Daurgothoth

Daurgothoth, also known as "the Creeping Doom", was a dracolich archmage and one of the most powerful beings in all of Faerûn. Two near-impossible goals consumed him: to become the most powerful creature in the world, and to breed his own race of living dracoliches.

Description
Daurgothoth was massive and black as soot, with bulging wrinkled eyes and withered leathery muscles that creaked as he moved. His body reeked of death and his breath was tinged with foul acid. He had a large and distinctive, open wound on his left flank, which looked like it would be fatal to any living dragon.

Lair
This great dragon laired in Dolblunde, an abandoned gnome city a short distance north-east of Waterdeep. Entrances to the lair included from some passages in Undermountain, through the "Bandit Tunnels" in Maiden's Tomb Tor, and from a flooded tunnel at the bottom of the River Dessarin. He was always working toward establishing a series of caves that would link up with a shaft in the mountains north of Waterdeep. Most of the tunnels leading to his lair were laden with various traps and undead guardians, including one that Daurgothoth created himself called a bone lurker. A bone lurker was essentially an undead lurker made entirely of humanoid and beast bones that disguised itself as a bony portcullis or curtain.

Other passages of the Creeping Doom's lair were protected by bony tail or snake-like appendages that were fixed at one end but could lash out thirty to seventy feet and strike with a sword-pike end that was sometimes as long as a man is tall.

At the heart of his sprawling network caverns were a series of caves and tunnels that served as Daurgothoth's main lair. Its guardians included a stone golem, an entire tribe of monstrous skeletons that were once mountain giants, and a death tyrant. One of the larger caves served as his chamber to conduct magical experiments - its walls and floors scorched and buckled. At least one other cavern served as a treasure vault that was packed with all sorts of valuables and magical items. Another cavern held his spellbooks and many other magical items that he could use. There was also a one-hundred foot deep by thirty foot diameter shaft with glassy-smooth sides, a damp sand bottom, and a huge stone lid that served as the dracolich's prison for dangerous guests. Last, but not least was the gem and bone-filled cavern where Daurgothoth "rested" and contemplated his magical experiments.

Activities
Daurgothoth looked for ways to master new types of magic. Despite Daurgothoth's sinister nature, Mystra, goddess of magic, did nothing to blunt his aspirations. Some of the Chosen of Mystra suspected that the dracolich still lived, but received no advice from their patron. Mystra decided that Daurgothoth, no matter how dangerous, was an archmage dedicated to the advancement of the Art and the type of genius that magic needed in order to grow and evolve.

Via bribes and threats of death, Daurgothoth "employed" a number of agents to acquire items from the City of Splendors that caught his interest so he could add them to his hoard.

History
Once an enormous black dragon of incredible power, Daurgothoth chose to become a dracolich because of the power that transformation entailed. To do so, he convinced a high-ranking member of the Cult of the Dragon, Huulukharn, that he wished to join the Cult. However, he manipulated the process from the beginning, so that when the transformation was made, the Cult had no magical influence over him. After achieving lichdom, he killed Huulukharn and vanished into the unknown.

Beginning in the, Daurgothoth claimed Dolblunde as his lair. From there, he spied on the goings on in the region from Zundbridge and the mouth of the River Dessarin in the south to the Bargewright Inn in the north to the Mount Sar in the west. He was particularly interested in monitoring overland trade along the the High Road, the Long Road, and the River Dessarin, and kept tabs on Amphail and Goldenfields. and occasionally took indirect interest in Waterdeep through proxy wizards or the Zhentarim. By the, he had begun to play an increasingly active role in the shadier underbellies of not only Waterdeep, but Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, and Secomber.

During the Rage of Dragons in the, Daurgothoth launched a long-planned scheme to replace Sammaster as the leader of the Cult of the Dragon. He partially succeeded, establishing a ruling triumvirate with Aurgloroasa "the Sibilant Shade" and Algashon Nathaire. In his new role as the "First Reader" of the Cult, he did not associate with any single cell, but hoarded arcane lore and knowledge collected by the Cult from across Faerûn. He also created new spells and magic items for use by the Keepers of the Secret Hoard.

To further his goals, in the, he made a pact with Dhairn, the leader of a group of Selvetargtlin drow. The deal included the secret of the creation of chitines as well as a tribute of treasure over six centuries in return for magic items and giving them temporary shelter in Dolblunde.

Thanks to the Creeping Doom's explorations of magic, he survived the disaster of the Spellplague with ease by handling magic that did not come from the collapsed weave. The undead dragon spirited himself away into an extra-dimensional pocket created by Daurgothoth himself, where he patiently waited for the weave to be rebuilt in the Second Sundering. This fact was not widely known among seers and sages of the Realms, apart from the Chosen of Mystra and Azuth. When the chaos was over and the goddess of magic returned, the Creeping Doom emerged from his shelter and returned to Dolblunde, where he began reassembling his favorite plaything: the Cult of the Dragon. By the late 15 century DR, Daurgothoth's Cult of the Dragon was being rebuilt as the dracolich covertly manipulated merchants and adventurers into aiding with the Cult's expansion. Daurgothoth spent time picking appropriate agents for recruitment and tested their loyalty and resolve across many nations of Faerûn. The Creeping Doom's end goal was destroying the Zhentarim, the Red Wizards, the Arcane Brotherhood, and any other organization significant enough to oppose his aspirations to become the most powerful creature on Toril and the creation of a race of living dracoliches.

Appearances

 * Novels
 * Sacrifice of the Widow