2. House of Thalivar

Prelude: Letters from Phandalin

Prior to the following investigation of the House of Thalivar, the party receives a visit from Sildar Hallwinter, arriving with great pomp and ceremony on the back of his mount from the Waterdeep Griffon Cavalry. Mon-Kei is so awestruck, he vows he will one day have a griffon like that!

Sildar eats up all the attention offered by the town, its garrison and Our Party, clearly very proud of his steed and standing - he seems to stand taller, look younger and stronger - bears himself with more confidence, perhaps even a bit cocky and overly dramatic. This serves to distance what had been a casual and friendly relationship in the past, and the party feels his armor gleams too much, his eyes twinkle irritatingly, and the man misses no opportunity to remind everyone of his rank as a Warduke in the Lord's Alliance, including making a point for a formal inspection of the Lords Alliance forces sent by Neverwinter.

Sildar notes he must be "on wing" at the crack of dawn to return to Phandalin, so he conducts his agenda efficiently during his stay, enjoying the responsiveness from all around him.

This month of Uktar will turn to Nightal (November to December) and the Year of the Scarlet Witch will become the Year of Three Ships Sailing (1492 DR - the dale reckoning).
He promotes Ujio and Mon-Kei to the rank of Redknife in the Lords Alliance for their continued successes.
He hands letters from Phandalin to Belcoria, Tallon, Yeet, and Willow.
He provides reports he has received that he feels may be relevant to all, then holds an "officers only" briefing with Ujio, Mon-Kei, and Hazz Yorrum of the Leilon garrison.

Letters and Briefings

The general briefing supplied to all:

The Mere of Dead Men has become far more active and dangerous. Patrols are going missing.
The orcs that had taken the Dwarven fortress of Icespire Hold that the Unknown Cryovain took as a lair have not returned, and the area has grown colder and colder and colder.
There have been tremors felt from the volcano Mount Hotenow, which has only smoked quietly since the 1451 DR eruption. The dwarves of Gauntlgrym do not think it is the mountain itself.
The Cult of Talos seems to have been driven from Neverwinter Wood, including whatever secret fortress they had been hiding in. But their activities are now far more active on the Sword Coast and the islands offshore – in particular between Waterdeep and Neverwinter, including piracy.
Phandalin’s attack clearly resulted from the boasting and show of wealth by the Dragonslayers, who are now geased (voluntarily) with dedicating themselves to the town's restoration. Strange allies have arrived in the town against would-be attacks by the orc clans. For example, seemingly good-intended and well-behaved patrols of goblins and even undead.
The Cult of the Dragon is now so active, a the Lords Alliance has convened a Council of Waterdeep to address the matter. This council includes Harpers, Emerald Enclave, dwarven lords, elf kings, and even the Zhentarim.

Officer's Briefing by Sildar:

A powerful wizard has joined Phandalin's defenses, claiming to know Mon-Kei and Yeet. He assures the undead, wearing or marked by his red colors (yes, ironic given the Redbrand Bandits) are allies of Phandalin. So far this has proven itself out and the expected attacks by the orcs from the hills have been stopped.
This wizard’s name is Hamun Kost and he told me to share with you, if you were still found here, that Leilon was once the location of a powerful and dangerous artifact formed by The Netheril in ancient times, though he did not know what it was called or what it did.
The wizard also shared with me that this trouble with the Cult of the Dragon may have been stirred up by one of the rebellious Red Wizards, considered an enemy of Thay (which I don’t know what to make of since Thay is a rather nasty place ruled by what sounds like a nasty being).
The goblins only communicate through Daran Edermath – perhaps the change of leadership at Cragmaw Castle had something to do with that. Daran always seems to have his own agenda, and I’m not confident he has the wellbeing of the towns and cities of the Lord’s Alliance first in his loyalties.

The package addressed to Belcoria and Tallon: contains 3 arrows and a letter from Daran Edermath. The letter to Yeet and Willow is written by Sister Garaele of the Shrine of Tymora. (See: Letters from Phandalin).

