Artifact The Eternal Mask

[Star Wars Legacies]

The Eternal Mask​

“We are many, we are one, we are nothing, we are everything, we are Eternal.”​

History​

The creation of the Eternal mask has always been unknown to all but itself. There were those who claimed it was a physical manifestation of the dark side during a time long before records could account, when it was so palpable, corrupting and oppressive that it nearly tore the force at its very fabric. That there was no choice but to bestow that darkness in a vessel to save itself. Others say it was created by an early generation of Sith who chose to create a weapon that would help them win their wars against their enemies in dire times, an act of desperation and fear that poured into the very creation that would change everything. A weapon that they had no idea that they had unleashed upon the galaxy and the untold damage it would do. Then there were others who thought perhaps it came from somewhere beyond, in the depths of Mortis or the world between worlds.

The first recordings of it came from Korriban, depicted on cave walls in hieroglyphic symbols and pictures: a warrior with a ghost white face and crimson eyes who tore across the battlefield relentlessly with untold ferocity and bloodshed. It was clear the depictions were drawn from an opposing tribe, seeming to be one of the few standing that warred against the warrior. There were multiple stories of the Sith Pureblood tribe having constantly fought against it and barely coming out alive. There were even depictions of them cutting down the warrior and having the taste of victory as they collected their spoils afterward.

But it was fleeting. As more and more drawings were uncovered, the white faced warrior was shown reappearing after death in every other one, always clutching a weapon and always leading a massacre against the tribe and what was eventually their doom. At the end of it all there was a name given to it that could be deciphered from the old dialect and what was a legacy of a forgotten people, “The Eternal, the Undying.”

Legends say it first became known beyond Korriban during the First Great Schism, when the ancient Jedi Knight known as Xendor rebelled against the teachings of the Jedi Order and formed an order of his own: the Legions of Lettow, the first known dark side sect. Xendor believed that the Jedi were closing themselves off from a larger view of the Force that included the dark side, so the prospect of the mask was greatly tempting. No one knows who wore it during his war against the Jedi Order, except that it was one of his closest generals. In the end, the stories say that even Xendor came to fear the destructive power of the mask. His goal was not to rule or conquer, but to enlighten. And the mask, with its all-consuming corruption, led the Legions to become erratic to the point of defeat by the Jedi. Before his death at the hands of the Order he rebelled against, Xendor hid the mask away, believing it too powerful to be in the hands of any sect.

After it was laid to rest once more, the mask didn’t see a host for years, starving and yearning for one to accept its burden. Eventually it was discovered once more by one that could actually sustain it, this time by a Warlord, one of the five that ruled their corners of the galaxy. With the help of the mask, she became the Eternal and easily cut down any that opposed her ascension and built quite a small army for itself, ruling its territory with fear but waiting and nurturing its power.

After the First Sith Empress, Andraste, led the Jedi Exiles out of the Hundred Year Darkness to form the first Sith Empire, she called a meeting of the Dark Council and offered a chance for the Warlords to submit themselves to the new Sith Order and possibly see their redemption in her eyes if they bent the knee. The Eternal was involved with the warlords who chose to refuse her call.

Siris Drast, known as just Siris at the time, was given a mission in turn to hunt down and exterminate the Eternal after the rejection of the invitation. With a handful of Sith to accompany him, the mission was concluded after a bloody battle to reach the Eternal and stab it in the heart as it attempted to stab Siris in the back.

With the Warlord cut down, that meant someone else needed to take the mantle of the Eternal and Siris chose to do so. The choice was not made because of the reputation and power that came with it, but to help his family obtain their ultimate dream of creating the perfect empire. When he put it on he quickly realized that the mask was nothing like he had ever experienced before. It began talking to him, whispering to him of its desires and what they needed of him. The lord was powerful enough to at least dampen the voices when he acquired the mask and was able to find a compromise with the voices to remain in control of himself.

As the new Eternal, the Black Hand was formed as a group of Sith assassins and elite agents of the Sith Empire that were used to quickly silence enemies of the state from outside and within. It was proven successful quite quickly and became one of the Empire’s deadliest weapons that barely anyone even knew existed.

As time passed and Andraste began witnessing the effects of the mask take hold against Siris, she pleaded with him to release his connection with it and come back to her. After an internal struggle between the two and succeeding against the mask, Siris became the only lord to ever release himself from the embrace of the Eternal on his own accord. It was the first time that the mask itself had ever been rejected, and it committed that it would be the only time it would happen.

