P5. Fountain of Awakening
A marble fountain rises from a plinth on the bank of the stream, overflowing with time-frozen water that spills from the mouths of sculpted animals. The frozen spray surrounding the fountain creates rainbows in the air around it.
A detect magic spell reveals an aura of transmutation magic around the fountain. The magic of this fountain still functions even though its waters are frozen in time. The water can be handled and made to hold new forms as if it were soft dough, but any water removed from the fountain takes on the consistency of normal water. Any Beast that bathes in the fountain’s still waters is awakened, as if by the awaken spell, provided it meets the spell’s requirements. The effect ends if the awakened Beast leaves the palace garden.
Any Humanoid that drinks from the fountain or bathes in its waters must make a DC 15 Intelligence saving throw. On a failed save, its Intelligence score drops to 3 for 24 hours, and it gains the following flaw, which supersedes any conflicting trait: “I have the disposition of a wild animal.” Any magic that ends a curse ends the effect on the creature immediately.
P6. Woodcutter’s Axe
A gleaming greataxe is embedded in a withered tree stump near a bend in the stream.
Treasure. The greataxe is a woodcutter’s axe. Only a creature that has a Strength score of 18 or higher can remove it from the stump.
P7. Rose Garden
This fragrant rose garden is bordered by a bronze fence. The roses come in a variety of colors, with a few white and black specimens among them. Glistening spiderwebs cover the rosebushes.
The webs belong to three ettercaps that recently crawled up from the forest of Thither. They lurk under the soil, waiting patiently for tasty fairies to get stuck in their webs. If one or more characters enter the rose garden, the ettercaps rise from their earthy cysts and assume threatening postures, hoping to scare off the characters. The ettercaps lack the courage to fight anything bigger than a pixie, but they defend themselves if attacked. An ettercap reduced to 22 hit points or fewer tries to flee by crawling up and over the nearby palace wall.
Chromatic Roses. Any character who explores the rose garden spots a magic rosebush growing near its center:
In the heart of the rose garden, coiled around a statue of a prancing satyr holding a set of pipes to his lips, is a thorny vine with five roses growing out of it, each one a different color: black, blue, green, red, and white.
The vine has five chromatic roses. If all five roses are picked, the vine withers and dies.
Statue. The statue is a petrified satyr named Xinipax. If the petrified condition is ended on him, Xinipax plays a whimsical tune on his pipes and offers his rescuers a gift in return. He gallops to the nearby stream, pulls a wineskin from its shallow depths, guzzles down its contents, and hands the empty wineskin to his rescuers. Xinipax believes the wineskin can turn water into the finest elven wine, but he is mistaken. The satyr is cursed with the inability to tell water from wine, and the wineskin is nonmagical. Even if his claim is proven false, Xinipax still regards the wineskin as a worthy gift.
Xinipax doesn’t know what turned him to stone or how long he was petrified. After bestowing his gift, he gallops around the garden, playing his pipes and making a general nuisance of himself. He has no useful information about the palace or its other inhabitants.
P8. Maiden’s Pond
Willow trees encircle this sheltered pond. Lily pads dot the mirror-like surface of the water, and hungry dragonflies dart about, feeding on motionless fireflies that form an unmoving cloud above the still water.
The lake, the trees, and the fireflies are frozen in time, but the dragonflies are not. The pool’s time-frozen water can be handled and made to hold new forms as if it were soft dough, but any water removed from the pool takes on the consistency of normal water.
If one or more characters touch the pool, read:
A delicate hand made of water, black as winter’s night, silently breaks the water’s surface. The hand clutches a crown made of silver needles. Below the hand, under the surface, a school of shimmering black fish takes on a vaguely humanoid form.
A fey spirit is bound to the lake. Underwater, its body has the shape of a school of fish. Its watery hand holds the crown aloft until a character takes it or the party moves away, at which point the hand slips back under the water. If the crown isn’t taken from the hand, it can be retrieved from the bottom of the lake, which is 10 feet deep.
Taking the Crown. Its sharp needles make the crown difficult to handle without gloves or gauntlets. The pricking of the needles isn’t severe enough to deal damage, but a character can’t grasp the crown with bare hands for longer than 1 minute before the discomfort becomes unbearable.
