Of Plays, Players and Grand Adventure… The Halls of Tizun Thane Pt. 1

Traveling the Flanaess in the Archclericy of Valuna — just north of the mystical Lortmil Mountains — our wandering troupe of thespians are seeking a willing audience to bedazzle and inspire with their audacious performances. The players are:

• Dongus & Humongous: The miniature Gnome Illustionist/Thief and his empathetic Half-Ogre Fighter companion who work as a pair depicting the “villains” of their performances, as well as providing special “effects” and brute stage handedness; 
• Erasmus Rumpmeister & Lancthedimule Bunstinger, the human dandy thieving duo who sometimes pilfer, and sometimes play the heroines; 
• Errant Wang, the brash and bold wizard, who assists with the effects and brings even more “magic” to the stage with his pseudo-dragon familiar, Jimmy; 
• Cankles Roosevelt, the arrogant cleric, who plays the crusader character in their many pantomimes.

Wandering about in their “traveling stage” wagon, the troupe has come across the meek village of Cahli on the banks of the River Asro as it is soon dusk. Cahli’s main industry is a thriving logging trade due to the surrounding woodlands — although from the looks of things, something more sinister and mysterious is afoot. 

The buildings within the town are all made of stone with metal shutters, which the party can see are being locked up tight as night approaches by seemingly fearful residents. They find a stable to house their wagon and mule, and make for the tavern which seems to contain the only available lodging and activity, as well as a chance opportunity for a performance for a thirsty crowd.

They are greeted with open arms by the innkeeper, and are recognized by some of the patrons as the thespians they are — villagers and guests having heard word of their beguiling spectacle — and are offered free lodging and meals for a chance performance. That evening the troupe is greeted by Valmont Dupuis IX, a highwayman and fellow thespian who has been staying at the tavern for the past few evenings on his way through the land, seeking treasure and adventure. Both the barkeep and Valmont relay to them the following information about the town and the surrounding area:

• The players should stay within the tavern during the night and not, on pain of death, open their room’s shuttered windows because of the “Night Things”.
• A powerful wizard named Tizun Thane lives to the south of the village. A path that runs out of the village in that direction and through the base of the Lortmil Mountains, eventually leads to his mystical palace. Tizun used to come regularly to the village, but hasn’t been seen for six months. The “Night Things” first appeared shortly after, and also come up from the south.
• Tizun Thane’s brother, Diker, has sometimes sent men to the village for supplies in the last six months. Nothing has been said, but the indications are that something has happened to Tizun Thane.
• The Halls of Tizun Thane are rumored to be littered with magic and treasure.
• The daughter of a merchant in a nearby town has been missing, and presumed dead for over a year, but the merchant is still offering a reward to anyone who recovers her.
• The villagers would reward anyone who could put a stop to the marauding of the “Night Things” and have mustered 2000 g.p. towards this.

The party travels up the river to the nearby town on Po to confirm with the merchant about his missing daughter, and agree to accept the challenge, even though they soon discover other bands of adventurers have also taken up the quest, but have never returned. The merchant offers a generous bounty, as well as stocking the party with ample supplies for their journey.

The troupe returns to Cahli before dusk to give a final performance before they depart the next morning to the south towards Tizun Thane’s Hall — their minds on the possibilities of treasure, adventure and the merchant's missing daughter.

The southern path leads them through a thick forrest for a few hours without encounter, until the route finally exits to a narrow ravine at the base of the mountain range. Traveling single file, they are attacked by a group of long-haired simians from atop the rock walls of the ravine — some 50' above — whom they vanquish or frighten off, not before being pelted by through rocks and debris.

Soon thereafter, they discover a corpse on the path ahead who’s skull was crushed by a boulder (perhaps one of the missing adventurers who had agreed to find the merchant’s daughter months earlier?). Searching the body, the party finds a roll of parchment bearing a wax seal in which the words “Tizun Thane” are barely legible. Written on the parchment is the message: “To gain entrance, say to the guard, ’Take us to your master.’”

The ravine leads into an enormous volcanic crater filled with water. A waterfall facades down in the southeast; the water flows west quite fast, indicating a subterranean exit. The path leads out onto a rocky peninsula with sheer sides dropping 20’ to the water below. East of the path below is a marshy area. At the end of the peninsula stands the impressive Hall of Tizun Thane, now looking unkempt.

As the party approaches, they can see more long-haired simians (unaware of the approaching troupe) on a part of the palace roof, but also a huge, iron minotaur standing “guard” in the entranceway in front of gigantic double doors.

The party enters the overgrown courtyard of the minotaur, and discovers empty stables, where they park their wagon and tie up their mule. They approach the minotaur and read the message from the found parchment. Upon doing so, the iron minotaur golem turns and opens the doors behind him, slowly entering the Hall. The party cautiously follows.

The golem takes them through a banquet hall, an audience chamber (containing suits of armor, rich tapestries and an ornate throne atop a dais), and a cloistered courtyard before uncovering a secret door (opened through the arm of a statue) that leads them into a hall of mirrors. On the ground in front of one of the enormous, 20’ tall mirrors is the withered corpse of Tizun Thane, his purple robes tattered and his skull caved in. Upon further investigating, the party discovers there is no trace of the wizard’s brain.