After that, the mask was given Siris’ second in command, Vex, as she was left in charge of the Black Hand with his absence and let him live the rest of his life in peace. Since that moment, the Eternal continued to serve as the right hand to whoever sat on the throne of Korriban, dispatched often when disturbances would pop up around the galaxy. It was used to instill fear into anything else that would challenge the throne of the emperor and there were even occurrences where there had been Sith and Sith Lords disappearing from the Dark Council.

The Eternal continued to operate freely until the Good King Siris the II killed it and banned it forever from being worn again for future prospects. Without the mask, no one even attempted to strive for the seat, knowing the real reason for power was because of the mask and not just another Sith Lord who knew how to handle themselves in a fight better than others. It was dispatched on Korriban, buried in a tomb as it went through hibernation once more.

500 years after the rise of the first Sith, the mask was found again not by a Sith but by a Jedi, one who had been lured to the dark side out of desperation like so many others. The Jedi’s name was Valentine Rayth and the reason the mask only bonded with it was because of how long it had been starved from the force, feeding off a carcass of something that could barely lift a boulder in the air.

After the bonding was complete between Valentine and the mask, he was quickly found by the Sith before being assimilated once more into the galaxy. His time didn’t last long as the Eternal however, as he faced his former lover in battle, Raz Solus. As Valentine found his opening and was about to conduct the lethal blow against her, he hesitated and froze in the moment, instead letting Raz have ability to do her own strike that brought the Eternal down. Both of them died on Mandalore, the Eternal’s body laying on top of the former Man’dalor under the crust of her former homeworld.

The mask has laid dormant there ever since, slowly corrupting and influencing the planet and its many wars against the Jedi, their own internal civil wars, and the Galactic Empire.

Description​

The Eternal’s mask is unlike any other artifact seen before in the galaxy. To those who know of its dark properties; it’s one of the most sacred artifacts amongst dark siders and looked upon with holy view. To others it is a weapon, a monster that once released out into the galaxy, there is no turning back from it. For those who seek the mask to hold the mantle of Eternal, it is a double edged sword, one that could bring them the utmost respect and recognition from fellow dark siders or completely destroy them and leave them as nothing more than a footnote in the Eternal’s history.

The biggest factor that separates it from other artifacts is that it holds a piece of spirit from previous wearers, forever trapped inside the mask and continuing to fuel the bloodshed needed for the dark artifact. The wearers range from Sith Pureblood champions and warriors, back from a time when it was primal tribes battling over territory or sport; all the way to Sith royalty to when the first Sith were formed and when Siris Drast decided to carry the burden of the mask, letting it observe and absorb stratagems and knowledge as it watched one of the most powerful and successful Empires ever formed rule the galaxy with an iron fist. Some of the most important dark siders that have ever lived call the mask home, their knowledge perpetually locked away inside artifact.

Parasite and Crucible​

With the memories that reside in the mask, it requires a sufficient host that can bolster and support the tremendous demand the artifact requires. It will be a necessity for it to feed and will do so off the one who wears the mask, constantly ebbing away the Force reserve inside the host in order to ensure that it can live on. Not only will they need to be strong enough in the force to ensure their own survival but will also need the mental fortitude so that their mind won’t break under the duress the mask’s test will put them through. Untold amounts of dark siders inhabit the mask, having performed countless atrocities, killing, pillaging, razing to achieve the mantle of the Eternal. To those unprepared for the mental crucible, it could shatter their mind witnessing such events in vivid detail and to actually be able to taste and absorb such a pure dose of the darkside in that quantity.

In relation to requiring a strong host, the mask has the ability to reject those that decide to place it upon themselves. The Eternal witnesses everything and will notice if someone blinks as they peer into the eyes of a monster or stare back at it. It is not an inanimate object that can be wielded by whomever stumbles upon it. The mask has the same amount of say over what happens to its being as much as the host does. For those who do not pass the tests, the mask may see an opportunity to bend their will in order to acquire their service in helping find a future host and other tasks in the future or it may just feed off them until they turn into a husk, a fresh energy source until another attempts to put on the mask. Of course, no one will know if they will be rejected by the mask unless they put it on and attempt the risk.

Ascending​

For the one who successfully makes it through the test and can utilize the mask, the process of becoming the Eternal doesn’t end there. When the mask accepts a host, it begins the osmosis of the two, melding and forming a dark and twisted bond between the two that is irreversible would be incredibly hard to demolish unless by death. The mask will claw and rake across every memory the host has, examining itself to see if there is any possibility of betrayal to the mask or it’s cause. Whether by choice or not, everything will be exposed to it, from their current aspirations, to their relations, their secrets, even childhood memories they may have forgotten or locked away.

