Mortimer Mittlemer

Mortimer Mittlemer was a con artist illusionist who swindled wayfarers from a forest-edge glade in the Vast, in the environs of Ravens Bluff, the Living City in the mid-14 century DR.

"My friends, I, Platonious, need your assistance to help the good creatures of the kingdoms to the north. The riches are needed to support and pay for food for armies which have gathered to protect the borders. What can you spare, my friends? I have already exhausted much of my great wealth to aid these good creatures."

- Mortimer Mittlemer

Description
The wizard was a disheveled-looking, selfish and voracious human man.

Abilities
Mortimer Mittlemer was a liar and a wizard who used illusions in his scams. By 1360 DR, he had access to such spells as audible glamer, change and alter self, chromatic orb, hypnotism, improved phantasmal force, massmorph, non-detection, ventriloquism, and spectral force. When cornered, he would use the spectral force spell to make himself appear as a platinum dragon and his seven canaries to appear as gold dragons.

By 1367 DR, Mortimer had expanded his repertoire of known spells to include cantrip, demi-shadow monsters, dimension door, ESP, feather fall, fog cloud, improved invisibility, mirror image, monster summoning II, scare, shadow door, sleep, suggestion, and wraithform. The spells dimension door and shadow door in particular proved to be quite useful in his profession, as the con artist used them to make quick getaways from his victims.

Relationships
Mortimer loved Marilyn Mittlemer, but the wizard married her because he wanted to use the woman's thieves' skills to enrich himself. Elmerth Willowit was another thief in Mortimer's crew. Still, when diving the profit, Mortimer always claimed 60% of the take, 30% went to Marilyn, and only 10% – to Elmerth.

Possessions
Mortimer typically wore a pair of bracers of defense and a ring of animal friendship. He armed himself with an enchanted +3 dagger and an enchanted +1 staff. Other magical gear he tended to have on his person included two potions of fire breath, dust of disappearance, and three potions of healing.

By circa 1367 DR, Mortimer had came into possession of a +1 ring of protection, a hat of disguise, a potion of speed, oil of slipperiness, and a coin with continual darkness cast on it.

Marilyn and Mortimer lived in an apartment atop a tavern they invested into in the city of Ravens Bluff. They retired there every time their scams ran hot, and they needed to lay low.

History
Before resorting to the life of con-artistry, Mortimer Mittlemer attempted to live an adventuring life. He traveled with several tiny troupes, but none of the adventures were profitable nor successful due to the man's greed. One time he used dust of disappearance after discovering a booty to render a portion of the treasure invisible and hidden from his teammates. When the deception was discovered, Mortimer was kicked out from the group and stripped of all the stolen treasure as well as magical and valuable items he possessed.

The next attempt to adventure ended in a disaster when his new group investigated a raided caravan. The group set against ogres and trolls and claimed treasure from the monsters. On their way back, the group came across three fearsome black dragons who took the treasure from the adventurers. Mortimer Mittlemer was the only survivor, escaping with the aid of his favorite item – dust of disappearance.

Returning to a life of poverty once again, the wizard decided to use his magic to turn himself into a dragon and steal treasures from adventurers. To collect money for the operation, the wizard sold his services to a wealthy merchant entertaining his progenies. When Mortimer made enough, the exited the employ after robbing the merchant's home. He used the stolen money to purchase necessary magic items and pay for lessons in the draconic languages. Unable to find a solar who could teach him the tongue of black wyrms, he turned his attention to a story of a hermit with seven yellow canaries – in reality, a platinum dragon and his seven gold dragon allies.

Mortimer purchased a dozen canaries, taking five of them with him into scams. The birds were affected by the magic of Mortimer's ring of animal friendship, stolen from an ex-employer. The canaries were trained to act in a certain manner. Traveling to a forest edge road along with his wife and a thief ally, Mortimer used flammable oils to scorch a cone in the grass, imitating a dragon's breath, and left tracks in the soft soil, leading to where the show would commence. Traveling adventurers were treated to the smell of the scorched forest and a sight of a rugged hermit who sat surrounded by seven golden birds who listened to the mage talk to them in the gold dragon language. When the wizard noticed guests, he addressed them in golden dragon tongue, then he pretended to realize they did not speak the language and imitated a spell – putting a golden coin in his mouth and switching to the Common tongue. He asked traveling adventurers for a donation of gold and gems to finance some unspecified "northern" nation in some unspecified conflicts, claiming that he already spent all of his hoard to help the poor goodly people.

He continued talking about how he, a platinum dragon, flew over the area of conflict and felt compelled to help. During the conversation, he did not hesitate to hint at his birds being disguised gold dragons. Unwitting travelers would then share their treasures for a good cause, and Mortimer would continue asking for more as his wife and Elmerth Willowit snuck and tied to pickpocket any remaining valuables. If adventurers demanded proof of his draconic identity, Mortimer discreetly consumed a potion and produced a fearsome dragon's breath.

During a spring or summer of the mid-14 century DR, a group of adventurers from Ravens Bluff, the Living City, came across the charlatan while traveling the forest. The result and successes of the interaction remained unrecorded. However, Mortimer was ready to use magic to scare adventurers into donating or fleeing using dust of disappearance. During that time, Mortimer Mittlemer and his wife Marilyn used swindled treasure to invest in a certain lending institution and a popular tavern in Ravens Bluff.