P46. Dressing Room
This chamber is a walk-in wardrobe. Hinged panels along the walls swing outward to display a variety of exquisitely crafted robes, gowns, scarves, headdresses, stockings, gloves, shoes, boots, and other clothing. Items remove themselves from hooks and hangers and float in the air seemingly of their own accord, allowing you to see them more closely.
Permanent unseen servant spells make trying on clothes in this room easy and fun.
P47. Destroyed Study
Splinters of wood, along with some loose papers and two halves of a shattered blowing horn, are suspended in the air. Whatever caused this unfortunate scene also punched a hole in the north wall on the landing between two staircases, one leading up and the other leading down. The stony debris from the blast is frozen in midair outside the tower.
Characters who peer through the hole in the wall see the following scene:
A human knight with a thick mustache and a look of surprise on his face was apparently thrown backward through the jagged hole and now hangs in the air amid the debris. The knight wears a helm adorned with feathery wings, and he is holding a longsword and a shield.
Nothing of value remains in the study.
Any hags of the Hourglass Coven who retreated to the palace are found here, near the hole in the wall. Parked nearby are their mounts and vehicles:
Bavlorna’s bobbing lily pad
Skabatha’s flying rocking horse (see chapter 3)
Endelyn’s ornithopter of flying
If only one hag is present, she is muttering to herself. If two hags are here, they are bickering about what to do next. If all three hags are present, they are mocking the helmed knight as they avoid talking about their present troubles. “He seems to be taking his present situation rather lightly,” says Skabatha. “Time has been rather cruel to him,” gloats Endelyn. “If we still had the unicorn horn, we could make him plunge to his doom,” bemoans Bavlorna.
If Endelyn Moongrave is encountered here, she tells the characters that she foresaw the dissolution of the coven. If one or both of her sisters are in earshot when she says this, they accuse Endelyn of orchestrating the coven’s breakup. Arguing ensues, ending with each hag using her plane shift spell to flee Prismeer. The hags also use this spell to escape if the characters attack them.
Otherwise, the hags do what they do best: deceive and bargain. They claim to be the true heroes of the situation, since they trapped Iggwilv in time to save Prismeer from her tyranny and debauchery. They relate memories of Iggwilv’s past, portraying her as a demented archmage who peered into the Abyss, studied it intently to learn how to summon and control demons, and used them to ravage kingdoms on the Material Plane. The hags suggest that the characters focus their efforts on slaying the jabberwock. In exchange, the hags promise to use the power of Iggwilv’s Cauldron for the characters’ benefit, further tempting them by describing the cauldron’s many beneficial properties. The hags hope to buy time until they can turn the tables on the characters and make them suffer for their insolence.
Leader of Valor’s Call. The helmed knight, named Strongheart, battled Kelek and Warduke in this study. Warduke used a horn of blasting to punch a hole in the wall and sent the knight hurtling through it. An instant later, the palace was frozen in time. The horn was destroyed in the blast, which also dealt damage to Warduke and Kelek. (Those two were later released from temporal stasis by the Hourglass Coven and allowed to rest and regain their lost hit points.) Strongheart is suspended 30 feet north of the tower and 60 feet above the storm vortex (area P13). He has 20 hit points remaining.
If Strongheart’s temporal stasis ends while he’s suspended over the storm vortex, he falls into the vortex. A character within reach of Strongheart can try to catch him as he falls, doing so with a successful DC 15 Strength check. Alternatively, characters who can fly could reach Strongheart while he’s frozen in the air, tie one end of a rope around him, and secure the other end to something or someone strong enough to bear his weight (240 pounds with all his gear), thus preventing him from falling when the temporal stasis ends.
If rescued and questioned, Strongheart explains his role in leading Valor’s Call to the palace (see “Fall of the Witch Queen” earlier in the chapter). He planned to bring the members of the League of Malevolence to justice, but he underestimated their tenacity and resourcefulness. He is grateful to his rescuers and offers to help them accomplish whatever goals brought them to Prismeer. Other members of Valor’s Call follow his lead.
