Ashen Face (Grisaire Supplement)

Ashen Face

“	In this world of divine non-intervention, people find their ways to their own truths. When the Watcher himself stops watching, and when the eyes of the Gatekeeper herself are clouded away, people continue to live on without their guidance. Only then do we discover the lies we have been fed. They are the false ones. We alone know the truths, long hidden, buried deep within the heart of this crying earth. How the planet cries! It cries the names of the true gods! Tsa'Horoth ghoth a'la ftaghn! Egan-Shiloga'Troh krnplui ëlushna! Jjglo'ärogsh ftaghn phgtu nklthugah! Iä iä! Down with the false gods! Iä Reth!	”
—Rabinge Goremon, The third Ash Face

Inside the Ashen Face

The Ashen Face is a network of cultish groups under one large alias. They are known to reside in abandoned establishments, which better hide their shady activities. They also are known to have meetings at odd hours of night in ruins, cemeteries, and the like. These meetings sometimes consist of grotesque rituals surrounding who the group considers the "True Gods" of Grisaire. They are commonly characterized as disillusioned social outsiders, which has led to them being able to slip under the general social consciousness. However, the threats they pose are very real and dangerous.

Goals of the Ashen Face

The Ashen Face wants one thing and one thing only: dethronement of the Twelve Thrones. This will initiate the overturning of a false order, according to their own prophecies, which will allow the True Gods to take back the world from its usurpers. To this end, they commit various crimes, ranging from proselytizing, to kidnapping, and even bloody sacrifice in the name of the Uncreated.

Ashen Face Characters

Alignment: Usually evil
Suggested Races: Any
Suggested Classes: wizard, warlock (Great Old One), rogue

You might enjoy playing a Ashen Face guild character if any of the following sentences describe you:

• You like being a member of a villainous group.
• Your character believes in crazy cultish theories and conspiracies about the world.
• You just like to sow chaos and spill blood.
• You are a fanatic of the eldritch and insidious powers of the world.

Joining the Ashen Face

Those who desire to join the Ashen Face are arguably few compared to those who were forced to join or brainwashed into it. Joining the Ashen Face is relatively painless compared to being indoctrinated. The Ashen Face welcomes "awakened" brethren to their cause, often seeking minds who inquire and oppose the current world order and divinity. They often have eyes that seek such recruitment and invite possible recruits to their gruesome ritual parties. For a recruit to join truly, they have to participate in the ritual, which usually involves giving up part of their own blood and sealing it in a pact that usually has an additional blood sacrifice. After that, the new recruit is inducted and marked with the blood offering, after which they become aware of the senses of Uncreated... or so they claim.

More unfortunate members were actually kidnapped from young ages and raised to be acolytes of the Ashen Face. Some were kidnapped and brainwashed with torture and mind control to become members. The Ashen Face is not discriminate in their methods. These unwilling members are often relegated to lowly tasks and monitored. But, in the end, really any member can be disposable if the Uncreated so order it.

Background: Shadow Bringer

From Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, by Square Enix

The ones who subscribe to the Ashen Face ideology sometimes fancy themselves as bringers of shadows. This is because the cosmos is largely a blanket of darkness, with only bits of light. The belief is that the Uncreated will return the world to this primordial form. However, the term is more commonly used by outsiders to describe the members of Ashen Face as evil, and that they will usher in a dark age of depravity and darkness both literally and metaphorically. Of course, members within the group do not care what others think. They will commit their atrocious acts of espionage, kidnapping, and murder in the name of the Uncreated. Though scattered and hidden underground, they communicate through a variety of shady methods, from Thieves Cant to their own rendition of telepathic Deep Speech. They want people to know the darkness is coming, and the Ashen Face is watching all of Grisaire.

