Mortimer Guide

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Mortimer emerges from the sea after players help the Fisherman, viewing expanded fishing as intrusion on his territory.

👤 Role: Purple octopus sea monster antagonized by fishermen, demanding human sacrifices as compensation.

⚠️ Risk: High Risk

💡 Quick Tip: Saying NO ‘just once’ because there’s no immediate penalty—this primes the revenge event that hits harder than several YES sacrifices ever would.

Quick Verdict

If Mortimer shows up, always say YES—one predictable sacrifice beats the guaranteed revenge crash in both population and happiness.

Risk profile:
Newbie friendly: No
Best value:
Biggest trap: Saying NO ‘just once’ because there’s no immediate penalty—this primes the revenge event that hits harder than several YES sacrifices ever would.

♟️

Strategic Mastery

The Golden Rule

"Never refuse Mortimer unless you intentionally accept the revenge punishment for roleplay reasons."

Phase 1

Early Game

If you haven’t progressed harbor content yet and want a clean run, avoid unlocking Mortimer. If he appears, always say YES—revenge is run-ending when your stats are low.

Phase 2

Mid Game

Treat Mortimer as predictable attrition: always YES and let normal growth offset the -1 Population losses.

Phase 3

Late Game

Still always YES—protect happiness. A -5 Happiness shock is far more dangerous than losing a single villager.

Decision Matrix — What You Should Actually Choose

Mortimer is a pure risk-management NPC: every demand is a choice between a small, predictable loss now (-1 Population) or a delayed punishment that is always worse (-5 Population, -5 Happiness). Once unlocked, optimal play is consistency—never refuse him unless you are intentionally roleplaying and accepting the revenge hit.

✅ Recommended Choices

Initial Sacrifice Demand

Recommended

""Hum yes hello. One of your fishermen has been bothering me. I demand a villager as, ummm, a sacrifice. Yes.""

✅ Why This Is Worth Taking

YES keeps Mortimer as predictable -1 Population attrition and prevents the -5 Population / -5 Happiness revenge crash.

YES

gold 0
population -1
happiness 0

NO

gold 0
population 0
happiness 0

💡 Unique; refusing can prime the later revenge attack.

Repeat Threat

Recommended

""Hummm, you! Those fishermen are at it again! Give me a sacrifice or I swear I'll, umm, do something bad!""

✅ Why This Is Worth Taking

Treat repeats as the same math: pay -1 Population now to avoid the guaranteed -5 Population / -5 Happiness later.

YES

gold 0
population -1
happiness 0

NO

gold 0
population 0
happiness 0

💡 Repeatable demand; refusing can prime the revenge attack.