# Aurel's Last Chapter

> From the Curse of Strahd game wiki (it covers the whole game, spoilers included): https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/aurels-last-chapter.html. Unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy, not approved or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast.

> [!infobox]
> ![quest aurels last chapter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/quest-aurels-last-chapter.webp)
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** Companions
> **Starts at:** [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md)

## Summary

Silvain Aster's colleague Aurel Mirescu went into the mists after a book written in a vampire's own hand, and wrote home exactly once: He knows I am reading.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

This is **Silvain Aster**'s personal quest (the High Elf Wizard, an Evoker, with the Sage background; Silvain goes by they/them). Silvain is one of the first four heroes, and they left the roster on 2026-10-06, so a new game can't pick them. The quest only runs in a save from before then with Silvain in the party. A custom hero never answers to their name, and Aurel only appears when Silvain is with you. Companion approval doesn't apply to Silvain, so nothing here is gated by it.

It starts the first time you walk into the mist at the east end of [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md) with Silvain in the party. The trail runs through the Amber Temple (level 9–10) to Castle Ravenloft.

### Step by step

1. **Aurel's note.** In the back room of [Blood of the Vine](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/blood-of-the-vine.md) in the [Village of Barovia](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/village-of-barovia.md), read **A scholar's note**, signed "A. M.". It mentions a lit window high in the east tower. The **Scholar's satchel** beside it holds paper, ink, a pen and 4 gold.
   ![loc blood of the vine 1](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-blood-of-the-vine-1.webp)
2. **The cipher.** At the next Long Rest, "Silvain wants a word". They read the shorthand in the note's margins: "Showman at Vallaki... Index at the amber temple... Going up anyway." The quest moves through *The Satchel* to *The Cipher*.
3. **The showman.** At [The Blue Water Inn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-blue-water-inn.md) in [Vallaki](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/vallaki.md), ask [Rictavio](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/rictavio.md) Silvain's **Ask about a scholar named Aurel Mirescu**. He told Aurel to go home, and Aurel asked the way to the mountains. The quest moves to *The Hunter*.
4. **The margins.** In [The Amber Temple: the Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-amber-temple-the-library.md), examine **A chained book, recently read**. Aurel left a note for Silvain in their shorthand: the devil wants an audience more than blood. The quest moves to *The Margins*.
5. **Still reading.** Find the [Tome of Strahd](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#tome-of-strahd) where Madam Eva's reading put it ([The Tome of Strahd](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-tome-of-strahd.md)). At the next Long Rest after it's found, Silvain reads it all night and finds Strahd's note from last winter about "my reader Mirescu". The quest moves to *Still Reading*.
6. **The lit window.** In [Castle Ravenloft, the Court of the Count](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-court-of-the-count.md), go into the study with the lit window. [Aurel Mirescu](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/aurel-mirescu.md) sits by the fire reading Strahd's life aloud to an empty armchair, charmed awake. Wake him in any of these ways:
   - **Arcana DC 15** (Silvain): cut the charm's thread. If it fails, the charm pulls tighter and that way is closed.
   - **Persuasion DC 15**: keep saying Silvain's name until he hears it. If it fails, that way is spent.
   - **(Put the Tome in his hands, and close it.)** This shows if anyone in the party carries the Tome. No roll.
   - **(Sit with him until the chapter ends.)** Three hours pass. No roll.
   - **(Leave him reading, for now.)** He'll still be there.

   The quest ends at *The Last Page*.
   ![aurel reading](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/aurel-reading.webp)

### Choices and endings

There's one ending, *The Last Page* (success). Silvain gives Aurel back the good pen they've had for twelve years. Aurel goes down the servants' stair to wait in the tavern's back room, and the lamp in the window goes out. The only choice is how you wake him; sitting with him or using the Tome are the sure ways.

Optional, [Madam Eva](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/madam-eva.md): Silvain's truth is that they came for Aurel, not the book. Spending Eva's question on "Is Aurel Mirescu alive?" gets a near-answer, and Silvain quotes it later when reading the Tome.

### If you're stuck

- **The first camp talk waits on the note.** As the journal hint says, Silvain's talk needs Aurel's note in Blood of the Vine read first; resting before then won't bring it.
- **You don't have to follow the whole trail.** Aurel is in the study from the start, whenever Silvain is in the party, so you can wake him at any stage.
- **He's not in the study.** He isn't there while Strahd waits in the study for the final battle (when Madam Eva's reading named that room); he's there after.

