9 replies to this topic

[-JR-]

Does anyone have any information on Durlag Trollkiller outside of what is on the wiki, particularly in relation to his time period, origins, and the pre-tower events of his life?

I remember most of what was revealed in the game, but if we could get a discussion going to reiterate the details it would be very helpful to me.

[Solaufein]

Find some of the old AD&D books like Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast. It has a brief section about Durlag.

[-JR-]

Thanks, I'll look for a copy. But if someone's able to post or summarize the area in question in the meantime I would be very grateful.

[Dakk]

Volos Guide to the SWORD COAST:

Spoiler

Volos Guide to the SWORD COAST:
Durlag’s TowerThis massive, isolated keep stands atop a rock pinnacle south of the Wood of Sharp Teeth. Only adventurers should approach this seemingly deserted fortress - death awaits within.

The tower was built by Durlag Trollkiller, son of Bolhur “Thunderaxe” the Clanless. Durlag was a great hero of the dwarves, an adventurer who slew several dragons single-handedly and over a long and successful career amassed a great hoard of treasure. One dwarf who dwelt in the tower with Durlag for a time spoke of rooms full of gems and a great hall strewn with dusty heaps of gold coins. “We took what we needed, freely,” he said.
With the aid of hired dwarves, Durlag dug many chambers and passages in the tor and raised the lone tower above it, planning it as a seat where he could found a dwarven community and grow old in peace, surrounded by happy, prosperous kin.
Instead, dopplegangers, organized and aided by foul mind flayers, slew and impersonated Durlag’s companions. After the shocked dwarf discovered the first impersonation, he was attacked by all the others and spent a terror-filled tenday frantically fighting his way around his own fortress, chased by monsters who wore dwarven forms but sought his death.

In the end, alone and victorious, he was powerless to stop the last fleeing pair of illithids. Fearful they.d return, Durlag hired the best craftfolk he could find in Waterdeep and Neverwinter and began to rebuild his tower and the tor beneath as an elaborate succession of traps, magical wards, secret passages, sliding prison chambers, and triggered weapons.perhaps the most extensive assembly of such deadly devices in all Faerûn. A succession of spell wards were added, linked to at least three ward tokens. Unfortunately, no one alive today knows just which tokens control what areas. All three function as keys to pass magically held doors.

These traps are known to include shield portals, which are carved stone shields linked magically so that a dart, axe, or other missile weapon hurled into one would emerge from another, elsewhere in the tower. The shields themselves function as permanent wizard eyes or crystal balls, allowing an unseen watcher to observe from afar.

Other traps include massive stone swing-hammers set behind false doors. When the doors are opened, a massive stone ram bursts forward from behind them to smash intruders against a far wall. There are also climbing shafts inset with ladders of metal rungs. Touching certain rungs causes all of them to retract into the stone so that climbers fall, or triggers metal blades to shoot out from the seams between the stone wall blocks, transfixing climbers.

Deeply suspicious of all Faerûn - anyone could be a foe seeking to betray him for his gold! - Durlag retreated inside his tower, defending it against the adventurers he knew would come, lured by tales the trapbuilders would inevitably tell. They came.and fell or fled before the traps and the axe of Durlag himself, who would creep up via secret passages to strike from the shadows.
For several centuries things went on like this, as the increasingly eccentric Durlag lived on fungi and mushrooms growing in the deepest caverns - and, it is cruelly whispered, the bodies of intruders (although this has never been substantiated). At length he died, and presumably his bones still lie in some inner room or passage, guarded.along with his riches.by the thousands of traps built to defend his home.

Every season adventurers mount new expeditions to Durlag’s Tower from Baldur´s Gate and Waterdeep, armed by the exhaustive maps and notes of earlier bands. Every year, they get a room or two deeper into the deadly maze before giving up and bringing back the bodies of those victims they could get out.

Unfortunately, in recent years the tower has acquired new inhabitants: a dozen or more will o. wisps that seem to work in organized groups to battle those who win past the traps, and that feed on those who perish in them.
Some say the will o. wisps are led or directed by a gigantic wisp with fey spell-hurling powers, but others report seeing illithids accompanying the wisps. Some hold the view that the mind flayers are controlling the wisps, and others that the mind flayers are servants of the rumored Over-Wisp just as the lesser wisps are. The truth remains a mystery for now.and will be revealed, I suspect, only at a very high price in the lives of adventurers.

