Breaking a Timelessness Curse (DM help)

[channingman]

In time long past, the Ancient King Sigrdr conquered the entire continent of Abelard alongside his companion Jakob, the First Necromancer. His endeavor had a noble goal - to bring peace to the continent and to save the world from disease and death. But despite his lofty goals, Sigrdr could not save his young wife Brunhilde, who died giving birth to his child, Benjamin. Deep in the throes of depression, Sigrdr constructed a tower to house his deceased wife, which construction took 8 years. During that time, Jakob became a master of life and death, having stolen power from the Goddess of Death herself. As a final gift to his old friend, Jakob sealed the tower along with the town that housed the workers on the tower and Sigrdr himself in time, so that none of them would ever age, could never die.

It is now several thousand years in the future and the heroes arrive in the town, and find themselves unable to leave. The only solution they can find is the tower, filled with enigmas and traps. Somewhere in the tower there must be a means whereby they can leave the town, but they have to wonder what might happen to the villagers when they do.
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Ideally, I want there to be three solutions to the town. They find a way to leave, but the curse remains intact. They break the curse, which immediately ages and kills all those who were trapped by the curse. They find a way to return the town to time without the quickening effect. But I don't have any good ideas how to accomplish the first and third tasks. The second is the most straightforward. Enter the tower, find the source of the magic, and disable/break it. Does anyone have ideas for the other two? Some suggestions I've had before are that Benjamin might be able to help them escape without breaking the curse, and that Jakob could help to alter the spell. Unfortunately, Jakob isn't in the town, although Benjamin might have figured out a way out.

[Azreal]

Could the spell be bound to a clock? Then it's just a matter of 3 options. Destroying it, letting it spin out of control or allowing it to tick on as normal.

Another option is Jakob bound some kind of minor God and s/he's the source. Then it's a matter of convincing or forcing it to follow through with what they decide.

[Unoriginal]

I'd say that this Jakob guy used the time-stopped city as an opportunity to imprison the goddess he stole power from, that way no one from the outside world could free her.

If freed, she has enough power to handle the curse.

[Pex]

A fourth option, if cliche?

It's not really a time loop. It's an illusion to cover up everyone is really undead as to how they are living forever. They're not evil undead wanting to feast on the living. The party finds a way to end the illusion, and the townsfolk get to decide to restore the illusion or accept death.