P1. Front Gate
Ivy clings to a set of silvery gates embedded in the palace’s outer wall. A luxuriant garden can be seen beyond the bars of the gates.
The double gate is 20 feet tall and pushes open with ease. Its silver-plated iron bars are spaced wide enough for Small humanoids to squeeze through. The wall encircling the garden is 40 feet high and is easily climbed due to the vegetation clinging to it.
Concealed Inscription. Characters who search the gate for traps don’t find any, but they do notice a small bronze plaque embedded in a flagstone at the base of the gate. The plaque bears an inscription in Elvish that provides a hint about unlocking the crown locks inside the palace (see “Crown Locks” above). The inscription reads:
The lion or the hart must wear the crown.
But which one should it weigh down?
P2. Palace Garden
The scents of roses, cowslips, and hyacinths suffuse this vast garden. Ahead, a ring of standing stones rises from the flower beds. Glittering streams divide the garden and connect with a large pond shaded by willows. The garden is silent save for the sounds of music and voices coming from a colorful pavilion by the front gate.
This garden encompasses several other locations (areas P3 through P8) and is lush with flower beds, trees, and topiaries. The streams are 2 feet deep and easily forded.
Minor damage to the garden is tolerated, but widespread destruction causes the iron lion in area P9 and the iron hart in area P10 to burst out of their towers and attack those responsible.
Frozen Features. Characters who explore the garden notice that its features and most of its occupants (except for some of the guests in the pavilion and the ettercaps in the rose garden) are frozen in time. Pixies are suspended in midflight or frozen mid-frolic in the stream, the waters of which are perfectly still. Forest gnome gardeners stand rigidly in flower beds, time-frozen water issuing from their tipped wooden watering cans, or atop small ladders, taking shears to topiaries in need of trimming. Bees and pollen hang motionless in the air.
Fruit Trees. Many of the trees in the garden bear glittering gold and silver fruit. A detect magic spell reveals auras of divination magic around the gold fruit and auras of abjuration magic around the silver fruit.
A creature that eats more than half of a gold-skinned fruit gains advantage on Wisdom saving throws for 24 hours, but this benefit ends on the creature if it eats a silver-skinned fruit. A creature that eats more than half of a silver-skinned fruit gains 10 temporary hit points, which go away if the creature eats a gold-skinned fruit. Once it is plucked from the branch, a golden or silver fruit spoils after 10 minutes and loses its magical property.
Streams. Two streams flow into the pool at area P8—or, rather, they used to flow before they were frozen in time. The streams emerge from culverts in the garden walls, but where the water comes from is anyone’s guess. (It is created magically and disappears magically before it can cause the pool to overflow.) The time-frozen water, which has the consistency of soft dough, takes on the qualities of normal water if removed from either stream or the pool.
P3. Pavilion
The entrance to the pavilion is open, and music and voices come from inside the place. If one or more characters look inside, read:
Seven guests—one of them a talking bear—lounge around a picnic table covered with an emerald-green cloth and laden with cakes, teapots, teacups, and cutlery. Two of the guests are motionless and silent, but the others are engaged in spirited conversation. At the back of the pavilion, a string quartet of badger minstrels plays delicate chamber music.
The guests gathered here are denizens of the Material Plane who regard Zybilna as a fairy godmother-like figure. After using various fey crossings to enter the Feywild, they petitioned spellcasters to transport them to the palace, arriving in the ring of standing stones (area P4). They had hoped to receive audiences with Zybilna upon their arrival but have been told to wait in the garden until meetings can be arranged with her representatives (the sisters of the Hourglass Coven). The guests are unaware of Zybilna’s current predicament and have lost track of time.
The guests include these individuals:
Sumai, a farmer (lawful good, male, human commoner) from the world of Toril, carries a carnivorous pumpkin named Yamzu (an awakened shrub that speaks Common, with a Bite attack identical to the shrub’s Rake attack except it deals piercing damage instead of slashing damage). Sumai wants Yamzu to stop devouring his livestock, but he doesn’t want to harm the pumpkin.