Stairs Up and Down. Stairs to either side of the hole in the wall lead down to area P31 and up to area P49.
Treasure. Strongheart wields Steel, a magic longsword. The sentient blade can’t be removed from the knight’s hand while he’s frozen in time, and it can’t communicate or be used to cast revivify until it is released from temporal stasis.
P48. Turrets
These seven turrets, areas P48a through P48g, are attached to the palace’s central tower. None of these areas have windows. The contents of the seven turrets are as follows:
P48a. An enameled blue coffer rests on an alabaster pedestal in the middle of this room, which is connected by an open archway to a staircase that leads down to area P31 and up to areas P47 and P49. The coffer contains a plum-sized jewel made of transparent blue crystal with a tiny, Z-shaped crack in its core (see “Treasure” below). Any character who grasps the jewel and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that the jewel is Zybilna’s crystallized desire to be treated as a queen and rule over lesser beings.
P48b. Characters can reach this chamber by climbing a staircase from area P14b on the palace’s lower level. An enameled white coffer rests on a black basalt pedestal in the middle of the room. The coffer contains a plum-sized jewel made of translucent white crystal. The jewel is warm to the touch (see “Treasure” below). Any character who grasps the jewel and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that the jewel is Zybilna’s crystallized desire to show kindness to the destitute and unfortunate.
P48c. Characters can reach this chamber by climbing a short staircase from area P48d. An enameled red coffer rests on a pedestal of rotting wood in the middle of the room. The coffer contains a plum-sized jewel made of red crystal that hums faintly (see “Treasure” below). Any character who grasps the jewel and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that the jewel is Zybilna’s crystallized desire to punish those who have wronged or defied her.
P48d. This chamber is empty. A short staircase leads up to area P48c. A longer staircase leads down to a hallway on the palace’s lower level that connects with areas P14d and P16.
P48e. Characters can reach this chamber by climbing a staircase from a hallway on the palace’s lower level that stretches north of area P29. An enameled green coffer rests on a wrought-iron pedestal in the middle of the room. The coffer contains a faintly glowing, plum-sized jewel of green crystal (see “Treasure” below). Any character who grasps the jewel and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that the jewel is Zybilna’s crystallized desire to remain hidden from her enemies.
P48f. Characters can reach this chamber by climbing a short staircase from area P48g. An enameled black coffer rests on a pedestal of living vines in the middle of the room. The coffer contains a plum-sized jewel made of lustrous black crystal (see “Treasure” below). Any character who grasps the jewel and succeeds on a DC 15 Wisdom (Insight) check intuits that the jewel is Zybilna’s crystallized desire to know what her enemies are plotting.
P48g. This chamber is empty. A short staircase leads up to area P48f. A longer staircase leads down to area P14a on the palace’s lower level.
Treasure. The five jewels stored in the turrets are Zybilna’s crystallized desires. They appeared to her shortly after the domain of Prismeer was formed, and she placed them in the turrets for safekeeping. A detect magic spell reveals an aura of conjuration magic around each jewel.
An identify spell or similar magic reveals that each jewel has a single conjure fey spell embedded in it, and that the spell can be cast as an action by knocking the jewel three times against a hard object or surface. No other components are required to cast the spell, and there’s no way for the user to know what creature will appear. The creature summoned by a jewel depends on the jewel’s color, as noted in the Conjured Fey table. The jewel vanishes when the creature appears, and the creature disappears after 1 hour. See the conjure fey spell description for the creature’s behavior.
These conjured Fey are magically created duplicates of creatures whose life essence Zybilna harvested to twist part of the Feywild into what would become her Domain of Delight. Being mere echoes, they are oblivious to this fact and unaware of what they truly are. Each one acts as though it has been imprisoned in its jewel for an unknown period of time (by whom, it can’t say). It doesn’t realize that it will cease to exist when the spell that brought it forth ends.
Conjured Fey
Jewel
Creature
Black
Spymaster Hushknife, a darkling elder
Blue
Allegra, a quickling
Green
Frogspittle, a green hag
Red
Sinch the Ruthless, a redcap
White
Winky, a one-eyed blink dog