Bertram Q. Muldoon IV

**Professor Bertram Quelvedere Muldoon IV** is an archaeologist working for The Bibliodome. He is the leader of the archeological force in The New World, establishing one of Aurelius' few bases on the continent - Mulwold Bay.

## Biography

### Lineage

Bertram Muldoon comes from a long line of archeologists and explorers. His grandfather, Bertram Muldoon III was an explorer on Rupert Bellflower's ship and was on the voyage that led to the discovery of The Shard. He was also Bertram Muldoon and a handful of eager explorers became the first Aurelian expeditionary force to set foot on Septimus and thusly, the first to contract and die from Wugrot. Bertram died that year, the same year as the birth of his son, Bertram.

### Exhibition to The New World

At some point in his later life, Bertram Muldoon became employed by The Bibliodome, a centre for knowledge and research in Aurelius. He along with Cornelius Griswold, Nils Landaway and Amber Griswold established a small encampment in The New World named Mulwold Bay with hopes for it to expand into a small colony. This was essentially the only inhabitable area that Aurelius was allowed to set foot in, a small bay off of The Desert of Resting Kings. Bertram and his crew would explore and plunder several tombs in this desert, constantly rivalling The Emperor's Eye, a branch of the Cyrenian Military hellbent on expanding into The New World and pillaging it for all its resources. Bertram would become a great enemy of its leader, Chapter Master Andras

### The Graverobbers of Ludenguard

In 99 A.A. going into 100 A.A., Bertram's home village of Ludenguard was attacked by a plague of undead (later revealed to be a hoax). Although unidentified at the time, Bertram was aided by Oyster, Lysander and Der Glucksritter as he was running scared from a zombie. He was taken back to Father Dietmar's church and questioned.

### A Brave New World

Towards the end of 104 A.A., Cornelius Griswold and Nils Landaway went missing whilst exploring The Spire of the Sun. Suspecting foul play on his companions' part, Bertram Muldoon sent out a letter for any adventurers to aid him in completing the exhibition, specifically to find The Nazar, a powerful gem that is said to repel demons which The Bibliodome had promised a large reward for. Answering to this call were Eyup, Lysander and Googar who joined him in traveling to the spire, which was already being explored by Cyrenians. Strangely, Chapter Master Andras was among them, a man who would never be seen partaking in such dirty work. Muldoon's new friends were instantly seen and taken as prisoners of the Cyrenians, but managed to slip them when they locked them in the spire's treasury. Bertram revealed himself and helped with a puzzle by showing a door with a symbol of a fish on it his tuna sandwich. Inside, to his horror, Bertram discovered the deceased corpse of his partner, Cornelius Griswold crushed by a statue of a Genie. Muldoon turned his head whilst his companions removed Griswold's skull in order to open a door with a skull engraving.

### Common Cold

After the exploration of The Spire of the Sun, Bertram immediately headed back home to Thaums. It took him seven days to return and, after a brief rendezvous at the Bibliodome with his colleagues, he headed to his home in Ludenguard to enjoy some time off. It is there when he fell extremely ill and became bed bound for several days. During this time, he would awaken from his midnight slumber, wander into the village and dig corpses up from the graveyard to be raised as undead. This was witnessed by Frunell Gelod, the village homeless man.

On Day 10, Bertram was visited by Eyup, Lysander, Googar and Kalabar. They realised that he is ill and fed him health potions. He agreed to write them a letter requesting them access to the Black Book. Later on in the day, while scoping out the graveyard with Frunell Gelod, they witnessed Bertram digging up the graves. He was subdued and taken back to his bedroom where he had no recollection of last night's events and was forced to confront the reality of the curse.

### Friendship with Kalabar

Within the next few days, Bertram and Kalabar formed a strong friendship, in part due to Kalabar's lack of understanding of the foreign land and fascination with things that Bertram once took for granted. Bertram introduced Kalabar to scones, his favourite food and promised to build a snowman with him. Bertram admired Kalabar's childlike sense of wonder and contagious smile.

On Day 12, the group was tasked with infiltrating a cabin and stealing a pile of evidence from Hibernius Caldwell. Bertram pretended that Kalabar was injured in order to gain initial access to the cabin. Everything was going smoothly until the cabin became surrounded by zombies. The cabin was attacked by Gilly, a werewolf which clawed Kalabar almost to death. Kalabar was injured, dying on the floor when a zombie came through the window and began to munch. Bertram was thrown into a fit of rage and attacked the wolf along with Eyup, Googar, Lysander and Brok.

After escaping the cabin, Bertram initiated the building of Kalabar's Snowman - a snowman built by him, Eyup, Googar and Lysander to commemorate Kalabar's memory.

### Arrest and Imprisonment

On Day 13, Bertram and the crew returned to The Bibliodome to once again attempt to plead with them to let them take the black book. Instead, Bertram was questioned and arrested by a Warden named Colton Henslowe for the apparent break-out of Oliver Blackley from Koldvoltz. Bertram pleaded innocent but they claimed to have several pieces of strong evidence connecting him to the breakout. He was taken away by cart.