Lord Eld, a faultlessly polite aristocrat (chaotic good, male, high elf noble) from the world of Oerth, was transformed into a living statue by wild magic emanating from a family crypt. He wants the effect to be undone and to be restored to his true form. While in this form, he has resistance to all damage, but his speed is halved.
Obal Obb, a headless dwarf (lawful good, male, mountain dwarf commoner) hailing from the world of Oerth, is searching for his missing head, which was stolen. The magic that deprived Obal of his head left him blinded but, miraculously, he can hear just fine. He stomps his foot once to communicate “yes,” and twice for “no.”
Bodger, a brown bear from a world of your choice, hopes to undo a curse put on him by a cruel river spirit who resented him eating its fish. Thanks to the awaken spell that was cast on him by a friendly druid, Bodger has an Intelligence of 10 and speaks Common.
Majera d’Valzey (neutral, female, human noble) from the world of Eberron, has a magic quill named Dictado. The quill scrawls out anything Majera says, and her place at the table is piled with sheets of parchment. Majera is hoping to break the terms of an arranged marriage.
Two other guests were present when the Hourglass Coven froze the palace in time: Hogus Pinsworth (lawful good, male, strongheart halfling commoner) from the world of Tal’dorei, who needs help paying off his debts, and Zurrash (chaotic good, female orc war chief) from the world of Eberron, who was ousted by one of her rivals. Both are trapped in temporal stasis, and none of the other pavilion guests know who they are.
When the characters arrive, the five guests who aren’t frozen in time are having an animated conversation about whether clotted cream should be applied to a scone before or after jam. They are so engrossed in this debate that they fail to acknowledge the presence of newcomers unless a character enters the discussion or taps on a teacup loudly with a spoon (which the guests sometimes do when seeking attention).
If questioned, the guests reveal that they arrived at the palace separately and each of them is waiting to speak to one or more of Zybilna’s representatives. They’ve been here a long time (how long they aren’t sure exactly), yet they remain patient and well fed. The guests have wandered the garden but can offer no information about the palace. They know better than to enter the palace without an invitation.
Badger Minstrels. Each of these four badgers received one of Skabatha Nightshade’s awaken spells, which granted it an Intelligence of 10 and the ability to speak Common. Bavlorna Blightstraw crafted instruments for the badgers, and Endelyn Moongrave taught them how to play their instruments. They now have proficiency in the Performance skill.
The hags have instructed the badgers to entertain visitors and discourage them from entering the palace until the Hourglass Coven gets around to striking bargains with them. The badgers proudly declare their allegiance to the hags, saying, “What fine ladies they are. Their names should be Sweetness, Kindness, and Charity, for all the good they do!” (The badgers aren’t evil, just misguided.)
Tea and Cakes. The pavilion’s supply of tea and cakes magically replenishes every hour. The cakes are delicious. Any cakes removed from the pavilion instantly become moldy.
Treasure. Characters who freed Sir Talavar in chapter 2 find a wrapped present on the table, with their names written on the tag. None of the guests has been rude enough to open it. Inside, the characters find a chime of opening, along with a note that reads in Draconic, “Many thanks! May fortune smile on you. Yours, Sir Talavar.”
P4. Standing Stones
Twelve moss-covered standing stones form a ring in the middle of a small clearing. An arcane sigil is inscribed on the inward-facing side of each stone, and the space between the stones is free of vegetation.
A detect magic spell reveals an aura of conjuration magic around the standing stones. Any character who examines the sigils on the stones and succeeds on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check can determine that they combine into a sequence that allows the ring of standing stones to function as a teleportation circle. A character who has this sequence written down or committed to memory can use it in conjunction with the teleportation circle spell to arrive inside the ring, provided the spell is cast somewhere in the Feywild.