Lore: In the smoke-hollows of the Wax-Burrow Cliffs, where ancestral flame was not stoked by wood but by memory-melted wax, the candlekeepers of the Drift-Mourner sect practiced an art both alchemical and spiritual: they harvested grief, sealed it into wax, and carved it into candles to guide souls across the veil. The Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust was passed from hand to hand not through inheritance but through lighting another’s flame. Its carvings resemble wax-drip paths down unseen faces, and within each groove, it’s said the final breath of a forgotten ancestor rests, sleeping but alert. Worn by those who honor the spirits through flame and scent, this mask is as much a mourning tool as it is a ward against shadow.
Description: A thin mask of blackened driftwood polished smooth, fitted tightly across the nose and cheeks, its surface carved with long streaks mimicking candlewax runnels. Each channel is traced in hardened, sweet-smelling resin that faintly glows when exposed to flame. Three small vents at the chin release aromatic smoke when the mask is attuned to a lit candle. Embedded within the brow is a single bead of waxed bone—unmelted even in direct flame.
Specific Slot: Face (counts as one worn magical item)
Rarity: Common
Tier Requirement: Tier 1 avatar
Roleplay Emphasis: Candlemaker
Passive Magical Effects:
• Flame-Scent Guidance: While working with or lighting candles, user gains +1 to crafting checks, Insight checks involving grief or memory, and resistance against confusion or dream-muddling effects.
• Wax-Drawn Memory: Whenever the user lights a candle with personal or ancestral meaning (e.g., memorial or offering), they may clearly recall one memory, story, or sensory impression linked to the soul it represents.
• Steady Flame Presence: While the user remains within 10 feet of a burning candle, minor spirits (tierless or spirit-echoes) are less likely to approach, unless invited; they treat the mask-bearer as neutral unless provoked.
Activable Magical Abilities (each usable once per short rest):
• Spirit-Wick Bloom (1 minute): While lighting a candle and chanting the wax-prayer, the mask exudes a calming scent, forming a 10-ft radius zone where allies gain +1 to Willpower saves and sleep is protected from spirit infiltration. Candle glows brighter during the effect.
• Melted Whisper (instant): Blow out a candle while wearing the mask to silence a 15-foot radius for 6 seconds—sound is dampened completely. Useful during ritual preparation, stealth, or focus-based magic.
• Flame-Echo Binding (once/day): When a candle is lit using wax sourced from a loved one’s possession or location, the user may cast a minor spirit query—gaining a symbolic vision, whispered phrase, or sense of direction from the departed soul.
Tags: Facewear, Malagan, Spiritcraft, Candlemaker, Fire-Magic, Grief-Ritual, Scented Magic, Dream Protection, Memorial-Linked, Tier‑1, Common, Ritual Carving, Soul-Lore, Passive Utility, Ancestral Binding, Flame-Activated
Commerce of the Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust in the World of Saṃsāra
The Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust is not simply a tool—it is a sacred mediator between flame, memory, and the spirits that linger near both. While its common rarity and tier-1 designation make it accessible to humble avatars, its spiritual nuance and ceremonial craftsmanship mean that it is rarely stocked on shelves. It is instead exchanged in trust-based economies where grief, fire, and silence are honored.
1. Grief-Tender Workshops (Urban Shrine-Quarters, Temple Spires, Mortuary Circles)
Examples: The Waxed Silence of Anuvra’s Pillar, Shrine of the Last Illumination (Hearthpath City), Dimming Ember House of Morthavel
Type: Semi-public spiritual artisans’ guilds specializing in death rites, candlecraft, and ancestor appeasement.
Description:
In these sacred and candle-lit studios, mask sales are accompanied by silent rites. Customers must sit in mourning posture, present a candle representing a real loss (recent or ancestral), and allow a wick-tender to inscribe their name into a wax ledger. The sale is seen as a spiritual alignment, not a transaction.