The mask will even have the ability to alter or shape memories the wearer has to make them more friendly to turning or to control. It does not care for sentimentality, whatever it can distort and shape to it’s benefit it will do so.

Once the transformation is complete and the character wholly becomes the Eternal, the struggle doesn’t end there, it just begins. The mask has the living memory of previous Sith and dark siders, and each one has their own personality, ideals, and plans that will rarely work in unison. If the inside of the mask could be imagined as a throne room, whomever sits upon throne controls the actions of the body and mask with the others act as a counsel, giving their input on matters that the character will face against; and like a counsel, there will be intrigue and betrayal if they are ignored and can even violently take control away from the character. This could make the wearer lose control from up to one post, multiple, or even a whole thread.

This offers an interesting dynamic in that the mask cannot cooperate with the host and in fact be an obstacle for the wearer and cause quite an internal conflict. Each spirit of a Dark Lord in the artifact has climbed to the very top of the Sith hierarchy in their respective time and they are arrogant, believing their way of action will always be the right one. Some are more powerful than others and may make a recurring appearance to the character.

Unless the wearer can find a cooperation with the mask, it will not be a symbiotic relationship between the two. The spirits harboring inside will seek any chance they can find to vie for control of the character to do what they please. Each one is a different darksider from different time periods who have had their own experiences, committed their own brutality that was needed to have the mask, the possibilities are really endless on who could end in control and how they operate. That being said, the wearer can do the same and fight back for control of the mask and tame the other spirits for the time being.

Over time, the wearer will be altered and become corrupted from the mask. This is inevitable. Everytime the wearer puts on the mask, it’s practically submerging their body in the dark side and laying there to absorb it all in. It will only be so long before it starts to show its effects. If they continue to wear the mask, they will start to appear drawn back, their personality dulled as they lose interest in their relationships and the well being of others. The only relationship that matters to the mask is the one between it and the host. It has been rejected before because of love and will not suffer from it again. Its influence will slowly strangle and kill anything that can draw the host away from it.

But with the identity of the Eternal persistently a secret, it will most likely need for the wearer to take off the mask in order to do this and keep up appearances. They will be able to hide the effects of the corruption of the force to appear as normal as they can around others. This can be sustained for a while but eventually they will have to return to the mask and wear it. If they go days without it, it will start to feel like a piece of them is missing, an ache that won’t stop and the mask will firmly remind the character of that.

Powers​

While this may be a nuisance, it does come with advantages. The person that wears the mask is living, breathing history. Because of the melding between the host and the mask, the memories it has will also become one with them, in small flashes at least. It would be too much for one person to hold all that knowledge in their mind but it can be called on in times of need or even be forced upon them by other spirits.

For example: If the wearer is about to explore a tomb and has no idea about the construction or what could be inside, one of the Sith spirits could recall something and reveal a memory from its life of what transpired in the past at that location or somewhere similar for reference. Another is the wearer may see old symbols from a time long past that have no meaning to him, but one of the spirits may know how to read it and share what it entails to him.

Another advantage is in the fact that memories of the previous Sith inhabit the mask. When someone stands before the Eternal, it is not just in front of the character who dons the mask but previous lords and champions of the dark side prior to them. Royalty of previous Sith still live in the mask and will expect the same treatment they got when they were actually alive. There are cases of dark siders following not following the current wearer of the mask but to those that reside in the mask, previous masters.

The mask is a master at deception and can infect those around it to twist their sense of reality. Whenever someone enters in short proximity of the Eternal it will start trying to invade their mind, from subtlety to violently if need be, looking for a way in the opponent’s/subject’s head to use whatever the mask can for its advantage. That means the Eternal can change the entire room from just a simple waiting area to a character’s childhood home or in a place where a significant event in their life unfolded. It can make “anything” appear like it is reality and always should be questioned when the Eternal is near.

Note for Writers​

This can be complex because whoever owns the mask has to write their character and the mask which could be multiple characters depending on how it's done. But this offers the nice option for a writer to be what they want with a nice twist. If someone wants to make their Eternal one that acts more like an animal than a human, that can be done. Someone can make a more seductive Eternal that can morph the environment around them to deceive and charm others. The possibilities are pretty endless as it is personal around the character that gets the mask and is completely unique to them.

If someone has questions about the mask, they can be directed to Orbit or the story team. And if someone gets to the mask and needs help on how they should write with it, Orbit would be happy to DM for a thread between it and the character to give the writer a general sense of how it operates.