[[1491-01-06|<< 6 Hammer 1491]] | [[1491-01-08|8 Hammer 1491 >>]] ## 7 Hammer 1491 I feel more hollow than I have in a long time. Gods, I sound like an owlet. Anyway. The Mad Mage sure was mad. With Skoll, Nia, Godfrey, and Ezmerelda in tow, I led the way through the mountains this morning. It was a long journey, but we didn’t run into any issues along the way; the only trouble came when we actually arrived at our destination and happened upon a raving man dressed in wizard’s robes. Me and Skoll approached the man. It took a lot of reassuring from us and a lot of shouting from him, but we eventually got him talking about Strahd. Apparently, he hates the guy and has already tried to kill him once. Music to my ears. Skoll got close enough to cast some healing spell on the mage, but it didn’t work - at least not right away. According to him, he had cast some sort of abjuration spell on himself, and it would take 14 hours to subside enough from him to talk to us. He invited us to wait in his mansion only after we convinced him that we were on his side. I didn’t see a mansion, so I thought he was just being insane again; but then he clapped his hands together and a door appeared. Through the door was a clean, warm foyer to - sure enough - a mansion. I was having a good time; the mage’s nonsensical shouting was starting to grow on me, and Skoll cooked us up a lunch more lavish than anything I had ever experienced. After eating, it was time to sit around. I mostly played dice, but I might’ve taken a nap at one point. Once the 14 hours was up, the Mad Mage was no longer mad. He apologized for his conduct, and then he introduced himself as Mordenkainen, which is a name I’ve definitely heard before. Gaging by how starstruck she seemed, Nia had also heard the name before. I'd never seen her so excited before. Mordenkianen told us that he had been traveling the planar system when he got stuck in Barovia after a fight with Strahd gone south. The important thing is that, according to him, we’re no longer on Toril; Barovia hasn’t been a part of that planet for quite some time. Because of fucking course. Why would we be on Toril? Why wouldn’t we be in a place called the “Domains of Dread,” or some shit? Mordenkainen agreed to help us fight, but he made sure to tell us that he’s not interested in joining our adventuring party or anything. Fine by me, I suppose - as helpful as the guy is promising to be, he doesn’t exactly seem like the life of the party. He’s letting us stay until the morning at least. He even told us that we could customize our rooms, should we want. All we had to do is ask one of his many magical servants. But I wasn’t much interested in that. I had an idea of how to rid myself of that creepy Ezmerelda doll, but I wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t be offended first - so I went up to her room and asked her. When I knocked on Ezmerelda's door, she called out and told me to get lost. Still, she answered, and she seemed amused by the idea of leaving the doll in the mansion forever. Come tomorrow, I’ll have it out of my hands. Ezmerelda’s room had been decorated like if her wagon had a bigger bed; curious, I checked out Skoll’s room next. It was homey, despite appearing as a literal swamp. Skoll asked me if I had decorated my room. When I said no, he suggested that I customize it to look like a place where I feel comfortable. I didn’t have much to say to that at all. Godfrey’s room looked like Argynvostholt in its heyday. Nia wasn’t in her room when I checked; I think she was busy pestering Mordenkainen. I think she might still be out there, honestly. When I returned to my room, I thought of what Skoll had said. I tried out a handful of different locations: my cabin in the forest, a luxurious inn room, even my childhood home. I sat in the beds of each and stared at the wall for long moments. In the end, I asked the servants to put it back the way it was to begin with. The longer I'm in Barovia, the more I realize that I have nothing - and no one - waiting for me when I leave. And I do want to leave - I just wish I knew what to do after that. Hopefully I’ll figure it out before it becomes relevant. In the meantime, I have the dreadful "domain" of Barovia to keep me busy. Hurray for that. --- ## Page Tags/Properties **Tags:** #Journal **Category:** [[Journals and Writings.base|Journals and Writings]] **Character:** [[Krue d'Avenir|Krue]] **Campaign:** [[Curse of Strahd]] **Date ([[Calendar of Harptos|Harptos]]):** 01/07/1491