P. Elrod - I, Strahd, The War against Azalin

Both ladies snorted contempt for the general's weakness.

"Do not underestimate him, for his is not an ordinary proclivity. It is well known among his officers that the women he fancies tend to disappear or turn up dead-or worse."

"What's worse than dead?" piped Alvi. "Oh-never mind, I shouldn't like to know."

And they would not know from me. If I told them about Vychen's true nature they would have sensibly turned heel and walked out the door no matter how much gold was offered.

The last one in the group, Kelab, a large man with a long face, now spoke. "What's your plan, Lord Strahd?" He was second-in-command to Darl. The two often discussed at length (and rather loudly) the desirability of any given job, but he often deferred to Darl's decision.

I now told them, leaving out one small, but highly important point, which I held in reserve for Darl. By the time I'd finished, they were willing to make the raid.

Briefing completed, I swept the gold back into the velvet bag and said they could collect the lot-if they survived the night. Alvi made an unhappy moaning sound, which amused Cylla and Nanje. They all left to get prepared except for Darl; I discreetly signaled that he should stay behind. I nodded permission for him to take the chair opposite me across the desk.

"Yes, Lord Strahd?" he asked, easing into place and with a raised eyebrow somehow managing to affect a combination of inquisitiveness and boredom.

There was something about his manner that reminded me of myself as I'd been some centuries ago when I had walked under the sun. He was also stubborn and strong-willed-for a normal man. That was why I had chosen him for this particular challenge.

"I have a special… request to ask of you," I said, choosing my words with care. His vast esteem of himself amused me, thus my apparent show of favor. This was comparable to a cat playing with a bird that thought rather highly of itself.

"What request might that be, my lord?"

"For you to wear this as an addition to your equipment." From the box I took out a strip of leather with a flat gold disk attached to it, a cloudy white stone affixed to its center.

He studied the item without reaching for it, having the intelligence to be wary of magic. He wasn't versed in the Art, but I'd heard that he could sense its presence. "What is its purpose?"

"To allow me to observe from afar your progress. You tie it around your brows so that the stone is centered upon your forehead. Through it I can see what you would see, hear what you would hear."

"Interesting. Does this mean you've lost trust in my loyalty? That you think I must be watched?"

"I am well aware that your loyalty is primarily measured by your hatred of Azalin and the coin in my treasury."

He grinned in response. "I've been honest about that, though."

"Anything less and your head would be on a pike next to the one out in the yard," I assured him. His grin faded. On such points he knew I never made idle threats. "Your caution is an excellent survival trait, Darl, but misplaced here. All I require is someone to test this for me in the field, and you are the best choice for the job. If all goes well, then I shall find a greater use for it later. Don't bother to ask what that might be, it has to do with war policy."

He shrugged in acquiescence, knowing better than to express an interest in strategy secrets. "I've no objection then."

I handed it across the desk and after a moment's examination he slipped the leather strap around his head, tying it firmly in place.

"Am I supposed to feel something from this?"

In answer, I focused my gaze hard upon him. The force of it was entirely too much even for his relatively well-disciplined mind. Within a moment I had the bird under my absolute control.

"Now," I said, drawing forth a small silver flask from the box, "drink this. Drink all of it."

He did so without hesitation. As the last drops of it went into him, the milky crystal on the disk flared white, then went blood red. His eyes rolled back in their sockets. The flask dropped as his hand began to violently tremble.

Despite the hold of my hypnosis his whole body gave began a massive shuddering reaction to the potion. Well it should, considering some of the ingredients I had put into it. His limbs twitched until he slipped from the chair to convulse on the bare floor for nearly an entire minute. I watched, rather concerned that I had miscalculated and made the stuff too strong. If so, it would be damned inconvenient; I would have to find someone else for the raid.

The seizure finally slackened and ceased altogether, and it was with some relief that I noted that he still breathed, though in ragged gasps. He was quite flushed, his heart beating fast, but strongly. He wasn't going to die just yet. Good. Time to initiate my part of the process.

I took my crystal ball from a well-padded pouch on my sword belt and put it to use. When I had Darl's image clear in its depths (quite easy to do with him right in front of me), I shut my eyes and concentrated.

A view of the ceiling abruptly came to me, as if I were looking at it through his eyes. It was working.

I took things down to a deeper level and suffered a bout of extreme disorientation before my mind sorted out the two diverse sets of messages coming to it. One was that I sat calm at the desk, the other that I lay flat on the floor, weary and with the bitter taste of the potion coating my mouth.

"Get up, Darl," I whispered, holding hard to what he saw and felt.

He did not respond immediately. I put forth my will, both the hypnotic bond I had established and that which was from the combined effect of the potion and disk. They worked gratifyingly well. His bruised body rolled and pushed itself upright, far more efficiently than a puppet responding to a puppetmaster. Had he been in control of himself he wouldn't have been able to do that so quickly. My experiment was turning out to be far more successful than even I had anticipated.

Azalin was not the only mage given to the invention of new magic items. In between all of my other projects for the war I had managed to work a major refinement on the crystal amulet which I had employed so very long ago on that hermit from Forlorn. By comparison to this the amulet was a hopelessly crude contrivance. Then I had been able to hold my full control on the man so long as he was in Barovia. Once past the border I was limited to making use of him only with his terrified permission. Most inefficient.

This variation allowed me a certain level of fusion with Dart's senses as well as control of his will. It provided a way for me to see and even feel through him and manipulate his actions. The advantage for me was a nearly complete comprehension of his surroundings; the advantage for him was having a cooler and vastly more experienced mind directing things. If necessary, this forced influence could drive him beyond his expected limits, hence Darl picking himself up before his body was ready to make the attempt.

Which was just as well, for I had estimated that the potion would not last too terribly long. A second dose of it right now would kill him, or at the very least damage his brain to the point that he might as well be dead.

I released him from the hypnosis but held the rest of my control firmly in place, not too difficult so long as I kept my concentration up. His conscious mind was aware of my presence in his head, but he was quite unable to do anything about it.

Using his body as though it were my own, I had Darl step outside and motion for Aldrick to finally come in. He did so with alacrity. As soon as he was in Darl shut the door behind him.

"Reciprocity," I said very clearly-but it was Darl who really spoke, giving Aldrick the password we had established before leaving Castle Ravenloft.