Humongous finds a strange ring on the wizard which, upon wielding it, gives him different sight when looking at the mirrors — they no longer have a reflective surface, but each one appears to be a “gateway” into a completely different environment (or dimension?) — and he can pass through them unharmed. He passes through the mirror that’s closest to the wizard’s corpse, and encounters a band of gnolls — and quickly passes back into the hall to inform the others. The gnolls, unaware of the magical gate are a bit too curious and one finds the end of a blade while the others retreat into the cavern whence they came.

Soon thereafter, more gnolls return to “battle” what they cannot see and are turned back with missiles and a molotov cocktail, thus blocking entry or exit through that portal.

The party learns that whomever wields Thane’s ring can pass through any of the “mirrors” within this hall into another realm of the unknown. Very tempting, but too dangerous to attempt … at least at this time.

The adventurers return through the secret door into the courtyard atrium, which is lush in trees, vines, and flora … and open to the outside world. The atrium is large and lined with several doors — some single, some double. The thieves listen at the various doors, but cannot make out any sounds. Their curiosity gets the better of them, so they try one of the single doors and discover a band of goblins occupying an anteroom, and battle soon occurs. Again the group uses their oil to consume the goblins in flame, destroying anything they may have had in their chamber.

They search some of the other atrium side rooms to no avail other than cobwebs and debris. In one room, however, the party surprises a patrol of ant-men who have burrowed out through the floor and have begun to dig through the area. Battle ensues, and they destroy the warriors, but can hear more approaching through the opening below. The adventurers block the hole with more burning oil, and retreat back to the hall of mirrors to retrieve the corpse of Thane. They feel that something much more diabolical could be found within their burrow, and plan to attract the Minotaur golem with the wizard’s body — if perhaps they throw the body down the hole and recall the golem, it will go into the hole and assist them in the breach against an ant-man attack. Problem is that the golem has already returned to the from doors of the palace.

One of the thieves decides to try and make it to the golem while the party brings the corpse to the burning hole. As the party tosses the corpse into the fire, the thief makes it as far as the banquet hall and is met with another group of the smaller simians, but also a much larger “chief” simian. Knowing that the simians are blocking his path, and that battling them would be unwise, the thief hightails it back to the party with the primates in pursuit. At that point another band of ant-men emerge from an adjacent room and engage with the larger simian mid-pursuit, while the party escapes back to the mirrored hall.

As they enter the mirrored hall, they make a dash into the original mirror which contained the gnolls, and proceed to be deflected from the mirrored surface and half the party are knocked unconscious from the concussive affect of the mirror. For some reason, they are unable to pass through the mirrors, even while wielding the magical ring. Dazed and surprised, they decide to make camp and mentally re-strategize on their next moves.

Once they have rested and healed, they look out of the secret passageway that lead them to the hall and see the smaller simians chaotically jumping and running throughout the foliage within the atrium, thus blocking their exit. The wizard commands his Psuedo-Dragon familiar to fly out into the atrium to get a better look, but is jumped by the simians and barely escapes. The cleric then decides to oil up his pet pig to release it into the atrium to distract the primates, but to no avail. The pig dashes into the brush while the simians enter the passageway and attack. The simians are defeated, and the party cautiously exits into the atrium and quickly proceeds to one of the northward double door exits. 

Unable to move silently, they soon discover the larger simian is still about (after defeating the ant-men—whose remains litter the hallway floor) and hears them as they duck into a dining room filled with rubbish. As they block the door behind them with whatever furniture they can find, one of the thieves climbs the wall and perches himself above the door as the simian starts to smash it, trying to enter the room. As soon as the simian breaks through the doorway, the thief drops (rolls a 20!) with an incredible backstab, decimating the beast with a single blow of this short swords. The smaller simians who were with the larger one panic and flee screaming.

Exhausted, the party searches through the rubbish in both rooms are discovers a bunch of equipment and treasure, as well as a few giant rats.

Valmont discovers a secret door, and with a silent peek they discover a barracks area where the simians seem to be originating. Avoiding contact, they quietly close the door, undisturbed.

They return to the audience chamber and find another secret door hidden behind the ornate throne and purple curtain. Beyond the secret door is a new, undiscovered region of the palace where the party uncovers a room containing a bunch of armored skeletons lining the walls. The skeletons become animated once they enter their room and pursue them into a deserted section down a long, dank hallway which leads into an open courtyard containing a large pool covered in ivy and overgrowth. As they hear the skeletons approaching the courtyard, a humanoid figure clad in black plate mail and black robes enters the room, seemingly commanding the skeleton guards... pointing in the direction of the party. The thief fires his bow and hits the figure square in the forehead (rolling a 20!) and smites him before he could raise his black sword! The cleric successfully turns the skeletons as they breech the courtyard, and they scatter and flee back in the direction they had once come.

The party returns to the skeleton room, makes camp and rests. In that room they also discover a set of stairs leading down into the darkness below this level…

What will become of our troupe in the Halls of the wizard Tizun Thane?