“Ah! Now where did I leave that book?”, muttered Arannir, as he scanned the shelves. He was positive that it was not here, but he kept going through the shelves anyway, one after another. In truth, anticipation was keeping him distracted. He was so close to finishing his life’s work!

“What book?”, asked his assistant Lielle, trying to keep up with Arannir’s hasty search.

“Nchunak’s Fire and Faith”, he said. “If we hope to change your appearance, dear Lielle, we must find the proper incantations”.

“I see no such book in here”, said Lielle, as she prepared the necessary Resources. She crushed a small piece of Carnelian in a mortar and pestle, then sprinkled its scintillating remains into a bowl of water. Her hands shook slightly. Arannir had placed her there for this task alone. They were about to perform one of the most important tasks of their lives. After many years of experimentation, Arannir was positive that he would be able to transform Lielle’s general appearance into whatever she wished, without altering her body or bone structure. She could even choose from a number of different forms.

“It is here!”, said Arannir suddenly, his eyes brightening in excitement. He rummaged through the shelves and extracted the tome. Arannir would cast an illusion of Lielle’s chosen appearance upon the mirror-like, still surface of the gem-infused water. Once Arannir spoke the correct phrase from the book, that image would become Lielle’s.

“Now, you must be careful”, Lielle started to warn him as she gave him the basin. “The first few incantations are for—”

“Shh!” Arannir hushed his assistant as he recited the spell.

“But—”

“Shush, Lielle. I must maintain focus!” The surface of the water glimmered as raised his hand to speak the final line. He would not be thwarted now, not after striving for so many years.

“Wait!”

There was a flash of light, then a shapeless image appeared. It was Lielle, but not Lielle.

“Oh dear”, said Arannir. “I appear to have made a serious mistake…”

Masquerade Rules

Masquerade is a special Spell requiring one hour and some Resources to cast. It also requires an amount of damp clay equal to the weight of the Target. All materials are consumed by the casting of the Spell. The ritual alters the Equipment of a Creature, manipulating its appearance into that of other items while preserving the Equipment’s properties. In other words, the Equipment stays the same, but it takes on a different appearance.

• Masquerade can only be cast by visiting a special Shop called a Masqueraider’s Mystique. Many exist in cities across Rath. The Masqueraider may charge a fee for assisting in the ritual.
  
• Once the ritual begins, you may select any or all Equipment you have on and select a new Appearance for each item from the Collection.
  
• Equipment must remain Equipped to retain its Masquerade appearance; if a piece of Equipment is removed, it reverts to its original appearance.
  
• Masqueraiders can quickly revert Equipment to its original appearance free of charge.

Managing the Collection

Equipping an item always adds it to the Collection (having it in the Backpack is not sufficient). This gives control over which items Players prefer to add to the Collection.

Once an item is in the Collection, it is available to all Players, and it cannot be removed.

Completing certain Quests of great renown or defeating powerful Enemies may occasionally add rare Appearances to the Collection.

All items that are freely accessible to Players are added to the Uncollected page. For example, most items in Shops or Faction Quartermasters are displayed. This page details the locations of the items for Collection. However, to prevent lore spoilers, many Appearances are not displayed in Uncollected until their prerequisite Quests, Factions, or Areas have been explored for the first time.