Bad Mouthing Morte

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I've noticed quite a few comments recently bad mouthing Morte. Whether you like the idea of a floating wise cracking skull is always going to be a personal choice but a few other threads seem to be appearing.

***If you haven't finished the game the following will contain SPOILERS***

Firstly, a few people are implying that Morte is not loyal while Dak'kon sticks by you forever and that this makes Dak'kon far more worthy. Ok, I like Dak'kon but Dak'kon sort of has to stick by you. His word is very important to him and he gave his word to stick with you. So did he stick by you because he is loyal to TNO or because he is loyal to his word? (OK this changes during the game if you are good).

In contrast Morte sticks by you despite being under no obligation at all. He has even stuck by you while some of the less pleasant incarnations (most of them) tried to kill him. So which is worthier of appreciation, someone who is loyal to his word (and bitter about it) or one who is loyal to you no matter what.

Secondly, people have been complaining about Morte's lack of honesty. Yep he lies, distorts the truth, 'forgets' to mention things and avoids giving out more info than he needs to. But..... as he makes clear, many of TNO's incarnations have been mad, destructive, evil, etc. He tells you about one that tried to smash him up and eat him because he though Morte was his actual skull. Not forgetting the one that pulled him out of the pillar and then smashed him around after finding out he didn't retain all of the Pillar's knowledge. So Morte being careful about what he tells you is not too surprising. The only significant lie was not reading 'the don't trust the skull' (none of your other party members mention that either by the way) and not telling you that he had visited a few places (the Temple of Regrets being the most significant) with other incarnations. Well if that's such a bad lie, don't forget Dak'on also fails to metion it. In fact most of the group are reluctant to tell of their previous experiences with TNO.

Anyway, so with Morte what you have is a tragic figure who effectively started life on the Pillar (no memory of life before), stayed in that hell for however long, was 'rescued' by an evil violent bastard who tried to smash him to pieces, but despite that has remained loyal and tried to help him ever since, who lies a bit to protect himself and cracks lots of jokes to cover his tragic past.

Another way to look at it is to remember that all the companions are drawn to TNO because of their Torment. Actually thinking about each tends to show that Morte really is put upon by people and misunserstood just because he tries to be cheerful and positive.

So everyone, stop knocking the skull, give him some respect and be nice to him (at the end I think you can send him to spend time with a young lady of negotiable affection).

Of course, if you managed to provoke him into a scrap (as I've hear is possible) you might feel differently.

PS. This isn't supposed to be another 'Who's your favourite character' just a chance to state Morte's case.

 

Actually Slappy you're already wrong. Morte does have obligations to you. If you talk to him about it, it is evident that Morte is bitter about being chained to your service. IIRC the Nameless One freed Morte from the Pillar of Baator and chained him to his service. So Morte is very similar to Dak'kon, in that he's chained to you. And if you talk to him he can improve his stats by assuaging his guilt to you, just like Dak'kon.

 

Morte feels guilty, because he feels that he betrayed the IMO sometime in the past. Morte dosn't remember exactly, but if I remember correctly, it was the reason for him to go to the pillar.

 

Slappy, you have some good points. Dak'kon also lies (if you count not telling being a lie). He doesn't tell you that he is your slave till Raverl tells you and he can't tell anything more. He also doesn't tell you anything bout the fortress of regrets. But the point is that he is better at lying. You never actually call him a liar.
About Morte, the point that i don't like him is that he's annoying. He always changes his word. I feel that he's gonna betray me on the first occasion and sticks with me for some reason of his own.

 

To Cerryl's post, well I guess that is a matter of opinion. Here's the bit where Morte explains about his connection to you:

"I begged to be freed, swearing that I’d follow you, sharing my knowledge until your final days... I just didn’t realize how long that’d be until after you’d already torn me free.”
“And all the Pillar’s Knowledge...?”
“Oh, that... well, I also didn’t realize I’d lose most of the Pillar’s accumulated knowledge once I was out of it. Piking powers, did that ever set you off! But you kept me around just the same. And at first I felt ‘bound’ to you... that maybe your sorcery had turned me into some sort of familiar. But after a couple hundred years, I realized it was more than that... something deeper. More than just a debt of gratitude, too, though that sure as the hells had something to do with it. I just felt drawn, connected to you, somehow. Maybe it’s all your suffering, chief... your torment. I don’t know. Maybe I likened it to my own, when I was in that pillar.”

If you'd like to see more of Morte's stuff, download the Book that has been done availalbe from the PsT section o Sorcerer's. Go to the chapters about the 'Pillar of Skulls' and 'Morte Part 2' in particular.

 

If I remember correctly, then it was the practical incarnation, who took Morte from the pillar. But I remember reading somewhere in the PS:T section, that the practical incarnation lived about fifty years before the IMO. But maybe this is just a glitch!

 

Glitches, errors, bad counting - the game is full of that stuff.

Slappy is right once again.

Morte feels obligation but not because he promised it but because of his feelings. If you don't believe then ask him.

And to Vicsun, Morte's just acting cool, so you don't see thru him and find the truth about him and that means - hurt him. His plan is not to betray you! Not to mention that he even lets you to throw him back to Pillar!

As an add - Dak'kon also lies when you ask him to translate Fell's words about your Severed Arm.