Purchase Cost:
• 60 gp standard, includes one dream-scented wax token tied to a personal memory
• 45 gp if buyer brings a self-poured candle with a meaningful wick or grave-sourced wax
• Buyer must vow to never sell the mask commercially; a soul-oath is often signed in warmed wax
Sale Value (to shrine):
• 30–35 gp if the mask is clean, unworn, and carries no grief imprint
• 40–45 gp if it has been used to settle a spirit or honor a passing and carries residual memory aura
2. Candlemaker Bazaars (Heat-Fairs, Winter Markets, Remembrance Festivals)
Examples: The Flickering Aisle of Harthane, Vigil-Craft Pavilion at Frostfall Square, Torch-Spiral Night Market in Vaeltu
Type: Traveling or seasonal stalls offering waxwork, ritual tools, nightfire wards, and memory-scented crafts.
Description:
These merchant gatherings sell mask relics alongside funeral bundles, spell-flame kits, and ceremonial waxes. Sellers may demonstrate the mask by lighting ancestral candles and offering a sample of “memory echo” for prospective buyers. The item is respected but bartered with more freely than in temples.
Purchase Cost:
• 50 gp in coin, or 35 gp + 1 special candle (e.g., wax made with feather oil, ghost resin, or memory-salt)
• Some vendors accept tales of grief, lullabies for the dead, or written mourning poems as partial payment
Sale Value (to vendor):
• 30 gp typical resale
• 35–40 gp if the mask still emits ancestral scent or was once owned by a known candlewright or memorial carver
3. Wanderer Reliquaries (Mobile Grief-Couriers, Night-Watch Sanctuaries, Death-Singer Convoys)
Examples: The Hollow Flame Caravan, Sootlight Reliquary Company, Silent Passagebound Traders
Type: Traveling groups of spiritual merchants who trade in death-goods, burial wards, and spirit-sealing tools across the roads of Saṃsāra.
Description:
These groups operate as traveling support for communities too small for shrines. The Wick-Carver’s Trust is traded among them as both protective item and ritual badge. Sellers may require proof of grief-service or a willingness to perform a vigil during travel to finalize the trade.
Purchase Cost:
• 40 gp, but usually requires service (e.g., stand one night vigil, carry the reliquary for a short route, deliver a sealed candle)
• Some traders will gift the mask outright if the recipient carries a spirit burden or is being hunted by dream-echoes
Sale Value (to reliquary):
• 35 gp if serviceable
• 45 gp if it bears protective memory marks or is accompanied by a spirit-dream journal
4. Spirit-Scribe Outposts (Liminal Libraries, Dream-Monasteries, Soul-Accountancy Halls)
Examples: The Quiet Ledger of Erok Vale, Library of Names Not Spoken, Memory-Parch Grovehold
Type: Recordkeeping and dream-lore institutions that accept ancestral items for preservation or ritual analysis.
Description:
Here, the mask is not purchased for use, but archived or examined. It may be bought as part of a ritual study or in trade for grief-analysis scrolls. While functionally removed from adventuring commerce, these halls still allow quiet exchange.
Purchase Cost (by request or referral):
• 80 gp or higher, sold with dream-record wax cylinders and usage manuals
• Requires lineage check or documented grief-witness status
Sale Value (to archivist):
• 50–60 gp, only if accompanied by spiritual imprint or bound grief-wax
• May trade directly for scrolls or spirit-paper to record visions
Note:
In most regions of Saṃsāra, the Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust cannot be freely sold in open magic markets, as its value lies in emotional and ritual authenticity. Many regions enforce “spirit-trace declarations” where masks must be sanctified or sealed before changing owners, especially if the previous wearer experienced unresolved dream-interference or ancestral conflict. Improper resale may attract wandering memory-spirits or false light-wards.
Roleplay Usage of the Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust in Different Environments
Tier 1, Common Rarity, Roleplay Emphasis: Candlemaker
Function: Grief-guided rituals, sensory influence through scent and flame, spiritual misdirection, ceremonial concealment, and quiet offensive utility through light-based rites.
1. Urban Shrines and Candlelit Alleyways
Defensive Roleplay:
When traversing cities thick with spirits—such as the candle-saturated mourning districts or spirit-heavy mausoleum quarters—the wearer may use the Flame-Scent Guidance and Wax-Drawn Memory passives to sense nearby emotional residues or ghostwatchers. Lighting an offering candle at a shrine allows the user to quietly commune with the local spiritual pressure and avoid conflict. Spirit-Wick Bloom calms restless spirits, creating a zone of reflection around the mask-wearer that dissuades erratic ghosts from lashing out.
