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So I was speaking to Laurie last night about Mortimer. I miss playing him. He was my favorite character I have ever played. I can’t really play him any more. He only works in the world he was made in and that world is no longer there. But I miss him nonetheless. I think in someway he is the perfect example of my love of the ordinary man in extraordinary worlds.
Mortimer was a gravedigger. He was raised to be gravedigger. He was not meant to be a hero he had not aspirations to greatness. He only wanted to be a good at his job and make sure everyone within his pervue received that last measure of kindness and respect no matter their station in life. He became a hero in Tyrangel. Here was a man whose job and calling was to bury the dead and he was walking around in a land so plagued by undead as to stretch logistical possibilities involved (where the hell did they find all those bodies?) he became a member of Marentha, the barony of rogues. He fell in with them as much as anything because initially at least no one else wanted anything to do with him. He was well....creepy. He spoke in a simple quiet voice that was inspired by Boris Karloff and Riff Raff. Marentha being somewhat fond of odd balls took him in and made him a member.
It is interesting to take an ordinary man and try and make a hero out of him. He became the most unusual of champions as he was less a champion of life as a champion of death. He was very much a defender of the notion that death was not the enemy. It was rather a kindness that was paid to those lived hard lives. It was the ultimate equalizer. Heroes, villains and commoners alike were all equal in the eyes of Death and all received their rest. Mortimer stood unblinking and unafraid against undead of every description, against predations of evil men, against creatures that were nigh onto gods. He learned how to fight by watching those around him. All the while he was calm and thoughtful.
Did I mention I enjoyed playing him?
As the various plot committees went thought their cycles at Nero Atlanta the stories I was involved in became all but unrecognizable. Over the course he had become related to the Elven nobility, tied to the land, and got a magic shovel enchanted by Death herself. He was invariably tied to version of the universe that had passed. The people I enjoyed spending time all left. No Bane, Sable, Portia, Rosalind, Tiger, Seneca, Raven, Thorn, Milo, Michico, and all the rest they either stopped playing or drifted off to other chapters. I tried playing at other chapters but did not feel I belonged in them. I hated the system changes and the national story lines I ran into. The few people who were still around and remembered made things all the worst cause they remembered when we had our glory.
But I miss playing him though. I miss being that ordinary and extraordinary guy all in one. I constantly compare the characters I have played and they all have things I love. Saul was more like me in a lot of ways than any of the others. Reginald smythe was my hateful character and my magey mage. Piotyr is a very complicated character but straightforward. I love them all. But I have to agree with most of the people who have gamed with me for years. Mortimer was my best and I miss playing him.
Mortimer was a gravedigger. He was raised to be gravedigger. He was not meant to be a hero he had not aspirations to greatness. He only wanted to be a good at his job and make sure everyone within his pervue received that last measure of kindness and respect no matter their station in life. He became a hero in Tyrangel. Here was a man whose job and calling was to bury the dead and he was walking around in a land so plagued by undead as to stretch logistical possibilities involved (where the hell did they find all those bodies?) he became a member of Marentha, the barony of rogues. He fell in with them as much as anything because initially at least no one else wanted anything to do with him. He was well....creepy. He spoke in a simple quiet voice that was inspired by Boris Karloff and Riff Raff. Marentha being somewhat fond of odd balls took him in and made him a member.
It is interesting to take an ordinary man and try and make a hero out of him. He became the most unusual of champions as he was less a champion of life as a champion of death. He was very much a defender of the notion that death was not the enemy. It was rather a kindness that was paid to those lived hard lives. It was the ultimate equalizer. Heroes, villains and commoners alike were all equal in the eyes of Death and all received their rest. Mortimer stood unblinking and unafraid against undead of every description, against predations of evil men, against creatures that were nigh onto gods. He learned how to fight by watching those around him. All the while he was calm and thoughtful.
Did I mention I enjoyed playing him?
As the various plot committees went thought their cycles at Nero Atlanta the stories I was involved in became all but unrecognizable. Over the course he had become related to the Elven nobility, tied to the land, and got a magic shovel enchanted by Death herself. He was invariably tied to version of the universe that had passed. The people I enjoyed spending time all left. No Bane, Sable, Portia, Rosalind, Tiger, Seneca, Raven, Thorn, Milo, Michico, and all the rest they either stopped playing or drifted off to other chapters. I tried playing at other chapters but did not feel I belonged in them. I hated the system changes and the national story lines I ran into. The few people who were still around and remembered made things all the worst cause they remembered when we had our glory.
But I miss playing him though. I miss being that ordinary and extraordinary guy all in one. I constantly compare the characters I have played and they all have things I love. Saul was more like me in a lot of ways than any of the others. Reginald smythe was my hateful character and my magey mage. Piotyr is a very complicated character but straightforward. I love them all. But I have to agree with most of the people who have gamed with me for years. Mortimer was my best and I miss playing him.
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Mortimer was cool. Creepy, but cool.
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