Vael gives the faction a name, a doctrine, and a partner. From the beginning, the Mask is designed to know more than its enemies while revealing almost nothing about itself.

1. Aug 4
   • Established the Mask as a compartmentalized information-broker faction. Senior spellcasters and doppelgangers knew the organization; ordinary spies and apprentices were to receive orders through false employers, intermediaries, Sending, or Dream.
2. Aug 6
   • Developed the idea of using expendable or lower-value doppelgangers as probes to identify people capable of seeing through shapeshifting before committing an important replacement.
   • Accepted Sarik into the Mask and divided work informally: Vael would obtain information and access; Sarik would use it for assassination, theft, and direct action.

Sarik’s need for reliable incapacitating and lethal poisons creates the faction’s first external operation. Vael redirects the mission from a direct theft into a broader search for people, routes, stockpiles, and leverage connected to W Island.

1. Aug 6
   • Identified purple worm poison, midnight tears, torpor, and oil of taggit as priority materials for assassination or capture.
   • Initially ordered five agents to travel to W Island, investigate poison suppliers and inventories, steal from poorly monitored stock, and leave poison in a cache for Sarik.
   • Revised the order so agents in five nearby cities would identify people connected to W Island, learn keystone or shipping information, and use bribery, purchase, interrogation, or torture if necessary.

The Mask announces itself through a protection racket built on staged terror, while doppelgangers test how far stolen identities can carry them inside noble and martial circles.

1. Aug 6
   • Had eight nobles murdered across Shor Whistan, Shod Cristan, Briarbank, Deepwell, and Maple Cross, with the bodies displayed publicly.
   • Posted Mask-marked advertisements offering protection in the same cities.
2. Aug 8
   • Assumed the identity of Lord Calven Dhorass and married Lady Eva Cindralis in Deepwell.
   • Assumed the identity of the Iron Bear, a seven-foot champion in golden plate, to intimidate a knight who had issued a jousting challenge.

Vael and Sarik turn an informal partnership into a working service. The imp becomes a deniable intermediary, extradimensional tools are tested, and Shor Whistan is surveyed for valuable targets and opportunities.

1. Aug 9
   • Proposed using Vael’s imp as a contact and intermediary for assassination contracts.
2. Aug 10
   • Authorized Sarik to direct the imp for contract discussions, reconnaissance, and related operational work.
3. Aug 11
   • Tested how living creatures and Vael’s imp interacted with extradimensional containers.
   • Scouted Shor Whistan for property, wealth, or other assets worth stealing while occupied with buying and selling magic items.

The W Island effort expands into a web of possible intermediaries. The Mask seeds political tension, tests commercial and cartographic approaches, and identifies several figures who might provide access without exposing the faction directly.

1. Aug 13
   • Published a rumor implying that a crimson-winged dragonborn was stirring resentment among the kobolds beneath Pyrestone’s rule.
   • Positioned a dragonborn salt merchant as a proxy around the kobolds and volcanic salt trade.
   • Offered private funding to map W Island, with the Mask concealing features it considered important and sharing less sensitive discoveries.
   • Planned to support a former Keeper as a political or security proxy on W Island.
   • Developed four W Island leads: Fabiana Maltari, a foreign cartographer, Lord Caleb Drosk, and Marcus Yevric.

The Mask standardizes how agents gather intelligence, reorganizes its roster, and learns that several identities have already been compromised. Rumor collection becomes a deliberate source of operational warning.

1. Aug 18
   • Drafted a custom espionage downtime procedure combining research, carousing, crime, infiltration, and intelligence gathering.
2. Aug 20
   • Converted generic doppelganger assets into a smaller number of stronger doppelganger master thieves.
3. Aug 31
   • Reacted to public sketches of Sarik’s disguises and three doppelganger identities by treating those appearances as compromised.
   • Began compiling public lore and rumors into a searchable chronological database.

Fabiana Maltari becomes the intended bridge between respectable commerce and clandestine poison supply. Venomflow combines blackmail, legitimate trade, political agitation, and covert access into one developing line of effort.

