"Mmm, they probably aren't real ants, I reckon," Titaani muses to Tiny. Popping one of the lollypops into her mouth, she makes her way over to where Ben and Matilda are. 

D8: 5

Ben:

Nodding, Ben goes to wander past the stalls, not particularly interested in the candy but trying to properly maintain the ruse.

Titaani (and her gear) is reduced to half her size. Already a diminutive 3.5' tall, she is now barely 21" tall and less than ten pounds in weight. (She is now Tiny in size.)
Tiny sniffs her curiously.

~~

Meanwhile, the goblin produces a fine set of smithing tools from somewhere inside his wagon, in exchange for the ticket.

"Throw in some ingots of steel and we have a deal." Says Horatio, sliding the ticket to the vendor. 

Matilda called over to Horatio, " Do they have any swords?"

Matilda is trying to remain stoic and not at all interested in the carnival but suddenly doll-sized Titaani definitely captures her attention.

She squees and just barely restrains herself from scooping her up into her pocket.....

Horatio calls back to Matilda, "I've already made my offer and do not want to renege, but I will ask." He looks at the vendor, "Well, if I throw in the daggers and rescind my request for the ingots, could you equip my friend here with a sword as well?"

" I have a ticket too if that helps!", she said over her shoulder as she stared at Titaani.

Ben:

His interest piqued, Ben says, “I have some wings from the Witchlight Carnival I might be willing to trade if you have any heavy armor my size to trade.”

Titaani waves up to Matilda cheerfully. "Look, I'm even smaller now!" She laughs. "I brought you a lollypop as well, but it's shrunk in size too, I'm afraid."

The goblin engaged with Horatio wrinkles her nose. "Well, I don't have ingots of *steel*, but we do have ingots of..." she pulls out a tray of candy, "Maggoty Fudge. It's a rich, dense fudge made with ground-up maggots, giving it a nutty, slightly sweet taste. Absolutely exquisite. Made fresh today." She hands Horatio the whole tray. 

Matilda called over to Horatio, " Do they have any swords?"

"No swords, no," she adds. "I do have a candy axe. It's a real axe, but made of candied fly wings. You can lick it like a lollypop, or chop wood with it. Fly-flavored, with a hint of lime. Delicious. But I'd need a second ticket for that."

"...No heavy armor," she then replies to Ben's question. "Umbrellas?" she offers in return.

"Here we go!" shouts Chucklehead with a frown, holding a small piece of paper. "Granny will see you now."

"I said... Granny will see you now." Chucklehead pulls out a pocketwatch and points at it impatiently.

"Follow me."  He heads back across the bridge you arrived on. He begins muttering something about "...maggots..." as he slowly saunters across the rickety bridge.

Horatio exchanges the ticket for the tools... and the strange bars. "Good doing business with you." He looks to the others, "Get that axe if you think you'll need it."

"Don't worry, I don't need the axe," Titaani replied, as Tiny gently picks her up with his mouth, carrying the little gnome like kitten. "To the hag's den, then!"

The strange looking pair will follow chucklehead. 

Matilda grabs the axe.

Ben:

Ben follows the strange creature, looking with interest but skepticism at the candy axe.

The pipe-smoking goblin grabs Matilda's arm with lightning-quick reflexes. "How're you gonna pay for that, darling?" 

Matilda shoves her ticket into the goblins mitt, " Keep the change."

The goblin guffaws with good-humored agreement; she returns the pipe to her mouth and Matilda's ticket to her pocket. 

~~

Meanwhile, Chucklehead lumbers over one bridge, and then the other, as the party follows. He enters the open mouth of the massive fallen tree that defines this strange place called Loomlurch.

A chamber is nestled between walls of twisted roots, through gaps in which you can see the eerily beautiful woodland surrounding you. A closed wooden door stands opposite the root bridge that leads into this room, in the center of which are four armchairs encircling a small table laid out for a tea service. A painted wooden box three feet on a side rests in a corner. A crank protrudes from one side of it, causing it to resemble an oversized jack-in-the-box.

"Please wait," drones Chucklehead distractedly, rubbing the back of his toffee-apple head, all the while muttering under his breath.

Chucklehead drifts back down the bridge, leaving you alone in the parlor to wait for Granny.

Horatio whispers to the others, "We don't push this one... no direct confrontation."