# The Name Over the Door

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

> [!infobox]
> ![quest the name over the door](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/quest-the-name-over-the-door.webp)
> **Type:** Side quest
> **Region:** [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/regions/van-richtens-tower.md) · level 8
> **Given by:** [Mordenkainen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/mordenkainen.md)
> **Starts at:** [The Mad Mage's Hut](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-mad-mages-hut.md)

## Summary

Mordenkainen says the archmage who built the tower on the tarn never died: he moved downstairs, and he's waking.

## Walkthrough

### Getting the quest

Two ways in, both from party level 10:

- [Mordenkainen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/mordenkainen.md), restored, in [The Mad Mage's Hut](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-mad-mages-hut.md): once you've brought him Corvina's letters ([The Mage's Lost Pages](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-mages-lost-pages.md)) and the party is level 10, "Heard anything interesting?" turns to Khazan, the archmage who built the tower on the tarn and "moved downstairs". He tells you to look under the hearth. Finishing [The Unnamed Crypt](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-unnamed-crypt.md) gives you Corvina's name too, but it isn't enough here: until he has his letters back, his news is always about them. If you've finished the crypt and he hasn't thanked you yet, he thanks you for Corvina first; ask again.
- The hearthstone in the ground-floor storeroom of [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower-van-richtens-tower.md), which shows from level 10 (or as soon as Mordenkainen has told you), with frost in its cracks a foot from the fire.

You need to be able to get into the tower first ([The Hunter's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-hunters-tower.md)).

### Step by step

1. **Lift the hearthstone.** Investigation DC 13 finds its edge at once. A miss still finds it, but it takes half an hour. The stone comes up on a stair going down below the lake, and the quest moves to Found.

2. **Go down.** [Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md) has no rest, and you can't reach the study without crossing the hall of names.

   ![loc khazan undercroft overview](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/shots/loc-khazan-undercroft-overview.webp)

3. **The hall of names.** As you step into the long hall, every book opens and the people written in them come out: the First Visitor ([Banshee](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/banshee.md)), two Remembered Knights ([Ghost](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/ghost.md)), five Visitors ([Specter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/specter.md)) and the Second Visitor ([Wraith](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/wraith.md)), 6100 XP whatever your level. All of them shrug off weapon damage and most elements and are immune to necrotic and poison, so radiant and force damage do the real work. Drop the banshee early: once a day her Deathly Wail can put anyone at 25 hit points or fewer straight to 0 (DC 13 Constitution).

4. **The drowned crypt** in the north-east corner, where the lake gets in: Investigation DC 16 on something in the silt finds [Bracers of Defense](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#bracers-of-defense).

5. **The study.** Through the double door in the north wall of the hall, [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/khazan.md) sits very straight in a high chair. He speaks as soon as you come near.

   ![sq khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-khazan.webp)

   He's courteous: he knows your names because you said his at the door. The quest moves to Met. You can leave him to his books and look round. The book of names on the lectern lists thousands of visitors, ending with Ezmerelda's, Van Richten's (twice) and yours, ink still wet. Then work out what keeps him alive:
   - Read the book, then tell him "You keep yourself alive in that book." He's delighted to correct you: it's the name cut over the tower door, kept alive by everyone who says it to get in.
   - Or ask "Who are you?" and then try Arcana DC 16 (one try) to feel the cold pulling up toward the door.

6. **Choose your order.** You can fight him now or unmake the name first.
   - **Fight now** ("(Draw your weapons.)", or "We're going to break the name over your door."): Khazan at 250 hit points with two Visitors (specters), and his study takes lair actions. He can't die while the name stands: when he drops below 60 hit points he comes apart into dust that goes up through the ceiling toward the door. The quest moves to Named and his chair is empty. He's a CR 14 lich: Paralyzing Touch and Disrupt Life both want a DC 18 Constitution save, his spells are DC 18, and he resists cold, lightning and necrotic.
   - **Unmake the name first**, if you've already worked out the secret, and skip that fight entirely.

7. **The name over the door.** Climb back up and out onto the island, and look at the tower door again. Now you can:
   - Break the lintel stone (Athletics DC 16). A miss only numbs your hands, and you can try again.
   - Chisel the name out letter by letter. It always works but takes three hours.

   The quest moves to Unnamed (Liriel +2, Godrick +1, Thistle +1, Ratatouille -1).

8. **Finish him.** Go back down to the study. Khazan is in his chair again, smaller, searching his own book for a name he's lost, and he begs you to say it.
   - **"Khazan."** He thanks you, and the last fight starts with him surprised (Liriel +2, Thistle +1).
   - Say nothing, or draw your weapons, and the fight starts normally.