Offensive Roleplay:
In shadowed alleyways or underground cult hideouts where flame is forbidden, the user may use Melted Whisper by blowing out a flame during a whisper-prayer, instantly silencing the area. This opens a window for assassins, ritualists, or even saboteurs to act without triggering alarms, speech-wards, or spell-echoes. The silence is unnerving and spiritually sterile—an ideal state for confronting illusionists or possession-based threats who depend on verbal incantation.
2. Deep Forest Hermitages and Candle Gardens
Defensive Roleplay:
The mask excels in secluded, ritual-prepared spaces. Among candle gardens or in bark-dome huts where the living commune with the dead, Steady Flame Presence serves as a spiritual neutralizer. Minor spirits won’t cross a candlelit perimeter while the mask is worn. If the user maintains a quiet vigil and lights grief-bound candles, the air becomes layered with emotional scent markers, misleading spirit-trackers who rely on emotional resonance.
Offensive Roleplay:
The user may preemptively prepare a trap by placing ancestor-infused candles around a clearing and lighting them with ritual precision. Activating Flame-Echo Binding, the user binds the attention of a local spirit fragment, asking it to reveal where intruders or threats approach. This indirect offense—through manipulation of spirit geography—gives the avatar initiative in forest hunts, bounty-snare rituals, or guarding sacred groves from necromantic desecration.
3. Battlefield Camps or Funeral Pyres
Defensive Roleplay:
In wartime conditions or temporary camps housing the dying, the mask’s aura lends peace to frightened soldiers and injured patients. Using Spirit-Wick Bloom beside a line of dying souls protects them from soul-rupture or dream-seizure caused by mass trauma. It is commonly used by war-candlemakers who ferry souls gently instead of violently. The mask-wearer becomes a figure of calm—respected even among enemy soldiers as a noncombatant holy presence.
Offensive Roleplay:
Among desecrated funeral pyres or shattered ancestor altars, the user may light a single personal candle at the edge of the carnage. With Flame-Echo Binding, they call upon an unfulfilled soul to guide them—pointing toward a cowardly commander, a saboteur, or a necromancer disguised among the wounded. If the mask is worn silently, the spirit may even whisper the traitor’s true name.
4. Caves, Catacombs, and Spirit-Rich Necropolises
Defensive Roleplay:
Subterranean spiritual pressure is often suffocating. The mask’s passive effects help the user manage memory-echoes, lingering ghost trails, and corpse-lanterns. Wax-Drawn Memory lets the avatar intuitively recognize the emotional context of ancient tomb candles or unlit grave offerings. By lighting a single handcrafted candle near an occupied crypt and invoking Spirit-Wick Bloom, the avatar pushes back unseen hostility while allowing spirits to pass gently without rising.
Offensive Roleplay:
If confronted with lingering wrath-spirits or grave-cursed sentinels, the mask-wearer may use Melted Whisper to cloak their team’s movement as they pass burial chambers. Should combat erupt, they can light a candle made from soil-mixed wax and activate Flame-Echo Binding, forcing one local spirit to turn against its binding and strike its master once before dissipating. This is a rare but profound counteroffensive in ghost-heavy dungeons.
5. River Barges, Floating Temples, and Candle-Carriers at Sea
Defensive Roleplay:
Candlemakers who travel on water during rites of passage are vulnerable to sirens, soulfish, and drowned spirits. With the mask active, placing ritual candles along the bow of the barge grants a warded path. Spirits lured by watery death will pause at the scent of sacred wax, and Steady Flame Presence ensures the vessel is not overwhelmed during the passage.
Offensive Roleplay:
In the event of a spiritual ambush or haunted storm, the user can enact Melted Whisper to silence the boat’s cries and activate Flame-Echo Binding using wax from a drowned sailor’s relic. The vision that follows may warn of reefs, ambushes, or curse-binding points nearby. Some skilled avatars use this vision to coordinate sea-to-shore landings without triggering beacon spirits that warn fortresses.
6. Dream-Theater, Grief Houses, and Ritual Courtrooms
Defensive Roleplay:
In performance rituals or magical trials where memories are summoned, the mask becomes a stabilizing totem. By lighting a remembrance candle and invoking Flame-Scent Guidance, the user can keep their focus clear and their mind resistant to illusion. The mask’s scent renders false griefs less believable and allows one to spot lies told in the name of sorrow.
