He chokes on a piece of cheese he was enjoying before clearing his throat with a cough and pretending he wasn't doing that. "Ah, so at last, Pelagius the Mad can retire his title. Maybe... Pelagius the Angry? The Pelagius Formerly Known as Mad? Hm. I'll need to workshop it. Anyhoo, you've certainly gone and exceeded expectations!"

"That's something I do! And, hm... Pelagius the Hysterically Joyful? Pelagius the Eccentric? Don't have to be Mad to be properly Insane, after all."

He places a skull on top of his hand like a puppet and begins making it speak for him. "Oh, I'm sure, but you've gone and made him sane. Boringly so. All empty in here now. I'm going to need a new mind to wander in eventually, but that's a job for Future-Me to undertake." He tosses the skull over his shoulder without care. "I'm sure there's some mess or another Past-Me left for me to deal with when I get back. He's a real jackass like that. Oh! Speaking of Jacks, Wabbajack there- you can keep it. For now. Not much point to me carrying it around, you know?"

"Oooooooo."

" - Does it do anything other than metaphorically solve people's problems?"

He gives you a blank stare as he tries to comprehend what you just said. "What? ...OH, yeah, no, it creates chaos. It's just that, this having- well, been a realm of chaos, crossing chaos with chaos sometimes results in something that appears to be Not Chaos. Which you can always turn into more chaos! I won't complain."

She laughs. "Creating chaos sounds fun!"

He looks almost offended. "Well it'd better or else I'd have to question my insanity! Now then, I suppose I should honor our bargain and move on back home before I change my mind. Now, am I forgetting anything? Clothes? Check. Good, I lose those rather easily. Beard? Check. Not as easily lost but it helps impress people. Luggage... Ah. Where did I leave my luggage..."

With a snap of his fingers, the crazed man you met on the streets of Solitude is summoned. "Master! You've taken me back! Does this mean-"

Another snap and he's gone.

"Right, well, that should be everything. You take care of yourself, now, my mortal minion! And let me know if you're ever in New Sheoth, we can have a strawberry torte together!"

"I'll be sure to!"

She twirls the Wabbajack a bit.

"See you, Sheo!"

He disappears with a wink and a laugh. "When you least expect me!"

Then, the world fades, and you find yourself back in the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace. The Wabbajack stays in your hands, the weight feeling more real now than before.

She twirls it a bit. "This is so cool." It activates like a normal staff... What does that pile of cobweb-covered silverware have to say about being targeted by the Wabbajack?

With a bright flash, it changes form! It is now a pile of goat cheese covered in cobwebs.

She laughs.

This is going to be fun.

She heads out of the Pelagius Wing of the Blue Palace, whistling, and only slows down a bit when she realizes she probably shouldn't be seen emerging. Time to sneak some...

You manage to sneak out the side entrance quickly, and it seems that the people in the central chamber are all looking away for the moment, engaged in tasks or conversation. You manage to close the door without being noticed, but after a moment a guard calls out to you.

"Hey! You! Stay away from that door. We keep that wing closed for a reason."

"Sorry sir. I'll watch where I'm going better next time."

He sighs and shakes his head. "See that you do. We don't need anyone going in there and accidentally resurrecting Pelagius the Mad or some other nonsense. The way the world's been lately I wouldn't be surprised at that."

"That'd be quite the problem, yeah," she says, agreeably. "I can't imagine trying to keep things orderly in all this."

The guard nods in agreement, and returns to being at attention as a noble walks past on their way to court.

And she heads off, meandering towards city outskirts, listening for gossip as she does.

There's quite a bit of gossip going around, from the palace main street to the market district. The Bards are out and about, practicing their craft and exchanging stories of the war. Some nobles are having snacks on their balconies and loudly discussing politics, such as the fate of the soon-to-be-executed Roggvir or Whiterun's neutrality. The children seem to be searching for "the crazy man," who vanished into thin air in front of their eyes (something you know to be true, even if the guards don't believe them exactly).

She snickers a bit at the vanishing madman.

She heads out of town and down the road, looking to cross the bridge into the swamp around Morthal - that seems like a good place to practice with her shiny new artifact, after all.