Magic of Thorn's Mystara: The Masks of Dreaming Night

This is a very very rough first pass at the titular artifact(s) of the current arc of the Chronicle.




Magic of Thorn's Mystara:
The Elven Artifacts: Mask of the Dreaming Night

Physical Description: Each of the twelve masks are of the same basic construction: A full facemask carved of dark wood, polished to an almost mirrorlike finish. The features, inlaid into the mask in thin strands of sliver, resemble an elven face of indeterminate sex and neutral expression. The eye slits are covered with mismatched razor-thin sheets of dragonstone, the right eye blue, and the left green. A flick of a switch made to look like an earring stud on the mask's earpiece drops an additional sliver of black dragonstone over the eyelets.

Use and Powers:
The black dragonstone allows darkvision to a range of 90’ — the wearer can see in natural darkness as if it were daytime, and in magical darknessas if it were twilight. Continual darkness can be pierced, but the masks’ range is cut to a mere 30’. The stones are not attuned to the true seeingeffect of a breathmask.

A character wearing a Mask is able to safely gaze upon Andahar Onyx, and can only be drawn into the stone’s reflection by physical contact. Likewise, sleeping while reflected in the stone does not entrap the wearer of one of the Masks (see below).

While gazing upon Andahar Onyx, the wearer of the Mask can clearly see those within the Reflection, rather than the usual watery, distorted images. Expending a charge allows the wearer to communicate with any willing Reflection within 30’ of the Facet for 3 turns. The wearer can hear the responses as if the Reflection were standing within arm’s reach.

From the Other Side, those wearing a Mask of Night are able to see — and use — the Facets that allow crossing between the Reflection and the Prime. (see below)

Sleeping before a sheet of Andahar Onyx while wearing one of the Masks enables the PC to dreamwalk into the Reflection. The wearer can use two charges to cross back over, or a single charge if within 5' of a Facet. For an additional two charges (one if within arm's reach of a Facet) the wearer can bring over another person, up to two at once between each moonrise.

While wearing a Mask under the light of the full moon, the wearer is able to navigate the maze of stone, illuminating the the shortest route between each Tree of Life, or to another location the wearer can clearly picture in his or her mind’s eye. This power lasts an entire night, and costs 3 charges.

Each Mask holds twelve charges, which restore themselves if the Mask remains unused between one moonrise and the next. The Mask regains one to four charges depending on the phase of the moon, up to its full allotment. Thus, if a Mask had been depleted of three charges and left unused during one night of the full moon, it would regain those three charges, the fourth “extra” charge being lost.


It is rumored that each of the twelve Masks has a unique power, but records of what those powers may be were lost when Alfheim went silent....