Known World Magic Items: Mask of the Eagle's Talons

Mask of the Eagle's Talons

The Eagle's Talons are an old, well established thieving guild based in Specularum, though the exact location of their guildhouse is a closely kept secret. Despite many attempts, including recent ones by Duke Stefan, the secrets of the guild, and the identity of its headquarters remains unknown to most of the city's residents.

Since most of the guild's activities take place at night, and their membership is primarily human, vision has long been a problem for the Talons, who like most thieves abhor the thought of needing to carry a torch or lantern along with them while they work. To resolve that dilemma, the guild has long secretly employed the services of Specularum's Magic User's guild to create these magical masks, which grant them a limited ability to see in the dark like their demihuman peers.

These Masks are lightweight half-masks, made from fine black leather, shaped to resemble the face of an eagle. An adjustable buckle on the rear of the mask allows it to fit any wearer of Hin to Human size. The masks are stylish enough to be worn around at night without causing one to look out of place, but doing so in Specularum is risky, since most of the city watch instantly recognize one as the mark of a Eagle's Talon thief.

When worn, the masks grant their wearer Infravision to a range of 30 feet. If worn by a creature that already has natural infravision, they instead bestow a bonus 15 foot range to the existing Infravision. Magical Infravision, from any other source, is negated for the duration that the mask is worn, providing only the mask's 30 foot infravision range, though the magical Infravision will return upon removing the mask, unless its duration has expired, of course.

The Masks are fairly rare outside of Specularum, and are worth about 1,500 gp on the black market. Any non-guild member who is caught with one of the Masks is usually beaten severely and robbed of it, with a stern warning about the consequences of opposing the Eagle's Talons. Repeat offenders will be subject to attempts by the guild to kill them.

The wearing of festive masks by nobles (and wannabe nobles) while socializing is considered a statement of style in Specularum, despite the fact that the city isn't really all that cultured, compared to the wealthy cities of Thyatis, but some of the petty nobles there like to act fancified, so in the nicer parts of town, wearing masks out at night is considered acceptable.