M9. Backdrop Hallway
This shadowy hallway is blocked by a wooden backdrop ten feet from the entrance. The backdrop is painted to look like a library bookshelf.
Three backdrops spaced 10 feet apart block this hall. The second one is painted to look like a raging sea, and the third looks like a moonlit graveyard. When a creature moves within 5 feet of a backdrop, it swings back against the wall, revealing more of the corridor. The backdrops remain locked in these positions for 1 minute before swinging out to block the hallway again.
Pit Trap. Beyond the third backdrop, directly in front of the doorway to area M10, is a hidden pit. The lid of the pit is easily mistaken for a dusty flagstone and opens when a weight of 50 pounds or more is placed on it. Any creature standing on the lid when it opens must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or fall into the pit, which is 20 feet deep but filled to a depth of 10 feet with grave dirt. After falling 10 feet, a creature lands prone in the dirt but takes no damage. Leaning against one wall of the pit is a tombstone prop made of wood painted to look like stone. It is engraved with the name of the first creature that has just fallen into the pit. This engraving is a harmless illusion that fades after 1 minute.
M10. Shadow Theater
Rows of tiered seating fill the back half of this theater, and motes of dust float and dance above the ancient upholstery. The seats face a stone stage flanked by wooden silhouettes of fir trees, lit from behind and above by a white, moon-like sphere of glass that hangs from the ceiling by a short chain and casts long shadows on the walls. Suspended above the stage is a trapeze.
Eleven shadows occupy the theater. These shadows are Fey, not Undead, and they were created by Endelyn using her scissors of shadow snipping. If Gleam’s detached shadow wasn’t destroyed in chapter 1, it is one of the eleven shadows here, all of which are invisible while they remain hidden in the normal shadows being cast by the wooden silhouettes. One of the shadows, larger than the others, once belonged to Hurly the bugbear (see area M5).
If the characters disturb the wooden silhouettes enough to make their shadows change position, the detached shadows are revealed and begin prancing around silently like mimes. If Gleam’s shadow is among them, it leaps onto the trapeze and swings from it.
The shadows act as Endelyn’s spies and attack only if they feel threatened. Shadows that are reduced to 0 hit points are destroyed and reattach to their original owners as normal shadows.
A creature whose Strength is reduced to 0 by a shadow’s Strength Drain attack does not die but falls unconscious instead. The creature regains consciousness, and the reduction to its Strength score disappears, after it finishes a short or long rest.
Moon Sphere. This dangling, 3-foot-diameter sphere of white glass sheds bright light out to a range of 20 feet and dim light for an additional 20 feet. Casting dispel magic on the sphere automatically causes its light to go out.
Treasure. Characters who search the shadow theater find a pair of opera glasses (250 gp) resting on one seat.