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
As a crypt thing, Damien appeared as a lone skeletal figure, clothed in a flowing black robe. He could be found in the Meditation Room of his Accursed Tower, sitting cross-legged on the sloping floor in the center of the room, holding an ancient tome in its bony hands.

History
Damien Morienus, together with his wife Mathilda, came to Icewind Dale around 1269 DR to finish his research into achieving eternal life. The necromancer chose an area of great 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.

Abusing his stature, Damien took old and dying barbarians into his tower, where he performed grisly necromantic experiments on them. The barbarians did nothing, being afraid of angering the "god". After months of atrocities, Kinnuki came to confront Damien, but the wizard was away, and Kinnuki met Mathilda, beginning an affair that produced a child, Jukini. Damien's dabblings in dark magic had twisted him, and a lust for power replaced the love for his wife. This drove Mathilda away from Damien and into the loving embrace of Kinnuki.

Damien was not happy about the loss of his wife, but it was mostly a wound to his pride. Enraged, he summoned two of the greatest demons of the lower planes and sent them out to destroy the barbarian and his wife. The demons failed repeatedly to locate their marks and decided to even the odds by using their hellfire to melt all the snow, hence causing the event known as the Great Thaw by the locals.

The demons melted too much snow, flooding the tundra and causing the permafrost below the tower to soften, causing the Accursed Tower to sink into the earth with Damien still inside. The sinking broke the magic circle that was used to control the demons. In revenge for being enslaved, the demons sucked the life energy from the mage, causing him to become an undead crypt thing.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * The Accursed Tower