Mortegro

Mortegro is a Moonshadian mage in Ultima VII Part Two.

Description
Mortegro, sometimes called the Black Mage, served as Moonshade's necromancer, specializing in spells pertaining to death and the dead. He often assisted other Moonshadians seeking knowledge lost to the world of the living; the morbid nature of his work, however, led many to regard him with suspicion, possibly owing to the dark deeds of Vasculio, a necromancer who specialized in raising and enslaving the dead rather than merely communing with them. Mortegro, however, seemed firm in his opposition to such practices, and he was -in fact- instrumental in bringing Vasculio to justice once he was found to participate in forbidden rituals and experiments, involving torture and desecration.

At the time of the Avatar's arrival in Moonshade, Mortegro was involved in research with the adept Gustacio to determine the cause of the teleport storms that were then plaguing the land. Should it be asked of him, however, he would perform seances on the hero's behalf. During these ceremonies, which took place at the necromancer's abode in the dark of midnight, the spirits of ghosts in some way affected by the Avatar would speak. Christopher, the former blacksmith of Trinsic, would thank the Avatar for the care the hero had given his son and would offer further warning about the many angry spirits awaiting beyond the veil who were eager to wreak vengeance on Britannia's champion. Gwenno, whose soul appeared to have been loosed from her body following her murder by Hazard, would also speak, offering words of affection for her grieving husband.

Following the death of Rotoluncia, the Red Sorceress, Mortegro was appointed to the place she formerly held upon the Council of Mages. When the Avatar was found in the bedchambers of the MageLord Filbercio's paramour, Frigidazzi, Mortegro participated in the resulting trial in which the hero was sentenced to imprisonment in the Mountains of Freedom. The Avatar would eventually escape the prison, but during the interim, Mortegro became involved in an experimental attempt to divert one of the teleport storms and was physically exchanged with the altar of the Temple of Tolerance, an edifice which lay far in the icelands of the north.

Eventually, the Avatar's journeys took the hero northward, and Mortegro was found, stranded in the middle of an island within the temple. The Avatar managed to secure his rescue and in gratitude he taught the hero the spell Summon Shade, which would prove crucial in communicating with the long dead Ophidian hierophants. He then asked the Avatar to escort him home, but as the hero's company left the temple, lightning struck Mortegro again, teleporting him to an unknown location. He was not seen again on the Serpent Isle.

Trivia

 * The model for Mortegro's character portrait is Emmy Award-winning composer/producer/engineer, BZ Lewis. In the early 90s, Lewis was also a guitarist for Culture Shock, a metal band based in Austin, Texas and acknowledged in the Ultima VII Part Two credits as "Official Serpent Isle Band". Other members of Culture Shock included Origin writer/designer Billy Cain (bass), Mike Fuger (guitar), and Jared Thurman (drums), who also appear in the game as Ernesto, Topo, and Sethys, respectively.
 * Grateful for the hero's assistance, Mortegro will offer to sell his spells to the Avatar at half his normal price after he has been rescued from the Temple of Tolerance.
 * Players may retain Mortegro as a party member by using the Serpent Bond spell after he has joined the party, which will allow the Avatar to exit the Temple of Tolerance while bypassing the egg that triggers Mortegro's second disappearance. Naturally, this was not anticipated in the game's design, and as a result, Mortegro has no dialogue to indicate that he has returned to Moonshade, even if he is brought there. This same method may be used to retain Sethys as a party member
 * According to the original design documents for Serpent Isle, Mortegro's mansion was to have been flooded with the angry ghosts of the dead following the coming of Shamino the Anarch. These spirits would have included Blackthorn, Elizabeth, Abraham, Hook, several dead gargoyles, Mondain, and Batlin, and the spectral orb (an artifact which Vasculio stole from Mortegro) would have been necessary to dispatch them.