A while after passing through Metalyff’s clearing, another small opening appeared with the sound of children’s laughter echoing
There is a tree house on top of a tree surrounded by several children running and playing
As they notice the party, all but one of the children scamper up into the tree house and the remaining one tells them to leave
He introduced himself as Will, the tree as Little Oak and the other children as the “Getaway Gang” and said he is trying to take down Skabatha because she is forcing the children to make toys
PB asked if Star was one of the children here and Will said he only has his cat which is definitely a displace beast cub by the looks of it
He introduced the three other children as Bobby a dwarf boy, Sloan wood elf girl, Zennor an orcish girl
Will was going to tell the party his plan for breaking the children out of Loomlurch but the other children suggested they should meet the unicorn and ask for help
Will thinks it won’t help but the kids seem insistent, the unicorn is at the Wayward Pool, supposedly, they have to wear a unicorn horn and light a fire in a stone bowl on the island in the middle of the lake and then the unicorn should appear
Will continues on with his plan description and starts drawing in the sand
He wanted the party to go to the goblin candy stalls pretending to buy candy to get an audience with Skabatha
Bobby, Sloan, and Zennor will sneak through and set off the screaming scarecrows
When Skabatha gets distracted by the scarecrows, the party would go into the next room with the workshop to free the kids
Will will sneak in the textile mill to rescue the kids on the top level
He mentions there are toy soldiers that are defending Loomlurch but they should get distracted by the scarecrows
The kids bring a blanket with a stick tied to it as the “unicorn costume” and say that one of them needs to wear it to dispel the magic
The party then heads to the Wayward Pool about an hour away
Barnabus puts the unicorn costume on as they near the lake
Amrynn decided to stay on the shore but as the rest of the party waded through the knee deep water, they felt rested and the temperature was perfect
They made it to the island in the middle and found a stone bowl in a clearing on the top of a small rise
PB started a fire in the bowl and about a minute later, a unicorn appeared at the edge of the woods on the other side of the water near Amrynn
He greeted the unicorn and it introduced itself as Lamorna and asked why they were there via a telepathic connection
Amrynn told her they were after Skabatha and to free the children
The three hags killed her mate, Elidon, and used his magical horn as part of their plot to overthrow Zybilna
Barnabus mentions that we came from Hither and that the party found a horn in a pot
Lamorna said that she can’t lay him to rest yet as she doesn’t know where his soul is and that they should hold onto the horn as it might be needed to revert the curse if it was part the casting initially
Melina notices some movement out of the corner of her eye and an orcish rogue jumps out of the bushes toward the unicorn and plunges two daggers into the back of the unicorn
Melina set in on him and nearly killed him one flurry of blows
While being pummeled on, he mumbled something about “you can’t stop the league”
He tried to run away but Amrynn struck him in the back with a ray of frost that managed to take him down
Lamorna said they can bathe in the water and it will cure them of any physical ails or exhaustion
She also said that all she knows about the curse trapping Zybilna likely was cast in the Palace of Heart’s Desire where she used to rule from, no one can get in now, her mates horn was likely used as part of the ritual
She also said that if they make it to Yon, Amador, the dandelion, might be able to guide us to the palace and she doesn’t know of any way to get there otherwise
The orcish rogue had destroyed leather armor, two daggers, a vial of poison, 2 zircons, 50 gold, and 20 silver
PB, knowing thieves’ cant, could tell that the his tattoos indicated he was an assassin for hire
They started to make their way back towards Will and Little Oak
Melina could hear a high pitched singing in the distance as they were walking and she snuck her way in the direction of the noise
There is a lit campfire with a pot and skillet with a talking mushroom in it
Melina asked his name and he introduced himself as a campestris mushroom who said his friend Crowa, the goblin, told him to relax in a butter bath before they had dinner
He said Crowa went to get more wood so they can have a huge fire for dinner
After a few minutes, a goblin appears carrying some wood, not appearing to notice any of the party hiding in the surrounding woods
He said he has had to scrounge for food since Skabatha has ruined the area, most of his tribe has moved from their village in Terracetown to the outskirts of Loomlurch to work selling candy
He also said to tell Chucklehead that they met him and he will treat them fair
Melina befriends the mushroom and he willingly goes with her, she names it Fungus Fizzlebop or Fungi for short