The Black Mask

Start-class article · First seen: s04 · Last seen: s17
The Black Mask
Black Mask devil · dwarf devil · the dwarf with the special helmet
The Black Mask — portrait.
Character
StatusAlive
First seens04
Last seens17
FactionInfernal contract law

The Black Mask is a devil who first appeared as a dwarf in a special helmet at The Still Current Inn in Mirestrand (s4), reappeared in tiefling form with green horns when summoned through Hugo’s Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks (s12), and surfaced a third time in session 17 as a female gnome in a black mask seated on a chair on the water, lure in hand [7] during a frozen-time audience visible only to Hugo. She trades in spell scrolls, poisons, magical items “fallen off a cart”, and pacts. She holds Hugo’s 7-year post-quest service contract; revealed Hugo’s erased pre-experiment name as Corvin along with a recording from the Project doctor describing Project Veilbreak [4], L1312); and in session 17 renegotiated the substitution clause of Hugo’s pact. Black Mask claimed they could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear.

Overview

The Black Mask is a devil and a contract broker. He first appears as a dwarf wearing a special helmet at The Still Current Inn in Mirestrand in session 4, transports the party to a black void pocket realm to remove the helmet (revealing a horned, winged humanoid devil), and offers a wager that the party will succeed at Sevryn’s quest. When summoned by Hugo through the Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks in session 12, he appears in tiefling form with green horns. The form change is significant: it confirms shapeshifting capability and suggests the dwarf disguise was always a costume rather than a true form.

He operates by infernal contract law. His own statement of the rules: “we devils have a rule set. once a wager is set once a deal is made we abide by the deal. we don’t change it midway and we cannot lie” [2]. The party has reason to believe him — but to also note that misdirection, omission, and rules-lawyering all remain available.

Appearance and demeanour

In dwarf disguise (s4): a dwarf wearing a special helmet that masks his nature; the helmet must be removed to reveal him. After removal: horns, wings, full humanoid devil form.

In tiefling form (s12): a tiefling with green horns. Otherwise humanoid. Time freezes around him during audiences in either form [12], s12).

In gnome form (s17): a female gnome in a black mask, seated on a chair on the water, lure in hand, fishing. Only Hugo could perceive her; time froze for the rest of the party [7], L705). She dismissed herself by teleporting in front of Hugo [8] and exited “into a cloud of smoke as time” resumed [11]. The third distinct presentation in three appearances confirms shapeshifting is core to the entity rather than incidental — the form she takes for each audience is chosen for the scene, not because of any constraint.

His demeanour is charming, expansive, and transactional. He giggles. The pact ring on Hugo’s finger giggles too. He addresses Hugo as “Corvin” — Hugo’s pre-experiment name, which Hugo did not know until the Mask used it [4].

Note on “Belzebar”: an earlier wiki draft treated “Belzebar” as a confirmed personal name for the Black Mask. Per DM correction 2026-05-17, this is NOT confirmed canon — at most an uncertain transcript or table artifact. The Mask’s own line on names is “in my realm, they hold power. however, you may call me the Black Mask” [13]; no on-transcript personal name has been confirmed.

History / role in the campaign

Session 4 — the meeting at the Still Current Inn

In Mirestrand, at The Still Current Inn, a dwarf with a special helmet sat down at the party’s table late in the evening and offered to “browse his wares” — spell scrolls, poisons, and magical items “fallen off a cart”. He proposed a coin-flip wager (25gp for a 1st-level scroll); both Hugo and Caelumn declined.

The dwarf then snapped his fingers and transported Hugo, Caelumn, and Terry to a black void. He removed his helmet, revealing a horned, winged humanoid devil. He proposed a different wager: that the party would succeed at the egg quest, with one of them returning to him on failure. He produced an onyx ring with internal barbed hooks that “give power” but cannot be removed. He named himself the Black Mask. He produced an altered sending stone that played a recording attributed to the Project doctor:

“Log 1. The first trial. The Arena of Calling. Project Veilbreak is underway. All 140,000 candidates from range of backgrounds collected. The first phase, which was injection of [Redacted], was brutal. with the substance eliminating 50% of the candidates within the first 24 hours, those who survived now glow with a shimmering light coming from the viscous fluid that has replaced their blood and have had their biology rewritten at a cellular level. … candidates were forced into arenas with 100 other candidates and told only one would emerge alive. This was repeated twice, leaving a mere total of 7 candidates. … Dr Flem Josenge.” — Recording, [3]

The recording named Hugo as Corvin [4]. Hugo recovered a flashed memory of holding the hand of a woman and a small girl in pigtails saying “daddy daddy see what I found” [14].

