If the characters gain leverage over Mister Witch and Mister Light, either by stealing the Witchlight watch or through some other scheme, the carnival owners lead them to the Hall of Illusions and march them inside:
As Witch and Light move through the Hall of Illusions, their reflections in the mirrors show them as gloomy shadar-kai children, with your own youthful reflections following behind. Soon, they call you to a halt. The mirrors now reflect everyone’s true age.
Mister Witch addresses you in a hushed tone. “Everything you seek and more lies beyond this mirror. If you mean to step through, then stand in front of the glass and repeat this rhyme: Hither, thither, here and there; wander yonder, show me where.”
Witch and Light won’t mention the Hourglass Coven or the splintering of Prismeer, but they share the following information if pressed:
The land beyond the mirrors is called Prismeer, wherein dwells the carnival’s secret patron, the archfey Zybilna.
Anyone who sneaks into the carnival without a ticket is robbed of something precious. Whatever is stolen always finds its way to Prismeer.
The mirror is a one-way portal. Once they arrive in Prismeer, the characters must find their own way back to their world.
When a character recites Witch’s rhyme while standing in front of their present-day reflection in the Hall of Illusions, read:
Mist swirls in the mirror, blotting out your reflection.
Any creature that touches the surface of the misty mirror is pulled through it and deposited in Hither, one of Prismeer’s three splinter-realms (described in chapter 2). If a character tries to take either the Witchlight watch or the Witchlight vane through the mirror, the item drops to the floor as the character crosses the threshold. Neither item can be taken to Prismeer.
If Mister Witch and Mister Light are both present, they wait until only one character remains and then impart the following information to that character:
Witch: “Mind the Rule of Three: future, present, past.”
Light: “Find the alicorn and free the dormant queen at last.”
Proceed with chapter 2 once the characters pass through the magic mirror.