Still, there seems as yet no shortage of reckless seekers-after-adventure, and every season more journey to Durlag’s Tower to try to win his gold. and the reputation that seizing it will bring. Certain shops in Baldur's Gate, Waterdeep, Athkatla, and on the isle of Mintarn do a brisk trade selling ward tokens to Durlag’s Tower.

Some of these are undoubtedly false - how many such keys would a wary-minded veteran adventurer leave lying about, anyway? - but some are certainly real (they.ve worked in the tower). They can be rented from Baldurian concerns (ask at the Blushing Mermaid) for 1,000 gp per month or more each summer by adventurers dazzled by thoughts of gold and glory. A trio of these are depicted on the previous page.

Durlag's Tower has become a tourist attraction. Enterprising merchants in Baldur's Gate, Berdusk, Beregost, and Nashkel mount expeditions to view it for 50 gp a head, round trip, all meals included. Such trips usually feature hunting along the way and always include a daytime foray into a few of the well-known tower chambers, their traps tastefully adorned with skeletons and warnings that the tower is haunted. (The water of the forecourt well is safe to drink, but lone travelers using it should beware lurking brigands and the occasional bugbear.)

From a nearby camp, sightseeing trips always return to the keep by moonlight, to see the haunted forecourt of the tower. Strange cries, hurled stone axes, and flitting, ghostly apparitions are provided by accomplices of the tour guides. Such sham horrors are sometimes taken advantage of by wandering will o. wisps or brigands, which is why such expeditions still carry a cachet of danger up and down the Sword Coast, and the legend of Durlag’s Tower grows from year to year.

I have myself seen one apparition at the tower gates: the silent figure of a robed mage, standing in midair about as high off the ground as two tall men standing one on the other´s shoulders. He faced the tower, raised his hands to cast some unknown spell, then acquired a look of fear, trembled, and his body was swept away as if torn by unseen winds or claws coming from the tower. This phantom is know to appear often, but no one knows who the mage is.or was.and what he was doing when he died so spectacularly.

I hope it helps! Oh and for some reasons copy/paste from the pdf is severely screwed up, so characters like "-'´ and so on are corrupted. Tried to fix a few but no doubt there are hordes left.

Edited by Dakk, 01 August 2010 - 05:04 PM.

[-JR-]

Thanks a lot, Dakk; this is extremely helpful.

It doesn't happen to mention the dates, perhaps in an introduction or something, does it?

[Dakk]

Glad I could help

No dates of any sort sadly, but I could try to cross-reference with the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition, which at least mentions Gullykin. I'll check tonight when I'm back from work!

[-JR-]

Whenever you get the time, that'd be great.

[Dakk]

Had the last day of work on Monday, and of course me burning myself out caught up with me. Came down with a cold and slept for 15 hours straight (which is a personal best!). I'll see what I can dig up for you.


The revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 2nd edition has this to say. It's mostly rehash from Volo, but a few things differ - the last part especially I believe. The only date (of relevance) is that the "current year" when it was written was DR 1367 / PR 9.

Spoiler

Durlags Tower

South of the Wood of Sharp Teeth a dike of hard rock juts from
the plains. Atop this pinnacle is a single, massive tower. It is in
good repair, but seems unoccupied. This local landmark is the isolated
keep of Durlag Trollkiller, son of Bolhur, a dwarven hero
said to have massed treasure in legendary proportions and stored
it here and in a few other choice locations. This treasure is protected
by all manner of magical wards and mechanical traps, the
latter of Durlag's own devising.

The tower itself, built entirely of volcanic stone and in fair
condition given the amount of time and neglect involved, lies
atop a volcanic plug that dominates the surrounding lands.
Durlag, aided by hired dwarves, is said to have hollowed out the
mountain for the rock that made up his tower and used the space
created to hide further treasure.

Durlag is now long dead, and
many have come seeking his treasure over the decades, with varying
degrees of success. Within the last 50 years, a new power of
fell majesty has taken up residence within the remains of the
tower and uses the defenses created by Durlag to keep both itself
and the treasure safe.

Edited by Dakk, 04 August 2010 - 08:05 AM.

[Dakk]

Pleased find attached a minor scan from the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3rd edition with information about Durlag's Tower.

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[-JR-]

Thanks for the information, this is just what I was looking for. Glad to hear you're done with work; get some rest and get better soon.