Matilda slinks north through the smashed doorway. Ben follows her, glancing behind him to see if any of the figures move. (They don't seem to.)

Horatio enters the ballroom next, clanking quietly (and loudly enough to make you nervous.) The Jabberwock stirs, grasping out suddenly with a terrifying clawed talon, but it catches nothing but air, and it quickly falls back into a quiet slumber without fully awakening.

Titaani wanders south, and tries to tug on the woman's quarterstaff. It does not budge.

Elkhorn comes in last, clearly looking disgruntled. Stealth: 19
He sees Titaani and flashes with concern, then mouthes the name, "Mercion".

Matilda gets a better look at the room to the north. This chamber contains a round, marble-topped table ringed by high-backed chairs. Between the table and a curved wall of tall, slender windows stands a motionless, white-haired wizard wielding a staff that has glittering frost erupting from its tip.

Titaani's eyes go wide and she quickly follows the others into the northern room.

Ben:

Going slowly and stealthily north, Ben tries to put some distance between himself and the slumbering jabberwocky.  He drifts towards the eastern opening of the northern room, just in case there are any non-frozen threats that direction.

Matilda follows Ben shaking a finger at Titaani as she does so, though the twinkle in her eye belies her annoyance....

Looking through the door to the east, Ben sees another ruined stateroom. The furniture is destroyed; nothing of value remains. Another double door leads south from it, that one apparently intact.

All the figures remain frozen except the Jabberwock, which slumbers on peacefully.

Matilda headed towards the doors to the south hoping they weren't locked....

Titaani follows Matilda, shooting her a guilty smile.

Stealth check: 16

Pud creeps in slowly behind Elkhorn. He leans in close and whispers in his ear. 

“Whoa…look at that thing. It’s huge! I think I might’ve peed myself a little. Don’t tell…”

Just then he sees Elkhorn mouthing something to Tittanie. He looks her way, then back to Elkhorn and then back again. 

He whispers again. “Who’s that with the quarterstaff?…oh wait, everyone’s leaving. Let’s go!”

With that Pud sneakily follows the others. 

Matilda circles through the eastern stateroom, carefully stepping through the broken wreckage, and finds the door to the south unlocked. It opens into a long, empty, marble hallway. Another set of double doors across from her bear the crowned hart decor, like the one to the Changing Room

"Mercion," whispers Elkhorn to Pud. "A friend of mine. A good egg. We could use her help right about now..." He then points to the white-haired wizard on their opposite side. "And that's Ringlerun. Another friend of mine. Good-hearted man. All my friends, frozen. I should have been with them..." He sighs, painfully.

Ben:

"If you were with them when time stopped, you couldn't be helping us now," whispers Ben as he heads through the doorway to the south.  Putting a hand on Elkhorn's shoulder, he adds, "And you wouldn't have had the opportunity to help us save them."

Once they are all gathered in the hallway, Ben says quietly, "Let us keep exploring.  Hopefully we will find the Queen's library and something in her books will help us free her.  If we run across those of Malevolent intent, we will eliminate them along the way."

"So Mercion's your friend, Elkhorn?" Titaani asks as they gather. "Sorry I tried to steal her staff. I thought she might be with those malevolent people."

Matilda smiled at Elkhorn then headed up to the intersection to peer north.

More marble hallway, more double doors...

Ben:

Entering the hallway after everyone has gone through, then shutting the doors carefully, Ben lets put a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.  Hoping the door will block noise well enough, he follows Matilda up the northern hallway and sets up on the door on the east wall, ready to try and open it once the others are ready.

Ben carefully opens the unlocked door to the north. Within is some sort of monstrous aviary. An enormous owl stands perfectly still in the middle of this room, its wings partially outstretched. A wall of iron bars stretching from floor to ceiling forms a protective barrier around the chamber’s entrance, keeping visitors separated from the owl. The wall across from the double door has a twenty-foot-wide, circular opening sealed with hinged, semicircular windows in wrought-iron frames. The marble floor is littered with the bones of giant rats.

Pud walks in behind Ben and his jaw drops at the sight of the owl. 

“Look, Riz! It’s a huge owl!”

He walks forward and grabs onto the bars and presses upon close to get a closer look. 

DM: can Pud fit through the bars?

" Hmmm, big bird is frozen too.......Why isn't the dragon frozen?", Matilda mused, " Why only some things?"

The bars are 1 foot apart, leaving gaps wide enough for a Small character or a thin Medium character to squeeze through. So Pud can barely squeak through, if he chooses to, as could Matilda. Titaani could waltz right in. The rest of you are slightly too big. 

Ben:

”I am no expert in such things, but I would expect only the creatures within the castle grounds at the moment the time stop magic took hold would be affected.  People who came later, like us, are not frozen in time,” responds Ben.

“But that does not mean creatures who appear to be frozen might not be just pretending—so I would be very cautious,” he adds.

Perception to see if the giant owl is actually frozen:  13

Ben watches the massive owl closely for a long moment. He feels confident, based on its unbalanced stance alone, that it is indeed frozen in time.

(It's not just a giant owl; it's a Gargantuan one!)