1. Aug 13
   • Planned to blackmail Fabiana into admitting the Mask to her herbal and poison business, then expand through her legitimate trade.
2. Aug 15
   • Prepared forged manifests, invoices, seals, travel logs, correspondence, and commercial records to support Fabiana’s blackmail and a concealed poison distribution route.
   • Published “Perfume of Death Follows the Trade Winds,” connecting unexplained deaths to Tradehold’s merchant elite and rare products.
   • Published “Shadows Stir Beneath Pyrestone’s Gaze,” amplifying the dragonborn and kobold unrest story.

The Mask decides that a criminal organization should be seized rather than built from nothing. A seven-city survey begins, with the Sables emerging as the most promising target for infiltration, replacement, or destruction.

1. Aug 18
   • Identified the Sables as a target and proposed capturing or killing their leadership, replacing key members, and taking over their criminal organization.
   • Assigned nine doppelgangers to Sarik and authorized him to direct them for the Sables operation.
2. Aug 21
   • Each began a one-week espionage operation against thieves’ guilds in Briarbank, Deepwell, Dusk End, Maple Cross, Ravenshade, Shod Cristan, and Shor Whistan.

The faction creates a permanent hidden headquarters and prepares for the consequences of discovery. A clone contingency, trapped treasury, concealed routes, and layered magical defenses make the Sanctum both refuge and last resort.

1. Aug 15
   • Began specifying prison cells, treasury protections, false rooms, interrogation areas, magical wards, escape routes, and disguise facilities for the headquarters.
2. Aug 23
   • Ordered Clone preparations for Vael, Sarik, and selected doppelgangers, with vessels stored at the Shrouded Sanctum and linked to retrieval plans.
3. Sep 12
   • Removed Periapts of Wound Closure from agents and placed them in a treasury bait room.

The Mask tightens pressure on Fabiana and studies the Keepers around her. Propaganda and espionage are used together, with the goal of turning a vulnerable commercial relationship into lasting access.

1. Aug 18
   • After the blackmail succeeded, enthralled Fabiana, probed her memories for commerce, poison, politics, and keystone information, and sent an agent with her toward W Island.
2. Aug 19
   • Published “Green Lady’s Gold,” presenting Fabiana’s hidden trade and foreign payments as public suspicion.
3. Aug 21
   • Spent two weeks of accumulated downtime investigating W Island’s Keepers, their structure, personnel, magical methods, elementals, and relationship with Governor Squall.

The search narrows from regional guilds to specific people, sites, and supply lines. A missing doppelganger, a Tradehold connection, and a suspected warehouse give the Mask enough structure to begin direct action.

1. Aug 28
   • Publicly announced a seven-city investigation and defined the intended takeover: abduct a guild leader, use a temporary doppelganger replacement, install a loyal successor, and absorb the organization.
2. Sep 2
   • Intercepted and killed a Tradehold representative before his meeting with the Sables, exposing a useful external connection.
3. Sep 5
   • Tried to reach a missing doppelganger through Dream and committed agents, magical support, contacts, and 20,000 gp to locate Varissa Thorne, her captains, holdings, and records.
4. Sep 8
   • Followed a suspected Sables associate to a warehouse where a large half-orc and several companions were gambling.

The poison operation begins producing strategic intelligence beyond its original purpose. Pyrestone, the island’s geography, and rumors of the Divine Seam turn W Island into a wider political and supernatural concern.

1. Aug 24
   • Worked on moving poison from Tradehold through Fabiana’s business to a cache near Shor Whistan.
2. Aug 25
   • Accepted Pyrestone’s invitation, learned that the Ember Tyrant had died after attacking the former settlement despite receiving tribute, and reported back.
   • Catalogued known Drakonheim settlements, coordinates, and keystone information from public maps and records.
3. Aug 26
   • Relayed a Sending report that Marquis Pell Andrex had possessed the Divine Seam on August 23 and was traveling to meet Archmage Teruel in Shor Whistan.

