Mask

Identity actualizing paraphernalia. Originally designed from the biology of the Formless, more sophisticated manufacturing techniques have imbued apparel with layers of transformative magic. Essential for integration with the City of Masques, each mask bears a unique identity which the Formless can assume by attuning to it. To other species, it imbues to the wielder the knowledge, skills and abilities of that individual. Brimming with ego, masks are known to form romances, friendships, and rivalries with other masks and in Masquerade society are protected individuals in their own right. Manufacturing this apparel is an art lost to time, a property that would bring great value to them-- however according to older legal frameworks the sale of a mask is tantamount to trafficking.

Integral to their society and empire, the Mask was created as a means for the Formless to assume an identity and create societal infrastructure. The oldest masks were made of organic stones whole piece, while newer masks are made of many materials exotic to Barrowchalx such as wood, ambers, textiles, shell and leather. The craftsman ship of such items is always masterwork, even if it is the simplest designs. While many other disciplines of magic are integrated into the creation of a mask, the unifying enchantments are largely Arcane.  

Functionality

  Personality: Each mask has it's own history, personality and tendencies. Although only the Formless can fully don the identity within a Mask, it can also influence the Unmasked (any other ancestry) as well. Prone to particular behaviors and special interests this is adopted by the wearer of the Mask after repeated, continuous use. Inheritance: Some masks have a heroic archetype just below the surface, which it's wielder can tap into while donning the garment. There are three elements that are associated with skill inheritance: the archetype name, the level of the mask, and the inherited feats chosen for the Mask. A mask typically has only one archetype. Masks have a level that grows with experience, astral points and time that dictates how many feats it has. Some masks have an associated level of proficiency that it imbues upon the wielder, particularly when the role of the Mask is that of a great craftsman, tradesman or entertainer.   Endowments: Some masks provide other fringe magical effects that work like an attuned item, providing status bonuses to particular checks or saves. Some masks even amount to Apex magic items and provide a bonus to ability scores.   Limitations: The ego of the mask is strong- for it carries the entirity of someone's personality. It is impossible to attune to two masks even if someone has room for them on their body without shattering one's ego themselves.   Experience: A mask gains half the experience your character does during an adventure. It can be upgraded one level with the Craft skill, using a hard check appropriate for it's level, a day of work, ten experience points, and an amount of Astral Points equal to it's current level.   Spell Lists: Some archetypes have repetoires and Masks will that have those will list them.

Impacts

  Masks have long since become the legacy of the Masquerade. Capable of perpetuating the personality and personhood within across time's cruel and steady flow- it is a repository of wisdom and experience. Where such a thing is in short supply, it is an invaluable resource that can elevate tribes to kingdoms or kingdoms to empires. In the wartorn and sombre places where the dead walk the earth and those alive remember the time before the Masquerade fell- they are a castaway trinket that can scarcely catch an eye. A symbol of old Masquerade authority and ruthlessness, the Nebula is scrawled upon with legends of particular Masks. Symbols of terror and fear, of subjugation and tribute- many old automatons still harvest the resources of other shards for the bloated corpse of Masque.   Masks have still retained their personhood status in many polities, despite the last few centuries (the total disappearance of 99% of their progenitor species). More still have gone into a state of conservatorship by several polities, barring the trafficking and transfer of Masks from one party to another. In several of these polities possession is equivalent to intent to traffick and masks are infrequently seized from unscrupulous merchants or unwitting adventurers. In monarchic polities, these same masks are issued out to generals, agents and emissaries to inspire their allies while collective societies create new bodies for them. Although not quite as suited as the bodies of the Formless, Masks participate in collective society almost too easily despite being the embodiment of eternal individuality.   In places where the historical significance of the mask is unknown or ignored the apparel can achieve a hefty price. Auctions for such objects bring clientelle from all over the Nebula at the opportunity to obtain them, for their collector status is unequal-- in terms of intelligent items at least. Of all the magic and technology of the Masquerade, the recreation of this apparel has been the Magnum Opus of many an artificer in the Nebula. With it's originators endangers almost to extinction and the