The Vanishing Scholar

Professor Gousse had sensed a great pulse of energy released from Barovia — to him, a strange new land — and pressed the party with questions. They answered every one, telling him of Vecna, and in return Gousse granted them access to the Umbral Aethenaeum. Led to the section that might hold what they sought, they found only a blank wall where the shelves should be. Wisp dispelled the illusion, revealing a cloaked old man poring over the books — the same old man Roark had heard might know the whereabouts of his father. Before they could speak with him, guards arrived and hauled the man away. Moments later a second group of guards appeared, and the party realized the first had been imposters. Giving chase, they followed the kidnappers into a teleportation circle within the Academy — but the corrupted circle flung them instead into the kidnappers' own headquarters.