   This time it's Khazan at 210 hit points with two Visitors and no lair actions, and he doesn't come back. The quest ends at Unmade.

### Choices and endings

- **Unmade** (success) is the only ending. Once he's gone, a coffer appears in the study with 800 gp and a [Wand of the War Mage, +3](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/items/magic-items.md#wand-of-the-war-mage-3), and the book of names is blank. With the bracers from the crypt, that's the whole haul.
- What you choose only changes the fights: unmake the name first and you fight him once instead of twice, and saying his name at the end gives you the surprise round.
- Once Khazan is gone, Mordenkainen's next piece of news is the voice in the well that starts [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-drowned-library.md).

### If you're stuck

- The hearthstone doesn't show below level 10 unless Mordenkainen has told you about it.
- After the first fight the study is empty, with a trail of dust up the wall. That's your cue to go and deal with the door. He reforms in his chair only once the name is gone.
- The door only offers to break the name once you know the secret (from the book or the Arcana check) or have driven him off once.

## Rewards

**What your companions think**

- **Liriel Dawnsong:** +2 you cut a dead archmage's name off his own door; +2 you gave the lich his name back to die with
- **Godrick Pendlebrook:** +1 you cut a dead archmage's name off his own door
- **Thistle:** +1 you cut a dead archmage's name off his own door; +1 you gave the lich his name back to die with
- **Ratatouille:** -1 you cut a dead archmage's name off his own door

## Fights

- *For one moment more Khazan is himself, and he doesn't lift a hand. Then the lights in his eyes go out, and…*, in [Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md): [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/khazan.md), [Specter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/specter.md). Scales with your level.
> [!example]- By party level (the first line your party fits is the fight you get)
> - **[Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md)**, when khazan name broken and khazan said: [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/khazan.md), 2 × A Visitor ([Specter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/specter.md)) (11900 XP; surprise: enemies)
> - **[Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md)**, when khazan name broken: [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/khazan.md), 2 × A Visitor ([Specter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/specter.md)) (11900 XP)

- *Khazan stands up out of his chair, and every candle in the study leans toward him, and the books in the hall…*, in [Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md): [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/khazan.md), [Specter](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/bestiary/specter.md).

## Journal

> [!quote]- Every journal entry and hint
> **Rumored**: Mordenkainen says Khazan, archmage of the old kings, who built the tower on Lake Baratok, never died. His sort move downstairs. Something under that tower is getting fat on being remembered.
> *Hint:* Look under the hearthstone in Van Richten's Tower on Lake Baratok.
>
> **Found**: Under the hearthstone in Van Richten's Tower a stair goes down past the level of the lake, and from the bottom of it comes the sound of pages turning.
> *Hint:* Take the stair under the hearthstone down beneath the tower.
>
> **Met**: Khazan is a lich, courteous and very old, in a study under his tower. He keeps a book of the name of everyone who has ever said his own at the door. Ours are in it.
> *Hint:* Learn what keeps Khazan in the world, then deal with him in his study under the tower.
>
> **Named**: We drove Khazan out of his body, and it came apart into dust that went up through the ceiling, toward the tower and its door. While his name stands over that door, he'll only form again.
> *Hint:* Unmake the name carved over the tower door, then go back down and finish Khazan.
>
> **Unnamed**: The name over the tower door is gone. Under the island something let out a very long breath. Whatever forms again in the study below won't have a name to go back to.
> *Hint:* His name is gone from the door. Take the stair under the hearthstone back down to Khazan's study and finish him.
>
> **Unmade** (the end: success): Khazan is gone for good. The book of names is blank, every page. Whatever he kept in his study is ours, and nobody has to say his name again.

> [!abstract]- Every skill check in its conversations
> - Investigation DC 13: (Look for the edge of it.)
> - Arcana DC 16: (Work out what's holding him in the world.)
> - Athletics DC 16: (Break the lintel stone with whatever's to hand.)

## Related

- **People:** [The Mad Mage](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/the-mad-mage.md), [Mordenkainen](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/mordenkainen.md), [Khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/people/khazan.md)
- **Places:** [The Mad Mage's Hut](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/the-mad-mages-hut.md), [Mount Baratok](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/mount-baratok.md), [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower-van-richtens-tower.md), [Under Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/under-van-richtens-tower.md), [Van Richten's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/locations/van-richtens-tower.md)
- **More in Van Richten's Tower:** [The Drowned Library](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-drowned-library.md), [The Hunter's Tower](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/quests/the-hunters-tower.md)

> [!example]- Cutscenes
> **The Name Over the Door**: A lich in a high chair under his tower, a book of names on his knees, and every candle leaning toward him.
> ![sq khazan](https://curseofstrahd.app/wiki/img/cutscenes/sq-khazan.webp)