The Mask builds respectable footholds beyond its hidden headquarters. Commercial covers, Maple Cross contacts, and access to Shor Whistan’s government give the faction places to listen, recruit, and quietly influence events.

1. Aug 19
   • Assumed the identity of the missing Caelan Voss and became a patron or political backer connected to ARGO and Bela.
2. Aug 22
   • Maintained the Caelan identity after public suspicion arose from unanswered Sending spells; invited skeptics to meet him and planned to read or investigate them.
3. Sep 3
   • Began a long-term effort to assimilate or penetrate the Crossfarers of Maple Cross.
   • Traveled to Shor Whistan to enter the Citadel bureaucracy as a scribe or clerk, using layered identities and forged documents to gather troop, tax, and magical information.

Vael’s dealings with Archmage Teruel shift from possible cooperation to mutual distrust. When an assassination contract involving Teruel appears, the Mask weighs the opportunity but refuses to become a simple instrument for another power.

1. Aug 21
   • Sent Teruel an offer to trade doubles, eyes, and secrets.
2. Aug 28
   • Sent a threatening reply after Teruel’s dismissal.
3. Aug 31
   • Received an offer to assassinate Archmage Teruel and evaluated the payment and feasibility.

The Mask keeps the poison line alive through Pell Andrex, Tradehold intelligence, and a prepared cache. Fabiana’s imprisonment changes the problem from recruitment to communication and possible recovery.

1. Sep 3
   • Began researching Marquis Pell Andrex and his connection to the Divine Seam.
2. Sep 17
   • Assigned research into myconid-derived poisons and Tradehold interrogation or prison practices.
3. Sep 18
   • Cleansed the exposed poison cache near Shor Whistan so it appeared unused.
   • Used Dream under Glibness to contact Fabiana after losing the thrall connection, asked her to describe her jail, guards, arrest, poison trade, and Tradehold contacts, then recorded the information from memory.

Research contacts and mundane communications are built in parallel. Spellgrave, Iggubith, ARGO, and a noble naga become possible sources of knowledge, while pigeons give the growing network a quiet physical backbone.

1. Sep 4
   • Researched Spellgrave, Iggubith, and related magical activity.
   • Researched ARGO and remnants or connections of the Noble Naga.
   • Began designing a mundane pigeon-post network to move reports without relying entirely on Sending.
2. Sep 5
   • Built or began the main station near the Shrouded Sanctum, then traveled toward Ravenshade to establish a second station.

The Mask strikes Sables properties, publicizes the conflict, and hunts the surviving leadership. When direct control remains elusive, the faction prepares a nightmare-based method of interrogation and coercion.

1. Sep 9
   • Published the Grey Docks deaths as a public mystery, issued bounties for Varissa Thorne and her surviving lieutenants, and solicited information leading to their deaths.
   • Raided four Sables sites across Shor Whistan, including the Widow’s Net and Riverside Warehouse #7.
   • Mapped and entered the suspected warehouse under layered concealment, with Sarik assigned to capture the half-orc while doppelgangers sealed the exits.
2. Sep 18
   • Attempted repeated Dream nightmares against Varissa Thorne, then redirected the spell when she could not be reached.

A field mage, a hidden grotto, and a possible extraction route are assembled around Fabiana’s imprisonment. The operation remains incomplete, but the Mask establishes the practical pieces needed to attempt it.

1. Sep 18
   • Upgraded an apprentice wizard into a field mage to establish temporary Private Sanctums and support mobile operations.
   • Recreated the appearances of Fabiana’s guards and the jail’s immediate layout for the doppelgangers, then traveled toward Shor Whistan under Nondetection and disguises.
   • Investigated a stone-door grotto and statues encountered en route, mapped its position and features, reported it to the archmage, and continued to Shor Whistan.

The Mask develops a public identity that can recruit without exposing the organization. The Faceless One provides religious cover, while soup kitchens create goodwill, observation posts, and dependable local premises.

