P18. Banquet Hall
Paintings of fey creatures and the mounted heads of majestic elk with golden horns decorate the walls of this dining hall. In the middle of the hall, a deformed giant squats at the head of a table piled with food. The grease-stained tablecloth is tucked under the giant’s chin, and she washes down each slobbering mouthful of food with a gulp from a barrel of beer.
A tea cart in one corner of the banquet hall has an iron kettle and a tureen of steaming soup resting on doilies atop it.
The balcony extends out over the western part of this chamber, as indicated by the dashed line on the map. See area P32 for more information about the balcony.
Dubhforgail, the gluttonous fomorian, intends to conquer Prismeer. Three days ago, she scaled the column of rock atop which the palace is perched and entered through a hole in the wall (see area P25). Kelek used every ounce of his charisma to lure Dubhforgail into the banquet hall, hoping to keep her out of his way until the Hourglass Coven can deal with her. Dubhforgail has eaten nearly all the palace’s food, yet her appetite remains insatiable. She has no regard for the rules of conduct (see “Rules of Conduct” in Prismeer Overview).
Dubhforgail assumes the characters are Kelek’s minions and demands that they bring her the cake that Kelek promised her (“Eight tiers high, lit with blood-red candles, and icing white as snow”). She warns them that if they leave and return without it, she’ll gobble them up instead “to see if you taste as sweet as you look.” Dubhforgail is wicked and violent; if the characters anger her now or later, she snatches up her club and attacks. If treated to the cake from area P16, Dubhforgail settles down to eat it over the next 3 hours. During this time, characters can move freely through the banquet hall without angering the fomorian.
Tea Cart. The tea cart’s drawers contain utensils, candlesticks, teacups, saucers, bowls, and napkins. The cart and its contents animate whenever someone sits at a table on the terrace (see area P19 for details).
P19. Dining Terrace
Bathed in twilight, this marble terrace offers a stunning view of the mountains, forests, swamps, and shimmering horizons of Prismeer. Spaced about the balcony are tables draped in white tablecloths with chairs set around each one.
If one or more characters take seats at a table, read:
The tea cart from the banquet hall rolls onto the terrace and careens over to your table. Cups, saucers, bowls, utensils, and napkins fly out of the cart’s drawers and arrange themselves before you. They are joined by a waddling cauldron of soup, a piping-hot tea kettle, and a pair of lit candles in candlesticks. A serving spoon hops onto the cart, bows, and says in Common, “I am Demitasse, your head waiter. I believe a light supper of tea and soup is in order.”
Magic similar to an animate objects spell makes the cart and its collection of objects act as described. The kettle and the cauldron never run out of tea and hot soup, provided they remain inside the palace grounds.
A creature that drinks both the tea and the soup gains 10 temporary hit points—a benefit each creature can gain only once every 24 hours.
Demitasse, the only animated object on the cart that can speak, is impeccably polite and treats guests with respect. As tea is served, it compliments the characters on their appearance, their manners, or whatever else it thinks might make them happy. Characters who speak to Demitasse about Zybilna learn the following information:
Zybilna is a powerful archfey who acts as a fairy godmother to destitute mortals. Those whom Zybilna aids are immortalized as glass statues in a room above the banquet hall.
A bearded man with a nasty disposition (Kelek) watches over the palace. He has been feeding the fomorian in the banquet hall ever since she invaded the palace three days ago.
Although it doesn’t know how Zybilna and her palace came to be frozen in time, Demitasse reports that Zybilna’s butler, Thinnings, was not affected and claims that he knows more about the palace than anyone. Demitasse also knows that Thinnings is likely to be found in the servants’ quarters (area P15), and that he’s slow to trust others.
If the characters haven’t already earned Thinnings’s trust, Demitasse advises them to share one or more secrets with the timid butler after luring him out of hiding with the following rhyme:
Slip underneath the doorway,
Then fold and disappear.
That’s where you’ll be hiding
Whenever I am near.
But I have something for you,
A thing you don’t yet know.
I’ll tell you my great secret
If only you will show.
P20. Aviary
An enormous owl stands perfectly still in the middle of this room, its wings partially outstretched. A wall of iron bars stretching from floor to ceiling forms a protective barrier around the chamber’s entrance, keeping visitors separated from the owl. The wall across from the double door has a twenty-foot-wide, circular opening sealed with hinged, semicircular windows in wrought-iron frames. The marble floor is littered with the bones of giant rats.
The bars that surround the double door can’t be bent or damaged, but characters can use misty step spells and similar magic to bypass them. The bars are 1 foot apart, leaving gaps wide enough for a Small character or a thin Medium character to squeeze through.
Bloodybeak. The owl uses the roc stat block, has darkvision out to a range of 120 feet, and is presently frozen in time. It takes up most of the room, and one of its wings brushes up against the wall of bars. Thinnings the butler (see area P15) knows the owl’s true name: Bloodybeak. With this knowledge, characters can use the unicorn horn to free the owl from its temporal stasis, if they want to do so.
Bloodybeak is friendly toward Zybilna and hostile toward all other creatures. When the owl is no longer frozen in time, any creature within the owl’s reach that Bloodybeak can see can use an action to make a DC 17 Wisdom (Animal Handling) check. On a successful check, the owl becomes indifferent toward that creature for 1 minute or until the owl takes damage from any source. A character can use an action to repeat the check as often as desired. A creature toward which Bloodybeak is indifferent can move through the aviary and try to open the big windows without being attacked by the owl.
Bloodybeak is a natural enemy of the jabberwock in area P22. If the owl is released from temporal stasis, it attacks the jabberwock on sight.
Windows. Bloodybeak is too big to enter the palace’s hallways, so it comes and goes through the aviary’s great windows, which at present are magically sealed shut. A knock spell or similar magic opens the windows, as does speaking the command word “canzus” within 10 feet of them. Only Zybilna and her quasit, Iggrik, know the command word.
P21. Records Room
The door to this area is sealed with a hart crown lock (see “Crown Locks” earlier in the chapter).
The walls of this room are lined with square compartments holding bundles of rolled paper scrolls. In the middle of the room, an elderly dwarf in gray robes, with spectacles resting on the tip of his bulbous nose, sits perfectly still behind a writing desk facing the door. The dwarf’s quill is dipped halfway into an inkpot, and his bloodshot eyes are fixed on a sheet of parchment in front of him.
This room contains records of Zybilna’s dealings with mortals, including contracts, pacts made with warlocks, and transcripts of conversations, all written in the Infernal script. The dwarf in temporal stasis is Kalimanzaros, Zybilna’s clerk. If his statistics become necessary, Kalimanzaros uses the mage stat block, with these changes:
Kalimanzaros speaks Abyssal, Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, and Infernal, and he has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
He has advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage.
Kalimanzaros has served Iggwilv for hundreds of years and still calls her by that name in private. He would never betray her or divulge information that could be used against her.
Unfinished Letter. The letter in front of Kalimanzaros reads as follows:
Dear Rotten Ethel,
You have requested access to ancient rituals handed down by Baba Yaga herself—rituals that can be used to fulfill bargains. I regret to inform you that Iggwilv is unwilling to share her knowledge of these rituals with you at this time. Your coven has much work to do to earn her favor. Until then, she wishes you well in your dark dealings with mort
Kalimanzaros’s quill ran dry before he could finish writing the word “mortals.”
Treasure. Kalimanzaros keeps a spellbook on his person. This spellbook can’t be removed from the dwarf while he’s frozen in time, and it contains all the spells Kalimanzaros has prepared.