A long time ago there was a war priest of great influence. He loved bloodshed and the smell of war and sought to be the greatest warrior of all time. In an effort to achieve this end, he began the greatest and most daring attempt of his life: he tried to bind his god onto the mortal plane.

For years he engendered this plot, even going as far as to start a particularly bloody war to draw his god’s attention. At the climax and greatest battle, when his god was closest, he began his cleverly designed ritual. Spells were disguised and hidden to mask their true effects, fights were rigged to bring about the most casualties and at the tipping point of the battle the final words were spoken. But ultimately the attempt was a failure. The priest was not powerful enough to bind the god into the mask he had prepared, all he managed to do was rip off a small fragment of his lord’s essence.

The priest expected to be struck down right there and for his soul to be tortured for the rest of eternity, but instead of a roar followed by intense agony he heard laughter. The god was impressed by his follower’s ambition and efforts, and rewarded him with longevity and wealth. The war god left the fragment of his essence in the mask, believing that it would one day be of use to him.

Jaren, as the mask began to call itself, has now passed from wearer to wearer, usually killing them if they become too inconvenient. Jaren is strangely blunt about its desire for bloodshed and its selfishness. Usually the first thing it does upon being donned is tell its new wearer that it will most likely kill him the moment he fails to be useful. At that point, the wearer can discard the mask without being harassed further. However, if the new wearer is ambitious or desperate enough to keep the mask, Jaren will not let him go later. It would rather kill its wearer than be discarded.

Jaren has the greater powers “Wall of Fire,” “Haste” and “Fear.” Jaren’s lesser powers are “Hold Person,” “Deathwatch,” “Cure Moderate Wounds” and “Darkness.” Jaren’s purpose is to slay all except for followers of its god and has the dedicated power of a 10d6 lightning bolt. In addition, Jaren has some unique abilities. Even if its wearer manages to overcome its ego, Jaren can “punish” its wearer. It can cast “Harm” once per a day and “Inflict Serious Wounds” three times per a day, on the wearer only. Because these heal, rather than hurt, undead, Jaren refuses to be worn by any undead. Jaren’s wearer gets a +10 enchantment bonus to both strength and constitution. For every creature the wearer willfully kills with a melee weapon (including his own hands) Jaren’s ego increases by one for the next 24 hours. If a wearer fails an ego check by ten or more, Jaren gains complete control over that creature for the next 1d4 days. In that time, Jaren can make the wearer do anything, even kill himself. All spells are cast as though by an 18th level wizard.

Jaren can speak by moving its mouth, making it easy to tell if the mask is speaking or the wearer is. Jaren can appear in any mask form it wants, but it seems to prefer a white and red jaguar mask. Jaren has darkvision 120 ft, blindsense and hearing.

LE, Int 19, Wis 10, Cha 19, Ego 45

Cost: 285,200 GP

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