Moltor, Warlock of Orcus

"Well well well, look who decided to stick their noses where they don't belong. Molders, get them!"
-Moltor, commanding his minions to attack the Headhunters
Moltor is an ancient, slow-aging servant of Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead. Assigned to Orcus' son Mesogog as an advisor, Moltor acted as the magi-scientist of the Morlocks through magical research and the creation of new types of undead. He is shrewd, rude, and doesn't think twice about the pain his actions inflict on others. Everything he does is in the service of his master and there is nothing he wouldn't do in his role as servant.
Table of Contents

History

From Nobody to Nightmare

Once a young man in a simple village, Moltor's life began to change the day his mother died of a brain aneurism while he was at work. His mother was his only family, the only one he cared for, and such a sudden loss shook his faith in the fairness of the world. Something sensed his grief and reached out: Orcus, Lord of the Undead, promising to bring back his mother in exchange for his service. Moltor agreed without hesitation, consumed with grief and eager to revive his mother at any cost.
The acts of evil Moltor committed on Orcus' orders were simple, at first. Gradually his missions and the excuses he gave himself pulled his soul closer and closer to true evil. By the time he had the power to revive his mother, she was horrified at what her son had become. At the same time, Moltor found he no longer cared. The cult of Orcus was his family now and his mother became just another zombie in their army.
As a member of the Cult of Orcus, Moltor was often assigned to special projects. Sometimes, he specialized in bringing down cults of other Demon Lords and twisting their rituals to Orcus' benefit. Other times, he provided his expertise to other servants of Orcus working on special projects. The latter type of assignment saw him sent to the land that would become Lothal, working under Orcus' son Mesogog as an advisor.

Working for Mesogog

An ancient man who appeared merely old, Moltor often advised Mesogog by working to temper (or at least redirect) the young cambion's ambition in "the right direction". Their goal was mass slaughter to create the corpses needed for their experiments, but these efforts were ultimately cut short when Mesogog was put under an imprisonment spell. The battle lost, Moltor fled alongside his other lieutenants and began working to free Mesogog.
Moltor began to research ancient, powerful magics, anything that could be used to free Mesogog. It was this research that eventually uncovered stories of the Quintus Gems and Moltor's urging that convinced Levira to chase the old tales down. Moltor stayed in the shadows while his companions investigated Jezero, but did assist in defeating the alhoon Rhith and recovering the Purple Quintus Gem.
Returning to Lothal, Moltor's chief task was to ready the foot soldiers they would need to assault Inkhear and open Mesogog's prison. While the Shadow Skulls created by Levira were powerful, there weren't enough corpses to make them in sufficient numbers without attracting unwanted attention. It was around this time that Moltor caught wind that the Cult of Zuggtmoy was operating in the area and he went to eliminate a few rivals.

Encountering The Headhunters

Moltor tracked one of the Zuggtmoy cultists to a Dungeon. When the Headhunters entered the area and occupied the Zuggtmoy cultist's attention, Moltor raided his lab, stole his notes, and teleported away. He began to read through the notes, eventually cracking codes and finding a hidden ruin the Zuggtmoy cult was operating from. He set out to take their resources for himself.
After locating the Zuggtmoy cult's lair, Moltor was quick to subdue the cultists and started experimenting on them. Studying their notes, Moltor learned of a way to corrupt living creatures with parasitic mushrooms that would take control of the host. Combining this process with Gravestones gave the resulting creatures an undead quality, allowing them to be controlled by Moltor and his allies. He named his creations Molders.
During this time, the Molder spores began to spill out of the ruin and corrupt the local wildlife. This attracted attention and the adventurer Robin, a ranger, was dispatched to investigate. He made it a short way into the ruin before being killed by a trap, with Moltor unaware that he'd even had an intruder. The Headhunters eventually showed up looking for Robin. Furious at the death of their friend, they attacked Moltor who fled after sinking a shambling mound on them and running off with some of the cultists' treasure.