Aubrey’s Peculiarities Shoppe

Among the stores in Leilon, the party found this shop to be peculiarly strange. When asking townspeople about it, most have no idea what you are talking about, even if you point directly to it. Too curious to ignore, the party visits the shop - which sells magical items and treasures of fairly random sort. A striking painting above the merchant’s desk shows three adventurers: a dark skinned warrior woman wearing the garb of Turmish (a land far to the south on the western shore of the Sea of Fallen Stars), a red-bearded dwarf with a lute, and a third adventurer whose features are now vague with the fading of the paints with age. Belcoria purchases an Ancient Journal from the shoppe owner, Aubrey Silverspun - an old man from Luskan, far to the north. The painting is labeled “The Swords of Leilon.”

Leilon's Lighthouse

Located on a hill at the center of Leilon, the House of Thalivar is a key landmark identifying the town. It resembles a lighthouse with wide windows at the very top level.

(See also: High Tower of Thalivar)

There have been many rumors floating around town about the tall tower at the center of Leilon. It is said to have been built long before there was a town. In addition to being nearly 100 feet tall itself, it stands atop a crag-like hill about 40 feet in height. The town garrison has agreed to assist in its repair in trade for using it as a sort of watchtower.

Pieces of Memory

In remembering the night the party visited this tower, the recollections of each member seem disjointed and sketchy. None who were there can bring themselves to record their version of the events, so this record is made by Tallon the Tall, as told to him by Belcoria, Mon-Kei, Ujio, Willow and Yeet Longshade. (Tallon has been busily working, helping with town repairs, and was not there).

The party started up the hill path to the tower and the sun was setting. Three guards were hastily fleeing the place, eager to get drunk in town, swearing they would never return to the wicked place.

Nearing the top of the hill, the party noted a strange thing - a dark-skinned Turmish woman in chainmail, much like the one in the painting in Aubrey’s Shoppe. She retreats around a corner as the party approaches and is nowhere to be found.

The entry hall has been hastily abandoned, eight backpacks sit on a long table - bearing marks of the Leilon town garrison - likely belonging to the soldiers met on the way - plus others stationed at the tower.

A great deal of arguing follows, as Yeet feels entitled to the contents of the packs - which include a fairly sizable number of gold pieces (123), medical kits and three potions of healing.

Drawn by the arguing, the town’s notoriously short-tempered wizard, Gallio Elibro, emerges from the stairway, angry at the disturbance and then furious that the guards have abandoned the place. The wizard also has a rather foreign appearance, what is later noted as “Rashemi” - from far far to the east across the continent of Faerûn. He has been sent by the magical Order of the Many-starred Cloak in Neverwinter to research and rebuild the tower and the iconic beacon at its top - something Leilon had been known for, and perhaps a guiding light for travelers along the High Road.

Gallio reports the workers he hires keep abandoning the project, setting its progress back and back again - and even hiring guards to assure them of nothing unsafe (and to prod them into working!) the last few days have become something of a standstill in the project. Gallio himself has not seen or even heard anything weird - no spirits, no whisperings, no items going missing - and he asks if the party might investigate and settle this matter so the project can continue.

The four floors of the tower are 20 feet apart in height. Rooms often have shelves and chandelier lighting to take advantage of those dimensions. One entire side of the tower has crumbled and a scaffolding has been assembled with landings at each floor. To raise materials for the repairs, there is a pulley at the end of a boom on the top floor. The top floor (which once housed the beacon) is open to the sky. Doors are creaky.

The investigation and subsequent battle are the most difficult details to work out. As best Tallon can make out, these are some things that happened.