Session 4 — the private signing

Later that evening, Hugo retreated alone to a private inn room, summoned the Black Mask back via the wager terms, and signed a pact. After Persuasion-driven renegotiation: 7 years of post-egg-quest service plus a 3-year amnesty period in which Hugo’s soul is forfeit only if he dies. In exchange:

The pen drew piercing damage of blood. The Mask called Hugo “Corvin” once more on dismissal. No time passed in the real world [5].

Session 6 — the ring activates

Hugo was reduced to 0 HP in the phase-spider fight. The Onyx Ring’s demonic-blade feature triggered: 1d8 necrotic damage back to the spider, Hugo restored from 0 to 4 HP. First mechanical use of the pact ring.

Session 12 — the tiefling form, the rivalry with Mharos

On long-rest watch (private — the rest of the party were asleep, so the named-Ascendancy reveal stayed inside Hugo’s head as far as in-fiction party knowledge is concerned), Hugo tapped the ring and summoned the Mask. The Mask appeared this time as a tiefling with green horns. Hugo proposed an upgrade — “champion eternal”, with the Mask helping destroy The Ascendancy in exchange for the souls of every member offered as sacrifice [15]. (The Ascendancy brand-name is Hugo-only in-fiction knowledge.) The Mask refused the coercion-as-contract framing: “The way that I get souls is through contracts. … You can’t just go killing people and they’ll go up to heaven. Or hell. … There’s rules” [16].

The Mask offered a counter: convert a party ally to the same pact, and the Mask would help with the Wraith’s mind-control of Hugo. He named the recruitment target without prompting:

“I do have my eye on the one they call Vasquez. He has unlocked something that should probably have been locked away. But now that it’s free, it’s very enticing.” — The Black Mask, [17]

He went further:

“Once he’s dead, the demon has no hold of him.” — The Black Mask, on Mharos, [18]

This is the first explicit confirmation in-fiction that the Black Mask knows about Mharos and treats it as a competing claim on Vasquez’s soul.

Session 17 — the gnome on the water, the pact renegotiation, and a dismissive remark about the Ascendancy

In session 17, three to four hours into the party’s skiff voyage south from the Eldwythe sewer outflow, Hugo manoeuvred Mike (the new Vedalken caster the party had just pulled from the wreckage of an Aurelian-sunk ship) into a breath-hold bet. Hugo’s Voidforged biology meant he didn’t need to breathe at all — Mike, unaware, agreed. When Hugo won, time stopped and the Black Mask appeared on the water beside the skiff in her third visual form:

“Rookie mistake. Always have them sign the thing before the bet.” — Black Mask, [7]

She announced a unilateral revision of the substitution clause in Hugo’s pact. Where the s12 framing was “find me a substitute and you go free,” the s17 framing is both parties stay on the leash:

“self, hmm, what is better than one attack dog? to attack dogs.” — Black Mask, [8]

She tied the renegotiation to lifting Hugo’s leash and the leash on Hugo’s project sibling the Wraith — whom she names “Rafe” [9]. This is the first time the Wraith has been referred to by personal name in any transcript:

“I remove the mind control that the sentency has placed on you and on the one you called Rafe. And in exchange, you will become my attack dog instead of theirs.” — Black Mask, [9]

Hugo negotiated the original quest-immunity clause forward — the Mask’s commands cannot take effect until the egg quest is complete [19]. The Mask accepted with a verbal pinky-promise, then a “twisted smile underneath the mask”, and responded dismissively when Hugo restated the Ascendancy-destruction clause from his s4 pact:

“Fine I’ll crush your little ascendancy and probably send my little attack dog after he’s done fetching that egg” — Black Mask, [11]

Black Mask claimed they could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear. She also confirmed her own anti-end-of-the-world disposition was sincere — “Honestly, I’m kind of rooting for you guys. I don’t want the world to end” [20] — and complimented Hugo’s “moxie” before dismissing herself. The audience ended without a signature. Mike refused the written contract on three lawyerly grounds [21] and replaced it with a verbal “one wish, eventually, should I live long enough” commitment [22]. This is the first failed substitute-recruitment attempt under the renegotiated terms; the substitution clause itself is still open.

A later in-fiction beat [23] re-anchored the Mask’s earlier reveal: when Mike’s Detect Magic ritual on Hugo’s blood produced the iron-restraints / dark-glass / no-clean-air vision [24], the DM confirmed it “lines up with what the black mask told you” — re-binding the s4 Project Veilbreak recording, the s7 Titan environment, and the s17 blood-vision into a single physical place.

