The hall is large and looks old, a Gothic castle it seems from the doorway and arches. An old man sits impassively in his chair in front of an ancient, partly ruined, fireplace without any visible gesture of approval or disapproval about my sudden apparition. The chimney fire subtly changed his colour, and shadows played hide and seek with his piercing eyes in the low light of the dusk, while his long hair and flowing beard were of a terrible and intensely white hue. Before him, a skull-cap and a long mediaeval tunic of dark colour are unorderly discarded on the table. The crackling and hissing wood fire sound was the only thing in the hall giving me any sense of calm. (more…)