Strigine Mask

A Straw Mask empowers certain divination rituals.

Description

The Strigine Mask empowers a ritualist with the ability to discover information about distant places. The Eyes of the Sun and Moon, and The Eye of the High Places are rituals often employed in the service of the Empire to help plan military strategy or uncover the details of imminent threats to its citizens. Combined with other potent magic items such as a Luminous Staff, and in conjunction with the Imperial Regio, a master of day magic may be able to perform these valuable rituals without the need for a full coven.

More commonly, the masks are employed by a coven to grant additional power when dealing with a magical shroud that attempts to stymie or mislead magical scrying. When worn by someone who has mastered the ritual, the mask can add significant strength to attempts to pierce such shrouds and determine the truth of what lies within them.

Some magicians who use these masks talk of dreaming of soaring high above the ground when they next sleep, speeding over familiar or unfamiliar terrain, and of feeling a great and comforting of detachment - as if they are above the transitory concerns of the land below them. Some mystics in particular are fascinated by these dreams, especially in circumstances where the mask wearer describes sensations of being transformed into an eagle, hawk, owl, or albatross.

These talismans are often crafted as an owl mask or piece of jewellery depicting a bird of prey with bright penetrating eyes made of polished gemstone. Many such items incorporate Ophis, the Rune of Revelation.

Rules

• Form: Foci (Talisman).
• Effect: Gain 2 ranks for the Eyes of the Sun and Moon; and the Eye of the High Places rituals, subject to the normal rules for effective skill.
• Materials: Crafting a Strigine Mask requires seven ingots of orichalcum, ten ingots of weltsilver, three measures of dragonbone and three measures of iridescent gloaming. It takes one month to make one of these items.