Offensive Roleplay:
When memory duelists or grief-binders clash, the user can time Melted Whisper to cancel an opponent’s verbal ritual mid-sentence. Then, while the room is cloaked in silence and confusion, Flame-Echo Binding can be triggered with wax taken from the tribunal’s own judge-candle to invoke a momentary ancestor’s judgment—offering the user an advantage or a spiritual intervention.
The Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust is not a weapon—but it is a tool of quiet dominion over grief, memory, and fire. It defends by sanctifying rest, guiding spirits, and masking the living from the dead. It strikes only through insight—by guiding the avatar into places others overlook and invoking flames that reveal, silence, or judge. In the hands of a true candlemaker, offense is not violence—it is revelation.
Perception of Activation: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
—
User’s Perspective:
• Sight:
The streaked resin lines along the black driftwood surface begin to glow with a pulsing amber-gold light, like slow-burning candlewicks drawn downward by gravity. Vision subtly warps at the edge of the eyes—blurring background motion into softened flame-haloes. The embedded waxed bone bead at the brow grows brighter without heat, illuminating faint silhouettes of seated, unknown figures for just a breath.
• Sound:
External noise seems to withdraw. Words from nearby mouths become muffled, as if heard through a thick wax curtain. Within the mask, a slow, rhythmic sound—like someone exhaling through a reed in water—begins and remains steady, mirroring the user’s breath.
• Smell:
Thick with warmth. A cloying scent rises from the chin vents: melted beeswax blended with dried marigold, old cedar ash, and something sweeter—grief-laced, like perfumed mourning oil. It is familiar, yet impossible to name.
• Touch:
The mask warms slightly, not to pain, but like sun-warmed stone. The resin carvings feel as if they shift subtly with each inhalation. The chin vents release a gentle pulse of scented air that cools the lips.
• Taste:
A trace of salt and burnt honey lingers on the tongue, as if the user had recently bitten into a candle used at an old vigil. There is a faint metallic ghost—the taste of bronze coins in funeral bowls.
• Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
– The presence of spirits becomes mildly detectable as shifts in the rhythm of the breathing heard within the mask.
– If a candle is lit nearby with personal significance, a memory not one’s own may rise, unbidden, behind the eyes.
– Temporal “stillness” blooms—a sense that time has slowed its urgency. The user feels unseen eyes watching from behind flames, but no threat accompanies it.
– Emotional pressure lowers: anxiety, grief, and fear retreat as if cooled by soft, invisible hands.
—
Observer’s Perspective:
• Sight:
The wearer appears enveloped in faint, flickering light that mimics candleflame, though no flame may be visible. Resin runnels on the mask visibly pulse. The smoke from the chin vents rises in thin, braided strands, never dispersing naturally, often forming circular loops or spiral arcs around the head before fading.
• Sound:
Silence surrounds the wearer more profoundly than natural quiet. Speech within a short radius seems muffled; even the sound of footsteps or page-turning near them dulls, as if muted by reverence.
• Smell:
A heavy scent fills the air near the user—ritual wax, aged incense, dried rose, faint ash. It hangs longer than expected, sometimes lingering in the space long after the user has left.
• Touch (if touching the mask or user):
The mask feels warm, almost alive; slight vibrations might be felt beneath the wood. Some claim to sense a pulse within the resin lines, though no heartbeat aligns with it.
• Extra-Sensory Perceptions:
– Some spiritually attuned observers may momentarily see a flickering afterimage behind the user—one of the ancestral dead, seated cross-legged and gazing outward.
– Observers with empathy may feel their own memories stir—particularly of grief, comfort, or vigil-keeping.
– Candle flames nearby might bend toward the user slightly, or spark briefly when they speak aloud.
—
Positives:
• Enhances emotional and spiritual calm.
• Provides subtle concealment from hostile spirits.
• Facilitates memory work and grief healing.
• Acts as a deterrent to minor spiritual aggression.
• Prepares the senses for ritual, vigil, or ancestral communion.
Negatives:
• May suppress sensory awareness (especially sound) too much in high-threat environments.
• Carries the weight of sorrow and remembrance; some may find themselves weeping without cause.
• Vulnerable to fire-hating spirits or dream-warpers who see the mask as sacrilege.