1. Sep 10
   • Defined the Faceless One as a patron of secrets, false names, spies, shapeshifters, and hidden truths, giving the network a religious identity.
2. Sep 10–12
   • Funded soup kitchens and informant sites, burned a compromised Shor Whistan safehouse under a staged accident, and began a replacement site in the Spellwhip district.
3. Sep 13
   • Established a second 10,000 gp soup kitchen in Varak’Zul under a new identity.
4. Sep 29
   • Presented the growing kitchens across six cities as the public charitable movement “Warm Bowls Across the Realm.”

Teruel’s death creates an opening. The Mask reconnoiters the funeral, stages public unrest, and turns the ceremony into cover for an attack on Governor Squall.

1. Sep 19
   • Investigated the Citadel courtyard, walls, seating, guards, magical protection, and likely routes before Archmage Teruel’s funeral.
2. Sep 20
   • Established a temporary protected base in Shor Whistan, moved the archmage or field mage into support position, and finalized spell, escape, and diversion preparations.
3. Sep 21
   • Organized or hired protesters outside the Citadel to accuse Squall of protecting the Sables and prepared an incendiary escalation during the assassination.

Recruitment and rotation make the network less dependent on any one city or operative. Informants are redirected, concentrated, and distributed so the Mask can keep collecting information even as major operations intensify.

1. Sep 16
   • Moved to Shor Whistan and recruited twenty human spies devoted to the Faceless One or Velthara, each compartmentalized from the Mask.
   • Dispatched spies from Shor Whistan toward W Island, Bramblegate, Varak’Zul, Feylon City, Osburg, and other settlements to establish 10,000 gp soup kitchens and local informant networks.
   • Replaced doppelganger staff with ordinary spies in some public operations and recalled two doppelganger spies to the Shrouded Sanctum.
2. Sep 17
   • Redirected failed or impractical soup-kitchen deployments toward Stonia and Fernhollow and adapted the cover to local religious or charitable institutions.
3. Sep 18
   • Ordered doppelgangers in Maple Cross and Ravenshade to travel covertly to Shor Whistan.

Sarik enters the funeral under layered disguises and attacks the apparent real Squall. Defensive glyphs, countermeasures, and disguised protectors turn the assassination into a destructive battle inside the Citadel.

1. Sep 21
   • Entered the funeral area under Gaseous Form, Etherealness, Nondetection, Mind Blank, invisibility contingencies, and related protections; identified an obvious illusory Squall and a second apparently real target.
2. Sep 22
   • Waited until the funeral’s fifty-ninth minute, then attacked the apparent real Squall with poisoned strikes and a Potion of Speed.
   • After glyphs destroyed the imp and dispelled Sarik’s protections, Sarik pursued the disguised defender; Vael entered the fight, Forcecaged Theomar, and supported the retreat. Sarik was transformed into a purple worm and damaged the Citadel interior.

Even during the collapse of the headquarters, the Mask keeps its communications alive. The Shor Whistan pigeon station is established, and the wider informant system is later checked from city to city.

1. Sep 23
   • Was assigned to establish a pigeon station for the Shor Whistan soup kitchen and intelligence network.
2. Nov 7
   • Contacted the embedded lizardfolk and spies in Maple Cross, Ravenshade, Bramblegate, Varak’Zul, Stonia, Feylon City, and Shor Whistan; sent the imp to retrieve pigeon mail from the 44.57 station.

The Citadel escape is successful, but the compromised Sanctum forces an immediate evacuation. The prepared escape route has been turned into a sealed magical death trap; Vael and the guards die, Sarik recovers the bodies, and the Mask restores Vael to life.

1. Sep 23
   • Escaped the Citadel through a Bag of Holding and Instant Summons, then immediately burned records, scattered doppelgangers, moved treasure, and abandoned the compromised Sanctum.
   • Vael, the guards, cart, and animals used the prepared escape teleport and arrived inside a sealed salt-water trap under Silence and Sickening Radiance. Everyone who took that route died.
   • Sarik broke through the Wall of Stone, drained the tunnel, recovered the bodies and surviving material, and carried them toward the rendezvous.
2. Sep 23–24
   • The Mask cleric resurrected Vael. The surviving leadership regrouped, restored communications, assessed the loss, and moved the treasury and senior personnel to a temporary site near 44.57.

