The House of Thalivar

House of Thalivar

 

Location Overview

Two hundred years ago, the wizard Thalivar settled in Leilon and raised a high tower as a laboratory for his magical studies. Thalivar’s field of interest was the planes of existence. At the top of his tower he erected a planar beacon that shone into other worlds, drawing strange creatures like moths to a flame and paralyzing them for his studies. Over the years, the reclusive wizard filled the tower’s library with his research and built an impressive menagerie of monsters.   One summer, Thalivar stopped visiting the town for supplies. The locals who entered his tower to investigate didn’t return, and the House of Thalivar became a shunned site at the heart of Leilon, drawing adventures from afar to plumb its mysteries for treasure. When the cataclysmic Spellplague wracked Toril, the magic of the tower’s planar beacon was redirected outward into the town, freezing the inhabitants where they stood and bringing ruin to the settlement.   Forces from Neverwinter tore down the planar beacon and are refurbishing the tower for use as a garrison building. These efforts are led by Gallio Elibro, a powerful wizard and ranking member of Order of the many-starred cloak.      

Quest Goals

Lay to rest Talivars ghost possessing Gallio.  

Travel to the Tower

The House of Thalivar perches on a rocky crag in the center of town. The locals shun the place, and the bluff is overgrown with brambles and thorn bushes. A beaten trail made by soldiers winds up to the foot of the tower.  

Encounters on the Way

  As the characters begin their ascent, they encounter4 soldiers arguing on the path: two humans named Erlum and Koz, a timid dwarf named Gori, and Sergeant Hazz Yorrum. All three guards wear the tabards of the Neverwinter soldiery.The characters decide to eavesdrop on their convesation and unearth the following;  

• The soldiers were working on the tower’s reconstruction, but they fled last night after seeing a ghost.

• Before seeing the ghost, they experienced many odd occurrences: missing tools, strange chills, and spooky whispers.

• Books are flying out of their shelves.

• Their leader, the wizard Gallio Elibro, is still up at the tower. The soldiers are too scared to go up and check on him.

    Strange Sighting Nearing the top of the crag, the characters spot a figure watching from the crest of the hill: a dark-skinned Turmish woman wearing chainmail armor. She retreats as the group approaches and is soon lost from sight. Characters who’ve seen the painting of the Swords of Leilon notice a startling resemblance to one of the long dead heroes. When they reach the tower, the woman is nowhere to be seen.  

Arrival

 

A tall, ruined tower thrusts skyward from the summit of the crag. Its uppermost floor is blackened with soot and has been cracked open like an egg, with a fissure extending down one side of the building. Wooden scaffolds have been recently erected along this flank and work is clearly apace to rebuild the structure. At the foot of the tower, two ruined arches open into the interior.

  The tower is unguarded, and the only person present is the wizard Gallio Elibro. Refer to “Dealing with Gallio Elibro” if the players call out for the wizard, or “House of Thalivar Locations” if they choose to explore.    

Dealing with Gallio Elibro

Gallio Elibro is a short-tempered male Rashemi mage (with the legend lore spell prepared instead of cone of cold). His relentless studies have pushed him to the brink of exhaustion and his sleep is troubled (since he doesn’t know that the ghost of Thalivar possesses him each night when he sleeps). Gallio wears an ink-stained robe and his curly black hair is tousled. His fingertips are stained with purple ink.   Gallio is furious that his workers have abandoned their duties. He beseeches the group to rid the tower of any spectral presences so his people can return and finish the job. Gallio has not seen any spirits, but he doesn’t doubt the word of his underlings. He remains in his study (area H3) while the characters explore.   When walking past a glass pane, Frank Greybeard saw his aging reflection and promptly smashed the glass  

Confronting Thalivar’s Ghost

The party managed to hold a seance, and summon the ghost of Thalivar, who then quickly dispeared and summoned a few Star-spawned manglers which the Msifits disposed of without trouble.  

TOWER FEATURES

  The House of Thalivar is an 80-foot-tall stone tower that has fallen into ruin.   Ceilings. Ceilings inside the tower are 20 feet high and vaulted. The fourth floor is open to the sky, and a large portion of the third-floor ceiling has caved in where the planar beacon once resided.   Light. By day, sunlight punches into the upper floors through breaches in the outer wall or through high windows. The first floor remains gloomy and dimly lit even by day.   Doors. Doors are made of wood and are unlocked and badly rotted. They all creak loudly when operated.  

The statues

  Trapped Statues. These magical traps were disarmed by adventurers long ago. Close examination reveals that each statue has a vandalized magical symbol carved into its back. The characters learn that it's the smybol of Mystra, godess of Magic and make the foolish decission to mend the sigil, reviving the statue which then attacks them.   They dispatch of the Statue with some trouble. Especially Senna took quite te beatings.  

RAISING SOAPWORT

  After the initial encounter with Thalivar, the Misifts learned about soapwort. Thalivar's sevant faerie. They summon the faerie by using his bones and learn that Thalivar's bones also might still be in the tower.   They try to enter Thalivars bedroom but a magical barrier stops them from entering. They keep trying to but no succes. After alot of bumping their heads into the magical barrier, Bambam breaks down a wall and enters this way.   They find Thalivars Journal in the corner of the room.       Thalivar's Journal  

This journal belonged to the wizard Thalivar and details the studies he conducted inside the tower using a device called the Planar Beacon. The light of this artifact drew creatures from across the planes and trapped them inside the tower for him to study. The journal reveals how Thalivar’s beacon unearthed a powerful magic item named the Ruinstone. Thalivar devoted himself to acquiring it — but whether he found it or not is a mystery. The entries stop here for over a hundred years.   Dates on the entries and the freshness of the ink reveal that the later entries have been made in the last few days. Thalivar describes how he visits a ruined version of his tower in his dreams each night. In this dead world, he is drawn to a pile of rubble in the ruined chamber where his beacon once lay. Each time he draws close to the rubble, a terrible dread holds him back. Thalivar wishes his faerie servant Soapwort were here to assure him that he’s dreaming, but the faerie never turns up. Thalivar prays that these nightmares will end soon so he may resume his studies in peace.

  This leads the characters to the roof where they find Thalivar's bones. After a quick but unpleasant reunion with Soapwort, they burn Thalivar's bones and the tower was return to rest.