The Prison Break

After their tense encounter with Endelyn, the party stood outside her private chambers. Zahala reminded Filbert that they could possibly recover his feather since Bavlorna was dead. All they needed to do was find Gloam, Endelyn’s cat. Filbert decided to take a chance, and he returned to the audience chamber to tell Endelyn that he would try to find her cat.

As they moved away from Endelyn’s chambers, the party discovered a large stone door guarded by two suits of goblin armor containing skeletons. They decided to explore the castle further before trying to open the door. They climbed the stairs to the second level of the tower where they could see down into the orrery.

Exploring the Towers

On this level of the tower they found a set of double doors. They decided to explore two smaller rooms with balconies overlooking the amphitheater first. In the first room they found a table covered in fluttering papers which were held down by a frog paperweight. The walls were lined with bottles filled with crackling lightning, and a cage containing three paper birds stood in one corner. They also noticed wooden slats in the ceiling with metal visible through them. The other room had a much higher ceiling, and they discovered an Ornithopter sitting on the balcony.

The Hourglass Chamber

After exploring the smaller rooms, the party returned to the double doors. Filbert touched one and was thrown from the balcony. He bounced off the orrery and landed on the ground below, taking falling damage. He climbed back upstairs and used Knock to suppress the magic preventing entry through the door.

The party entered the room. It was filled with hissing hourglasses of various shapes and sizes, which flipped over as they emptied. Several marionettes hung from the ceiling, and a wardrobe with glass doors and drawers stood against the wall. Filbert accidentally triggered one of the marionettes, and it started yelling “intruder!” Zahala, realizing that the marionettes were hung with Korred hair, used her new ability to control Korred hair and silenced it.

Zahala and Acornagorn investigated the chest, which opened using the key Zahala found earlier, hidden in the throne. Inside they found a bag containing four gold bedpost knobs, eight bottles of elven wine, and a shriveled elf hand. The hand wore a Ring of Shooting Stars on its third finger and clutched several sheets of blank parchment with a title page that read, “The Agonies of Alagarthas: A Three-Act Tragedy by Endelyn Moongrave.” Acornagorn took the ring and attempted to use his arcana skills to learn more about it, but was unsuccessful. Zahala then explored the wardrobe, opening one of the doors with Mage Hand. The space behind the door was clean and well-kept, but empty. As she opened the door, a giant eye on the wardrobe opened and looked at her.

Zahala and Acornagorn brought the ring to Filbert, who recognized it and put it on without explaining what it is. He said, “this is just costume jewelry.”

Prison Break

Filbert used Dimension Door to teleport into the prison.

Inside, he found Glister imprisoned in one of the four cells. Glister told him several important pieces of information. She had overheard goblins talking about a belfry in one of the turrets that was the safest and fastest way to reach the Palace of Heart’s Desire. She also knew that Endelyn was very upset about losing a key and that her minions were searching for it everywhere. She then told him how to destroy Endelyn. Endelyn could be destroyed during an eclipse, so Glister suggested they create one using a moon prop and her sun mask. If they could get Endelyn in front of the moon prop while Glister stood behind it wearing her sun mask, Endelyn would know her doom was at hand and be destroyed.

Glister also told Filbert that she and her sister could return to the Witchlight Carnival if they could reach the Fey Beacons. Concerned about the magic on the door handle after his earlier experience, Filbert used Detect Magic to investigate the door before opening it. The spell revealed that the stone door was protected by abjuration magic and that Glister was magical but that the handles were safe to pull. Satisfied that it was safe to open the door, he let her out of her cell.

Meanwhile, Zahala and Acornagorn waited for Filbert to return. When he didn’t, Zahala questioned a nearby goblin about the prison. The goblin told her that only Endelyn or Stagefright could open the door, but that he could see into the prison when he dusted the goblin armor. Acornagorn touched the armor, and a giant head that looked like Endelyn appeared and yelled at them. Through the armor they saw Filbert and Glister inside the prison.

