Darstil's Tower

Darstil's Tower was the home, laboratory, and stronghold of the wizard Darstil Vurusk, Grand Arcanist of the Night Brigade in Wheloon Prison during the late 15^th century DR.^[1]^{[note 1]}

“

Delivery personnel ― Leave packages here on the table. Small experimental subjects must be put in the cages. For larger experimental subjects, deliver them to the Night Brigade members up the stairs.

”

— Entry note^[1]

Activities[]

“

I am satisfied with my progress in regard to some of my test subjects. These feeble humans that have been dumped here off the street have gone completely insane! Their mutilated bodies have morphed into nothics. I love staring into that large soulless eye, thinking about all the things it can never do again in this new form.
The wolves make me laugh. They have become so aggressive thanks to my serum. But the cranium rats…
I thought they would lose their sanity in their new form but they, frustratingly so, have remained normal. As normal as a cranium rat can be. I have not yet figured out how to fix that … All I can do is gather more rats and keep testing until I succeed in breaking them.

”

— Darstil's notes^[1]

Darstil Vurusk used his tower as a laboratory to test his ideas upon living creatures. He was exceptionally skilled at twisting the minds and bodies of his victims, pushing them to their limits before they perished. Darstil was utterly devoted to his foul work, and was rather dismayed at how his fellow Night Brigade members were put off by it. He only reluctantly assisted the gang with mundane, non-insane projects, though was quite happy when the two goals overlapped, such as creating bespoke twisted monsters that the gang used to spy on the city. Most of his creations were dumped in an elaborate maze beneath the tower, where they would run about endlessly before either starving to death or slaying each other.^[1]

History[]

When the Riverside Rats began their counterattack on the Night Brigade, Wyshbryn Saldar took special interest in the Grand Arcanist. As the source of much of the gang's magical expertise and firepower, Darstil was a key target for the wererats to take out. He sent a team into the tower through the front door, and they nearly assassinated the mad mage, only to be caught and teleported into his laboratory maze. After a perilous fight through the maze and past his guardians, Darstil Vurusk was finally put down for good, sparing Wheloon Prison his presence.^[1]

Appendix[]

Notes[]

↑ Fall of the Night Brigade makes no reference to the events of Shadowfell Conspiracy, and could be set before, during, or after it, roughly during the mid-1480s DR.

Appearances[]

Video Games

Dungeons & Dragons Online (Fall of the Night Brigade)

References[]

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 Standing Stone Games (December 2024). “Fall of the Night Brigade”. In Dungeons & Dragons Online. Daybreak Game Company.

[2] Fall of the Night Brigade makes no reference to the events of Shadowfell Conspiracy, and could be set before, during, or after it, roughly during the mid-1480s DR.

[ddo-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 ^1.5 Standing Stone Games (December 2024). “Fall of the Night Brigade”. In Dungeons & Dragons Online. Daybreak Game Company.

[1]

[note 1]