• Activating the mask in fast-moving combat zones may disorient allies due to sensory distortion.
• In areas with memory-echo storms or spectral residue, the mask may attract curious or lost spirits unintentionally.
—
To wear the Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust is to bring breath and fire into alignment with mourning and memory. Its activation is not a shout but a candlelit whisper—felt, not heard.
Crafting Recipe: “Rite of the Waxed Memory Mask”
To recreate the Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
—
Materials Needed:
• Blackened Driftwood Slab (at least 10″ wide, naturally weathered or lightning-struck preferred)
• Ancestor Resin (50 ml) – A hardened blend of sweetwax, ash-oil, and mourning herbs from a funeral grove
• Waxed Bone Bead – A finger-joint or brow fragment encased in ritual wax, must be gifted or inherited
• Three Breath-Vents – Carved reed or obsidian vents (alternatively, shell-mesh tubing) for chin installation
• Ritual Candle Stub – One used candle with emotional imprint (e.g., vigil, funeral, or birth flame)
• Spirit-Scent Herbs – Pinches of dried marigold, myrrh bark, saltrose petals, and soot-thyme
• Thread of Memory – Linen or hair-thread from a loved one of the mask’s intended bearer
—
Tools Required:
• Bone-Borer – Fine tool to carve vent inlays and scent ducts
• Spirit-Chisel – Malagan-pattern carving tool, traditionally made from boar tusk or turtle bone
• Resin Melter-Pan – Enchanted ceramic crucible to mix and soften ancestor resin
• Threading Needle (Bone-Tip) – To anchor the thread of memory into internal mask lining
• Scent-Seal Burner – Low-flame wand to activate resin scent channels without overburning
—
Skill Requirements:
• Ritual Crafting – Intermediate level; ability to chant or meditate while working (Tier 1 or above)
• Woodcarving – Proficiency in fine detailing; knowledge of funerary or flame-aligned patterns
• Spirit Attunement – Ability to sense residual grief or memory within items being handled
• Alchemical Handling (Minor) – Safe mixing of organic and ancestral resins under heat
• Emotional Focus – The crafter must channel a single true memory into the mask’s shaping phase
—
Crafting Steps:
- Preparation of the Driftwood Base:
Cleanse the driftwood in quiet water at dawn, then allow it to dry under moonlight. Once cured, trace the shape of the mask across the face using ash and memory-thread. Meditate for one hour beside a lit ritual candle to prepare the wood. - Carving of the Candle Runnels:
Using the spirit-chisel, carve downward streaks from brow to cheek in a slow spiral form. Each line must be carved while whispering the name of a passed soul (real or symbolic). Let wood fibers lift naturally—do not sand or file. - Inlay of Ancestor Resin:
Warm the resin mixture until it forms a thick paste. While still warm (but not liquid), trace each carved channel with the resin. As it cools, press in fine threads of spirit-scent herbs into the grooves. - Installation of Vents and Bone Bead:
Bore three small tunnels beneath the chin ridge and fix the vents with wax-sealant. At the brow, drill a shallow socket to mount the waxed bone bead—chant the Candlebearer’s Vow as you secure it. - Thread of Memory Binding:
Sew the inner edge of the mask with the thread of memory using the bone-tipped needle. This thread must pass through all resin-inlaid grooves once before being tied and sealed inside with a drop of melted vigil wax. - Scent-Seal and Final Breathing Test:
Activate the resin-scent channels with the scent-seal burner, tracing each runnel in a spiral outward from the center. When the mask begins to release its aromatic breath, place it over your face and take one full breath while surrounded by candlelight. If no bitterness is tasted and a memory surfaces, the mask is complete.
—
Note:
Each mask is unique to its crafter and cannot be made in bulk. To replicate the effects faithfully, the crafter must not lie during the crafting ritual, nor may they use artificial candles or false memories. Impure masks may attract spirits improperly or fail to calm them—leading to flickering flame-chatter or dream-invasion.
The crafting is complete when the mask exhales a steady wisp of smoke while resting beside a lit candle without external flame contact.
Smoke-Faced Waxer and Silent Flame That Knelt
(As translated from fragments preserved in the soot-lacquered scrolls of the Forgotten Wick-Hall of Erom’s Throat, believed themselves copied from an even older shell-inscribed record stored beneath the Candle Reef of Molattang.)
