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He had dreams of escaping them, of forgetting everything, a reprieve from his torture. His actions haunted him, the memories drove him mad. They lasted but moments, driven to death by his arcane compulsion, and still the archmage lost. For 29 days he cast Geas on 4 Soulless Shells a day raised an army: "You will join me at Castle Ravenloft, and together we will destroy the Devil Strahd." When Strahd arrived, Mordenkainen used them as shields. In light of that discovery, he made a terrible choice. That was when Mordenkainen realized the truth: Most Barovians have no soul to rouse. His words were bold and authoritative, but they swayed only a precious few the rest stood silently, looked away or stared with their flat eyes. He thought he was prepared when he began his rebellion. Posed as a Barovian, cast nondetection but kept magic to a minimum, learned all the power dynamics in the region. Premise: The archmage of Oerth came here years ago, and played his cards right.
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In fact, Rictavio's entire tie to this place is pretty weak, especially when he's all the way in Vallaki. The Fortune of Ravenloft for the tower speaks of the Wizard - not the Carnival Master. Ezmerelda's abandoned wagon can be tied into the plot just about anywhere, even as a travel encounter. Similarly, Van Richten's Tower is a very cool setting that feels pretty unnecessary for the plot. He has a magical home, but it's not the giant magical tower that has an entire chapter dedicated to it. But then he's just wandering north of Lake Zarovich, barely interacting with the world at all, described as vaguely "mad" behind the Mind Blank spell. The Mad Mage is also perfect opportunity to show trauma from the perspective of an adventurer instead of a Barovian the madness brought on by making sacrifices to destroy a great evil, and losing in spite of it. But it also offers hope - there are those who have fought, and maybe they could be convinced again. It puts the PCs in their place stronger than you have come before, and tried, and failed. Baratok has one of the most intriguing hooks in Curse of Strahd: Standing around a campfire, you hear the tale of an incredibly powerful wizard who rallied Barovians against Strahd and fought him - and failed miserably.