House of Thalivar

“House of Thalivar” is balanced for characters of 7th level, though characters of 8th level will still find parts of the quest challenging.

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 the Order of the Many-Starred Cloak.

Gallio has secret orders from his superiors to seize Thalivar’s research and rebuild the planar beacon in a stronger form. Unfortunately, his efforts are hampered by ghostly activities inside the tower, which have driven away his military work crew. Gallio is unaware that Thalivar’s spirit haunts the tower and possesses him each night to carry on its research!

Quest Goals

To complete the House of Thalivar quest (see “area Leilon Quests"), the adventurers must destroy Thalivar’s ghost or lay it to rest without harming Gallio Elibro.

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

The characters have the following encounters as they ascend to the tower.

Cowardly Soldiers

As the characters begin their ascent, they encounter four soldiers arguing on the path: two humans named Erlum and Koz, a timid dwarf named Gori, and Sgt. Yorrum. All three Guard wear the tabards of the Neverwinter soldiery. The soldiers warn the characters against venturing up to the haunted tower. If questioned, they reveal the following information:

• 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.
• The ghost manifested as an old man with wild hair and burning eyes. They were working on the tower’s third floor when it appeared.
• Their leader, the wizard Gallio Elibro, is still up at the tower. The soldiers are too scared to go up and check on him.

Any character who succeeds on a DC 12 Wisdom (Insight) check discerns that the soldiers are holding something back. If pushed, they reveal another clue:

Gallio Elibro has been acting strangely. He appears overtired, and he’s been spotted at night wandering around in his nightgown and muttering to himself.

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

When the characters arrive at the tower, read the following boxed text aloud:

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 area H3) while the characters explore. Gallio can recount the history of the tower to anyone who enquires.

Gallio’s Possession

Each night, Thalivar’s ghost emerges from the Ethereal Plane to possess Gallio while he’s sleeping. Unlike normal ghostly possession, Gallio remains unaware that his body has been hijacked and placed under the effects of the spider climb spell. He crawls around the tower in his night gown, peers worriedly at the pile of rubble at the top of the tower, and scribbles in Thalivar’s old journal (area area H9). If confronted, he uses Horrifying Visage to scare away his enemies or tries to defeat them in combat (see “area Confronting Thalivar’s Ghost” for information on how the ghost fights). Thalivar does not hesitate to abandon Gallio’s body if he feels threatened.

Ghostly Events

Thalivar’s ghost tries to scare away anyone who enters his tower. As the characters explore, roll on the Ghostly Events table to introduce creepy phenomena, or invent your own!

Ghostly Events

Confronting Thalivar’s Ghost

Characters may try to summon Thalivar’s ghost using magic, a séance, or any other ploy they can devise. Remember that his spirit is insane and believes it is living in a nightmare. It does not want to parley and retreats into the Ethereal Plane at the first sign of trouble.

Once per day, when Thalivar’s ghost returns to the Ethereal Plane, it chants a magical phrase that summons a star spawn mangler (see appendix A) into the tower for every two members in the party, including sidekicks. Defeating Thalivar’s ghost in combat is difficult, so the players are better off finding a way to lay it to rest using the clues in the tower.

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.

Dangerous Floors: Some sections of floor are perilously weak and rotten. If a creature weighing more than 200 pounds enters these areas, the floor collapses underneath them. The creature must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or fall 20 feet to the floor below.

House of Thalivar Locations

The following locations are keyed to the map of the House of Thalivar.

H1. Tower Exterior

The tower rests on a rocky plateau. A grand portico once abutted the building to the west, but it fell long ago and only a few broken arches of masonry remain. The eastern side of the tower is undergoing repair; from here, characters can climb a ladder to ascend to the scaffolds at area area H7.

H2. Entry Hall

The hall is strewn with rubble. Puddles of muddy rainwater pool over the floor and starlings' nest in the eaves of the arched ceiling. There is a large banquet table bearing eight soldiers' backpacks.

Treasure

The packs contain three Potion of Healing, five Healer’s Kit, and 123 gp. However, these items belong to the solders, and Gallio won’t be pleased if the characters ransack them.