After leaving the Citadel, Vael attempts magical retaliation against Squall and later considers a more personal provocation. Neither effort becomes a decisive second strike, leaving the conflict unresolved.

1. Sep 23
   • Attempted to subject Squall to repeated Dream nightmares after the failed assassination.
2. Oct 22
   • Considered infiltrating Squall’s residence to leave a mask on his bed or resting place and publishing personal tabloid material.

The Mask replaces its lost headquarters with a deeper, more deceptive refuge. The Underveil is designed as a labyrinth of prisons, false treasuries, concealed rooms, layered wards, and emergency routes.

1. Sep 25
   • Began constructing a new headquarters hundreds of feet underground with narrow access passages, false routes, traps, concealed chambers, Private Sanctum, Forbiddance, Guards and Wards, and treasury misdirection.
2. Sep 30
   • Expanded the Underveil’s labyrinth, prison, treasury, false rooms, magical defenses, emergency routes, and concealed operational spaces.
3. Oct 1
   • Continued permanent wards and construction while most field activity remained reduced.

The original island operation returns in a more ambitious form. Vael assigns a magically protected team to map W Island’s geography, trade, defenses, underground areas, traffic, and hidden activity over an extended period.

1. Oct 21
   • Ordered a long-term covert survey of W Island from a temporary base near 14.60, using Planetar form, invisibility, truesight, Etherealness, and other transformations to map geography, traffic, defenses, trade, underground areas, and activity.

While the Underveil settles into operation, Vael checks the abandoned Sanctum and tests isolated mysteries. The faction enters a temporary hiatus, preserving itself while no single campaign commands its full attention.

1. Oct 15
   • Scouted 44.52, the Shrouded Sanctum, the hidden grotto, the nearby keystone, and surrounding hexes under Mind Blank, Magic Aura, invisibility, and a defensive contingency.
2. Oct 16
   • Impersonated Sarik’s voice and used Sending in Orcish to question an Ironmarch orc about “Master Doug” and his appearance.
3. Oct 18
   • Placed the faction on hiatus while the Underveil finished and no central operation was available.
4. Oct 24
   • Investigated paired pulsing stones near a keystone using distant observation, truesight, Detect Magic, Alter Self into several public figures, physical separation of the stones, and spoken command words.

Vael abandons the immediate W Island survey and turns toward Khallith Zal, the Bramblemarsh, and the Divine Seam. Aerial and ethereal reconnaissance establishes the Dark Tree as the next central objective.

1. Oct 25
   • Abandoned the immediate W Island survey and relocated to 22.52 to search the Bramblemarsh for Khallith Zal and the Divine Seam.
2. Oct 26
   • In Planetar form, circled and surveyed the six hexes around the Dark Tree from the air and Ethereal Plane.
3. Oct 29
   • Approached the Dark Tree in an ethereal spiral to inspect it closely.

Vael creates a living lizardfolk from stone, enthralls it, and connects to its senses. After watching the gate and learning its routines, the infiltrator enters under a false identity with magical safeguards and an emergency signal.

1. Oct 30
   • Cast True Polymorph on a Medium rock to create a lizardfolk, made the change permanent, enthralled the new creature, and linked to its senses through Gaze of Two Minds.
2. Oct 31
   • Observed the Dark Tree entrance, guards, speech, insignia, routines, and admission behavior from outside.
3. Nov 1
   • Returned to the Dark Tree and passed the gate under a false identity.
   • Upgraded the lizardfolk into a trained spy and added deception magic, Nondetection, a Polymorph contingency, and an Instant Summons-linked blade as an emergency signal.

A parallel reconnaissance effort searches the sea for a hidden base, maps Tradehold, and conceals Mirage Island as open water. The Mask then begins long-term observation and creates a possible underground refuge beneath the target.