Zahala and Acornagorn immediately went to find Stagefright, who they located in the library. Acornagorn successfully persuaded Stagefright to take them to the prison, as he had to bring Glister some food anyway. In the prison, Filbert quickly shut Glister in her cell and hid with her, so they wouldn’t be visible from the doorway. When Stagefright arrived and opened the door, Filbert cast Color Spray, blinding him. After attacking him and mostly missing, they all escaped through the open door.

Reunion and a Difficult Decision

The party reunited with Gleam and Amidor in the storage room. The reunion between Gleam and Glister was joyous. Amidor, eager to take advantage of the opportunity to kill Endelyn, urged the party to attack now, reminding them to use the moon prop and Glister’s sun mask. The party hesitated to attack Endelyn directly, but eventually agreed to the plan. They decided to take a short rest before putting their plan into action.

• You started the session standing outside the door of Endelyn’s private audience chamber, where Zahala reminded Filbert that Bavlorna is dead and Filbert’s feather could be recovered if y’all can find Gloam, Endelyn’s cat
• Filbert stuck his head back in the audience chamber and told Endelyn that he would try to go see about her cat.
• Coming around the corner back to the staircase you used to reach this level, you discovered a giant stone door with no handles or hinges flanked by two sets of goblin armor that held goblin skeletons in them. You investigated these but did not touch them.
• The party decided to explore the castle a bit more, first going upstairs to the second tower level, where you could see down into the orrery.
• You found a set of double doors but felt wary of them. Instead of interacting with them, you explored two rooms that access balconies 40 feet above the amphitheater. In the first one you found a table with fluttering papers on it, held down by a frog paperweight. Bottles lined the walls of the room filled with crackling lightning. A cage has three paper birds—made of the same parchment as that on the table—flitting around in it.
• You discovered that there are wooden slats in the 10-foot ceiling and there is metal visible through them, some distance up.
• In the other room, you see a much higher ceiling, and on the balcony you discovered an Ornithopter.
• Back to the double doors, after investigating them, Filbert touched a door handle. Not being strong enough to resist, he was thrown off the balcony, bounced off of the orrery, and landed on the ground, taking falling damage.
• Coming back upstairs, he used Knock to suppress the abjuration magic that prevents people from entering the room and the party went through the doors.
• Entering the space, you discovered a room filled with hissing hourglasses, which are flipped using some kind of mechanical or magical means as they finally empty. They are different sizes and shapes and line the walls. Hanging from the ceilings are several marionettes. Against the far wall in an alcove is a wardrobe with a glass front, drawers below the glass doors, and an eye on it.
• Filbert triggered one of the marionettes and it started yelling “intruder” but Zahala, upon noticing that they are hung by Korred hair, used her ability to control Korred hair—which she gained while dancing with the Korreds—to wrap up the marionettes’ mouths.
• Filbert continued out of the room back out onto the balcony overlooking the orrery.
• Zahala and Acornagorn investigated the chest, and upon opening it, discovered a bag filled with:
  • A black sack containing four gold bedpost knobs
  • Eight bottles of exquisite elven wine
  • The shriveled hand of an elf wearing a ring of shooting stars on its third finger and clutching several rolled-up sheets of blank parchment, along with a title page that reads, “The Agonies of Alagarthas: A Three-Act Tragedy by Endelyn Moongrave” in spidery Elvish script. (Endelyn hasn’t written the script yet, but she has a title.)
• Acornagorn took the ring off the finger and attempted to use arcana to understand it. Both he and Zahala failed to glean any knowledge of it, but Acornagorn pocketed the ring.
• Zahala investigated the wardrobe and discovered that it had doors on it and drawers underneath those doors, plus the giant eye. She used mage hand to open one of the doors and could tell that the space behind the door was clean and well taken care of, but empty. When the door opened, the giant eye also opened to look at her.
• Reuniting with Filbert, they shared the ring with him, which he recognized immediately as a Ring of Shooting Stars. He took the ring, without sharing its properties with the party, and put it on.
