Monday, October 13, 2025

Mask 14: The Horned Ones' Mantle

C Kessler tagged me in Stella's mask relay



Formed from flesh and bone, adorned with tooth and tusk and antler. The fur remains warm as if a heart still beat within. 

Ancient Mankind brokered a pact with the Horned Ones - a juvenile dons the Mantle to have a foot in both worlds. No longer Man. But not quite Horned. In exchange, they gain the Horned Ones sense for abundance but also the willingness to lie down so others don't starve.

Those who wear the Horned Ones' Mantle find twice as much food and wealth when foraging or searching for treasure. However the wearer becomes possessed with inhuman generosity and cannot refuse requests for aid or succor, giving away every last coin and even their own flesh to the deprived. The Mantle cannot be removed once worn and the remove curse spell irreversibly transform the wearer into a deer as the Horned Ones spare their fostered kin Mankind's pain. 

Next I tag Down in the Barrow.