Mortis of Balthor

The primary antagonist and final enemy of the Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Keep of the Lich Lord, Lord Mortis of Balthor is a powerful undead knight and necromancer who was slain two hundred years before the start of the game. Mortis rises again as an undead lich and tries a second time to take over the archipelago of the Arrowhead Islands, only to be destroyed once and for all by the playable character that the Titan canon labelled as the Choosen of Lhyss.

Background
Mortis was the ruler of the island of Balthor, from the Arrowhead Archipelago located off the north-east coast of Khul, one of the three continents of the world of Titan and a counterpart of some sort to medieval Asia. Mortis most likely inherited his title of Lord of Balthor. What is known for sure is that he trained heavily in both Dark Magic and the art of war, and that he was a merciless, cold-blooded and sadistic tyrant, who was married to an equally evil woman called Lady Lotmora of Balthor. Mortis of Balthor was famous for his silver armour and his ominous black banners in tatters, symbols of Pest.

Two hundred years before the story told in The Keep of the Lich Lord, the evil warlord set out to conquer the entire archipelago, which may have been the first step of further plans of conquest, perhaps including the entire continent. Given Mortis' powerful army, talent of strategist and practice of necromancy (with which he raised fallen soldiers from both his army and the opposing one) the threat he caused was enough for every kingdom in the Archipelago to fight together, forming an army led by the hero Khalamyn, helped by many elven tribes. Mortis sent powerful living-deads to kill Khalamyn in his sleep, but this plan was thwarted by priestesses of Itra the Goddess of Healing. Khalamyn ended up duelling Mortis one-on-one while their armies clashed, using the powerful Ivory Spear crafted through elven sorcery. Khalamyn threw the spear at his enemy, killing him at the very same second when he got struck and killed by a dark energy blast.

Mortis was burried in a crypt in Stayng Island near the place where he fell and peace returned. Yet, the necromancer's magic was so strong that he were to return under the shape of a Lich, and only the Ivory Spear, which was never removed from his dead body prevented him from rising again.

Powers and Abilities
Mortis of Balthor is a very skilled warlord and strategist able to threaten an entire alliance of kingdoms with his sole armies, and a very skilled warrior in his own right who uses a mace in battle, wielding it with great strength and proficiency. Mortis' military talents are displayed all over the gamebook by the description of his different squadrons of undeads and the strategic alliances he makes with the equally evil Chaos Pirates. Despite Mortis being referred mostly as a powerful sorcerer in the gamebook, it is his warlord aspect which is primarily displayed. It must be noted that Mortis, like many other powerful villains, is overconfident, which sometimes prompt him to brag of his strategies before his enemies, though he acts with caution even with enemies he deems inferior.

Magically speaking, Mortis of Balthor is an extremely proficient master of necromancy, able to raise the deads from the grave as undead soldiers, but also by casting a Living-Death spells that kills people and turns them immediately after as undeads. Mortis can raise any kind of undead, from the classical zombies and skeletons to fearsome spectres, wights and even vampires, and summon powerful Skull Beasts that reside outside the worlds of both living and deads. He even created an elite squadron of the fearsome Knights of Alptraum, powerful undead souls sealed into a suit of armor. Finally, Mortis' undeads soldiers (and also Mortis himself, given that he is a lich) are surrounded by an Aura of Fear that can weaken even the most determined warriors.

the Lich Lord is also able to fire magical blasts of dark energy or ghostly smoke, to set magical traps, to magically seal entrances among other things. It must be noted that Mortis only raises undead for warring purposes, and as such, his undeads servants can do nothing but fight. Also his undeads cannot cross rivers and water ponds and they are all (including the Lich Lord himself) weaker during daytime.

In The Keep of the Lich Lord
The player is a famed mercenary who served for several years in the famed White Tiger regiment, in the huge Arrowhead Archipelago. As his or her time in the regment is coming to an end, he or she is about to leave, when he/she is summoned by the Triumvir, the Council of Three who rule the Varadian Alliance the common government of the entire archipelago, who ask his or her help against an upcomming threat. The Triumvir just recieved a report from Lord Braxis, the wise governor of Stayng Island, who inform them that his castle, the Bloodrise Keep, is besieged by a powerful undead army lead by a knight in a silver armor, and that it is about to fall. The player is told that the knight is none other that the infamous Mortis of Balthor, who has risen from the grave. Mortis is about to strike an alliance with the Chaos Pirates from Blood Island, who wage a continuous war against the Alliance but who are no match for the powerful Varadian fleet. If Mortis' undead army and the Chaos Pirates were to make their junction, the Alliance would not be able to resist and Mortis would take over the entire archipelago.

Given that the entire Varradian army must repel a high scale attack from the Chaos Pirates, the player must venture alone on Stayng Island to destroy Mortis, guided by the General Chaideshu, who keeps in touch with him/her through a Communication Ring. Very early in the game, the player can head to Mortis' Crypt, where he/she discovers that a foolish graverobber awoke the mighty Lich Lord by taking the Ivory Spear of Khalamyn, and get the spear for himself/herself. The spear is a very powerful weapon which inflicts a loss of 4 stamina points (life points) instead of the regular 2 whenever the player strikes an undead. It must be noted that when facing an undead, the player must test his resolve to see wether or not the Aura of Fear will weaken him/her during the fight.