A character who holds the crown hears a gentle voice on the wind. In a language the character understands, the voice says:
The beginning of Whenever
The end of Ever After
The start of an Age
The finale of every Moment
The first in History
Arranging the indicated letters of the key words on each line in sequence spells out the word “Wrath” (for example, the first letter of “Whenever” is W, the last letter of “Ever” and “After” is R, and so forth). The riddle hints that the crown should first be placed on the brow of Wrath, the iron hart (see area P10).
P9. Envy’s Tower
The base of this tower is 10 feet higher than the garden floor. Stairs hugging the tower’s outer wall climb 10 feet to an unlocked double door. A bronze plaque above the door reads “Envy” in Common. The tower is 30 feet tall and has no roof, enabling characters to enter it from above if they have the means to do so.
Oak trees fill much of the interior of this tower. Rays of light cut through the canopy, illuminating a marble pedestal that stands at ground level, swathed in tree roots. A hulking lion seemingly made of iron stands on the pedestal, flicking its tail in irritation. “You can call us Envy,” it says.
The iron lion, Envy, is one of two guardians that Zybilna created to watch over her garden in her absence. When Zybilna became frozen in time, her guardians appeared from their respective demiplanes to perform their duty. Envy uses the gorgon stat block, with these changes:
The iron lion speaks Common and Sylvan, referring to itself using the pronouns “we” and “us.”
It has a Bite attack instead of a Gore attack, and it has a Claws attack that deals slashing damage instead of a Hooves attack that deals bludgeoning damage. (The attacks are functionally the same otherwise.)
Envy dislikes its counterpart, Wrath (see area P10), but the two are prevented by Zybilna’s magic from harming one another. When the characters first grace the iron lion with their presence, it demands their obeisance and commands them to kneel before it. If the characters do as Envy commands, the lion is pleased and allows them to remain in its presence. Characters who fail to show it deference are instructed to leave the tower at once, and the lion attacks those who refuse.
The lion shares the following information with characters who show it proper respect:
“We and our counterpart were created as a pair to protect the gardens from intruders in Zybilna’s absence.”
“Our presence here means that our mistress is gone. Where? We do not know.”
“The palace receives visitors even in Zybilna’s absence. Guests are to remain in the garden pavilion until Zybilna deigns to grant them an audience. It is not our responsibility to protect visitors.”
Characters on good terms with Envy can ask it about the crown of needles from area P8. It knows the following information about the crown:
“Zybilna created the crown as a key that guests can use to reach certain areas of the palace in her absence. The crown has two forms: one made of silver needles, the other of golden roses.”
“To transform the crown of needles into its gold form, it must be placed on the brow of the correct iron guardian. Which of us, Envy or Wrath, is the correct guardian? We cannot say. Placing the crown on the incorrect guardian banishes the guardian to its demiplane, along with the crown.”
“Once the crown is transformed into its gold form, either guardian can wear it without being banished. Certain doors inside the palace become unlocked or locked, depending on which guardian wears the golden crown.” (Neither Envy nor Wrath knows which doors in the palace each of them is connected to.)
To transform the crown of silver needles into the crown of golden roses, it must be placed on Wrath’s brow, but Envy doesn’t know that. If the crown of silver needles is placed on Envy’s head, Envy is banished to its demiplane along with the crown until Zybilna wills them both to return (which can’t happen while she’s trapped in temporal stasis).
In its gold form, the crown can be safely placed on Envy’s head, even if the iron lion is dead. While Envy wears the crown, all lion-marked doors throughout the palace become unlocked (see “Crown Locks” earlier in the chapter).
Envy is willing to let the characters take the crown from it temporarily, but it wants something in exchange each time it relinquishes the crown: a lei made from flowers found in the palace garden (area P2). A single character needs 1 hour to pick the flowers and fashion the lei, but multiple characters working together can reduce the time proportionately. The lei must be presented to Envy as a gift and draped over its shoulders. To determine whether Envy is satisfied, each character who contributed to the necklace’s creation can make a DC 15 Intelligence (Nature) check. On a successful check, the lei is deemed acceptable, and Envy relinquishes the crown. If any character’s check total is 25 or higher, the lei is deemed extraordinary, and from that point on, Envy relinquishes the crown whenever the characters ask for it.