@Prismeer Overview
@Prismeer was a single Feywild domain until @The Hourglass Coven broke it into three splinter-realms: @Hither (a vast swamp), @Thither (an ancient forest), and @Yon (a stormy, mountainous landscape). The only way to restore @Prismeer to its former state is to free the archfey @Zybilna, who is frozen in time and trapped in her palace, which sits at the point where @Hither, @Thither, and @Yon used to be connected.
General information about Prismeer is presented in this chapter, since Hither is where the characters take their first steps in this fractured Feywild domain.
Prismeer is a Feywild domain divided into four sections: the splinter-realms of @Hither, @Thither, and @Yon, and the @Palace of Heart's Desire. These fragments are partitioned off from one another and the rest of the Feywild by walls of shimmering, silvery mist.
The hags of @The Hourglass Coven and their minions can travel freely between @Hither, @Thither, @Yon, and the @Palace of Heart's Desire simply by walking into or flying over the border mist, whereupon they are instantly transported to the border of whichever part of @Prismeer contains their intended destination. Most other creatures—including the characters—are forbidden from leaving one part of @Prismeer and entering another. Upon reaching the edge of @Hither, @Thither, @Yon, or the @Palace of Heart's Desire, they find all paths forward blocked by the mist, which disorients them and sends them back the way they came. Those who try to fly above the mist never get where they intend to go, their destination always appearing to be miles away.
The outer borders of @Prismeer are blocked by similar walls of mist through which no creature can pass without @Zybilna's consent (which she can’t give while frozen in time). Even the hags of @The Hourglass Coven are bound by this restriction; they must use plane shift spells to leave @Prismeer or reenter it. Other creatures capable of casting the spell can do the same.
In each of @Prismeer's splinter-realms, the characters can find a guide—a disloyal minion of @The Hourglass Coven—who is willing and able to lead them from one splinter-realm to another. While in the company of one or more of these guides, the characters can move through the mist separating @Prismeer's splinter-realms without being turned back. These guides are as follows:
Clapperclaw, a child-sized scarecrow, lives in Hither and can safely guide creatures from Hither to Thither or vice versa. The characters find Clapperclaw in Downfall (described later in this chapter).
Squirt, an animated oilcan, dwells in Thither and can safely guide creatures from Thither to Yon or vice versa. Squirt is described in chapter 3.
Amidor, a swashbuckling dandelion, inhabits Yon and can safely guide creatures from Yon to Hither or vice versa. It also knows a route to the Palace of Heart’s Desire. See chapter 4 for more information about this guide.
The Palace of Heart’s Desire can be glimpsed through veils of mist from certain vantage points in all three of Prismeer’s splinter-realms. To get to Zybilna’s palace, the characters must secure the help of Amidor the dandelion or other creatures in Prismeer. To leave Prismeer entirely, they need the help of Zybilna herself, as discussed in chapter 5.
Rules of Conduct
Although Zybilna is indisposed, three of the rules she put into place when she created her Feywild domain continue to hold weight: the rule of hospitality, the rule of ownership, and the rule of reciprocity. These three rules are common knowledge in Prismeer, and both natives and visitors would do well to abide by them:
Rule of Hospitality. When a friend, an enemy, or a stranger enters your home, you are expected to be gracious and accommodating to them until such time as they prove, by their words or actions, undeserving of such hospitality.
Rule of Ownership. You must not steal from a friend, an enemy, or a stranger. To take something that doesn’t belong to you without the rightful owner’s permission is a crime and an unforgivable breach of etiquette.
Rule of Reciprocity. When a friend, an enemy, or a stranger offers you a gift, you are obliged to accept it and offer something of comparable value (be it a gift or a service) in return. Such reciprocation need not happen immediately.
When Zybilna ruled Prismeer, few of her subjects dared to violate her rules. Those who did often disappeared without a trace. Now, with the Hourglass Coven in charge, the rules remain in force, though the circumstances are different. The hags believe strongly in hospitality and reciprocity, but they have a self-centered view of ownership—each claims ownership of everything in her realm. (For example, Bavlorna Blightstraw considers herself the owner of Hither and everything in it.)
Also, the hags are far less inclined to punish those who break the rules than Zybilna was, and it’s not even clear to other residents of Prismeer when a rule has been broken. For example, brigands are able to take what they want from other folk without paying for it, and nothing bad seems to happen to them as a result, but that fact alone is not enough to encourage most others to likewise break the rules—for all they know, the brigands might be acting in the hags’ interests.
If Zybilna were to return to power, strict enforcement of the rules would resume in a heartbeat, and brigands would be wise to take their propensity for malfeasance elsewhere.
Children of Prismeer
In this chapter and in later chapters, the characters might encounter children who were lured to Prismeer from the Witchlight Carnival or who stumbled into Zybilna’s domain by other means. These children have been stuck in Prismeer long enough to forget about the worlds they came from, yet they haven’t aged much at all.
Zybilna’s magic protects all children in Prismeer (but not creatures disguised as children). The hags of the Hourglass Coven are aware of this magic and unable to dispel it. Any child in Prismeer who would take damage as a consequence of another creature’s actions vanishes in a burst of multicolored light and is spirited away to a safe corner of Prismeer, unharmed and unreachable from the domain’s splinter-realms or the palace, until Zybilna wills the child to return to her. Children sequestered in this fashion are beyond the reach of everyone else and can’t be located or scried upon using magic.
Prismeer, like other Feywild domains, is shaped by the emotions of the creatures that inhabit it. Even creatures of little consequence can transform the domain in minor ways as long as no other, more powerful force is exerting its influence. For example, flowers might wilt in the presence of a goblin who is terribly unhappy. Similarly, a satyr’s laughter might cause a smile to appear on the trunk of an inanimate tree nearby. A more powerful creature, such as a hag, can reshape a larger portion of the domain to reflect their emotional state. An archfey is so attuned to the Feywild that their emotions can suffuse an entire domain, overriding the emotional influence of all other creatures in it. From that standpoint, Zybilna’s dormancy enables other creatures to affect Prismeer more than they could if she were still active.
As the characters make their way across the splintered realms of Prismeer, any emotional outburst or change in mood they exhibit might be accompanied by a minor reaction in the environment, which you can determine by choosing an entry that you like from the Domain Transformation table or by rolling on the table to determine a random result. Not every emotion felt in Prismeer is worthy of a roll on the table; you can save these effects for occasions when emotions are running high, to remind your players that the Feywild is not like the Material Plane. Because these effects have no impact on the story, you can forgo using the table if you want.
If Zybilna is released from her temporal stasis, the ability of other creatures to alter her domain is suppressed until she is incapacitated, killed, or no longer in Prismeer.
Whenever a creature—including a player character—dies in Prismeer, its death has a chance of triggering one of several magical effects put in place by Zybilna.
Any character who spends at least 1 hour searching for drinkable water in Prismeer’s wilderness can make a DC 15 Wisdom (Survival) check. If the check succeeds, the character finds a natural spring that can provide as much fresh water as the party can carry.
Foraging for food is even easier. Any character who spends at least 1 hour foraging can make a DC 10 Wisdom (Survival) check. On a success, the character finds enough food to feed the party for 1 day. A character who exceeds the DC by 10 or more also finds one or more edible Feywild treats, determined by rolling once on the Feywild Treats table.