Damien Morienus

Damien Morienus was a former master of the North Tower of the Host Tower of the Arcane in Luskan. Around 1269 DR, he relocated to Icewind Dale with his wife to finish research into achieving eternal life. Ironically, he achieved eternal life when he was cursed with undeath by becoming a crypt thing.

"How many friends have I driven away by my mad dreams? How many lovers have turned their backs on me in my time of greatest need? They claim that I am insane. They claim that my work is a perversion, that I will surely fail. I will succeed, I have no choice. My will is too strong to be stopped by mere death."

- Excerpts from the diary of Damien Morienus, former Overwizard of the Hosttower of the Arcane, North Spire

Description
When encountered as a crypt thing, Damien resembled a shriveled skeletal figure, dressed in his void-black Robe of eyes. He could be found in the Meditation Room of his Accursed Tower, sitting on the floor in the center of the tilted room in the collapsed spire, holding his ancient diary.

History
Damien Morienus relocated to Icewind Dale around 1269 DR with his wife Mathilda. He sought to be undisturbed in his quest to discover life eternal. Damien was a necromancer and he chose an area of natural power respected and worshiped by the local barbarian tribes. He used magics akin to the rituals that erected the Host Tower of the Arcane in Targos and grew his own Accursed Tower out of stone formations. The holiness of the sight together with the amazing display of magic convinced the barbarians that Damien was an earth god.

natural power and transformed great spires of stone into a set of towers, similarly to how the Host Tower of the Arcane was shaped and grown with magic. With this display of power at the locals' holy site, Damien convinced the barbarians that he was an earth god.

The necromanced routinely took sick and dying locals to experiment on in his tower. The barbarians were complicit with this in fear of angering the "god". Following the months of these horrors, Kinnuki - one of the barbarian tribe, came to confront Damien. This was when Kinnuki met Damien's wife, Mathilda. They engaged in an affair conceiving a daughter - Jukini. Damien's dark magic research has twisted him, stripping his love for his beautiful wife and replacing it with lust for power. Mathilda was driven away from her husband.

The loss of his wife has cut deeply into his pride. He summoned two of the greatest demons from the lower planes and sent them after Kinnuki and Mathilda. The demons failed at the assigned task and decided to use their hellfire to melt all the snow, causing the event known as the Great Thaw by the locals.

The summoned demons flooded the tundra causing the permafrost under the tower to soften, causing Damien's spires to sink into the earth with the necromancer and his numerous servants and guards still inside. The calamity damaged the summoning circle leaving the demons unleashed. The demons paid Damien Morienus back by killing him, and the curse that was put on his tower - turning him into an undead crypt thing.

In 1369 DR he was destroyed after a group of adventurers hired by disguised Celerum the Black discovered the sunken Accursed Tower in search of Damien's diary and the recipe for lichdom.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Accursed Tower