The Prisoner Called Voss
Hook
The party freed a human prisoner called Voss from a guarded cell beneath Castle Avernus. Upon reaching Barovia, his memories returned: Voss is Mordenkainen, an archmage who says he belongs to Oerth’s Circle of Eight.
Evidence
- Two large skeletal beings guarded his barred cell.
- Voss battered the bars with animal desperation during the battle.
- Rage smashed the cage open, and Carver used calm emotions to settle him.
- He gives his name as Voss but claims no other memories.
- He believes or feels that he was once powerful.
- He sincerely pledged himself to the party after being freed.
- He recovered his name, Mordenkainen, on arriving in Barovia.
- He said Strahd cast him out of Barovia, after which he ended up in Darkon.
Open questions
- Why was Mordenkainen imprisoned beneath Castle Avernus?
- How did he come to be cast into Darkon after facing Strahd?
- What has changed now that he has recovered his true staff and spellbook?
Resolution
Crossing into Barovia restored Voss’s memories: he is Mordenkainen, an archmage of Oerth’s Circle of Eight whom Strahd cast out of the domain. The mystery of the prisoner’s identity is resolved; his imprisonment and Darkon’s theft of that identity continue under The Stolen Memories of Darkon.