The Folly of Lord Wachter

The Folly of Lord Wachter,
By Rutger von Kollitz
Far to the west, beyond the Irontooth range, beyond the river of Dun, lies the mist-shrouded land of Barovia, from whence few return. There, it is said a higher vampire, Strahd, has ruled for three centuries. The land is haunted, cursed - the very souls of the damned permeate the air. It is in this land that the story of Visgrad Wachter began.
Wachter was born to a lofty house, and he held lofty ideals. He saw the misery of his people, and he strove to liberate them from Strahd's tyrannical grip. He knew the path lay forward not in strength of arms, but in learning. For Wachter was wise, and his knowledge great. Deeply did he delve into ancient texts, learning the ways of bending nature to his command. Thus armed, he hiked to an ancient catacomb deep in the mountains, a catacomb only known as "the Amber Temple". Within lay the secrets of how to undo the devil Strahd himself. A voice called to him, promising to aid him in his quest to end Strahd if only he freed it from his wrongful imprisonment.
Wachter searched the Temple, cunningly avoiding the traps laid by its keeper. At last, he reached an ancient sarcophagus containing a shard of the purest amber. A gentle voice called out, enticing him closer. "I trust you not, spirit!" he proclaimed. "But your power shall be mine, you shall serve me! Together we shall free this land, whether you will it or not!". For Wachter had grown arrogant, having met none who could match him in wit or wizardry. He stole away the shard, and resolved to use its power for his own ends. It spoke to him thus: "Most benevolent lord, let me give you the gift of rhetoric and unearthly charm and together we will raise an army to free this land from evil."
And so Wachter fled east, paying a great price to leave Barovia with a caravan of Vistani. Yet one wonders - did Strahd, all knowing and all powerful in his realm - let him leave?
Wachter arrived at Holmgard and professed to be a mighty warrior-prophet of Tyr, a crusader who had received visions of greatness in Barovia and brought a small glimmer of light to that land. With his mighty rhetoric and natural charm, not to mention considerable wealth, he climbed the ranks of the Tyrian Inquisition. I will not discuss the War of the Broken Crypt here, but I will end on an altogether different note. The shard of Sanguine - for the amber fragment he carried was none other than a shard of the Pale Lady's spirit - was never destroyed. It still lurks in the Empire. Locked away? Perhaps. But even the strongest bindings can not restrain the power of a God, even a fragment of one.