"Deathstalker IS the future of the Nightside/Drood world."
True. And the Deathstalkers are the descendants of the Droods.
Which is exactly why I'd love to start as a Drood. The Madness Maze will work for me

And in time, I can become ridiculously powerful.
Well, if you're gonna go on the run anyways - might as well hide out in the Nightside.
Take some steps to hide that fact that your a Drood. Or simply claim that you managed to kill a Drood and take his torc, which is why your hiding out in the Nightside.
Then you start learning stuff, magic and technology. I would love to experiment and combine the two to 'create a sum greater than its parts'.