M22. Endelyn’s Room
A detect magic spell reveals an aura of abjuration magic on the door to this room. If a creature other than Endelyn touches the door, a hand of force similar to that created by the Bigby’s hand spell tries to shove the creature away from the door. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Strength saving throw or be pushed off the balcony, falling onto the Orrery of Tragedies and then tumbling 20 feet to the floor in area M14. The treacherous fall deals 14 (4d6) bludgeoning damage, and if the orrery is operational, the creature takes lightning damage as well (see area M14 for details).
The magic trap on the door can be dispelled (DC 15). A character who examines the door and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Investigation) check spots a faint glyph etched into the doorknob. If this glyph is defaced using the point of a dagger or some other tool, the magic is negated, and the door can be opened safely.
When the characters can see into the room, read the following boxed text aloud, modifying it accordingly if Endelyn is present:
Scores of wooden marionettes hang from the ceiling of this oddly shaped room, the floor of which is strewn with old play scripts. Near the entrance are two alcoves, one containing a bare table, the other holding a wooden chest with tiny, clawed feet. Deeper in the room, you see a wicker basket surrounded by miniature toy birds.
Scores of hourglasses are fixed to the walls. Whenever the sand of an hourglass runs out, the mechanism that attaches the hourglass to the wall causes it to flip over. The steady hiss of all those falling grains of sand can be heard throughout the room.
A large, glass-doored wardrobe with a jade eye embedded in its cornice stands on the far side of the room in a wide alcove.
Endelyn Moongrave sleeps in the glass wardrobe when she’s not transcribing prophecies or watching plays. The rigid framework of her theatrical costume allows her to sleep standing up, which she must do to fit inside the wardrobe. Endelyn is a deep sleeper, so characters can sneak around while she slumbers, though she has several magical alarms in place.
Dangling Marionettes. To move quietly about the room, a character must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity (Stealth) check. On a failed check, the marionettes hanging from the ceiling scream “Intruders!” over and over until Endelyn commands them to stop or until they are all destroyed. Each marionette has AC 15, 1 hit point, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. Any character who has interacted with korreds can tell that the marionettes are strung with iron wires made from korred hair, and any character who knows the korreds’ special jig (see “Korred Dance” earlier in the chapter) can command the hair to wind itself around the marionettes’ jaws, preventing them from screaming.
Glass-Doored Wardrobe. The jade eye adorning the wardrobe’s cornice is closed, but it opens if the wardrobe is tampered with. If Endelyn is asleep in the wardrobe when the eye opens, she awakens.
If you used the “Lost Things” adventure hook and the Story Tracker indicates that Endelyn turned one or more of the characters’ lost possessions into magic items, these objects are contained in drawers at the base of the wardrobe. (Other treasures or items might be here as well, at your discretion.)
Hanging on the back interior wall of the wardrobe is a mirror in an oval wooden frame. This mirror is similar to the magic mirror in area D1 of Bavlorna’s cottage (see chapter 2).
Hourglasses. The one hundred hourglasses in Endelyn’s collection are worth 25 gp each. No two are exactly alike. The smallest ones are 3 inches tall, and the largest ones stand 3 feet tall. When an hourglass runs out, the device pivots around its center, allowing the sand to trickle down again. A character who uses thieves’ tools or tinker’s tools can remove an hourglass from its wall fixture with 1 minute of work.
Treasure Chest. This chest has a sturdy, built-in lock. Endelyn lost the key, but one of her goblin workers recently found and hid it (see area M4). The chest weighs 25 pounds and holds the following:
A black sack containing four gold bedpost knobs (25 gp each)
Eight bottles of exquisite elven wine (100 gp each)
The shriveled hand of an elf wearing a ring of shooting stars on its third finger and clutching several rolled-up sheets of blank parchment, along with a title page that reads, “The Agonies of Alagarthas: A Three-Act Tragedy by Endelyn Moongrave” in spidery Elvish script. (Endelyn hasn’t written the script yet, but she has a title.)
Wicker Basket and Toys. The wicker basket belonged to Endelyn’s missing cat, Gloam, which the characters might have found in chapter 2. Harmless cat toys (three tiny, stuffed birds from Bavlorna and three tiny, wind-up clockwork birds from Skabatha) are strewn around the basket. A creature can use an action to wind the key on one of the clockwork birds, causing it to chirp softly and shuffle its feet. If placed on the floor, the wound-up bird walks counterclockwise in a 5-foot-diameter circle, completing one circle every 10 seconds. After walking for 30 seconds, the bird stops moving and chirping until it is wound up again.