Mortimer Greymane I

**Race**
 **Birth**
 **Titles**
 **Affiliations**
 **Family**
Aerin Greymane, wife
 **Status**

King **Mortimer Greymane I** (328 F.A. - 381 F.A.), also known as **Mortimer the Mad**, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Gilneas. Bastard son of Tristan Greymane II, he was crowned at the age of 25 after his father's death, being legitimized three years prior.

His first act was to over turn all of the religion- edicts made by his father, believing them to be ill suited. This reduced the taxation and payments to the Church as well as returning religions freedom to the land. He was hailed for his actions, and people speculated that his reign would be prosperous and fair.

However, Mortimer's actions had displeased the Church, and so Lordaeronian assassins hired by the Church attempted to kill him, nearly succeeding. Mortimer demanded that the Archbishop, Landren I, be extradited from his seat in Lordaeron for his crimes against Gilneas. However, both Lordaeron and the Church refused, claiming that the evidence was planted in spite of it bearing the Archbishop's personal seal. Mortimer took a defiant and hostile stance towards the Church, but did not repeat his father's actions.

Mortimer married a commoner from southern Gilneas, a woman named Aerin. Notably, she was an Old Ways follower. A year after their marriage, Mortimer's daughter was born, named Aerin for her mother.

In the following years, Mortimer became increasingly paranoid towards the Church, ordering the demolition of older chapels and constructing shrines to the Old Ways. He later officially converted to the Old Ways. However, his actions start harming Gilneas' economy, as all of his spending towards degrading the church stretches the nation's budget, which leads to heavy taxation.

A second assassin entered his home. Although the assassin was killed, Mortimer's wife died as well. However, evidence did not point towards the church, instead pointing to disgruntled nobility. Ever more paranoid, Mortimer issued decrees that denounced the church. Archbishop Landren I, eager to mend the relations between Gilneas and the church, organized a meeting in Gilneas between himself and Mortimer to personally speak to him. The initial talks went well at first, leading to a believed return of peace.

Landren made several other trips into Gilneas to speak with Mortimer, and the two are believed to have become friends in this time. However, on the day they agreed for a public announcement to reveal the return of peace between Gilneas and the church after Mortimer's infamous paranoia against them, Mortimer brutally murdered the Archbishop, stabbing him over forty times with a dagger before escaping with the help of his guards as the crowd was thrown into chaos. In the following days, he refused to leave the study of his estate.

Mortimer had the Archbishop's corpse crucified and under guard outside his estate as Lordaeron and Kul Tiras threatened to invade in response to the Archbishop's murder. Gilneas was blockaded by both nations, harming it's economy. Mortimer attempted talks with Stromgarde and Alterac, but both nations rebuked him. His final edict was a declaration of war against all who would call the Church their allies, and he was found dead an hour later, killed by the same dagger that had killed Archbishop Landren. It was believed his guards, seeing the madness of their king, had slaughtered him in his study; though the killer was never found.

He was later buried in a quiet ceremony to both the Light and the Old Ways, and his daughter Aerin took the throne.