"What do you need help with?" Stella asks cautiously.

"Evil witch come here. Say she give gift to king. Gift of golden statue. I accept gift. Witch turn mate into gold statue and leave. Kill witch, make mate un-statue, I give you crown."

Stella nods. "Where is the witch?"

"In Emerald Cave. Deep in forest."

'So, he's accepted his fate then... No seeking of a cure...' Courage bowed his head at the heavy thought, and let out soft sigh. "... Any chance, King, that you can make it so your fellows don't attack us on our way out then?" He asked after a moment of silence, lifting his head and straightening out his back to stand in more professional posture. "The other elves outside, to be clear. Managed to avoid'em, but...Not sure if get so lucky a second time."

`In response to your question, the king leads you out to the balcony of his palace and looks down upon his subjects. "They helping king. Let them through. No attack." As he gives his command, the crown on his head glows and his voice seems to be projected out supernaturally. Whatever power the crown seems to have, it seems that it doesn't require much in the way of intelligence to use it.

Yvan watched silently as the others interacted with the king, who, thankfully, didn't seem all that interested in a fight. At the mention of helping him in return for the crown, the goliath looked to have no qualms with it, his eyes even flickering over the statue in question with a small frown on his visage. 

On the balcony, he thinned his lips in thought, then after the king gave his announcement, Yvan asks, "Have you ever... sought a way to fix you and your people from... this curse?"

"No. Can't do it. Druid mess up ritual. Druid dead. Can't speak with dead. Can't know how to fix."

Alys would putter along very sheepishly, remaining very quiet throughout it all. She was still a bit embarrassed. Tucked in close with the group, she'd tip toe along, relieved the King would assist them with their pass back out of the area. Eventually she'd jot down some notes, bumping into those at her side as she did. The elf eyes would widen with hope from Yvan's ask, only to soften and go thoughtful to those words. Was it really too late to speak with the dead?

"Direction?" Breaking the silence, Alys would quietly ask the king as she'd point in a random direction with a finger.

Tension eases from Courage's shoulders seeing the crown at work. Though being an artificer, and seeing it seem to only amplify the king's voice, the tiefling would remain on guard until the group were well out of the immediate vicinty of the ruins. Least they be surprised later that no actual magical compulsion came with the command. Granted, the ferals outside did seem to retain some rudimentary cunning when it came to arms and taming titanous fauna to -- "Wait, what?" Courage perked up and questioned, though too softly to be overheard by most.

Even without anyone answering, playing back the king's words over again in mind results in Courage looking back and forth between the group and the king. "So... it wasn't some cu-..." He catches himself, clamping a hand over his face plate. With the king hopefully distracted by Alys question, Courage leans over to Vastra and whispers, "Ya wouldn't be happening to have in magic for speaking with the dead or contact spirits, would you? I know its normally a cleric thing, but you wizards like to bend the rules as I understand it." He inquires with a touch of mirth to his voice.

Yvan's frown remains at the kings answer, even when Alys pipes in to ask for directions. When he answers her question, the goliath asks further. "What... ritual were you trying to preform?" Maybe Alys or Vastra (even Courage and Stella perhaps?) knew/heard of it before. Maybe with a little luck...

Courage: "No, but Alys might."

Yvan: The elven king wracks his mind for a minute, before frustratedly shaking his head. If he ever knew what ritual the druids were trying to perform, his mostly bestial mind has forgotten it over the centuries. "It was in clearing over there." He says, pointing eastward. "Go ask dead druids."

Alys: The king points north. "Deep in jungle. Emerald cave. Can not miss, know when seen."

Courage nods slowly and sagely, before then righting himself, waiting for the moment to broach the subject with Alys. Though depending on where depending on her and Yvan's response to the king's admission about the druid's resting place, a grin still blooms in the realization that any words from him would be frivolous. Yet, if either looked to the group about their next course instead taking point, he'd only chuckle and say simply, "Go with your hearts on this one."

Alys’ big blue eyes would look up widening a little as she’d try to speak up, but then pause to chew her lip while Courage and Yvan question. She’d glance down at her toes, then look back up, bouncing between them all again. The wizard would catch Vastra’s stare. Her mentor would mouth some words her way, gesturing to her side. The blondes head would tilt in thought. She was trying to tell her something important, she knew it. Then when Vastra would mouth the words slower and point to Alys’ side, she’d look down in that direction. The grimoire! Smack! Alys’ palm would find her forehead. Ow. The elf would rub her forehead as she’d put a finger up. “I can do it…” She’d peek up sheepishly. “I can talk to the dead… Maybe see what we can learn to help them…” Blue hues would look up to Yvan.

Stella nods. "I don't see any harm in at least trying to see if we can help. It shouldn't take long, after all."

 "Then we should head eastward."

Alys would bob her head in nodding, eyes glancing from party member to party member, hoping she hasn’t held things up too long with her spacey brain.

Yvan's brows creased slightly after the kings answer; could any of them talk to the dead? It wasn't something they really did before (as a group anyways) and they never had the need to do so up till now. There was the tiniest hope in him that one of them could, even if they had to wait a day or so, just so they could make an effort to try to break the curse on these people. There had to be a way...

Then he hears a smack beside him, forest green hues flickering onto Alys who had been pulling her hand away from her forehead. 

“I can do it… I can talk to the dead… Maybe see what we can learn to help them…”

His gaze on her softens, his fingers interweaving with hers, and a small smile tugs at the corner of his lip when she looks up to him with her doey blue eyes. Gently, he presses a kiss on the area where she had smacked her forehead, whispering, "You're truly amazing, Alys."

When he pulls away from her, he gives a look over to the others to see if they were in agreeance with this course of action. After their words, he brings his gaze back to the king with a look of confidence. "We are going to try to see if there is any way possible we could break the curse inflicted upon you and your people. Any information we can get from the druids might be useful in doing so, and after, we will take care of that witch for you, and reunite you with your partner."

With a nod of affirmation, and when everyone had looked ready, Yvan will lead them on eastward.

Happy little hums would escape Alys' lips as she sinks into Yvan's affections, happily weaving her fingers between his. With pink cheeks and big blue eyes she'd watch him confidently address the King. She'd correct her posture with firm nods of assurance to support Yvan's determined claims to the King. She'd give his hand a squeeze and happily follow him to the east.

Souperb feigns puking and gagging off the side of Courage's shoulder just shakes his head and mutters -- if though with a smile to his voice -- "Ah, young love." Apart from that, and with their course pretty much set, tiefling and homunculus pair trail after, bidding the king a curt bow prior to their departure from presumed sight.