The Mask of Power is a powerful artifact created by the Shaman Empress and is the target of several powerful groups across the Known World, each seeking it for their own ends.
Background[]
The Shaman-Empress created the Mask, evidently as a means of sealing the old gods within the Gaol.
History[]
Volume Three[]
Gull wears a single fragment of the mask, and is able to open the Gaol above Pontus, freeing an old god.
Volume Four[]
Yvette tells Maika that Moriko's expedition attempted to use two shards of the mask, not thinking this would be enough to have any effect, but it appears the Gaol was opened as a result. It is suggested this led to the emergence of the old gods, who then possessed the Cumaea witches, including Yvette.
A Professor Tam Tam lecture reveals the first known appearance of the Mask in modern history, worn by the Shaman-Empress in a painting discovered by the archaeologist, Moriko Halfwolf. It is proclaimed to be imbued with the "power of all creation".