—
Once before once, in a time when breath yet had shape and memory wore masks to greet their dead, there dwelt one called The Waxer-Without-Shadow. His name was forgotten but his labor not, for each dusk he carve a mask from drift-burnt timber, smooth like river-skin, black like cloudless void. He make the runnels long like crying-tree, and fill them with sweet-laugh resin, and beneath his hands the wood would not resist.
They say he carve not for the living, nor for beauty, nor for coin, but only for the flames that forget how to kneel. That is: ghosts. That is: sorrow too heavy to burn away. That is: flickering things that seek face but not form.
One morning-dusk (for the sun then sloshed sideways), a figure arrive—wet of eye, barefoot of speech. It bring him a candle wrapped in silence. The Waxer nod. The mask began that day, but the carving was not true.
The first time, it screamed.
The second time, it wept.
The third time, the mask cracked without touch.
Only on the ninth carving did it breathe back.
And this was known: the resin lines did not follow his blade. They moved when he looked away. They moved when he remembered his own flame (the one he buried long before names). The vents in the chin would breathe not smoke but scent—scent of sea-ash and unspoken farewells.
He set the mask down near the candle. The wax ran backward.
The candle said: “I remember her.”
The mask replied: “Then forget to forget.”
Later, he wore the mask to walk the village. None saw him. All smelled memory. The grieving felt ease. The angry wept. And the dead? The dead sat again—for just a moment—on the porches of their homes, cross-legged and without words.
One soldier tried to strike him, thinking the mask a cursed relic. The blow missed his soul. Another tried to steal it, but forgot her own name when she put it on.
In the last days, he placed the mask on the waters and let it drift. The candle in its brow still lit. Villagers say it drift still, somewhere between flame and breath, never seen but sometimes smelled, like a funeral you don’t remember attending.
—
Moral of the Story: “Grief that is carved into stillness may speak clearer than grief screamed. And some flames do not burn—they remember.”
Suggested conversions to other systems:
Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)
Item Name: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
Type: Magical Mask (Folk/Ancestral Artifact)
Rarity: Common (Occult Circles)
Requires: Candle and ritual setting to activate
Effects:
• When worn during a candlelit vigil, grants +10% to Occult and History checks involving spiritual communication or funerary rites.
• Once per session, the user may light a candle and invoke the mask to receive a symbolic vision from a deceased individual connected to the location or ritual. Requires a POW roll (Hard Success) or the spirit refuses to answer.
• Wearing the mask during dream intrusion or haunting episodes grants +20% to resist Sanity loss from hallucinations or visions.
Sanity Cost: 0 (passive use), 1D2 when invoking Flame-Echo Binding
Mythos Note: The mask is considered a Minor Spirit Artifact; prolonged use (over 4+ sessions) in haunted locales may attract the attention of dream spirits or forgotten ancestral echoes.
Blades in the Dark
Item Name: Malagan Mask – Wickbound
Item Type: Fine Ritual Mask (1 load)
Tier: 1
Quality: Fine
Traits: Ritual, Spirit
Use:
• While performing a ritual with candlelight, gain potency when summoning or banishing minor spirits.
• When lighting a candle tied to a location, gain 1 bonus die to any Attune roll to gather information from echoes or ghost-flame.
• Once per score, may invoke the mask to create a silence field (3 ticks duration) around a candle extinguished while wearing it.
• While attuned, spirits do not notice the wearer unless directly harmed or interacted with.
Notes: The mask is subtle and ceremonial. Not suited for direct combat, but extremely useful in haunted environments or when subtle ghostwork is needed.
Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)
Item Name: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
Wondrous Item (Face Slot), Common, Requires Attunement (Tier 1 avatars only)
While Worn:
• You have advantage on Wisdom (Insight) checks involving mourning, grief, or death rituals while in candlelight.
• While within 10 feet of a candle you lit, you gain a +1 bonus to saving throws against being frightened or charmed.
• Once per long rest, you may extinguish a lit candle you personally kindled to cast Silence (centered on the candle’s location). No components required.
• Once per long rest, during a candlelit vigil, you may cast Augury without a material component, though answers come in visual impressions rather than verbal omens.
