Khazan

The extraordinary archwizard Khazan, also known as Archimedes or Wizard H, was described by his apprentice in the History of Barovia as the greatest spellcaster Barovia has ever seen.

For much of his life he was associated with Strahd von Zarovich, however later in his life appeared to have a change of heart and challenged him on a least two occasions.

The Architect
Khazan was hired by Strahd von Zarovich as the architect of Castle Ravenloft. After successful construction of the castle, Khazan went to live on a small island on Lake Baratok, where he constructed his own tower, and moulded the terrain around him to produce a causeway of earth connecting his island to the mainland.

Later, he visited Castle Ravenloft to challenge Strahd, in an attempt to wrestle away his lordship of the domain, but was convinced to serve as Strahd's chief advisor for many years. After the death of Sergei von Zarovich, Khazan was ordered by Strahd to destroy his sword; a platinum hilt and guard, with a thin crystal blade as strong as diamond. Archwizard Khazan managed to disassemble and destroy the blade, but the hilt was stolen.

Archwizard Khazan, a wise sage at this point, returned to his tower, where he most generously took on an apprentice, Harkus Vallakovich, sharing his vast knowledge and experience, and graciously allowed him to produce a series of books from his musings. The apprentice learned some basic spellcasting from the Archwizard, but not coming close to the earth-bending powers that his mentor possessed, particularly when wielding his spellbook and staff, before Khazan left a final time.

Recent History
A strong wizard was known to have challenged Count Strahd von Zarovich in Y734, raising an army of peasants to fight with him. The Vistani noted he was powerful enough to move mountains. He was defeated by Strahd at the Tser Falls waterfall near Tser Pool, and his body fell into the river.

Strahd stated that after his defeat Khazan's mind was broken and that he now lives in the hills north of Lake Zarovich thinking himself to be an elk.

Hallgrimm Mikkenson was able to locate a Ring of Spell Holding deep beneath the waterfall, which had the Sylvan inscription "In my final battle, during my final fall, I cast my final spells, to help your final cause." Madam Eva would later reveal to the party this was Khazan. She stated that he is now a mindless fool.

The party managed to track down Khazan and returned his ring to him, which returned to him his memories and his soul. He committed to helping the party in their quest to defeat Strahd once and for all.

Abilities

 * Dispel magic
 * Polymorph
 * Terraform
 * Private sanctum
 * Counterspell
 * True seeing
 * Sending