1. Nov 18
   • Created four Invisible Stalkers and compelled them to search separate ocean sectors for islands suitable as a concealed base.
2. Nov 19
   • Mapped the Tradehold approaches, searched for a keystone, selected island 13.69, and concealed it as open sea behind layered illusion and warding magic.
3. Nov 20
   • Adopted a prolonged surveillance procedure focused on patrols, merchant flows, industry, schedules, weaknesses, and nighttime mapping.
4. Nov 23
   • Used Dao form and subterranean travel to establish or locate a hidden chamber roughly one mile beneath Tradehold.

The embedded spy reveals troop staging, hierarchy, wyverns, lower tunnels, and Khallith Zal’s movements. At the same time, transformed spellcasters and purple worms begin a fifty-four-mile hidden route toward the Tree; the passage and its staging facilities are completed before the assault.

1. Nov 3
   • The embedded spy identified troop staging, root-chambers, weapons, wyverns, hierarchy, lower tunnels, and Khallith Zal’s return with the Dune Tyrant; he remained enthralled as a long-term source.
2. Nov 4
   • True Polymorph turned spellcasters into Daos and purple worms for concealed excavation and stone shaping under extensive anti-detection magic.
   • Construction began on the Blackroot complex: a concealed dock and tower, stairwells, a fifty-four-mile tunnel, midpoint base, staging chamber, and Passwall exits beneath the Dark Tree.
3. Nov 14–17
   • Vael briefly left the tunnel team to aid Shor Whistan, then returned as the main tunnel, staging facilities, and underground approach were completed.

Sarik and coalition forces approach the tower through concealment and antimagic. Private Sanctum is removed, the upper structure is entered, and the crystal barrier is opened or damaged so Spellgrave can strike from below.

1. Nov 19
   • Planned an invisible approach with Aeon-aligned forces, antimagic zones, readied attacks, Dispel Magic against Private Sanctum, Time Stop, Dimension Door, and opening the tower’s crystal barrier so Spellgrave could detonate it from below.
2. Nov 21
   • Dispelled Private Sanctum, moved to the top of the tower, used Time Stop and Dimension Door to enter, opened or attacked the crystal barrier, and coordinated Spellgrave’s blast.
   • Approached the tower invisibly within heavy obscurement, positioned allies to avoid breath weapons, activated antimagic fields, and prepared to dispel protections and breach the tower.

Vael commits the Blackroot tunnel, Dark Tree intelligence, and Mask spellcasters to the Council of Good. He simultaneously watches Theomar, opens direct coordination with Stinkfist, and explains how the hidden route can carry an army.

1. Nov 24
   • Joined the Council of Good, disclosed the Blackroot tunnel and Dark Tree intelligence, committed Mask assets, and supplied spellcasting and anti-dragon preparations.
2. Nov 26
   • Used the imp to monitor Theomar, followed him after coalition talks, and attempted to isolate and enthrall him.
3. Nov 27
   • Briefed coalition leaders on Blackroot’s capacity, travel time, staging facilities, and possible entry routes.
   • Opened direct coordination with King Stinkfist over Shor Whistan, goblin military support, and the coalition.

The Mask replaces the King’s second-in-command while Vael assumes emergency authority. Curfews, identity checks, requisitions, border controls, mobilization, and a search for Queen Diana turn covert influence into direct state power.

1. Nov 28
   • Imposed a curfew, identity checks, flight restrictions, dock controls, requisitions, housing removals, food controls, and emergency authority across Shor Whistan.
   • Ordered warriors, mages, priests, smiths, laborers, and other specialists to report for service.
   • Organized land, sea, and air patrols, recruitment tents, background checks, and controlled movement around the capital.
   • Converged doppelgangers on Shor Whistan, kidnapped the King’s second-in-command, secured him in a warehouse, learned his habits, and used Vael or doppelgangers to assume his identity.
   • Asked Stinkfist and allied forces to help locate Queen Diana.