H3. Gallio’s Study

The walls of this study are lined with bookshelves housing dozens of musty scrolls and journals taken from the library on the second floor. Gallio Elibro spends most of his waking hours in here, attempting to decipher Thalivar’s coded research notes (see area area H6). See “area Dealing with Gallio Elibro” for advice on roleplaying the wizard if he’s present when the characters enter the study.

H4. Kitchen

The tower’s kitchen remains unused and is covered in a layer of masonry dust and rubble. The chimney over the hearth ascends for half the height of the tower before opening onto the breached third floor.

H5. Servant’s Quarters

Thalivar was tended by his loyal faerie servant, Soapwort, who died when his master accidentally released a menagerie of extraplanar monsters into the tower. Soapwort’s chamber has long since caved in, and his bed is buried underneath a pile of rubble. Characters who spend at least 30 minutes clearing the wreckage discover humanoid bones crushed underneath. Those who succeed on a DC 12 Intelligence (Medicine) check while examining the bones identify that they are fey in origin.

Raising Soapwort

Characters who’ve read Thalivar’s journal (area area H9) may be interested in raising Soapwort from the dead. If they have the mean to do so, the mysterious faerie agrees to help lay Thalivar’s ghost to rest. The old mage gladly listens to Soapwort and is laid to rest when the faerie tells him that this life is but a dream. Soapwort returns to the Feywild when his job is done.

Casting speak with dead is fruitless, as the corpse no longer has a mouth through which to speak.

H6. Library

These ruined chambers contain high shelves stacked with Thalivar’s moldering research notes. Each chamber houses a large statue of a peasant girl with her forefinger pressed to her lips in a hushing gesture. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Religion or Arcana) check recognize her as Mystra, goddess of magic.

Thalivar’s notes are written in pictographic code. Using magic, nothing short of a wish spell can decipher them. Without such magic, Gallio must decrypt them himself using laborious trial and error. The task is highly taxing but Gallio is committed to seeing it through. At short notice, characters who examine the notes are unlikely to have any epiphanies.

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. Characters who succeed on a DC 15 Intelligence (Arcana) check identify these as sigils of transmutation magic. If a symbol is mended or reworked, the statue comes to life and attacks intruders. The statues are Stone Golem, except that their size is Medium. They only attack creatures they can hear, always targeting the creature making the most noise. If this is unclear, they target the creature with the lowest passive Dexterity (Stealth). The statues never leave the library.

H7. Scaffolds

The soldiers have shored up one side of the tower with scaffolds. Ladders link the rickety scaffold platforms and a winch at the top is used to hoist timber and masonry between floors.

H8. Collapsed Rooms

These rooms have collapsed entirely, choking this floor of the tower from floor to ceiling. The soldiers were in the process of clearing this rubble when they fled the tower and their picks and shovels still lie where they fell. Clearing the rubble would take one person a week of hard labor.

H9. Thalivar’s Bedroom

This chamber is sealed behind rubble. A broken window is the only entrance, but an enchantment woven into the window frame prevents most creatures from entering. Any time a creature attempts to pass through the window it must make a DC 20 Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the creature forgets what it’s doing and moves off to do something else. If it tries to enter the window again within the next hour, it automatically fails its saving throw. When Gallio is possessed, he can crawl freely through the window without being affected.

The ruined bedchamber belonged to Thalivar and still contains his bed and writing desk. A journal lies open on the desk next to a recently uncapped ink pot. Characters who examine the journal discover that it is at least a hundred years old and written in the same hand throughout—yet there is a hundred-year gap between the older entries and the newest ones, which resumed just a few days previously. The journal is written in purple ink. Give the players the “Thalivar’s Journal” as a handout, the content of which is reproduced in the sidebar below.

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.

H10. Broken Beacon

This chamber once housed the planar beacon, but it is now in ruins and open to the sky. Prisoner cells line the walls, with bars broken and bent open as though whatever creatures were trapped within somehow broke out.

Characters who search through the rubble unearth Thalivar’s shattered skeleton. If these remains are buried using the ceremony spell, Thalivar’s haunt is put to rest.

Ghostly Farewell

If the characters succeed in laying Thalivar’s ghost to rest, they notice the same Turmish woman they saw earlier when they descend the hill back to town. This time, she raises her sword in a silent salute before disappearing.