Flavor: The mask is favored by candle priests, mortuary bards, and vigil-keepers.
Knave (Revised)
Item Name: Malagan Mask of Flame-Whisper
Item Type: Facegear
Encumbrance: 1 slot
Effects:
• When worn while resting by a candle, restore +1 additional HP.
• Once per dungeon, extinguish a candle to create a silence aura in a 10-ft radius for 10 minutes.
• Gain advantage (roll twice, take better) on any checks to remember forgotten lore, provided a candle is burning nearby.
• Ghosts and similar spirits will not target the wearer unless they act violently or speak the true name of the spirit aloud.
Notes: The mask loses effectiveness if the candle is artificial or magically conjured without real wax or flame. The bone bead must be inherited, traded, or gifted—it cannot be stolen.
Fate Core
Item Name: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
Aspect: Whispering Mask of the Candle Dead
Rarity: Common (Tier 1 Avatar Folk Item)
Slot: Face
Passive Use:
• Grants +2 to overcome or create an advantage when performing rituals tied to grief, death, or memory under candlelight.
• While worn near a lit candle tied to a personal event, you may invoke the item’s Aspect once per scene for free.
Activable Effects:
• Once per session, extinguishing a candle while wearing the mask creates an invisible veil of emotional silence—reduce all attempts to provoke or intimidate you by 2 for a scene.
• Once per session, declare a candle-lit vigil to connect with a forgotten spirit or suppressed memory; the GM will provide a cryptic, symbolic truth.
Notes: The mask’s effectiveness depends on sincerity of the ritual and the emotional charge of the setting. Cynical or mocking use of the mask causes its Aspect to vanish for the session.
Numenera & Cypher System
Item Name: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
Level: 2
Form: Mask (face-slot, wooden and resin-carved)
Rarity: Common Artifact (Tier 1 Use)
Effect:
• While worn, grants +1 to Intellect defense rolls against effects caused by fear, sorrow, or haunting influences.
• If the wearer is within 10 feet of a lit candle imbued with memory (as determined by the GM), they gain an asset on tasks involving memory recovery, ghost interaction, or calming hostile entities.
• Once per day, the wearer can extinguish a candle to emit a 10-foot field of spiritual silence for 10 minutes (no sound, all emotion readings or mental projections suppressed).
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 (when using silence effect)
Notes: The mask resonates with ancestral echoes. If used in a ritual tied to a past trauma, it may restore 1 point of Intellect Pool upon successful meditation or candle vigil (GM’s discretion).
Pathfinder 2e
Item Name: Malagan 56 of the Wick-Carver’s Trust
Item Type: Worn Item, Magical, Common
Level: 2
Price: 35 gp
Bulk: L
Usage: Worn, face slot
Activation: 1 Interact action (command word while holding a lit candle)
Passive Effects:
• +1 item bonus to Religion checks when performing rites of the dead or interpreting spiritual omens while in candlelight.
• While within 5 feet of a lit candle you lit personally, gain a +1 circumstance bonus to Will saves against emotion effects.
Activations:
• Spirit Veil (1/day): Extinguish a candle as an Interact action to emit a 10-ft aura of silence and calm for 1 minute (Will DC 17 to resist emotional suppression for hostile entities).
• Grief Whisper (1/day, 10-minute ritual): Ask a yes/no or symbolic question of a lingering spirit nearby. Functions as Augury, but requires the candle to be placed at a site of memory.
Craft Requirements: Carved mask, waxed bone, grave-scented resin, Spirit-Lore crafting feat
Savage Worlds (Adventure Edition)
Item Name: Malagan Mask of the Wick-Keeper
Gear Type: Worn Magic Item (Face Slot)
Rank: Novice
Rarity: Common Magical Relic
Encumbrance: 1
Passive Effects:
• While worn and near a candle you’ve lit, gain +1 to Spirit rolls against Fear and Intimidation.
• Gain +1 to Occult rolls involving spirits, funerary rites, or ghost detection.
Activable Powers:
• Breath of Still Flame (1/day): Extinguish a candle to create a 3″ radius zone of emotional calm. Enemies must roll Spirit at −2 or lose one action to contemplative stillness. Lasts 3 rounds.
• Whispered Communion (1/session): During a quiet moment with a candle (10 minutes), the wearer may ask a single question to nearby spirits. The GM gives an impressionistic answer based on surrounding soul-echoes.