• The party then went back down to the level the orrery is on and investigated the rooms there, where they discovered two private rooms with one-way mirrors that allow creates to spy on anyone sitting in the balcony boxes looking out over the stage.
• In another space, you discovered a large balloon made of storm clouds and the darkling elder, Charm. Despite Charm and her companions suggesting you might want to do some trade with them, you left and went back to the giant stone door. Zahala asked one of the goblins sweeping around the orrery about the door and they mentioned that it is the prison.
• Filbert used dimension door to take a risk and see if he could teleport into the prison. He did this successfully, discovering four prison cells, one of them closed and with Glister in it. Glister, happy to see someone who is not her captor, told Filbert the following:
  • “I overheard some goblins talking about a belfry in one of the turrets. Endelyn boarded up the belfry to prevent others from ringing the bell. Apparently, it’s the safest, fastest way to reach the Palace of Heart’s Desire.”
  • “Endelyn lost a key and is upset about it. Her minions have been searching for it, to no avail.”
  • “If my sister and I can reach the Fey Beacons, we can use them to return to the Witchlight Carnival.”
• And maybe more importantly, she said:
  • “Endelyn can be destroyed for good, but only during an eclipse. I say we create one! There is a moon prop in storage. If I were to stand behind it while wearing my sun mask, the moon would eclipse the sun. Were this configuration to occur in Endelyn’s presence, she would know her doom is at hand.”
• Filbert, nervous about the handles and reasonably a bit gun shy about touching anything, cast Detect Magic to see if there was any bad juju on the handles, and to see if there was any other magic in the room. The spell pinged the door, which uses abjuration magic, and also Glister, who is quite magical.
• And he admitted to Glister that without a rest to recover his spell casting ability, he would be unable to get them out of the prison.
• Filbert, satisfied that he would be safe, pulled the handle to release Glister.
• Meanwhile, Zahala and Acornagorn found themselves standing in front of the doorway after Filbert clearly used dimension door to step somewhere else. They waited for him to dimension door back with Glister but to no avail.
• Zahala went out to the floor under the orrery to ask one of the goblins about it, and he explained that Endelyn or Stagefright could open the prison door. But also that when he dusts the armor, a face talks to him and he can see into the prison.
• Zahala explained this to Acornagorn, who touched the armor, and a giant head that looked like Endelyn yelled, “You cannot pass, get back” at them. When that happened they could see into the prison, and Filbert could see them, too.
• So Zahala and Acornagorn went in search of Stagefright, and upon a successful perception check they discovered him in the library. They convinced him (with a successful persuasion check from Acornagorn) to show them the prison. He said, “I need to bring food to Glister, anyway. Just come with me.”
• In the prison, Filbert closed Glister’s cell and stood with Glister out of sight of the door.
• When Stagefright arrived at the doorway, he touched his scepter to the door and it opened wide for everyone to walk through. As he arrived, Filbert cast Color Spray and blinded Stagefright.
• Acornagorn tried to hit Stagefright and missed.
• Acornagorn tried to convince Stagefright that everyone was blind, but rolled TWO NATURAL ONES.
• Glister missed as well.
• Zahala successfully grazed him.
• Filbert grabbed Glister and left the prison through the still-open door and the other players followed.
• Zahala cast Invisibility on Glister and the party made their way down to the storage room where Gleam and Amidor are waiting. The twins were reunited!
• The party tried to figure out what to do next—of course Stagefright knows something has happened and that the party was involved, and Glister is no longer in her cell.
• Amidor says that they should move now to kill the hag, asking the party to please bring the brigganocks and korreds to help as well. The party hemmed and hawed about it, but eventually decided to join in the fight. The plan to use the moon and to allow Glister to stand behind it should be undertaken ASAP.
• The party took a short rest.

You are motivated to:

• Help Hurly and the twins find their way back to The Witchlight Carnival through the Fey Beacons
• Retrieve Filbert’s lost item
• Find and rescue Zybilna