Mirt

Mirt "the Moneylender" was a fat, wheezing old rogue and retired adventurer. He made his fortune as an adventurer in Undermountain after a colorful career as a mercenary general. During this time, Mirt—then known as Mirt the Merciless or the Old Wolf or Lord Walrus —made many enemies all over the Sword Coast, but also a few friends, notably Durnan a fellow adventurer and Undermountain explorer.

Mirt was also one of the most infamous factors of Waterdeep.

Personality
Outwardly, Mirt appeared to be a loud, tipsy braggart, but only a stranger to Waterdeep would underestimate his agility and cunning. These qualities made him far richer late in life as an investor and business man than his years as an adventurer ever did, despite him being one of the few adventurers to emerge alive with wealth from Undermountain in 1302 DR. He had a heart of gold, despite the relative frequency with which he entered unruly tavern brawls.

Relationships
Mirt was a Harper as well as a Masked Lord of Waterdeep. Many of the commoners suspected Mirt to be a Masked Lord, and Mirt on more than one occasion engaged in secretly spreading rumors stating that he was not.

He was one of the few trusted friends of Evermeet and had a portal that could give him access to the elven island when he so wished. He carried a purple dragon ring, which allowed him to speak in King Azoun IV's name.

Family
His wife and heir, Asper, was an informal member of the Gray Hands. She preceded him in death.

Associates
Due to Mirt's extended age, his many business dealings, his association with the Lords of Waterdeep, and several adventures, it would be almost impossible to list all of Mirt's associates. Below are a key few:
 * Brian the Swordmaster, a fellow Lord of Waterdeep;
 * Durnan the Wanderer;
 * Ieiridauna Amalree, the Watchghost of Mirt's Mansion in Waterdeep;
 * Krivvin Shamblestar, owner of the tavern called the Star-Horned Flagon in Amphail;
 * Loene, a friend and former lover;
 * Nymara Scheiron, a.k.a. "Kitten", was recruited by Mirt and Durnan for her knowledge of the common folk of Waterdeep;
 * Savengriff, a wizard Mirt and others restored to life after dying at the eyestalks of a beholder;
 * Thurn Samallahan, a.k.a. "Spider". owner of the tavern called the Dragon Inn, in Rassalantar;
 * Transtra of Skullport;
 * Trigol the Hearty, a paladin and fellow adventurer who became lost in Undermountain and never returned.

Possessions
Mirt owned a mithral shirt that was magically glamered to look like ordinary clothing. As a Masked Lord, he also possessed a lord's ensemble.

Mirt owned a ship named the Morning Bird, which was used at one time to transport moon elves from the Ardeep Forest to Evermeet.

Mirt also owned a mansion in the Castle Ward of Waterdeep, simply called Mirt's Mansion. It had a roughly hexagon-shaped, two-story main building with three-story towers at four of the six corners. It was located on the south face of Mount Waterdeep near the harbor at the intersection of Coin Alley and Tarnished Silver Alley. The estate could also be accessed from Smuggler's Dock in the harbor.

Early Life
Mirt was the son of a successful Coaster, a Sword Coast trader. He grew up hearing many tales and deeds of heroism which led him down the path of becoming a fighter.

In his youth, he was a money-grubbing mercenary and this grew into a reputation as a great mercenary general of the North and earned him the nickname "Mirt the Merciless". He became quite wealthy, but grew unsatisfied with mere wealth. He actually craved peace and tranquility.

During his mercenary days, he met Durnan the Wanderer and the two became close companions. The two of them decided to "retire" to Waterdeep. It may have also been this time that he met his future wife, Asper, whom he rescued as a baby from a sacked city.

"Retirement"
With Durnan in tow, Mirt went to Waterdeep to live, but quickly became bored with peaceful living. Within a month of his arrival, he was approached by Khelben Arunsun and Sammereza Sulphontis with an invitation to become a Lord of Waterdeep. A few years later, he proposed to the other Lords that Durnan also be accepted as a Lord, and they agreed.

Mirt (and Durnan) performed many covert tasks for the Lords of Waterdeep. Among them was Mirt's stint as a member of Waterdeep's thieves' guild under the alias "Tonius the Thief". He used his disguise to feed the Lords information on the guild, which led to the guild's eventual eradication from the city.

Mirt ran his money-lending business primarily out of his mansion in Waterdeep. Transactions would happen only in the mornings, and Mirt was said to be patient regarding their repayment.

Undermountain
Mirt began expeditions into Undermountain during his time as a Lord of Waterdeep. He actually adventured into the halls with several other Lords, including Durnan (of course) and Khelben.