Bertram's voice was later reproduced by The Book of Undeniable Truth, egging Eyup on to attack Lysander and Googar for betraying him. This disembodied voice was joined by that of Kalabar and Mooney Sykes.

### Koldvoltz

Bertram was taken to Koldvoltz Prison awaiting trial. There, the curse befell him and he became a zombie, infecting many other prisoners and guards. This led to the Koldvoltz Prisoner Uprising which saw the prison fall to a handful of prisoners who took charge. Rink, a necromancer, took responsibility for the undead attack and took Bertram as prisoner in his lighthouse for testing. Bertram was later rescued and taken back to Alberich by Teddy G. Rizzly, Lysander and Googar.

### The R.V. Cranberry

Bertram had the idea of stowing away on the R.V. Cranberry, a ship that he was planned to have captained before his arrest. He was appalled to see it manned by Archibald Pendleton, his arch nemesis. Upon discovering Muldoon, Pendleton had Bertram perform demeaning tasks such as scrubbing the deck. He told Bertram that he would keep him alive, taking him back to the Bibliodome to be officially fired. When Pendleton set up a recreational fight between Teddy and Bertram, Bertram was beaten. Archibald agreed to fight Teddy and was so badly injured that he handed the reigns of captain over to Bertram. This came into question, however, when it emerged that Pendleton was the only person on board with knowledge about the Adherents of the Crystal Moon and the plan to rendezvous with them. The Lawgiver required the highest ranked individual to come and mediate their proposed deal and after a short argument, Bertram was declared the winner. Inside the Crystal Moon, Bertram's life was saved by Lysander and Teddy G. Rizzly after he was repeatedly attacked.

## Relationships

### Kalabar

When they met, Bertram formed a close relationship with Kalabar, a man from Sakathsar. This was in part due to Kalabar's lack of understanding of the foreign land and fascination with things that Bertram once took for granted. Bertram introduced Kalabar to scones, his favourite food and promised to build a snowman with him. Bertram admired Kalabar's childlike sense of wonder and contagious smile. Kalabar was killed by a werewolf on Day 12 which Bertram was furious and sad about. This prompted him to attack the werewolf and fully devote himself to stopping the curse.

After escaping the cabin, Bertram initiated the building of Kalabar's Snowman - a snowman built by him, Eyup, Googar and Lysander to commemorate Kalabar's memory. It is often theorised that Muldoon had romantic feelings towards Kalabar, although it is always vehemently denied.

### Teddy G. Rizzly

In 68 A.A., Teddy G. Rizzly completed his first case in Alberich, finding Bertram Muldoon's Tea Cosy. His impressive skills saw Bertram recommend him to the Alberich City Guard. Even though it was unconventional for a bearfolk to hold such a high title, Teddy was accepted partly due to Bertram's glowing review. Since then they have maintained a close friendship, staying in contact and visiting each other sparsely over the years. In 105 A.A., the pair were flung together when Teddy G. Rizzly helped Lysander and Googar break him out of Koldvoltz.

Bertram, being a well-to-do man and lawful of Alberich, often agrees with Teddy as long as it aligns with his personal wellbeing. The pair were forced to fight on the R.V. Cranberry by Archibald Pendleton which ended in Bertram being badly injured, although later that same day Bertram's life was saved by Teddy when he helped carry him out of the Crystal Moon.

### Archibald Pendleton

Bertram hated Archibald Pendleton from the moment he was hired at the Bibliodome. He always thought that despite being in a lower roll he was far too arrogant and obnoxious. When it emerged that Archibald Pendleton would be captaining the R.V. Cranberry, as ship that was supposed to be Bertam's, he was furious. As it turned out, Bertram had been kept in the dark for over a year about the ship's true purpose, the strange modifications made to it and Builder Prime. For his own amusement, Pendleton forced Muldoon to scrub the deck and fight Teddy G. Rizzly when he was caught stowing away.

## Trivia

* Bertram Muldoon is named after Sgt. Muldoon, an NPC from Wizard101, a heavily referenced game in the campaign.
* Bertram's style and personality come from various places; Jane's Father from *Tarzan (1999)*, Professor Winthrop (also from Wizard101) and Grandpa Potts from *Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)*
	+ *Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)* also provided the name for Caractacus Potts who is Grandpa Potts' son.

## Appearances

* The Graverobbers of Ludenguard *(First appearance)*
* A Brave New World
* Dance of the Devolving *(Mentioned only)*
* The Sibilant Death *(Mentioned only)*
* Common Cold
* Butcher's Arcade
* A Full House
* Friends in High Places
* Dying Embers *(Appears as hallucination)*
* The Curse of Koldvoltz
* Death at the Gates
* Maiden Voyage
* The Bear and the Lamb
* The Sibilant Echoes
* The Elephant in the Room
* Wrath of the Rakshasa
* Face of Fear
* The Grand Exchange
* The Bells End
* A Match Made in Seven
* Pyramid Scheme
* This Blighted Star
* Out of Their Depths