Masks



"There are the events taking place in the town, which are real. And there is their stage adaptation, which is also real. There are the actors who play the protagonists and reenact the events of their lives (since upon loading, you’re reliving that short—or not so short—stretch of their deathbound journey. The actor walks out into the town, looking for inspiration, “walking the hero’s paths”. And there’s a fluid ambiguity in not having a clear way of telling who you are right now: the real Haruspex or Bachelor, living his life, about to die—or an actor playing his part and thus getting a chance to go back to the past?"

- [from the game’s design documents]

The Masks: they are the Executors and the Tragedians. Sometimes their presence is caused by in-game matters. In other cases they breach the Fourth Wall in order to speak directly to the player—they often appear to explain discrete game mechanics.

They are your ever-present companions who guide you through the game—or perhaps deceive you; whatever the case, they are definitely following your progress very closely. They also appear at the end of each day at the Theatre to perform a pantomime based on the events of the day.

It's hard to say how many Tragedians and Executors there are in the Town, and if the Tragedian and the Executor appearing here and there are the same two people or not.

Executors
The Executor stage costume—a heavy cloak and a bird mask—is a representation of Muu Shubuun, «the wicked bird», the Reaper, or Death. They are often symbols of the Plague. If the player fails to complete certain crucial tasks, or if the Plague otherwise advances, an Executor will appear outside the door of a Bound who has fallen ill as a result.

During the outbreak, orderlies wear Executor costumes festooned with bone pendants in order to ward off the Plague. The Bachelor and the Changeling are able to obtain and wear an Executor Mask and Cloak.

Tragedians
Tragedians dress in form-fitting black stage costumes and white masks approximating a human face. The Tragedian is a placemarker hero, a shade of what could have been were it not for you; like all mimes, they're gently compassionate and moderately useless.