Monster Mission: The Masquerade of Masks

Tessaly the Masked, Kithicor Forest camp · Theme: Mistmoore Catacombs · You play: a masked vampire

Starting a mission, the reward and the rules for deaths and time are the same for every mission. See Monster Missions: How They Work.

What Tessaly says

Tessaly in Kithicor Forest stands beside Old Man Draykey and lends more than one shape. Ask her for a [shape] and she lists them. Pick [masquerade]:

Hale Morrow, the Mask-Taker, holds a masquerade tonight for the dead whose masks he took. Slip in and end it. Go alone. The shape will not hold two of you. Are you [ready]?

Your form

A masked vampire, level 65, with 28,000 HP and 6,000 mana. This is the last of the five Kithicor missions. Playing the other four first helps you in the final fight (see step 4). - Signature: Funeral Dirge - Vampire abilities: Blood Drain, Mist Form, Mesmerizing Gaze, Bat Swarm - Passives: Innate Intelligence, Innate Wisdom, Eyes Wide Open, Mental Clarity

How it plays out

"The Long Night is at its deepest. You wake in the shape of a masked vampire at the door of Hale Morrow's masquerade. Every mask in this house was taken from someone."

1. Whispers. "Seven ghost guests wander the halls without their faces. [Hail] four of them to charm them. Each one will tell you who to ask next." The guests are Widow Callow, Brother Fenn, Little Maud, Captain Ory, the Glass Bride, Old Hesk and Lady Pell. Each one ends with "Ask , if you can find them." Go to that guest next. If you hail someone else instead, the guest shrieks: " shrieks. Morrow's door wardens come running!" and two door wardens attack you. What the guests tell you:
2. Widow Callow: "He took my face at the crossroads. I remember the smell of cold wax."
3. Brother Fenn: "Morrow never sleeps where he dances. He sleeps where the candles are."
4. Little Maud: "He promised me a new face if I danced for him. I am still waiting."
5. Captain Ory: "His wardens walk the long hall. Go around them, or go through them."
6. The Glass Bride: "There is a coffin behind the masquerade. Black candles all around it."
7. Old Hesk: "Do not trust every mask in that hall. Not all of us are dead."
8. Lady Pell: "The far crypt, past the dancers. That is where he lies down."

After four: "Four guests follow you now, and they all say the same thing: Morrow sleeps beyond the masquerade." 2. The masquerade. "Music rises from the hall ahead. Six dancers turn in borrowed masks, and one of them is no ghost. Stand close to a dancer to listen, then [unmask] the hunter: say 'unmask' and the name." The dancers are Lord Ashby, Mistress Vell, the Pale Countess, Tobin Grey, Lady Wren and the Lantern Boy. They drift around the hall. Stay close to one for a few seconds to listen: - A ghost: " is cold and silent under the mask. No breath, no heartbeat." - The hunter: "Under the mask of you hear a heartbeat. The dead have none."

Target a dancer and say unmask . Guess right: "You tear the mask from . A living hunter stares back, stake in hand!" Guess wrong and that dancer vanishes: "You tear the mask from , and there is nothing under it but cold air. Somewhere below, Hale Morrow laughs and drinks the fear in." Each wrong guess gives Morrow back 5% of his health for the last fight. After three wrong guesses the hunter gives up anyway: "The music stops. drops the mask and draws a stake. 'Enough of this.'" The unmasked hunter (level 62) attacks: "A vampire at the Mask-Taker's party? I will have your mask for his wall." Kill it. "The hunter falls, its borrowed mask cracked in two. The dancers part, and the way to Morrow's rest is open." 3. Guard the guests. "Your charmed guests gather outside Morrow's rest. His hunters are coming for them. Keep them standing." Four charmed guests (12,000 HP each) stand outside the crypt. Three waves of masquerade hunters come, about a minute apart: - "Hunters come down the long hall!" (3 hunters) - "More hunters, from both ways!" (4 hunters) - "Morrow sends the last of his hunters." (5 hunters)

If a guest dies: " fades. Their mask falls to the floor." When the waves are done: "The hunters are finished. A coffin lid slides open in the dark, and black candles light themselves one by one." 4. Hale Morrow. Level 65, 26,000 HP. "You came to my party without a mask of your own. I will give you one." The opening line tells you how many guests and other nights stand with you: " of your guests and of your other nights stand against him. [Hail] a dark candle to relight it: every dark candle heals him." - He starts weaker for each guest still alive (4% each) and for each of the other Kithicor missions you finished well (5% each): Scarecrow Watch with farmhands saved, any ending of The Banshee's Wake, Moonrise Hunt with the trapper caught, and Run, Little Bat with all three wards. Each wrong unmask adds 5% back. He never starts below a quarter of his health. - Every 20 seconds a black candle goes out: "A black candle gutters out. Hale Morrow breathes in the smoke and his wounds close." Hail the dark candle to relight it: "You relight the black candle." - At half health: "Morrow claps twice. Two masked servants step out of the dark."

"Hale Morrow falls, and every mask on his walls cracks at once." 5. The ending. "The masks in Morrow's house crack and fall. The dead who wore them sigh and are gone, faces and all." "The Long Night is over. Somewhere above, the first grey of morning reaches the windows." A win gives you a Monstrous Mayhem piece (see the overview).

If the run fails: "The music swells. Hale Morrow sets a new mask on his wall, and the shape you wore is gone."