Twelve Dancing Wizards

The Twelve Dancing Wizards, also known as the Twelve from Thay, was a group of wizards who attempted to take control of Deepingdale in the late 10 century DR.

"Keep on like that, and you'll end up like one of the Twelve."

- A typical warning from the folk of Deepingdale to magicians.

Organization
The Twelve Dancing Wizards were human males from Eltabbar who served the zulkir of evocation. The Twelve were one of the "strike forces" discharged by Thayan zulkirs in an attempt to establish outposts in the Dales and other locations across the Realms. The two leaders of the Twelve were rivals Thultos Draeve and Phorant Tashoond. Some of the Twelve were known to carry staves of power and at least one unknown magic rod. All were adorned with enchanted rings and armed with wands.

History
The inhabitants of the Dalelands remembered the Twelve from Thay for their cruel and sudden attack on Deepingdale that took many lives in the early autumn of the. The rampage was stopped by the Deeping Princess Imryll Eluarshee, who ensorcelled the wizards and trapped them in a dweomerdance. The wizards were stripped of their will and memories, rendered feebleminded, and bound to an involuntary dance. The same magics gave the Deeping Princess all of the Twelve Dancing Wizards' arcane powers and knowledge. Eventually, the Twelve died while still trapped in the dance.

Thay's attempts to establish toeholds all proved to be fruitless, and the practice was abandoned by the Zulkirate.

The Twelve from Thay continued the spell-bound dance into the 14 century, still dressed in frayed robes and decorated with their magical jewelry. Their dancing bodies — skeletal and invisible — were hidden in a ring of a dozen invisible, extra-dimensional tomb chambers above Highmoon in Deepingdale. If a spellcaster found themselves inside a tomb, it absorbed any magic and left them defenseless, while physical contact with the dancing skeletons caused necrotic harm and affected the targets with the Otto's irresistible dance spell.

The invisible entrance to the tombs floated above the buildings of Highmoon, and only by chance did someone find a way inside. Some believed that these floating tombs were the reason why flying mounts were outlawed in Highmoon. Any items that belonged to the dancing dead that were removed from the tomb had a tendency to leave the hands of the thieves and float back to the invisible lair.