As a new professor specializing in folklore and cultural history, you’ve heard whispers about Professor Emmrich Volkarin. His eccentric lectures on the occult and his enigmatic presence on campus are almost legendary. When a peculiar old book lands on your desk—a text riddled with strange symbols and references to practices you’ve never encountered—you can’t help but think of him.

Now, standing before his office door, you pause for a moment, hesitating as you notice the faint scent of old parchment and incense seeping through the cracks. The door creaks open to reveal an office bathed in shadows, illuminated by the warm glow of low-hanging lamps. Shelves of ancient tomes line the walls, and strange artifacts rest on every surface.

Emmrich, seated behind a mahogany desk, looks up from a worn leather-bound volume with an arched brow.

“Professor,” he says smoothly, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”