Damien's Tower

Damien Morienus's Tower, also known as The Accursed Tower, was the residence of a notorious necromancer of the Host Tower of the Arcane located on the western shore of Maer Dualdon in Icewind Dale, that sank into the ground circa 1269 DR.

Architecture

The land where the tower was created was known by the local Barbarian tribes as a holy place. Damien used the area's great natural power to mold the stone spires into a magnificent tower.[2]
Before the tower disappeared it loomed over the 60 ft. tall Great Tree of Mituki, a fabled barbarian hero. When the tower sank into the mud, the ground shifted from under the tree, bending it backward away from the lake creating a landmark that could have been used to track the missing tower's location.

Structure

The Accursed Tower in its prime was a tall structure of 4 floors that branched into 2 spires that went up 2 more floors. The tower was erected using similar magic that created the Host Tower of the Arcane in Luskan.

Interior

The structure once had an accessible front door on the ground floor, but after the tower sank into the ground the only way inside was through the "stone circle". The circle once was a top apart of the tower. By penetrating the carved stone floor of the stone circle you could gain access to the Conjuring Room of one of the spires. The room was warded with a summoning circle that would create an illusion of a demon to scare intruders away.
One floor below in the same spire, a nice richly decorated Master Bedroom was located. Damian kept one of his flesh golems in a closet as a mannequin. Following the stairs down one more floor laid the Parlor, with its rich tapestries and furniture rotting away, a Guard Post with undead skeleton guards, the Guard Captain Derek's room, the tower's Library with a hidden treasure room, two Guest Rooms, one belonged to Yarmuth the Brown. The floor ended with an Old Guard Room and a trapped hallway. The trap was broken with age and was basically a gaping hall in the floorboards.
One more floor down (originally the tower's second floor) held Damien Morienus' laboratory that held flesh golems, broken magical apparatus, and cold storage filled with rot. This floor also held Barracks and Servants' Quarters.
All the way at the tower's ground floor laid the mage's prison filled with reanimated undead and an Ogre skeleton who once was the lieutenant of Morienus' guard force. The rest of the ground floor was taken up by more Barracks, Kitchen, Wine Cellar, Dining Room, collapsed Main Entrance hall with a hungry giant sundew growing out of the mud, and a trap room where Yarmuth's body was locked up along with other ghouls.

History

Damien Morienus arrived at Icewind Dale sometime around 1269 DR. He wanted to pursue his research on eternal life and necromancy away from prying eyes of fellow wizards of the Brotherhood. He found a spot of natural power and erected the tower on the shores of Maer Dualdon, across the lake from the town of Lonelywood. The local Barbarian tribe witnessed the act of tower's creation and started worshiping the necromancer as a god.
Damien used the barbarians to perform horrible experiments on them. Eventually, a barbarian "prince" Kinnuki fell in love with the Wizard's wife, Mathilda, and they left the wizard and the vicinity of the tower. Damien summoned demons to hunt them down.
The demons were overzealous in achieving their goal and caused the event known as the Great Thaw which melted the permafrost under the tower and it sank underground never to be seen again. At the time of the Great Thaw, the tower had a guest, a priest of Myrkul, Yarmuth the Brown. He tried to usurp the control of the tower from Damien, unsuccessfully and apprehended. He placed a curse on the tower with his dying breath. The curse of undeath that brought all who died within tower back as the undead.
The area where the tower was built considered to be a holy cite for barbarians and druids. By 1369 DR the circle of stones that marked the tower's location was still used as a holy place by the druids of Icewind Dale.
A group of adventurers hired by Celerum the Black, who sought Damien's diary, discovered the tower buried in the ground. The tower was still under the influence of Yarmuth's undead curse. The mercenaries managed to destroy the crypt thing Damien, and recover the book.

Alternative Names

The Accursed Tower

Parent Location

Icewind Dale