Nightfang Spire

Nightfang Spire is a tower found within the northern reaches of Penator. It was original constructed as a temple by cultists who worshiped the red dragon, Ashardalon. Following Ashardalon's death, the cultists brought his heart back to Nightfang Spire where their leader, Gulthias, empowered it with negative energy in a dark ritual of mass suicide. Gulthias was raised as a vampire by the heart, and he subsequently raised the rest of the cultists as undead.

Though he planned to renew Ashardalon's cult in undeath, adventurers drove a stake through Gulthias's heart and Nightfang Spire was largely abandoned. In time, it came to be known only as a haunted ruin, the subject of superstition and rumor that mostly served to keep people away. Eventually, a black dragon made its lair in the tower's hollow upper half.

Gulthias ultimately returned when the stake was unwittingly removed from his body, and he quickly moved to reclaim Nightfang Spire. He summoned an aberration as a guardian, which killed the dragon. The Amethyst Guard, unaware of the dragon's death and having been sent to drive it off, entered the tower to investigate. When they learned of Gulthias's return from the vrock, Rhunad, they resolved to destroy him for good.