P31. Throne Room
This chamber can be reached by descending a staircase from area P47. A double door in the north wall pulls open to reveal a stone balcony that overlooks the Court of Storms (area P13).
A ring of marble pillars sculpted with images of fairies and demons supports the arched ceiling of this circular chamber. Seven archways spaced evenly around the room’s perimeter lead to empty turrets with tall, stained-glass windows set in their walls. Each window bears the image of a knight in armor.
Near the middle of the room, a short, gray-bearded man in black robes reclines on a gilded wooden throne with clawed feet. The man grips the leashes of three small, scaly, birdlike creatures. A muscular, armored man stands next to the throne. He wears a helm that conceals his face except for his red, glowing eyes, and his sword he holds is wreathed in flames.
A statue of an unarmored elf stands in front of the throne. The statue is posed as if ready for battle, with a shortsword gripped tightly in each of its hands.
The gray-bearded man is Kelek, and he keeps three cockatrices on short leashes. Warduke stands beside him, shield and flaming sword at the ready. If the characters encountered Zargash previously and allowed him to get away, the evil priest of Orcus is crouched behind the throne. While seated on the throne, Kelek can use a bonus action to speak a rhyme taught to him by the Hourglass Coven (“Knights of glass, protect my ass!”). The rhyme causes the four stained-glass knights in the turrets marked X on the map to leap from their window frames, becoming four glasswork golems. These golems defend Kelek, returning to their windows after 10 minutes if they haven’t been destroyed by then.
If the characters parley with Kelek, he sneers that the palace is now his to rule, though any mention of the Hourglass Coven or the jabberwock causes a flush of dread to pass over Kelek’s face. Throughout any conversation, Warduke remains silent, eyeing the party mirthlessly. Zargash, if present, does as little as possible to help Kelek without revealing his treasonous heart. He wants to replace Kelek as leader of the League of Malevolence, but he is certain Warduke will slay him if he openly betrays Kelek.
If the characters mention Ringlerun, Kelek explains that he wants the staff of power that belongs to the wizard, but he can’t take it while Ringlerun is frozen in time. To free Ringlerun, Kelek needs a unicorn horn. (He won’t explain how the horn works.) In exchange for a unicorn horn, Kelek promises to help the characters achieve their goals, provided their stated goals have nothing to do with freeing Zybilna. Kelek has no intention of fulfilling his part of any bargain.
If conflict erupts, Kelek relies on Warduke, the cockatrices, and Zargash to defend him. Zargash flees if the battle is going poorly for his side.
Warduke’s loyalty can be bought for a reasonable price (treasure worth 2,500 gp or more). If the characters recruit him, Warduke stays with the party for the remainder of the adventure, then goes his own way. While in the party’s employ, Warduke stoically follows the characters around, defending them when needed, and can easily be persuaded to use his flame tongue sword to destroy Iggwilv’s Cauldron.
Neither Kelek nor Zargash will threaten or harm the characters while Warduke is on the party’s side. In the face of certain defeat, Kelek begs for mercy and offers to reveal a secret about Zybilna in exchange for his life and freedom. If the party agrees, Kelek reveals that Zybilna is Iggwilv the Witch Queen and explains how he plotted to blackmail her.
Petrified Elf. The statue is a petrified high elf named Raezil Uthemar (neutral). Raezil served as Zybilna’s spy in other fey courts. She returned from a mission to find nearly everyone in the palace trapped in temporal stasis. When she confronted Kelek and accused him of conspiring to overthrow Zybilna, his cockatrices petrified her. If magic is used to end the petrified condition on Raezil, use the spy stat block to represent her, with these changes:
Raezil speaks Common and Elvish.
She has darkvision out to a range of 60 feet.
She has advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put her to sleep.
The name “Iggwilv” means nothing to Raezil, who started working for Zybilna shortly after the archfey carved out her domain in the Feywild. Raezil spends most of her time abroad, in the courts of other archfey, and hasn’t kept up on the politics of Prismeer.