Relationships

  • Hugo — pact-holder. 7+3 year contract. Knows Hugo’s pre-experiment name “Corvin”. Holds Hugo’s loyalty above Hugo’s own organisation in the long term.
  • Mharos — rival. The Mask considers Mharos a competitor over Vasquez’s soul.
  • Vasquez — recruitment target, named explicitly. Vasquez does not know.
  • Bella — Project Veilbreak survivor; the Mask claims knowledge of her location and condition.
  • Dr Flem Josenge — target of Hugo’s revenge contract; the Mask has agreed to help.
  • A crow that pecked at Caelumn’s window after the s4 audience [25] is a possible Black Mask familiar or spy. Not confirmed (DM clarification 2026-05-17).

Notable quotes

“see we devils have a rule set. once a wager is set once a deal is made we abide by the deal. we don’t change it midway and we cannot lie.” — The Black Mask, [2]

“but that’s the thing about names. in my realm, they hold power. however, you may call me the Black Mask.” — [13]

“Colvin, you ask too much.” — to Hugo, [4] (transcript renders “Colvin”; canonical spelling of Hugo’s pre-experiment name is Corvin, per the post-s17 DM corrections register)

“There’s no downside in what exactly? In our current deal. You’re already entertaining me, and if what you’re saying is correct, you will inevitably go and be my little doggy. So be a good dog and go fetch some of them eggs, huh.” — to Hugo, s12

“I do have my eye on the one they call Vasquez. He has unlocked something that should probably have been locked away.” — [17]

Disposition toward the party

Cordial, charming, transactional toward Hugo. Indifferent-to-curious toward the rest. The s4 crow at Caelumn’s window may have been a Black Mask familiar or spy, though that link is not confirmed. Considers Vasquez a desirable acquisition. Will not break a contract; will read its terms with infernal precision.

Status as of session 17

Alive (insofar as the term applies to a devil). Last on-screen for Hugo in the s17 frozen-time audience. Hugo’s pact remains in force; the ring still cannot be removed; the substitution clause is now in its renegotiated form (both Hugo and the substitute stay on the leash, both leashes lift on a successful sign-and-bleed) and is open after the s17 failed attempt with Mike. Black Mask claimed they could help with Hugo’s mind-control problem and spoke dismissively about the Ascendancy. The exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear. As with prior canon, every fact in this paragraph is Hugo-only in-fiction knowledge — Mike heard a verbal handshake at his own table, not the Mask, and no other PC was awake or sober for the audience.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 4, line 1066-1230 — First meeting at the Still Current Inn; gambling wager offered then refused.
  2. ^ Session 4, line 1212 — 'we devils have a rule set... we cannot lie'.
  3. ^ Session 4, line 1312 — The Project Veilbreak recording from the Project doctor.
  4. ^ Session 4, line 1670 — Names Hugo as "Corvin".
  5. ^ Session 4, line 1690-1730 — Pact signed; Onyx Ring of Barbed Hooks delivered.
  6. ^ Session 12, line 192-237 — Reappears in tiefling form; refuses champion-eternal upgrade; names Vasquez.
  7. ^ Session 17, line 697 — Third visual form — female gnome on a chair on the water, fishing; visible to Hugo only during frozen-time audience.
  8. ^ Session 17, line 709 — "what is better than one attack dog? to attack dogs" — substitution clause renegotiated: both Hugo and his substitute become her attack-dogs.
  9. ^ Session 17, line 711 — Names the Wraith "Rafe"; pledges to remove the mind control from both Hugo and Rafe in exchange for a second attack-dog.
  10. ^ Session 17, line 712-713 — Accepts Hugo's quest-immunity clause carry-over with a verbal pinky promise.
  11. ^ Session 17, line 717 — 'Fine I'll crush your little ascendancy and probably send my little attack dog after he's done fetching that egg' — spoken dismissively about the Ascendancy; the exact reason Black Mask is willing to act against them remains unclear.
  12. ^ Session 4, line 1736 — Inline citation.
  13. ^ Session 4, line 1228 — Inline citation.
  14. ^ Session 4, line 1256 — Inline citation.
  15. ^ Session 12, line 194 — Inline citation.
  16. ^ Session 12, line 197 — Inline citation.
  17. ^ Session 12, line 223 — Inline citation.
  18. ^ Session 12, line 235 — Inline citation.
  19. ^ Session 17, line 712 — Inline citation.
  20. ^ Session 17, line 713 — Inline citation.
  21. ^ Session 17, line 732-744 — Inline citation.
  22. ^ Session 17, line 757 — Inline citation.
  23. ^ Session 17, line 1494 — Inline citation.
  24. ^ Session 17, line 1483 — Inline citation.
  25. ^ Session 4, line 1352 — Inline citation.