The Mask assignment

Bryan Liberty Pottery 3/A

“The Mask”

“We all wear masks”

The mask’s origin can only be speculated. Whispers of Norse origin or even of the Aztec exist. Although its creation is vague, the mask dates back to centuries before the existence of mankind. Some speculate that the mask was created by Loki, the Norse god of mischief, himself. Carved from rowan wood, the mask bears a lifeless and emotionless face. On its face are grooves and dips that add to the rigid facial features. Upon its brow and nose rests a long metal piece that bears an “L”, the symbol that alludes to the Norse god Loki. Although the mask looks nothing more than a blank face carved into wood, the mask is so much more than it appears. In legend, the mask is said to give its wearer incredible power, the power of Loki himself. The mask imbues the wearer with reality-bending power and physical imperviousness to harm of any kind. In some cases, whilst wearing the mask, the wearer can even break the laws of physics. The mask is of limitless power and can create objects out of nothingness and perform impossible feats. Wearer of the Mask can alter surrounding reality and can manifest anything that can be thought of. Once it is worn, the mask changes the wearer’s appearance, providing them with a large set of teeth and green head. Besides giving the wearer power, the mask also affects the wearer’s personality. The mask bypasses the wearer's psychological inhibitions. This act can be a positive, yet negative action all at once. While it is good to be free from concern or consequence, the freedom that the mask provides can also corrupt. The mask can become dangerous and cause its inhabitant to have ultraviolent tendencies, even if this was not the original intention of those using its power. In this respect, the mask can be determined as more of a curse than a gift. Even though it increases the wearer’s intelligence, this increased intelligence is at the loss of sanity, inhibitions and self-control. The mask’s psychological tolls cause a dependence on the wearer and become so strong that the wear cannot live without wearing it. For these reasons, the mask is deemed too powerful for mankind and has throughout the centuries been hidden from them. In many cases, the wearer has tried to destroy the mask, only to discover that it is impenetrable and impervious to harm. So, for most of its existence, the mask has waited, hidden somewhere across the earth. Silently waiting until a weak-minded one will stumble upon it and free the chaos and fury that it so desperately seeks to unleash upon an unsuspecting world.