The name of Nystul should be familiar to most Ultima fans; the bearded old wizard — Lord British’s court mage and advisor — appeared in (among other titles) Ultima 6, Ultima 7, and Ultima Underworld 2.

Nystul’s real-life counterpart is Mike Nystul, who made his name as an RPG writer. In fact, he enjoys the rather unique privilege of having a spell in Dungeons & Dragons named after him, personally.

However, he has recently fallen on hard times, and in fact ended up in the hospital and having a stroke:

Life is a struggle for everyone. It certainly has been for me. For years now a variety of bad turns resulted in me being penniless and briefly homeless. I hit bottom – hard (complete with a nigh spent sleeping omn a concrete bench).

Recently I started turning things around. I got a job, a place to live and started working on moving forward.

Two weeks ago I went to the ER because I was concerned about my high blood pressure. I have had a stroke before and was worried especially in the Austin heat. They admitted me. I spent two weeks learning I had another stroke without realizing it and that it had affected my vision.

At some point during my hospital stay my vision got really blurry from about a foot to about three feet away. Exactly where I need to see to do my job (I work for a tech support cal center).

I am in a bad spot. I had not been employed long enough to get far enough ahead of my bills to build a buffer so I was living hand to mouth. I wasn’t working for the two weeks I was dealing with hospitals and clinics and I will be off for at least 2 to 4 more weeks hoping my vison clears. I can’t cover that and I’m in danger of losing my momentum.

Because I am a contract worker I don’t really qualify for anything like leave so it’s just me. I want to stay the course and turn things around. I want my life back. To do that I need a little help. My medical bills from these visits and the ones years ago when I had my first stroke are well into the tens of thousands but all I need now is to have enough to keep going – to keep pushing so that I can come back strong.

I had meant to report on his YouCaring fundraiser sooner, and as it is there are just a few days left in it. He has raised just shy of $900, with a goal of $1,500. I’m not sure of how the YouCaring works with respect to completing a fundraising goal; I don’t know if Nystul will receive what has been pledged regardless of whether he reaches his goal. But still…his situation seems pretty dire, so if at all you’re able, you might want to consider chipping in to help him bounce back some.

Because if he’s able to pull through his present circumstances, I’ve heard tell that he might turn in an appearance at the upcoming Hearth of Britannia Legends of the Hearth event.