Of these masks, which do you think is the most terrifying?

IllikaalIllikaal Pray Area
edited April 2013 in Harpy's Head Tavern
1. With bony lips curled back over thick, pointed teeth, this mossy-looking mask is a disturbing sight. It brings to mind little more than the puffy, scabrous face of a victim of plague. Green ink has been spilled over thick plates of bone and leather to give it the tinge of verdigris, and further glyphs have been daubed across the cheeks and brow in intricate, ominous detail. Narrow, slitted, piggy eyes allow the wearer to gaze out on the world, and a series of thin leather straps hold the heavy item securely to the wearer's face.

2. Dangling before the face of the wearer like a veil, this mask consists of a roughly rectangular arrangement of interlocking bone splints, bound and interwoven with tough, dry tendon and hide. Small, cleverly concealed slits allow for sight and breath, and several long, bands of corded gut allow the mask to be secured to the wearer's face. Repetitive patterns in blue ink have been marked beneath the eye-slits, reminiscent of tears, and a triad of long, jagged slashes mark the area roughly corresponding to the mouth beneath.

3. This sizable mask is crafted from haphazard sections of bone and roughly tanned hide, and depicts the crude shape of a gruesome animalistic face. Dozens of scavenged teeth line the mask's gaping jaws, and intricate patterns of orange ink have been daubed over the forehead and jowls of the object, lending it a fearsome and ominous air. Strips of cured hide are roughly knotted behind the skull of the wearer, securing the mask to their face, and the empty sockets are large enough to provide an unobstructed view of the outside world.

4. Large and roughly heart-shaped, this mask is composed of plates of bone over a cup of hardened leather, and sits awkwardly and uneasily over the features of the wearer. The eyes are huge, dark and staring, painted with intricate, eerie detail in thick black ink, and sit above enormous, slablike teeth bared in a rictus grin. Thick black tiger stripes decorate the sides of the mask, and a strong, bone-studded strap keeps it securely against the owner's face.

5. Rough and uneven, this mask is formed from three interlocking segments of knobbly yellow bone and has been carved into the crude likeness of a grotesque face, contorted in an attitude of grief. Tears of lurid yellow ink spill down the 'cheeks' and pool in the uneven crannies of the face, vivid and bright against the muted white bone. The mask clings closely to the facial structure beneath it, moulded to the nooks and crannies of the wearer's features, and remains there easily without recourse to bindings or straps.

6. This mask is little more than a wide cup of bone over rough hide, smoothly curved and sanded to offer no hint of facial features or contours. The pair of straps that secure it to the wearer's skull are thick and unornamented. Two pinhole apertures allow the wearer to see the outside world, and an equally narrow triad of slits offer access to fresh air. A wide, stark stripe of purple ink streaks down the face of the mask, terminating two-thirds of the way from the upper edge and narrowing to a wicked point. Around the terminus are clustered several thickly painted, intricate glyphs of unknown meaning, their angles sharp and aggressive.


7. This rough mask has been assembled from countless scraps of bone and hide, cunningly secured to one another by way of thin strands of tendon and gut. It resembles a checkerboard of sorts, though no single piece is square, let alone regular. Altogether, the mask is roughly lenticular, with several rough, uneven slits between segments to allow the wearer to see and breathe, and intersecting geometric markings have been inked carefully across each panel of bone in shining golden pigment.
"And finally, swear to Me: You will give your life to Dendara for you are Tiarna an-Kiar."

Comments

  • I reckon the short_desc will determine how many people will get to the stage of reading these; post those first.
    image
    EmelleLinValenae
  • IllikaalIllikaal Pray Area
    Oh, my B.

    "mask3072"               a slit-eyed mask of patchwork bone.
    "mask49934"              a leering mask of verdant bone.
    "mask135330"             a tangled mask of tendons and bones.
    "mask101076"             a defiant, snarling bone mask.
    "mask20365"              a staring, wild-eyed bone mask.
    "mask9943"               a weeping mask of crudely carved bone.
    "mask108487"             a pale, featureless bone mask.

    ^ in the proper order.
    "And finally, swear to Me: You will give your life to Dendara for you are Tiarna an-Kiar."
  • It could just be me but I don't think any of these masks are particularly terrifying. I think they're all a little off-putting, though. I like the phrase 'angles are sharp and aggressive'. 


    "To be awkward or unkempt, to talk or move wrongly is to be a dangerous giant, a destroyer of worlds...any accurately improper move can poke through the thin sleeve of immediate reality." - Erving Goffman



  • MarienaMariena By a lake.
    Number 1 has my vote purely for "It brings to mind little more than the puffy, scabrous face of a victim of plague".

    Ew ew ew, scabby plague face.


    AardeAarde
  • Eh, terror depends wholly on the person wearing it. You can have the spookiest looking mask in the world, but if you're a complete dingus, it won't make a whit of difference in the end. I'd be far more interested in how someone would make wearing the mask terrifying, than the mask itself.
    TeaniValenae
  • SeirSeir Seein' All the Things Getting high off your emotion
    I am a complete dingus.
    Arbre
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