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There are reasons why we can't walk through walls. Using magic, though, those difficulties fall away. In fact, for a wizard in an otherwise-almost-magic-free world, walking through walls or falling through floors is an ability he can harness on cue.

The wizard has used his powers for evil, though, and after a long war against him and his armies, he has been defeated. The victorious army wants to keep him alive but imprison him. They quickly realize that this is a very hard thing to do, as he quickly runs out of a normal prison cell. In fact, they discover that he can escape from anything - ropes, handcuffs, etc. They only manage to move him from one place to another by constantly sedating him.

How can they imprison the wizard without keeping him unconscious all the time? They only have medieval technology, though, so their options are quite limited.

They want to imprison the wizard somewhere on the planet they live on, which is earth-like.

Some notes from my comments:

  • He can pass through anything, but he has to hold his breath.
  • He can designate an area of ground where he will not fall through at a given point in time.
  • He can't fly; most of his other abilities are unknown, but he cannot transform some materials into others. It seems that there's nothing else he can use to escape.
  • There are no other known wizards.

The army want to put him somewhere where

  • He cannot escape
  • He can survive with food and water periodically given to him, and with a source of air (and ventilation)
  • High-level officers can interrogate him

This location must be somewhere on land, and must either be a natural feature or be buildable by medieval technology. This means that he can't be put in water, outer space, etc. (fortunately, these have not been suggested by anyone).

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    $\begingroup$ I don't often put questions on hold by mod-hammer, but with all the back and forth going on and answers seemingly becoming invalidated by edits to the question after the answers have been posted, it seems clear to me that this question needs some work before it is really a good fit for our Q&A format. Please take the discussions to chat (see link in the above comment), fix the question according to what those discussions turn into, notify the posters of all existing answers of those edits with a comment each, and then reopen the question (assuming it can be turned into a good question). $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented Mar 23, 2015 at 20:52
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    $\begingroup$ In light of the fact the question has been updated with all relevant facts and the transmutation has been de-added I've reopened the question :) $\endgroup$
    – Tim B
    Commented Mar 23, 2015 at 21:16
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    $\begingroup$ @Mew "Ultrahot lasers" would seem to fail the "medieval technology only" constraint. $\endgroup$
    – user
    Commented Mar 24, 2015 at 8:11
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    $\begingroup$ @Jimnosperm He can designate an area of ground where he will not fall through at a given point in time, meaning he could essentially pass through the wall of the hole and ascend the blocked area with stair-like movements. $\endgroup$
    – DoubleDouble
    Commented Mar 24, 2015 at 19:59
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    $\begingroup$ @Frostfyre Nothing seems to be stopping him from passing through a blindfold, although actually blinding him by damaging the eyes might work $\endgroup$
    – Izkata
    Commented Mar 27, 2015 at 18:41

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Put him an ordinary medieval gibbet (suspended off the floor, just like every other ordinary medieval gibbet). Station two archers nearby.

Tell him if he leaves the gibbet, he's a pincushion

It doesn't matter that he can step out at will if you make it so that he really doesn't want to.

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