The undead outbreak leads to the false Merciful Soup Kitchen operated by the Lich King’s forces. It is entirely separate from Warm Bowls and from every soup kitchen founded by the Mask. Vael’s forces investigate, quarantine, and destroy the hostile site.

1. Nov 29
   • After undead were traced to the false Merciful Soup Kitchen, transformed the cleric into a planetar, fought through the outbreak, cordoned the hostile site, traced its supplies, and investigated the contaminated food.
2. Dec 1
   • Returned to the quarantined false kitchen and destroyed the Lich King’s position with overwhelming divine or fiery force.

The new regime centralizes the response to Queen Diana’s murder, undead activity, and public panic. Arcanists are mobilized, evidence is controlled, sewers are secured, allies receive public credit, and the Wizard King is invited into the emergency effort.

1. Nov 29
   • Mobilized the Aeon, Teruel, Spellgrave, Cloudsinger, mages, and sages to search archives and laboratories for answers to the crisis.
   • Seized Queen Diana’s body and murder scene, ordered military and arcane examinations, classified the evidence, and restrained retaliation against goblin allies without proof.
   • Used official reports to credit allied powers for recovery work and stabilize the city’s political relationships.
   • Secured the sewers against undead activity and invited Shang Ssung to the Citadel in recognition of his assistance.

Visitors are evacuated, emergency refuges are consecrated, and supply inspections are imposed. Vael shapes public interpretation of the crystalline dragon, creates the Eye of the Crown, and formalizes his own office as the King’s operational Hand.

1. Nov 30
   • Evacuated visitors and temporary residents to Maple Cross by sea and reframed the crystalline dragon as a divine sign rather than a threat.
   • Established consecrated emergency refuges with assigned priests and guards for protection against undead attack.
   • Placed mages and priests at gates and checkpoints to inspect food, water, and supplies for corruption, magic, undead, fiends, and other hazards.
   • Created the Eye of the Crown as a covert intelligence branch and formalized Vael’s office as Hand of the Crown, the King’s operational executive.

Shor Whistan’s forces are recalled, divided among coalition commanders, and committed to the coming attack. Vael formally offers the army, Blackroot, senior Mask spellcasters, Sarik, and Theomar to the coalition plan.

1. Dec 1
   • Recalled soldiers to the Citadel for briefing and reassignment to the coming assault.
   • Placed five hundred soldiers under Spellgrave’s authority for the assault and authorized their integration with allied mages and scouts.
   • Responded formally to Stinkfist’s condolences and coordinated his sewer forces with Crown defenses.
   • Committed Shor Whistan troops, the Blackroot tunnel, senior Mask spellcasters, Vael, Sarik, and Theomar to the coalition plan.

The borders and Citadel are sealed while unusual activity is concealed. Vael establishes the Magisterium and coordinates the delivery of anti-plant poison and other resources intended for use against the Dark Tree.

1. Dec 2
   • Reaffirmed closed borders and authorized force against unauthorized crossings.
   • Sealed the Citadel, restricted entry to sanctioned personnel, and concealed unusual activity and roars within.
   • Established the Magisterium and invited Teruel, Spellgrave, Cloudsinger, Governor Squall, and the Aeon as founding members.
   • Acknowledged the Wizard King’s secured package and anti-plant poison and coordinated its possible use against the Dark Tree.

A substitute Theomar appears publicly while the real King prepares to depart. The Mask archmage and cleric receive precise dispelling and breaching assignments, while Sarik helps shield the deception from assassination.

1. Dec 3
   • Placed a doppelganger or substitute Theomar in a full public procession, inspection, prayer, and vigil while the real King prepared to leave for the assault.
   • Prepared in nycaloth form with Detect Magic and Dispel Magic to remove the Dark Tree’s protective spells.
   • Prepared to transform into a purple worm and breach the fortress wall or ground defenses.
   • Supported security around the false King and Citadel event while senior characters prepared to depart.

