Wort

Wort is one of the major protagonists from the Ravneloft product line novel Tower of Doom. Although was he was secrelty the half-brother of Baron Caidin, Wort's deformities marked him as an outcast, until he became owner of the Bell of Doom, which ultimately sealed his fate plus that of his half-brother.

Wort resided in the old bell tower of Nartok Keep.

Biography

Early Life

Wort's real name is Worren. He was born to the Old Baron and the Old Baroness of Nartok on the same night as his half-brother Caidin, whom the Old Baron sired with a mistress named Kylene. The Old Baron despised his legitimate son's deformed nature and switched notes of their mothers to make Caidin his proper heir. Furthermore, he poisoned the Old Baroness and Kylene to cover up this secret. On his death bed years later, the Old Baron told Caidin, but Wort never never grow up to know he was the legitimate son.

Caidin's antagonism, even abuse, towards Wort was apparent early on, but Wort seemed to return only love and good will to Caidin. Outright hatred did not manifest in Caidin's heart until later later in childhood. At Morrged's Leap, Caidin hoped to lure Wort into falling on the jagged rocks below,but instead Caidin went off balance and needed Wort's help. The public echoed Caidin's disdain and contempt, for they treated him just as much a monster, a freak, or other menace. Thus Wort became all but confined in the old bell tower of Nartok Keep upon Caidin's instructions. Beyond acting as the bell ringer for executions, the fact that Caidin even had a brother fell out of public memory, to the point that even Caidin's most trusted men didn't know about Wort's existence.

Wort discovers the Bell

Previously an idealistic, helpful soul, Wort's attitude changed after a mob of angry villagers nearly killed him after he saved a peasant girl. Wort became determined to become the monster they thought he was to make them truly fear. To find a way of revenge, he sneaked into the dungeons of Nartok Keep to speak with Brinn, a darkling seer held captive by Caidin. Brinn told Wort he would find what he'd need in the cathedral ruins to the east of Nartok. Venturing there and facing the horrors of the night, Wort by chance survived and returned with the Bell of Doom.

Once he learned the Bell's function from the Spirits of the Bell, Wort began operating as a murder-by-proxy serial killer. Wort stole trinkets owned by his victims, and he ranged the bell to summon the ghosts to kill , The ghosts descended down upon their target and murdered them, returning the bloodied tokens to Wort once the dirty deeds were complete. Wort's first victim was Castellan Domeck, and he pinned the crime on Sir Logris. Wort also caused the death of Caidin's closest mistress. For this crime, Wort pinned the blame on Lord Inquisitor Sirraun. (Ironically, Sirraun now shared the same fate with those he falsely accused in order to provide Baron Caidin the corpses and souls he needed for his own sinister purposes.) Wort stole personal possessions from those he saw showing notable vice or sin, acting as a vigilante serial killer.

The Angel and the Monster

At the same time Wort became involved with the Bell, he came to the attention of Mika, a traveling healer he saved from an angry mob whom thought she was a witch. Mike saw in him a gentle, misunderstood soul, and she wished to heal his hunchback. For his part, Wort had conflicting emotions, believing her on the one hand to be the angel he was in an ancient tapestry, but on the other he doubted the sincerity of her feelings. Still, they eventually formed a bond. For Wort, it seemed like he may fall in love, until he discovered Mika the arms of his hated brother Caidrin. Disgusted, Wort returned to his revenge and stepped up the killings more than ever before.

In the course of less than a week, Wort wracked up a kill count of thirteen people. He then planted the bloodied possessions of his victims among Caidin's things. It wasn't too long thereafter that the Baron's own peasants began a rebellion against him. Though Caidin's knights could not hold out (and may not even remain loyal) forever, the baron had been secretly constructing a supposedly invincible mobile war tower, powered by the Soulstone, an object of soul transference and containment. Caidrin also gained in a windfall in learning of the Bell from Mika, who feared for Wort's life and spirit so long as he remained in the Bell's proximity.

Death of Two Monsters

Wort and Caidin held their final confrontation on Caidin's rolling Tower of Doom, but momentarily ceased their fighting when the spirits of the Bell of Doom were set loose upon Mika. Though neither Wort nor Caidrin could do nothing to stop the ghosts, Mika's purity as an Innocent destroyed the ghosts, for they could not destroy someone truly pure of heart. The backlash ultimately caused the Bell to fall, and it crushed Caidin flat. Wort met his doom soon thereafter, distracted by oncoming zombies while trying to take control over the Tower only to cause it to plunge off the cliffs] nearby. In his final moments he had not only tossed aside Mika's pleas to stop, he had also physically tossed her aside.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Tower of Doom
		Tower of Doom - Cover
		Tower of Doom - pp 6-11,Throughout
		Worren