Building an Army

Moltor's chief task now turned to growing Molders. This took up the bulk of his time, but once it became self-sustaining he decided to find new ways to bolster their army. With Levira's assistance, he created the Grave Orb to bolster Gulto's ability to drain the life from people and turn them into zombies. Moltor infected an ettercap with a Gravestone, using it and its spiders to catch victims to zombify.
The disappearances attracted the Adventurer Guild's attention, who sent the Headhunters to investigate. They killed the ettercap while Moltor spied on them. He decided that two interferences were two too many and that it was time to nip this problem in the bud. He took Gulto and Nadira to a nearby village's storehouse, guessing correctly that the Headhunters would stop at the local inn to rest.
Kiri went out to that storehouse to fetch a keg of ale for the local barkeep and crept up on Moltor and his companions. He spied on Moltor instructing Gulto to kill the Headhunters in their sleep before teleporting away with Nadira. The next day, a failed attempt to scry Gulto and a successful one to scry Chigiri informed Moltor of Gulto's death and the loss of the Grave Orb. Moltor decided his efforts were better set on making new monsters while his allies focused on the Headhunters.

Killing Adventurers

Nadira dragged Moltor to a carnival, playing a few games while he grumbled in the background. But he overheard the villagers talking of a murder the previous year and saw an opportunity. Moltor went to a pumpkin patch planted in a cemetery north of the village and used the necrotic-soaked ground to create a powerful new undead-plant hybrid. When he was interrupted by the Headhunters, he immediately banished Kiri to the Void while engaging Chigiri and Hugh Morris with his Molders and new monster.
Moltor ultimately decided to flee a little too late as Chigiri used his crossbow to deal Moltor a fatal blow. His mortal life ended, Orcus seized Moltor's soul and transformed him into a deathlock, far more powerful than he was in his mortal form. He still fled in his panic, but his banishment spell did allow Levira enough time to kill Kiri. Returning home, Moltor ended his spell and sent Kiri's headless corpse plummeting to the ground in front of the remaining Headhunters.
Later, Moltor and Nadira ambushed Sir Hunter von Huntington V alongside a squad of Molders. The arrival of the Headhunters kept Moltor and Nadira occupied, forcing the duo to retreat before they could finish any of the adventurers off. However, they did weaken Huntington enough for Mira to reveal herself as a spy by dealing Huntington a killing blow.

Freeing Mesogog

During the Battle of Inkhear, Moltor released his hordes of Molders upon the city alongside Levira's Shadow Skulls, Void Beasts, and the group's duergar allies. The Molders that remained with him were pushed into the traps guarding Mesogog's prison, allowing the villains to push forward without putting themselves in danger. Moltor ultimately formed the group's rearguard, protecting Levira while she began to free Mesogog.
When the Headhunters tried to stop Levira, Moltor spent the battle using his magic to counterspell Artie's efforts to attack her. Once Mesogog was freed, Moltor greeted his master and bowed as Mesogog complimented his lieutenants on a job well done. Any further conversation was interrupted by Artie's kamikaze attack, which severely injured Moltor along with his allies & forced them to retreat as adventurer reinforcements approached.

Defeat and Capture

Moltor took a backseat once Mesogog was free, assisting Levira with developing the Gravecannon super-weapon. When the Adventurer's Guild learned of the weapon, Moltor hurried to finish it. When the disembodied Mesogog entered the weapon's control room, Moltor pointed it at Inkhear and began charging the cannon on his master's instructions. The Headhunters arrived to stop the cannon and Moltor was horrified when Vinnie and Pryce smashed the main control panel, fearing the cannon could explode and take the mountain with it.
He was equally horrified when Levira appeared and smashed the backup controls, revealing her true goal of freeing Urthemiel, the Destroyer (sealed in the mountain) using Gravestone energy to put the apocalyptic beast under her control as a Void Beast. The Headhunters ultimately stopped the overload and knocked Moltor out, taking him into custody. His interrogation was ongoing when Levira made her final move, and he is likely to spend the rest of his unlife in one of Lothal's prison cells.

Current Status

Sitting in a Kingdom of Lothal high security prison cell

Belief/Deity

Orcus

Aligned Organization

Morlocks