A Brief History of Druidun Tower

History of Druidun historical document, for realsies

NOTE: This was done up as handouts to be found in the megadungeon library, to give context, offer clues and add adventure hooks. I figured I can always update it as more is added... the only problem is it's long as it is. It could do with more editing, but I'm lazy.

History of Druidun Tower:

Druidun was founded by the First Druids, when the world was young. They built underground temples to commune with the roots of the earth. Crypts followed, expanding into a labyrinth that over time would become its own protection. It flourished in harmony with the faeries and tree spirits for millennia, until the rise of the Eotans.

The brutal Eotan King Kreus razed the tower and scattered both druids and fey to the winds; many fled underground into Druidun's tunnels, their secret refuge.

The Eotans raised a mighty city over what is now Pelshire, pulling down an entire mountain of the Wornspine in their insatiable quest for stone. They dug endless mines, dungeons, necropolises, and even a zoo that collected the most horrifying monstrosities from the far corners of Arthea. Some of these beasts still dwell in the depths, which intersect with those of Druidun. When the Eotan Empire began to falter and plague felled them in droves, the giants turned to necromancy to bolster their armies. It was under Pelshire they conducted these unholy experiments.

Chaos and famine came in the wake of the Eotan Empire's fall; the famed Sun Queen contracted the dwarven engineer Grun Deepdelver to expand the complex in exchange for mining rights. Sanctuaries were desperately needed as The Shadow flowed into the lands of Bronn. 

The refuge was overrun, the inhabitants slaughtered, and the black tower of Xuldun built out of the Eotan ruins.

Long after The Great Dark and the sundering of the Eltharian Empire, it was reclaimed by the legendarily beautiful Sorceress-Queen Eadra. She favoured the powerful magical energies woven into the earth beneath Druidun. Upon her wedding night, she was adbucted by the lich Lakoundar, and her betrothed, the King of Aragon, turned to stone. Many expeditions were sent into the depths beneath the castle to rescue her, but none returned. They say she is frozen below, her beauty preserved for all eternity.

King Erethed had the depths sealed off and turned the splendid halls into a prison for the ever increasing number of his enemies. His progeny were even more suspicious and cruel; their lordship over Druidun was put to an end by the Stands. King Cynric the Just was the first of their long line. 

The last was King Eomel, whose reign initially brought justice and hope to the realm. Sadly, as he grew older, he descended into an unspeakable madness. Some claim he was possessed by demons, others say he was betrayed by evil nobles, seduced by Eltharian Fire Spirits. There was a great massacre in the castle, after which King Eomel disappeared. Some say he withdrew into the depths,  to a tomb prepared deep within the dungeons, which has never been found. Others claim he went to join Queen Eadra. 

Druidun then lay abandoned, believed cursed, until a reckless surveyor discovered gold below; the dwarf Mountain King Kethril Ironheart was invited to mine the ore. In his insatiable greed, they say Ironheart dug so deep he broke through to hell itself. He was last seen raving of undead titans; he assembled an expedition into the underworld to seize the legendary, and likely mythical, Eotan Doomforge. He was never seen or heard from again. 

Finally, the tower was occupied by a renegade faction of wizards, The Eldritch Veil. In their reckless quest for arcane knowledge, they established secret underground laboratories and conducted forbidden experiments. These grew increasingly macabre and disturbing as time went on. Local sages claim the entire order went insane. 

They were caught and eventually expelled from the Circle of the Magi by the High Thaumaturge; the Cynete, a peaceful order of sages, then occupied the tower, albeit briefly. They abandoned it after clashes with unspeakable things in the tunnels beneath. Protests that the wizards had not sufficiently cleansed the site of the Eldritch Veil's unholy experiments were rebuffed by the Circle. 

The complex beneath Druidun is so vast and dangerous, no one knows it’s true extent, or what evil now dwells in its darkest depths. The results of mad magical experiments only add to the hazards. Many say it is cursed, and that madness lurks within its thick, crumbling walls.