When making a character of the shadow bringer background, consider your ties to the Ashen Face. Are you a budding acolyte, naïve about the "good" you can bring by destroying the Thrones? Perhaps you have always had your doubts about the deeds your group committed. Have you participated in their dark rituals? Did you maybe experience a psychotic break after killing your first sacrifice? Perhaps you are even a prisoner yourself, forced to act by the will of shadows due to a hold they have over you. The Uncreated show no mercy to those of the Ashen Face, but their influence can hold considerable sway over any mortal. Revered members of the Ashen Face recall having had telepathic connections with the Uncreated, even glimpsing the awe-striking form of one of the big three Uncreated beings.

Skill Proficiencies: Intimidation, Religion

Tool Proficiencies: Disguise kit, poisoner's kit

Languages: As part of the Ashen Face's criminal nature, all their members more or less know Thieve's Cant. However, if your character progresses among their ranks, they may teach other languages like Deep Speech and Qualith script.

Equipment: A set of commoner's clothes (shoddy robes of worship with an obscuring hood), ceremonial dagger and bowl, a trinket of your choice with an eldritch design, and 5 gp.

Feature: Taint of Ash

Having touched the malicious forces of the Uncreated, you are forever branded in both mind and body. A sort of mark appears on your body that brands you as property and plaything of the Uncreated, whether you subscribe to them or not. This mark, to those who see it, will make them feel uncomfortable around you. Your mind sometimes also is not your own, as the Uncreated have powerful mental influences. You may receive glimpses of horrific scenes of carnage of attacks form the Uncreated in a location near yourself, or even premonition about a horde of Uncreated spawn and their movements.

Ashen Face Spells

Prerequisite: Spellcasting or Pact Magic class feature
While the Uncreated are creatures of psionic power, this manifests in several sorts of magic that their followers can draw from. These magics often comprise of sneak attacks on the psyche to incapacitate or stun opponents, making them vulnerable in torture and kidnapping. For you, the spells on the Ashen Face Spells table are added to the spell list of your spellcasting class. (If you are a multiclass character with multiple spell lists, these spells are added to all of them.)

Level	Spells
Cantrips	mind sliver, message
1st	command, silent image
2nd	calm emotions, enthrall
3rd	hypnotic pattern, tongues
4th	compulsion, confusion
5th	dream, dominate person

Suggested Characteristics

There is no right way to use your abilities or a good or bad reason you lurk around in the darkness. Mold yourself around what you see fit for yourself.

d8	Personality Trait
1	I prefer not to talk unless it's necessary
2	I hunt people like animals
3	I don't like killing at all, so I regularly question my actions.
4	I'm a bit of a show off.
5	I am uncomfortable in open spaces, where I'm too exposed.
6	I have trouble trusting people, except for those I consider family.
7	I will do everything I can to help people when I can.
8	I tend to get bored easily.

d6	Ideal
1	People. I'm loyal to my friends, not to ideals, and everyone else can fade away for all I care. (Neutral)
2	Greed. I am always around if there is money involved. (Chaotic)
3	Aspiration. I work hard to be the best there is at my craft. (Any)
4	Others. I help people who help me; that's what keeps us alive. (Good)
5	Brutality. I'm a predator, and everyone else is my prey. (Evil)
6	Death. Most people deserve to die. (Evil)

d6	Bond
1	My passion is driven from my past and I carry it so that I will never forget my roots.
2	I must keep my identity a secret.
3	Family means everything to me.
4	Someone close to me was hanged for treason. My helplessness to aid still haunts me today.
5	I fell in love with someone who is dangerous to everyone around them.
6	I must abide to my family's teachings.

d6	Flaw
1	I am overconfident.
2	I have a tendency to steal, what are you going to do catch me? Good luck.
3	Once someone has challenged my ability I will not back down no matter how dangerous the situation.
4	Violence is my answer to almost any situation.
5	I judge others harshly, and myself more severely.
6	I never forget an insult, and I bide my time for revenge.

Contacts

There are things you learn better on the go. Let me tell you the one thing you need to know. In this world, everything is fake outside the true mind... they never want you to know this. So, focus on the reality the Uncreated, the Great Ones, reveal to us.

Contacts

Contact	Description

Non- Contacts

Contact	Description

How Do I Fit In?

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Party

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Rank and Renown

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