Exploring the Palace
The palace has more than a few recurring physical features, not the least of which are creatures and objects frozen in time by the Hourglass Coven and Iggwilv’s Cauldron.
Palace Features
The sky above the palace is always filled with the orange and purple hues of twilight. The walls, ceilings, and floors inside the palace are made of dressed marble unless the text states otherwise. The ceilings throughout the palace are 30 feet high and arched. Climbing gear or magic is needed to scale the palace walls, inside or out.
Magical wards on all the windows and many of the doors render them immune to all damage and their locks impossible to pick, although a knock spell or similar magic opens a locked window or door. Assume a door is unlocked and a window is locked unless the text states otherwise.
Crown Locks
Most of the locked doors in the palace can be unlocked by placing the crown from the maiden’s pond (area P8) on the head of either the iron lion in area P9 or the iron hart in area P10. It is assumed that the characters will revisit areas P9 and P10 from time to time so that they can toggle the locks to provide entry where they want to go. Once opened, a crown-locked door can be propped open to keep it from locking again when the crown is removed from the head of the lion or the hart. A crown-locked door can also be opened with a knock spell.
The maps of the palace use the following symbols to denote these locked doors:
This symbol denotes a lion crown lock, which can be unlocked by placing the crown on the head of the iron lion in area P9.
This symbol denotes a hart crown lock, which can be unlocked by placing the crown on the head of the iron hart in area P10.
A marble cameo depicting a lion or a hart wearing a crown is mounted above each magically locked door, identifying which iron guardian must wear the crown for it to be unlocked.
Creatures whose names have been penned inside Zybilna’s ritual book (see area P49) can open locked doors in the palace without using the crown. This is how the members of the Hourglass Coven and the League of Malevolence are able to move through the palace unhindered.
Temporal Stasis
Many creatures and objects throughout the palace are trapped in temporal stasis—frozen in time, in other words.
Creatures in temporal stasis, as well as anything they are carrying or wearing, can’t be harmed or moved until the magic on them is ended. Various unattended objects, magical effects, and other natural phenomena throughout the palace are also frozen in time; for example, motes of dust hang motionless in the air, flames stand perfectly still, and food remains unspoiled.
Ending the Effect on Creatures
One can use an action to end the time-freezing magic on a creature by touching it with a unicorn horn while speaking the creature’s true name. (Nicknames and aliases won’t work.) Zybilna’s faithful butler, Thinnings (see area P15), learned this fact after spying on the hags, and he shares this knowledge with characters who befriend him.
Unattended Objects Frozen in Time
A unicorn horn has no effect on objects frozen in time that aren’t being worn or carried. Unlike creatures in temporal stasis, unattended objects that are frozen in time can be manipulated, moved, damaged, and destroyed; a time-frozen apple is just as juicy as it was before being frozen, and time-frozen fire still deals damage and can be snuffed out by pouring water over it.