Mortimers serious face.

Late in the afternoon, a slightly harried looking Tabitha roams the castle, collecting Frey and the remaining members of the Great Downwards Engineering Company. As a group, she leads you to the dining hall.

You find Mortimer waiting inside, standing at the head of the table. He is leaning forward, his fists pressed against the timber, head bowed. Pieces of adamantite plate lie scattered across the floor and his scythe is embedded in the wall at a strange angle. His powerful frame is covered in little nicks and scratches and he smells strongly of smoke. It almost looks like he's been caught in an explosion of some sort. Considering he said he was only going to town a few hours back, you have no idea where trouble found him.

As you enter, he straightens and looks at you. Gone is his usual easy laugh and playful nature. Instead, his lips are pressed tight and his eyes betray both grief and a focused rage.

"Sit. Now is the time for listening. Questions come after."

Tabitha makes her way around the table and leans in the corner of the room opposite the door. She glares at you until you settle down.

Mortimer’s eyes unfocus for a moment or two. You can see him trying to gather his composure.

"I have played my cards close to my chest recently. I have been secretive and closed mouthed. This wasn't because of distrust. Nor was I attempting to deceive you. A soldiers first rule of war is 'Surprise is King'. A fist in the kidneys is better than a fist in the face after all. To that end, I have been gathering my strength and gaining allies as quietly as I could. I had intended to let Orcus underestimate us, and make him bleed for his mistake. I fear I have instead possibly underestimated him"

Mortimer stops to gather his thoughts, rubbing absent-mindedly at a gash on his forearm.

"Today, two things of import happened.

Firstly, I travelled to the Heavens and reaffirmed vows I took secretly a long while ago. In short, I have taken an Archon known as Balthazar as my Patron. In his name, I will start an Order. This Order will have two objectives. Firstly, it is going to be dedicated to the reclaiming of this land from the bandits, the goblins, the undead, and any other dirty little creature that wishes us harm. It will also be dedicated to the destruction of Rappan Athuk. I am going to bathe this land in blood, and from that fertilised soil civilisation will grow."

"Secondly, I have troubling news. I traded the Mantle of Faith to my Patron for the return of Shades. I don't understand the process they used to try to bring him back, but it involved some sort of construction artefact. I watched as they tried to revive him. They spun him a new body. I could see him hanging there in the air. All that was left to happen was for his spirit to rejoin it."

He rubs the heel of his hand into his eye tiredly

"Instead, the artefact exploded. Shards of it flew everywhere, injuring many. The fabricated body was utterly destroyed. Noone could tell me why that happened, but from the questions they were asking I think it was the rejoining process that caused the destruction. Whether Shades' spirit is lost to us because of where he died, or whether it is because Orcus intervened as revenge for the destruction of the temple, I don't know. All that is clear is that Shades might be beyond our reach"

Mortimer slowly levers himself down into the chair. Tabitha comes up behind him and softly, almost tenderly, starts working her magics on his wounds.

"If you have questions, now is the time to ask. Except you Laniss. I might be able to deal with your questions tomorrow"

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tldr; Mort has an Archon as a patron. Mort traded the mantle to his patron for a true rez for Shades. The rez didn't work, probably because Orcus is a dick.