Drawback:
• Cannot activate in total daylight or without a candle nearby. Spirits may become mildly hostile if asked foolish or disrespectful questions during use.
Notes: Ideal for shamans, peacebringers, grief-priests, or investigators seeking knowledge from the emotionally charged dead.
Shadowrun (6th Edition)
Item Name: Malagan Mask: Wickbound Whisperer
Item Type: Magical Gear (Face Slot)
Availability: 4R
Cost: 500¥
Reagents Required for Activation: 1 unit of Incense-Grade Candlewax
Mechanics:
• While worn, grants +2 to Assensing tests when attempting to detect emotional residue or spirits near lit flame sources.
• Provides +1 dice to Ritual Spellcasting tests during vigil-based or memory-linked summoning/banishing.
• As a Complex Action, user may extinguish a ritual candle they lit to create a 5-meter aura where Emotion-based spells (e.g., Fear, Confusion) suffer –2 dice for 3 Combat Rounds.
• The mask grants 1 automatic hit on any attempt to Astrally perceive ancestral spirits for 10 minutes post-vigil (limited to once per 24 hours).
Notes: The mask is considered a cultural artifact. Illegally traded through the magical relic black markets of the Coral Ring, it is occasionally worn by Spirit Whisperers or grief-specialist mages.
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Starfinder
Item Name: Malagan Mask, Wick-Sanctifier
Item Level: 2
Price: 450 credits
Slot: Face
Bulk: L
Rarity: Common Magical Artifact
Passive Effects:
• While within 10 feet of a non-electric flame source (candle, torch, brazier), you gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Mysticism checks involving spirits, funerary rites, or ancient memory protocols.
• While worn, Will saves against mind-affecting effects gain a +1 insight bonus.
Activated Ability (1/day):
Flicker Cloak – You may snuff a flame you lit to produce a 10-foot-radius aura of muffled presence and emotional suppression. Enemies in the area must succeed on a Will save (DC = 12 + your Wis mod) or suffer –2 to attack rolls and Perception checks for 1 minute.
Special: When used during a Vigil Protocol or Ancestral Uplink, all Spirit-Realm responses are enhanced with bonus sensory impressions.
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Traveller (Mongoose 2e)
Item Name: Malagan Mask, Drift of Ash
TL: 2 (Primitive Magic Artifact)
Encumbrance: Negligible
Cost: Cr200 (Common Cultural Relic, not mass-produced)
Cultural Trait: Native to Ocean-Candle Cultures
Game Effects:
• While worn and seated near a flame, gain DM+1 to Social Standing checks involving respect for local burial rites or elder diplomacy.
• Once per day, extinguishing a ritual flame causes nearby hostile NPCs to suffer a –1 DM on Reaction checks if affected by strong emotion.
• If used as part of a formal vigil, the wearer may roll 2d6 and on a 10+ gains a cryptic memory or insight from a local spirit or ancestral residue (GM’s discretion).
Caution:
Imperial authorities may confiscate the item if used improperly during xeno-anthropological operations. It is considered a spiritual device, not a standard survival tool.
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Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)
Item Name: Malagan Mask of the Memory-Flame
Item Type: Magical Item (Facewear)
Rarity: Unusual
Encumbrance: 0
Value: 5 Gold Crowns
Passive Properties:
• Grants +10 to Cool and Intuition Tests made during wakes, vigils, or funerary rites.
• While near a lit natural flame, gain +10 to resist Fear or Terror effects.
• Adds +1 SL to any Test using the Lore (Spirits) or Theology skill during candle-lit rituals.
Once per Long Rest – Special Action:
Still the Flame – As a full action, extinguish a flame you’ve lit to summon a 5-yard aura of peace. All creatures within suffer a –10 penalty to Intimidate attempts and cannot benefit from advantage for 1 minute. Spirits in the vicinity may be drawn in for brief communion (GM’s discretion).
Curse Chance: 1% per use if used in mockery or without sincerity—failure attracts whispering ancestral echoes for d10 days, inflicting –10 Willpower during sleep-deprived tests.
Tags: Magical, Ritual, Folk Magic, Spirit, Grief, Vigil, Face Item, Cultural Artifact, Tier 1, Common Use.