Once she is no longer petrified, Raezil is bound by the rule of reciprocity (see “Rules of Conduct” in Prismeer Overview) to help the characters complete any outstanding quests they might have. Raezil comes from a highborn elf family with influence in the Summer Court, making her a useful retainer if the characters choose to remain in the Feywild after their adventures in Prismeer have ended.
Treasure. Kelek carries a staff of striking and wears bracers of defense. Warduke wields a flame tongue longsword. Zargash wears a bat-shaped amulet that has the properties of a ring of feather falling.
P32. Minstrels’ Gallery
This balcony extends out over the banquet hall (area P18). The door on the west wall is sealed with a lion crown lock (see “Crown Locks” earlier in the chapter).
This thirty-foot-high balcony overlooks the banquet hall. A harpsichord decorated with painted panels is situated at one end of the balcony near a double door.
The harpsichord is a Medium object with AC 15, 12 hit points, and immunity to poison and psychic damage. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation magic around it. If it loses half or more of its hit points, the harpsichord is too damaged to play music. Reducing the harpsichord to 0 hit points destroys it and causes eight pieces of wreckage to magically spring to life and attack the harpsichord’s assailants. Each piece of wreckage is treated as a Tiny object under the effect of an animate objects spell that lasts for 1 minute.
P33. Glass Statues
The floor of this marble hall is polished to a mirror-like finish. The exterior walls are lined with stained-glass windows depicting fairies and butterflies in flight. A glass statue of a long-haired woman in robes stands atop a dais, her arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture. A tiny, incandescent blue sphere is suspended in the air next to the statue’s head. Dozens of other statues made of sparkling glass are arranged about the room.
This room contains forty glass statues, including the one on the dais. The statues stand motionless until someone plays the harpsichord in area P32, the magic of which causes the statues to dance:
All of the statues except the one on the dais waltz and twirl about the room, their steps keeping time with the music from the harpsichord.
When the music from the harpsichord stops playing, the statues freeze in place until the music resumes.
Characters who have seen Zybilna recognize her likeness in the statue on the dais. The remaining thirty-nine statues represent mortals whom Zybilna aided in her role as fairy godmother. A glass scullery maid dances with a glass princess, a glass farmer carries a glass pot filled with glass coins, and so on. Each statue (including the one on the dais) has AC 13, 4 hit points, vulnerability to bludgeoning and thunder damage, and immunity to poison and psychic damage.
While the statues are dancing, any creature that enters the room or starts its turn there must succeed on a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw to avoid colliding with a statue. Reduce the DC by 1 for every three dancing statues that have been destroyed. A collision with a creature causes a statue to shatter and deals 14 (4d6) psychic damage to the creature that struck it. The dancing statues avoid the dais and can’t collide with creatures on it, nor can they collide with creatures they can’t reach (creatures flying above them, for example).
This statue on the dais doesn’t move, and the tiny sphere floating next to its head is frozen in time and magical (see “Treasure” below). It remains suspended in the air above the dais even if the statue on the dais is destroyed.
Slaad Guardian. An invisible gray slaad in its true form appears near the dais when one of the following conditions is met:
Three or more dancing statues are destroyed.
The statue on the dais is destroyed.
Someone grabs the tiny sphere.
The slaad normally resides in a demiplane and was not affected by the time-freezing magic of Iggwilv’s Cauldron. It attacks any creature that has the tiny sphere in its possession, turning visible as it does so. If it obtains the sphere, the slaad keeps it, turns invisible, remains in this room, and defends itself if attacked. It can be harmed by the dancing statues.
Zybilna pressed the slaad into service, and it does her bidding if she’s around to give it commands.
Treasure. The blue sphere is an Ioun stone (insight) that belongs to Iggwilv. Any other creature that attunes to the Ioun stone is cursed. While cursed in this way, the creature is magically transformed into an animated, doll-like effigy of itself made of wood. The creature’s statistics are the same, except that it is a Construct with vulnerability to fire damage, and it doesn’t require air, food, or water. Items worn or carried by the creature are unaffected. A wish spell can end the curse. The creature can end the curse on itself by giving a bouquet of eight black roses to Iggwilv, but only Iggwilv and Iggrik (the quasit in area P51) know that the curse can be ended in this way. The black roses can be harvested from the rose garden (area P7).