Emerald Simulacrum of Jal-Kador
A fragment of the The Scythian Mask of Jal-Kador housed in a hideously carved tribal mask of ancient, warped wood enhanced with metal. This Mask had found its way to the guardianship of the Firbolg tribe known as the Tolohi in northwestern coastal Ezzuth.
The Tolohi recognized the mask's power and kept it sealed in an underground temple near their village for several centuries. Whether their knowledge of the Mask's nature and purpose faded over time or they were simply never aware of it to begin with, by the current era, they knew very little about it save that it was extremely dangerous and under no circumstances to be removed from the Temple.
Prior to the events of Session 00 - Wayward Winds, the Emerald Simulacrum was stolen from the Temple during a stealth raid by the South Wind Trading Company. The firbolg druid on duty, Dealan-De had been assigned to guard the temple as part of her training to join the Tolohi druidic order, seen as a safe assignment given the Mask had remained unknown and undisturbed within the Temple for centuries.
Unfortunately, whether by a whim of chance or fate, the easily-distracted Dealan was daydreaming and chasing butterflies whilst the agents of South Wind slipped into the temple, disarmed the traps, solved the puzzles and stole the Mask.
Dealan's penance for failing her task was to be sent as one of a number of individual Tolohi search parties to track down the Mask and retrieve what she lost. Her search for the Mask took her very far indeed from home, as during Session 00 - Wayward Winds she first set foot on foreign shores in the bustling lake city of Tourelle...
During Session 01 - Weaving Threads it was discovered by Alzo Knifehand through his underworld contacts that South Wind had returned from a fetch quest for House Caravielle with a rare and likely extraordinarily valuable artifact retrieved from a long expedition to Ezzuth. The criminal underbelly of Tourelle was abuzz with curiosity and excitement about what this item might be, how much value it might hold - and on what market - who it was intended for, and how well guarded it might be...
Through a series of misadventures, Alzo later came within spitting distance of the Mask itself after learning it had been transferred by House Caravielle to the Arcane Enclave district of Tourelle in order to be examined by members of the Akademia Arcanum. Through subterfuge, refuge in audacity and a healthy dose of luck, Alzo infiltrated the Akademic faculty wearing a stolen student access pendant and made it as far as the Tower of Beltharius itself, where he encountered the Highmistress of Akadamia, Archmagus Tysora Kelrath herself, and was taken to observe her tests upon the Artifact.
Though she did not reveal it, this was in part because the Highmistress had seen through his act, was amused by his audacity, and wanted to impress upon the rogue how dangerous the mask was and how well-protected by arcane means within the tower. Her ploy worked, as Alzo decided that returning to steal the Mask would put him up against arcane protective measures far beyond his current means as a thief...and resolved to wait until it was returned to House Caravielle before making a move.
Sure enough, when Alzo joined the future Muskrateers at their fated meeting at the Rare Chant Alehouse in the hopes of finding some arcane help on this job, the group learned that the Mask had been taken to a vault beneath House Caravielle's summer manor, Summerleaf Estate.
During Session 05 - Masquerade the party infiltrated the Caravielle masquerade ball and broke into the vault, discovering the Emerald Simulacrum resting on a pedestal...and Tarius Belve waiting for them.
During the ensuing struggle, Osborn Diamondtongue chose, in a blood-loss induced act of impulse, to stagger to the mask's plinth, seize it and put it on his face. This was exactly what the mysterious entity housed in the Mask, apparently, had been waiting for...
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