Though it was a bright, hot dawn outside, there were no windows in this part of the castle. Van Ritchten had to provide his own light in the form of a small lantern, which he gripped with a white-1)knuckled fist. He paused at the top of the 2)spiral stair-case, and held the lantern as high as his slight 3)stature allowed. Its 4)feeble glow managed to push back the darkness for a few yards, just enough for him to see that the room was apparently empty of threatening 5)occupants. That fact, of course, meant nothing in this place.
He glanced back the way he¡¯d come. Cold stone walls 6)curved sharply down into 7)utter blackness, utter silence. A thin but rueful smile 8)tugged at one corner of his mouth. Like master, like castle, he thought, then his smile 9)vanished as he turned into the room.
In the center of the room was a low and 10)massive table, smooth and bright, no 11)speck of dust anywhere... Van Richten went very still as he 12)regarded the 13)implications of the missing dust. After a moment¡¯s thought, he 14)swallowed. It was 15)logical to assume Strahd had placed some sort of 16)spell on the room to preserve its contents while he slept.
A great book and some 17)sheaves of paper lay on the table. Within easy reach was a pot of ink and some 18)quill pens, all ready for use. A chair was pulled away from this spot, as though the last occupant had only just walked out.
As though at any moment he might return. Van Richten firmly 19)shrugged off that idea. If Strahd had been active, he would have done something by now. The master was asleep, and his castle was in much the same condition.
He moved toward the table and set his lantern down. Carefully, and not a little nervously, he ran his fingers over the fine leather cover of the book, swiftly opening it.
It wasn¡¯t 20)precisely a book, so much as a collection of various 21)folios loosely bound together.
There were no ornate illuminations, only lines of plain text in flowing handwriting. He turned to the first page and read:
£¢I, Strahd, Lord of Barovia, well aware certain events of my 22)reign have been misunderstood, 23)hereby 24)set down an exact record of those events, that the truth may at last be known...£¢
He 25)caught his breath. By all the gods, a personal journal?
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