Yeet's Tale

Yeet Longshade recalls the wizard being more exhausted than angry and setting off to sleep in his study on the first floor, having paid the party the contents of the guards’ backpacks to deal with the tower’s problems. He also recounts Gallio Elibro’s brief tale of the tower’s history:

Thalivar claimed the tower now bearing his name about 200 years ago, using it for magical studies. At the top of the tower a beacon shined - it is said to have shone into other planes beyond this world as well. One summer, Thalivar stopped coming out of the tower for supplies, and was never seen again. Investigations always ended up with either absolutely nothing of note or the disappearance of entire groups. The place became shunned. During the Spellplague event, it is said the entire town of Leilon froze where they stood until the settlement fell into ruin. Later forces from Neverwinter destroyed the beacon and set the tower off limits to any but a garrison stationed on the third floor and using the top platform as a watch tower. Recently, Gallio has been tasked to restore the tower.

Willow, Belcoria and Mon-Kei

Willow recalls strange tiny bones being clumsily crushed under the party’s boots and dropped stones while looking through some of the rubble on the first floor.

Belcoria remembers in detail statues of Mystra, the goddess of magic, finger over mouth (“shhhh!”) in the rooms of the second floor library - which was filled with books floor to ceiling in writing so strange its letters and style looked nothing like anything anyone in the party had ever seen.

Mon-Kei insists there was a room that the rubble had sealed off from the rest of the tower, but with a window that Ujio flew into, then became confused about where he was. Soon after, the trouble began.

Ujio's Fractured Memories

Ujio’s memories are the most cloudy, so what he recounts mainly comes from what happened afterward. So disturbed by the experience, Ujio took the time to personally follow through with the matters of the tower with the wizard and garrison (now notable to them as a Redknife of the Lords Alliance).

All remember battling nightmarish creatures crawling in and out of shadows, along the walls and ceilings, at least three in number - perhaps as many as five? Creatures with impossible bodies and many claws and dealing blows that struck the mind as hard - or harder - than the wounds to the body. They were elusive and deadly and very tough - nearly killing two in the party, though there is disagreement on which two. Each party member, especially Yeet, insists they were one of those that was almost killed.

Ujio finds he has in his possession a journal written by Thalivar himself. He looks through the journal before giving it to Gallio, and then insists Merrygold Brightshine (the priest of Lathander Morninglord) join him in what he believes might be a confrontation with the wizard.

The wizard, the warrior and the priest reviewed the contents of the Journal of Thalivar together.

The old journal entries were written by Thalivar in life, telling of him using the tower’s beacon to attract and capture creatures from across the planes of existence, which he then studied and questioned. He had learned of and began a process to draw to the tower a powerful magic item named the Ruinstone.
It is unclear if this was a real thing or if he was successful, as the entries in the ancient ink suddenly end.
Then over the past few days, written in fresh ink, it would appear the ghost of Thalivar has added new entries, telling a tale of being lost in a confusing nightmare where he wakes in a ruined version of his home. He tries to find his familiar (a familiar is a wizard’s spirit pet) Soapwort, but the beloved fairy is missing and thus unable to help him sort matters. He wishes these nightmares will end so he can finish his research.
Merrygold notes several townspeople saw him/her, thinking they had seen Gallio crawling about on the outside of the tower at night. Gallio remembers nothing of this - and himself knows no such spell - so it would seem the ghost has been taking over Gallio’s body to write in the journal.
To end this dangerous circumstance, Merrygold (a man that day, for his gender seems to change randomly each dawn) conducts a seance ritual to draw out the spirit of Thalivar, and then performs a Ceremony to put the ghost to final rest. After this is done, all the peculiar hauntings in the House of Thalivar cease to happen.
As Ujio leaves the tower after the Ceremony (also attended by Belcoria and Willow), the three look back at the tower from the bottom of the twisting path up the hill. At the tower’s base - that same Turmish warrior woman seen earlier - in the painting - raises her sword in a silent salute, then bows, then vanishes.

The Ruinstone

A few days later, speaking with Merrygold - she has concern that there may be more to this “Ruinstone” story, and that it may be a reason this otherwise unimportant town keeps drawing the attention of powerful dark forces. She is not sure what to do about this - only that Leilon should remain vigilant.

Ujio finds a quiet place outside of town and employs the Legend Lore power from his sword to gain insight into this artifact (see: Ruinstone).

(Next: 3. Lizardfolk for Leilon )