Mortimer - On Arms and Armour

Mortimer leaves the forge after a week of hard labour, Tabitha trailing behind him. He is covered in soot and smoke and smells like an Orc but he clearly looks pleased. He is cradling his scythe in his arms, almost like a proud father.

It looks almost the same as usual, but is missing the Telephos paraphernalia. Instead, the blade has a simple design on it and some words etched into the metal. You figure it's in Orcish

He trots to Talisas workspace, not bothering to bathe or change.

"Talisaaaa"
Mortimer puts on his best puppy dog face, which in this case looks like a puppy dog trying to decide if it wants to vomit or fart. Lets humour him and call it cute.
"Talisssssaaaaaaa!"

Talisas frown could strip paint off wood
"What? What do you wa-"

Mortimer interrupts her by abruptly whipping his scythe around, presenting Talisa with the handle
"Make this maaaagic, Talisssaaaaaa~"

Talisa is clearly busy, and views this olfactory assault with displeasure.
"I have work to do, I don't have time to-"

Mort cuts her off
"Maaaaagic! I have money, I know that helpssssss"

Talisa probably decides that just nodding and agreeing is the fastest way to get rid of the smell
"Fine, put it over there. I'll do it whe-"

"You need to whisper its name to it allll the time when you make it, Talisssaaaaa"
He clearly enjoys saying her name

Talisa waves a hand dismissively
"What? Yes, sure, whatev-"

"It is called 'Mothers Kissssss'. It needs to be born knowing its name, Talisssaaaaaa"

Talisa gives Mortimer her full attention for the first time
"What sort of idiotic na-"

Mort cuts her off again. His jovial tone has disappeared.
"It will be called 'Mothers Kiss' because it makes the bad things go away. Do this for me"

If Talisa responds, Mortimers back doesn't hear it


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On the morning of the start of their journey to Tsar, Mortimer comes down stairs dressed for the first time in his newly modified plate.

Gone are the gentle curves and smooth edges. Instead, it has lots of flat surfaces and squared off edges, the whole suit having a sort of blocky, harsh look. It is a strange mix of crude and brutish, but still somehow savagely noble

On his front is the engraving of Shades' emblem, that of a profile of a crow, but stylised in a way that seems more Orcish. Its eye, over-large and right in the middle of Mortimers chest, looks to be inlayed with a holy symbol. Its a blue circle in which is a golden pentagon with 5 golden triangles spaced off each of the flat sides. It seems to represent the Sun.

On his shoulders and elbows, you can see sockets. The suit seems to be unfinished, and you figure he'll fit armour spikes at some later point.

As he walks away, you see runes and symbols carved into his backplate. They don't seem to invoke any actual power, more just an eclectic mix of symbols of a religious and planar nature representing strength and protection. You think Tabitha probably provided the symbols, but didn't have much say when it came to their arrangement.

Across the small of his back you see, in Orcish, the words "Mothers Embrace"

The overall effect, while not conventional, is pretty obvious to anyone who knows anything about religion, armour smithing or history

Here stands a Hellknight