The coalition moves through Demiplane into Blackroot’s underground staging chamber. Seeming disguises the army as Dark Tree forces, while Vael, Sarik, Theomar, and allied leaders prepare to emerge in concealed forms and become ancient metallic dragons.

1. Dec 3
   • Moved allied troops through Demiplane into the underground staging chamber, assigned crow insignia, and used Seeming to disguise humanoids as lizardfolk and quadrupeds as giant lizards.
   • Prepared Vael, Sarik, Theomar, and allied leaders to travel as snails or other concealed forms and transform into ancient metallic dragons at the signal.

Ground troops emerge through prepared exits as the Mask removes protections and tears through the fortifications. Giant-eagle air support attacks the canopy, and the concealed leaders transform into ancient brass dragons.

1. Dec 4
   • Released ground troops from the Blackroot staging area through prepared exits and began the attack under lizardfolk disguises.
   • Used Dispel Magic against the Dark Tree’s base protections and took cover near the Instant Fortress.
   • Used purple worm form to break or bypass part of the ground fortification and support the advancing army.
   • Deployed giant eagles carrying knights and mages against the canopy, walls, ballistae, and wyvern riders.
   • Exited concealed forms and entered the canopy battle as ancient brass dragons.

The advance reaches the Tree’s interior and the dragon trio burns the cocoon. Once the Thorn appears, the coalition realizes ordinary damage is insufficient and begins planning around its legendary resistances.

1. Dec 6
   • Used Cloak of Shadows and followed ground troops toward the tree entrance.
   • Moved into breath range and each used ancient brass dragon fire breath against the cocoon or whatever emerged from it.
2. Dec 7
   • Proposed using Wish to make allied spells immune to being negated by the Thorn’s legendary resistances.
   • Assessed that the coalition could not defeat the Thorn through ordinary damage and proposed exhausting legendary resistances before using a decisive save-or-lose effect.

Theomar anchors the party with his auras while Sarik attacks under magical speed. Vael attempts Feeblemind and leaps from the Tree, as Mask spellcasters resurrect the fallen Avatar of Vengeance and try to restore the coalition’s strength.

1. Dec 8
   • Used Vow of Enmity and Avenging Angel, remained near the party’s center to project defensive auras, and prepared a Sentinel reaction against the Thorn.
   • Dimension Doored toward the fallen Avatar of Vengeance, mounted it, and used Wish to cast Resurrection on it.
   • Drank a Potion of Speed, used Steady Aim, attacked the Thorn, and maintained a close aerial orbit around Theomar.
   • Cast Feeblemind against the Thorn, disengaged, jumped from the tree, and attempted to land on the resurrected Avatar using Feather Fall.

The coalition continues to close on the Thorn. Theomar fights under Haste, Sarik lands repeated attacks, the Mask attempts to restore the Aeon, and Vael transforms into a pit fiend for a final chance to survive and keep fighting.

1. Dec 9
   • Cast Haste on himself, attacked the Thorn with the Holy Avenger and Divine Smite, and stayed within thirty feet of the party’s center.
   • Teleported himself, the cleric, and the Avatar of Vengeance one hundred feet closer to the Thorn.
   • Used Divine Intervention to request True Resurrection for the Aeon.
   • Used Steady Aim and attacked twice under Haste, including a critical hit.
   • Cast True Polymorph on himself to become a pit fiend, with an Ioun Stone prepared to absorb Counterspell.

Theomar, Vael, and Sarik remain engaged as the battle becomes fatal. Their deaths end the Mask’s direct action in Phase 1; surviving coalition forces finish the confrontation and delay Desolith.

1. Dec 10
   • Continued fighting the Tyrants and Thorn while maintaining his auras for allies.
   • Continued attacking after Vael’s fall and remained engaged with the surviving coalition against the Thorn and Tyrants.
   • Continued fighting while restrained or within reach of the Thorn rather than attempting a retreat he considered unlikely to succeed.
2. Dec 11
   • No further Mask-directed action is recorded after the deaths of Vael, Sarik, and Theomar; surviving coalition members completed the fight and delayed Desolith.