An entrance to Undermountain was found near Mirt's mansion below an alley named the Slide in the sewers. It eventually led to an area of the dungeon known as the Grim Statue. With his companions, they explored many areas of Undermountain—sometimes by choice, but other times by necessity. Some of those areas included the Crystal Labyrinth; an area of the Dark Levels known as the Lost Level, where they befriended Bandaerl; and the city-below-the-city, Skullport.

Mirt was among the Lords tasked with the job of keeping tabs on Skullport. When he wasn't visiting the city himself, usually with Durnan and/or Asper alongside, he would call for aide from Force Grey. He and some of the other Lords also maintained a network of informants within Skullport as well. One of Mirt's informants actually included the Iron Ring member Transtra.

On one occasion, while Mirt, Durnan, and Asper were in Skullport, they ran afoul of the beholder Xuzoun and his minions. The fighting woke up the elder black dragon Vulharindauloth from his decades long sleep, and he had to be driven off by the defenses of the city itself.

It was well known that Mirt and Durnan emerged from Undermountain in 1302 DR with a vast amount of wealth. Mirt used his share to build his mansion near Mount Waterdeep, while Durnan used his to erect the Yawning Portal tavern over the famous entrance.

Time of Troubles
During the tumultuous Time of Troubles in 1358 DR, Mirt was dispatched to secure assistance from any ships friendly to Waterdeep. This included tasks such as supplying Waterdeep with much-needed goods, patrolling the seas for pirates, warning of other naval invaders, and providing a means of escape from the city should it become necessary. The job also led Mirt to the island of Mintarn.

In the 1360s DR, Mirt briefly came out of retirement again to seek out and destroy The Black Basilisk, a ship crewed by Hosttower mages, and scattered their undead-crewed Dead Fleet. The Black Daggers pirate guild of the Nelanther Isles were so thankful they granted amnesty to Waterdhavian ships.

In 1368 DR, Joshuan Havabuck, a halfling crime lord, and businessman of many enterprises of the Dock Ward in Waterdeep received a sizable loan from Mirt. The ten million gold lion loan was to pay out the lottery winnings the halting ran in the Docks. Amazingly, every single person to bough into the game picked the winning numbers. This freakish luck was caused by Tymora's divine powers running amok across the Realms. Joshuan was ready to take on the monstrous loan and its interest in order to keep his reputation intact. The collection of coin took more than four hours of carting sacks of gold from Mirt's vaults and the rest of the day was spent in calculation of all the enchanted items, gems, and art Mirt needed to sell temporarily to refill the cash reserves. The same night, Mirt was visited by one of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep informing him of several similar gargantuan loans taken by other gambling organizers of Waterdeep. The Lords were troubled by the sudden influx of coin in the city of Waterdeep and the threat of inflation caused by it.

Post-Spellplague
At some point, Mirt was imprisoned within a magical handaxe. In 1479 DR, a Cormyrean noble named Marlin Stormserpent stole the axe from another noble family, mistakenly believing it was an artifact of the Nine. He called Mirt out of the axe and Mirt escaped into Suzail.

In 1487 DR, Mirt made an effort to continuously thwart the scheming of Manshoon, or rather from even attempting to begin his scheming. The two of them had several meetings for drinks and passive-aggressive conversations in Suzail.

In 1488 DR, Mirt came to the aid of Elminster, openly posing as a waiter and cook for several archwizards trapped inside a spellstorm in Cormyr, thereby contributing to the protection of the mythical Lost Spell.

In 1491 DR, Elminster and Mirt returned to the city of Waterdeep, both aiding the newly appointed Open Lord of Waterdeep, Laeral Silverhand, in uncovering the culprits behind a string of murders of Masked Lords. After the investigations, Mirt chose to stay with Laeral, serving as a personal agent for the Open Lord.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Waterdeep: Dragon Heist
 * Novels
 * Crown of Fire &bull; Tymora's Luck &bull; Elminster Enraged &bull; Elminster in Hell &bull; Elminster's Daughter &bull; The City of Splendors: A Waterdeep Novel &bull; Elminster Must Die &bull; Bury Elminster Deep &bull; Silverfall &bull; The Herald &bull; Spellstorm &bull; Death Masks
 * Short Stories
 * The Best of the Realms II: "One Comes, Unheralded, to Zirta" &bull; Realms of the Underdark: "A Slow Day in Skullport"
 * Video Games
 * Descent to Undermountain &bull; Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms &bull; Warriors of Waterdeep
 * Board Games
 * Lords of Waterdeep