking.....she does not resist the pull of sleep....

Matilda slumps over, her eyes unfocused but not quite closed. She is unresponsive.

Ben:

Concerned, Ben checks on Matilda to see if she is okay.  If he thinks she is in danger, he will pull her off the throne.

Medicine:  3

Insight:  13

Matilda is not asleep, but neither does she seem to be aware of her surroundings. She's in a trance of some kind.

“What’s going on?” Titaani asks in a terrified voice, jumping off of Tiny and running up to the throne. “What happened to my sister?!”

Not bothering to do a medicine check, she immediately begins to drag Matilda off the throne. 

Titaani drags Matilda's limp form off the throne. She remains in a trace, focusing a thousand miles out into the stormy skies. A cold rain continues to fall; the winds whistle through the tight mountain passes above and below.

Despair and a sense of helplessness grips Horatio. With nothing else to offer he yells to the others, "What if we smash the throne?"

Ben:

”How is this possible?  She just sat down!” exclaims Ben.  He casts a spell of protection on her, just in case it might help (Protection from Evil).

“Rizzo, watch our backs. Make sure no one sneaks up on us!”

Pud helps Titaani pull Matilda off the throne. 

“Hey, don’t worry. We got you, Matilda!”

Pud casts identify to see if he can tell what’s going on. 

Ben casts a protective ward over Matilda, who rests limply in Titaani's arms.

She suddenly jerks, violently, as if shot through with electricity, and then relaxes again, staring blankly up into the rain.

(Does Pud want to cast his spell upon Matilda, or upon the throne?)