The Mask

The Mask

The Mask is the name given to a shapeshifting thief and devout follower of the god Mask that was active on the Sword Coast in the late 1400's.
Due to their shapeshifting nature and penchant for stealth, the exact number of crimes that can be definitively attributed to the Mask are impossible to say, though rumors of their involvement everything from petty thefts to grand larceny are common across Faerun.
The Mask disappeared in 1500 following a confrontation with Micah Pierce and the Heroes of Saltmarsh. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

Physical Description

Special abilities

The Mask was most well known for their shapechanging abilities, which allowed for perfect control over any form they chose to put on. This, combined with an almost mythical ability to remain hidden, allowed the Mask to become perhaps the greatest thief of the modern age.
Following their confrontation with the Heroes of Saltmarsh in 1500, the Mask lost their shapechanging powers and was left with the appearence of a featureless, genderless humanoid, though they were still able to communicate and see.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

The exact origins of the Mask are entirely shaded in mystery. In fact, the very nature of a shapeshifting, uncatchable thief is so broad that stories of a figure similar to the Mask go back centuries. Their devout following of the diety Mask further confuse matters, especially as to whether the Mask is an avatar of the god or simply a mortal blessed by them.
It is known that the Mask was connected to the Twilight Monastery, having perhaps trained there, though they visited infrequently. Members of the monastery knew the Mask as Folen, though it's unclear if this was their true name. During the period the future Hero of Saltmarsh Tig/Lyra trained at the monastery, the Mask became casually acquainted with her.
In the late summer of 1492, the Mask was engaged in a complicated scheme to purchase or steal the property rights to an entire block in Waterdeep at the behest of an unknown client. Over the course of months, the Mask utilized a variety of disguises, from bank officials the government officials to various homeowners, and by late summer had secured the block, forcing all of its residences to lose their property and be forced to relocate.
However, the efforts of the Mask were deduced by the half-elf Seraphina Pierce and her older brother Micah. Though unable to prevent the Mask from stealing their family property, Micah did, against the advice of his family, pursue the Mask to attempt to get revenge, following their trail from the summer of 1492 until Alturiak of 1493, ending up in an unintentional warlock pact during the chase, before the trail went cold in Saltmarsh, as it appeared that the Mask had been captured by one of the Sea Princes. In actuality, the Mask amused themselves on Micah's suffering by leaving clues for the half-elf to follow and then disappeared entirely once they grew bored.
For the next several years, the Mask presumably engaged in a variety of crimes across the Sword Coast, though news of their appearences did not reach Saltmarsh.
During the 1496 Attack on the Neverwinter Gala, the Mask was present in the main ballroom in the appearence of a blonde woman named Nadeera and noticed that the attackers' appeared to be from the Twilight Monastery. Seeking another opprotunity to harrass Micah and potentially gain Lyra, the Mask told the Heroes of Saltmarsh their suspicions that something is happening at the monastery, especially since they ignored a required summons to appear at the monastery, and Lyra never recieved her summons. During this talk, the Mask picked up on the fact that Micah was the only member of the Heroes of Saltmarsh that didn't know Lyra's changeling identity and used that to drive a wedge in the group before departing, saying they would scout out the monastery and then return.
About three months later in Uktar of 1496, the Mask returned to the Heroes of Saltmarsh. They explained to the Heroes that the Twilight Monastery had grown lax over the centuries in its veneration of the god Mask, and now the entire leadership of the monastery appeared to have been corrupted by the Banesmark and under the sway of some unknown master. The Mask offered the Heroes a deal: aid them in robbing the monastery, defilling it as the god Mask commands. In return, the Heroes would get a chance to learn more about the Banesmark and the Mask would gain access to an item of singular import to them, but which they refuse to tell the Heroes, a Forget-Me-Not, a flower that can wipe a person's knowledge of anyone who gifted that person the flower.
The Heroes of Saltmarsh came to blows when this deal was presented. Lyra and Micah attacked the Mask, who did not fight back, while Mogran Oredelver attempted to stop them. Though heated words and actions were exchanged by both the Heroes and the B-Team, which included Micah's sister Seraphina, the Heroes ultimatley decided to join the Mask, with the hope of killing them once they were no longer useful.
To prove they were up for the task of breaking into the Twilight Monastery, the Mask insisted the Heroes perform a practice run heist by stealing jewelry from Countess Priscella Reinhold's estate in Neverwinter, which the Heroes successfully performed.
A few days later at the Twilight Monastery, the Mask snuck the Heroes inside under the guise of them being participants in the monastery's initiation ritual. The Heroes successfully performed the ritual, managed to steal various magical items from across the monastery grounds, and discovered the name of their true enemy: S'gothgah.The Heroes also confronted the Grand Shade of the monastery and learned from her before she died that S'gothgah was using the resources of the monastery to empower the Feast of Corruption, though to what end the Grand Shade didn't know. During this time, the Mask collected the forget-me-not flower they were searching for.
Though they had intended to kill the Mask, the fight against the Grand Shade resulted in Lyra's death. Bitterly, the Heroes of Saltmarsh let the Mask go and used a teleportation room in the monastery to escape.
Three years later, the Mask discovered that they had slowly started losing their patron diety's blessing, causing their shapechanging to act erratically. In desperation, and hoping to peform a grand gesture to win their diety back, they kidnapped Sizzabiz, Micah's pseudodragon friend, while the pair were visiting Waterdeep in Ches of 1500. The Heroes of Saltmarsh reconvened to help find Biz and discovered the Mask's involvement after they had pretended to be there to help "find" Biz. Seeing that his attempts to get Micah back under his thumb were failing, the Mask's power, and sanity, began to unravel as the Heroes fought him, ultimately leaving him as a featureless humanoid void. Suprising even himself, Micah gave the Mask a health potion and told him to disappear from his life. The Mask hasn't been seen since.

Gender Identity

Perhaps as a result of their shapechanging, the Mask does not identify with any one gender or race. Once stripped of their powers by Mask in 1500, the resulting creature left behind was featureless, with no discernable race or gender.

Employment

During the height of their power, the Mask varied between freelance and hired work, often taking whichever jobs appeared to be the most interesting or challenging.

Mental Trauma

The Mask was in many ways defined by their personality complex and abusive tendencies. Though initially amused at Micah Pierce's efforts to catch them, the Mask gradually grew to enjoy the imbalance of power they had over Micah, purposefully going out of their way to taunt or antagonize them.
This enjoyment of power imbalances manifested again when exposing Lyra's changeling nature to the Heroes of Saltmarsh and in the various digs and put downs they utilized to drive a wedge between the adventurers, even when doing so was not advantageous to gaining their cooperation.
The Mask's shapechanging natures and uncertain history also resulted in a gradually increasing loss of self-identity.
However, these tendencies were also the undoing of the Mask, as their inability to reestablish control over Micah, coupled with their own wavering control of their Mask-bestowed powers, resulted in a complete mental breakdown in Ches of 1500. The resulting loss of their shapechanging powers left beyind a broken, featureless humanoid.

Alignment

Chaotic Neutral

Current Status

Disappeared in 1500

Gender

Gender Fluid

Presentation

Variable

Belief/Deity

Mask