Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate Spotlight #4

The fourth of the official forum spotlights for NWN 2 adventure pack Mysteries of Westgate is up.

The Night Masks are active throughout the western Inner Sea region, from Sembia down to Erlkazar, and from the Caravan Cities to the Pirate Isles. However, the guild’s activities are focused on the cities of the Dragon Coast and, in particular, the ancient port city of Westgate, which serves as the seat of their power and influence. Unlike other major rogue guilds, such as the Shadow Thieves of Amn, the Night Masks have no central guild house within the city walls. Instead, their activities are spread across a wide range of ever-changing locations throughout Westgate, forestalling any attempt by the City Watch to mount a full-scale assault against the group.

The guild appears to have coalesced into its present form around the Time of Troubles, and for twenty years, Westgate has been plagued by them. Currently, this band of professional assassins, extortionists, coercers, enforcers, and thieves control most of the illegal activity in town. On many mornings, bodies can be found in the streets or floating in the harbor, as the guild clashes with desperate merchants, armed travelers, or the well-armed private bodyguards of the noble families.

The Night Masks make no secret of their existence; to the contrary, they desire that all know who they are, for to know them is to fear them. Their symbol is the domino mask, a black cloth shaped to cover the eyes and nose and cut with two eyeholes. Often, this symbol is marked on shops to indicate protection, left in homes or businesses as a warning to those they would coerce into courses of action, or dropped as a token at the scene of crimes. Those who betray the Night King’s Legion, and do not immediately flee beyond the group’s grasp, are inevitably discovered dead, eyes wide with terror and a domino mask in their mouths. The leader of the Night Masks is an enigmatic figure known as the Faceless, though few have ever seen his face and fewer still have lived to tell of it. Rumor has it that different beings have actually assumed the title of Faceless, with each new shadowy leader disposing of and then replacing the previous one, though with one exception outlined below, none but the very innermost circle of the Night Masks knows if this is true and, if so, when and under what circumstances these changes have taken place.