The players play as small woodland creatures (a mouse, a squirrel, a beetle, etc). They are the familiars of a kind old witch named Zina, who gave them the gift of speech and a spark of magic so they could help tend her swamp deep in an enchanted forest. Beyond the forest, across a river and open farmland, lies the castle of a greedy King.
Days ago, the King's soldiers stormed the swamp and dragged Zina off to his castle. Now saving her falls to her small familiars. But being tiny has its advantages: creatures this small can slip into a castle no army could storm.
Reach the castle and free Zina before tonight's feast, where the King will give her one last choice: enchant his chickens to lay golden eggs (an impossible task), or be put to death before the crowd.
An old, plump witch with twinkling green eyes and patched, charm-covered robes. Once the greatest witch of her generation, she retired to live among her animal friends. She loves her familiars, and would endure anything to keep them safe.
A greedy glutton who throws a tantrum when he doesn't get his way. He blew the kingdom's treasury on feasts, and now an angry mob is at his gates. He won't free Zina until she finds a way to refill his treasury. If she refuses, he'll pin the kingdom's ruin on her to save his own skin.
The King's court wizard, and a fraud. A slender man with a pencil mustache and purple robes, clumsy enough to set himself on fire mid-spell. His own magic is useless. To keep his job, he talked the King into kidnapping a real witch. He guards the prisoner, and keeps the key to her manacles on his belt.
A castle guard whom Zina turned into a frog during her capture, now stuck in her hut. He knows where she was taken and why, and will share it all if the heroes promise to have Zina turn him back.
The familiars wake to find the hut torn apart and Zina gone. A frightened frog in the corner is one of the King's guards. Zina transformed him mid-battle, just before the others dragged her away. Once the heroes calm him down, he tells them why the King took her, and warns that she has only until tonight's feast. Wagon tracks outside lead off toward the King's castle.
The trail leads through the forest, where a hungry owl spots the heroes and dives in for an easy meal.
A wide river blocks the path. A group of bickering turtles could carry the heroes across, but the turtles are mid-argument and won't do anything until someone makes peace between them.
The farmland beyond the river is full of snares the farmers set for pests. A flock of nervous sheep grazes there too, and will stampede if startled.
The castle is surrounded by a moat full of hungry gators, and its only gate is watched by two surly guards. The heroes may scale the crumbling walls, bribe their way past the guards, or hide in a merchant's wine cart rolling in for the feast.
Inside the castle, the heroes must find where Zina is being held. They must slip past patrolling guards, wandering nobles, and the court wizard's fearsome cat, which can track them by scent. The gossiping servants will let slip that Zina is held in the throne room. A colony of spiders lives in the rafters. They hate the cat, and can guide the heroes to her and lend a hand.
The feast fills the throne room. The King and Malcom loom over the shackled Zina and a cage of chickens, demanding she enchant them. The manacle key hangs from Malcom's belt, but is difficult to obtain without a distraction. Luckily, the caged chickens are eager to break free, the clumsy wizard is a nudge away from setting himself on fire, and the spiders overhead are itching for a shot at the cat.
Once the familiars find a way to unlock the manacles, Zina can use her magic to take on the court, and, with the help of familiars, escape. But the castle is full of guards, and the way out won't be easy.
