Tuesday Magic Item – Faceless Cameo

Active Cameo

Moving like a snake, the assassin struck, driving his dagger into the chest of the Duke and then falling back into the crowd.

The Ducal guards moved to grab him, fighting through the confused and increasingly panicky crowd.  While he seemed distinctive when he attacked, he vanished among the milling people.

The guards searched, to no avail, even the magics of the wizard-observer were unable to locate the killer but they did not stop looking.   A reward was posted but the assassin had vanished.

Faceless Cameo

These pieces of jewelry, usually broaches, with a plain silhouette of ivory on dark stone, sometimes with a simple copper or silver frame.  They are almost remarkable in their unremarkableness.

The cameo has no power until it is activated, as a free action, when that happens, the cameo becomes that of the wearer’s face and the wearer becomes nondescript.  When attempting to blend into a crowd or to disguise themselves as just another person, the wearer gains a +8 competence bonus.  Additionally, any attempt to use magic to detect, find or otherwise reveal the wearer, they must succeed in a contested caster level check against the wearer’s level.

However, each time it is used and for each full day the wearer lets the cameo remain active, they must make a Will save against a DC 17, if the save is failed, they lose something that makes them unique: at first, memories, then scars or tattoos, opinions, habits, lastly accents, unusual eyes or hair and beliefs are lost, the image on the cameo becoming more and more faceless as such happens.  Some who wear the cameo for too long become empty shells, simple bundles of skills used by a nondescript person without personality.

Aura moderate abjuration; CL 9th
Slot neck; Price 23,000; Weight –
Construction Requirements
Create Wondrous Items, disguise self, non-detection; Cost 11,500

Notes: A semi-cursed item in that continued usage can be dangerous to the user.

Photo by Evil berry and used under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.