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **The Letter**: Aurel Mirescu went into the mists after a book said to be written in a vampire's own hand. He wrote home once: 'He knows I am reading.' Silvain says they came for the book. Silvain also still has Aurel's good pen.
> *Hint:* Read the scholar's note in the Blood of the Vine, the village of Barovia's tavern, then take a Long Rest with Silvain in the party.
>
> **The Satchel**: Aurel left his satchel and a last note in the back room of the Blood of the Vine. He had drawn the castle from three sides and listed its lit windows; one, high in the east tower, burns every night, and he took it for a library. Then he went up the road.
> *Hint:* Read the scholar's note in the Blood of the Vine, the village of Barovia's tavern, then take a Long Rest with Silvain in the party.
>
> **The Cipher**: In the margins of Aurel's note, in the shorthand he and Silvain invented as students to pass notes in lectures: 'Showman at Vallaki asked me the same question I asked him. Index at the amber temple. Going up anyway.'
> *Hint:* In Vallaki, ask Rictavio at the Blue Water Inn about Aurel; at the Amber Temple, look for the library's chained books with Silvain beside you.
>
> **The Hunter**: Rictavio, who is not a showman, met Aurel in Vallaki: a thin man with ink to his elbows and a list of questions about one book. He told Aurel to go home. Aurel thanked him, very politely, and asked the way to the mountains.
> *Hint:* Go to the Amber Temple and look among the library's chained books with Silvain in the party.
>
> **The Margins**: Aurel signed the Amber Temple's ledger, 'A. Mirescu, a reader', and left a note for Silvain in the margins of a chained book, because he knew Silvain would come: the book is real; its author wrote it to be read; and what the devil wants most is not blood, but an audience.
> *Hint:* Find the Tome of Strahd where Madam Eva's reading says it lies, then rest with Silvain and let him read it.
>
> **Still Reading**: Inside the Tome of Strahd, in its author's hand, a note written last winter: 'My reader Mirescu asks again to be allowed to sleep. Denied. He has not finished the chapter.' Aurel is alive in the castle, in the room with the light that never goes out, reading still.
> *Hint:* In Castle Ravenloft, look for the room with the lit window in the Court of the Count, with Silvain in the party.
>
> **The Last Page** (the end: success): Silvain found Aurel by the fire in the devil's study, behind the window that never goes dark, and closed the book for him. However the chapter ended, Aurel did not finish it alone. Silvain finally gave him back his good pen. They intend to argue about who owed whom for a very long time.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Arcana DC 15: (Find the charm on him and cut its thread.)
> - Persuasion DC 15: Talk to him. Say Silvain's name until he hears it.

## Related

- **People:** [Aurel Mirescu](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/aurel-mirescu.md), [Rictavio](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/rictavio.md), [The Wolves](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-wolves.md)
- **Places:** [Castle Ravenloft, the Court of the Count](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/castle-ravenloft-the-court-of-the-count.md), [The Blue Water Inn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-blue-water-inn.md), [The Amber Temple: the Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-amber-temple-the-library.md), [The Old Svalich Road](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-old-svalich-road.md)
- **More in Companions:** [A Knight, More or Less](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/a-knight-more-or-less.md), [A Seat at the Table](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/a-seat-at-the-table.md), [Carry the Dawn](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/carry-the-dawn.md), [Cold Prayers](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/cold-prayers.md), [Count Off](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/count-off.md), [Grandda's Trail](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/granddas-trail.md), [The Fine Print](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-fine-print.md), [The Last Lesson](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-last-lesson.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **Reading to an Empty Chair**: Silvain's friend Aurel reads aloud to Strahd's empty armchair.
> ![aurel reading](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/aurel-reading.webp)
>
> **The Book in His Hands**: The Book in His Hands: a later beat of a long conversation picture (castle_ravenloft/personal_aurel, ~ woken_tome), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![aurel tome](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/aurel-tome.webp)
>
> **The Lamp Goes Out**: The Lamp Goes Out: a later beat of a long conversation picture (castle_ravenloft/personal_aurel, ~ woken), Ashwin's ask 2026-10-12.
> ![aurel leaves](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/aurel-leaves.webp)
>
> **Out of the Mists**: The party steps out of the mist onto the Old Svalich Road, the sunless valley of Barovia below.
> ![mists arrival](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/mists-arrival.webp)