At some point, the player halts in a inn when he/she can meet Kandogor, a surviving soldier from Bloodrise Keep and a vile traitor who swore alliegance to the Lich Lord, who offers to follow the player. (In order to better backstab him/her.) Avoiding contact with him is the better solution. The player can also meet the female Elf Elindora, who asks his/her help to destroy Lady Lotmora, Mortis' wife whom the Lich Lord resurected as a Vampire Lady and who is terrorizing the nearby town. If the player is followed by Kandogor, the traitor will try to dissuade him/her to listen to Elindora, and might even kill her before killing the player in his/her sleep.

If the player agrees to help Elindora, they go to the graveyard to find the vault of the vampire. If they immediately head to the north-east part, they will found the vault during daytime and slay Lady Lotmora and her vampire minions without resistance. If they encounter the vampires in the evening, the powerful Vampire Lady will have 9 in skill (level of power) and 13 in stamina, (life points) and will engage a fight against the player alongside two weaker vampires, while Elindora deals with the last two vampires. The player must defeat them in a determined amount of time, or else night will fall and every vampire will gain 2 in skill and 5 in stamina. If the vampires are found at night, Lady Lotmora will have 11 in skill and 18 in stamina. This challenge can prove very hard as Lady Lotmora is a very dangerous foe and her minions can prove very irksome, even with the Ivory Spear. Before fighting, Lady Lotmora always tries to hypnotize the player, who must win a test of resolve to avoit it. (If the test is failed by night time, the game is over. Otherwise, it "only" weakens the player.) If Kandogor followed the player and Elindora, he will make sure that they only find Lady Lotmora by night and will fight alongside her, making the battle worse and trying to flee upon the vampires' demise. Only throwing the Ivory Spear can kill the vile traitor.

After this, Elindora will give the player a powerful magic ring and the player might get other valuable items if he/she meets the elven tribe, who give shelter to many denizen of the island in their forest, protected from the undeads by their powerful magic. The player will also fight the Chaos Pirates, who invades villages all around the island and take the population as slaves for their warships. The player can sneak into the pirate ship and kill the wretched and cowardly Captain Jarmesh, ultimatelly freeing every slave. If the player visited the Temple of Lhyss, he/she also may go to the menhir of Whistlestone Tor, where he/she will face an ordeal by Lhyss, Godess of Fate and Luck and recieve her benediction, which significantly raises his/her skill and stamina.

Upon entering the Bloodrise Keep, the player notices that Mortis had a dam made of bones and corpses to block the Scort River, emptying the moat around the fortress, enabling his undeads to go in and out as they please. If Kandogor fought the player alongside Lady Lotmora and survived, he will attack the player with a balist and only a special trick can avoid a gruesome demise.

Because its daytime, neither Mortis nor his undeads can leave the fortress, but they are still active within its walls and the player gets an Alarm Value, which rises depending on his/her stealth in sneaking into the fortress. The higher the Alarm Value is, the more dangerous the fortress will be. The player can interact with human servants that Mortis kept alive to do the chores that his undeads are incapable of. The player can also meet Lady Iola, the noble mother of Lord Braxis, a priestess of the godess Itra who is protected from the undeads as long as she remains near the goddess' altar, and can teach the player the Disruption Charm, a powerful holy spell that can destroy any nearby undead and prove extremely useful. The player must also avoid the powerful Knights of Alptraum, who have all 10 in skill and 9 in stamina.

After meeting Lord Braxis, whom Mortis kept alove but have tortured and imprisoned in a far too small cell, the player can decide where he/she will challenge the vile Lich Lord, which is a major innovation in a Fighting Fantasy game.

Confronting Lord Mortis
The player can either exit the Bloodrise Keep to head for the dam, which is the easiest past, or enter the dungeon to reach Mortis' throne room, the hardest past.
 *  Battle at the dam 

When the player begins climbing the horrid dam made of bones, Mortis of Balthor himself exits the Keep horseback to get rid of the player, in spite of daytime. If the player can use the Disruption Charm, it will destroy the dam and free the river, causing a huge tidal wave-like flood that will swallow and destroy the Lich Lord without fight. The undeads will then set the Bloodrise Keep on fire to destroy themselves, and their freed souls will fly away to the other side of the Veil, under the shape of countless white birds.

If the player owns the Ivory Spear of Khalamyn an decides to launch it at his/her foe, he/she have to win a test of skill. If he/she succeeds Mortis will be destroyed once and for all, otherwise there is no other choice than to battle to the death. Mortis is not at his maximum power but he remains a dangerous enemy with 10 in skill and 20 in stamina. Given the Lich Lord's powerful Aura of Fear, the player automatically loses one point of skill and must test his resolve, in case of failure Mortis will lose only 1 point in skill when struck (2 with the spear) and the battle will prove dangerous.


 * Battle in the throne room

Reaching the throne room can prove quite dangerous, as the higher the Alarm Value is, the more dangerous undead guards will attack the player. If the Alarm Value is too high, the player will get killed by a magical trap set by Mortis, who was waiting for him/her upon entering the throne room.

If the player owns the Ivory Spear of Khalamyn, he/she can once again trow it at the Lich Lord and destroy him without fight upon winning a test of skill. Given that night falls when the players confronts Mortis, the Lich Lord will be at his full power. Mortis is a very dangerous enemy with 11 in skill (one point below the maximum) and 20 in stamina. Oddly enough, nothing is said about his Aura of Fear and there is no test of resolve.