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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2183353-The-Book-of-Masks-Abridged/month/4-1-2021
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by Seuzz
Rated: GC · Book · Supernatural · #2183353
A high school student finds a grimoire that shows how to make magical disguises.
Author's Preface

The Book of Masks began as an interactive, and it still is one: "The Book of Masks. But at 3000+ chapters it sometimes scares newbies.

For this abridged edition I've collected certain key storylines and played them out in a straight line while dropping the chapter choices—which means no one has to worry about taking a wrong turn or getting lost. I've done my best to pick chapters that features key characters, conflicts, magical devices and plot types, to give you a feel for what's in the interactive, and what's important.

None of the storylines are complete, and they break off suddenly, leaping forward and backward in time to pick up places where different choices were made in other parts of the interactive. If you want to continue any storyline, there's an appendix at the end with links to places that continue the stories.

The Book of Masks
Prologue

THERE WAS A PENTAGRAM stamped onto its spine, but that's not why you stopped to stare at it. It wasn't the leather binding, either. You're barely interested in the stuff inside of books, let alone the stuff they're made out of.

No, it was the book's lustrous colors—the blood-scarlet of the cover and the gleaming gold of the pentagram—that caught your eye. Even then, it was only because red and gold are your high school colors. Mr. Walberg had his students out collecting a lot of junk for the school time capsule, and you were shopping for something to throw onto the pile.

And if the book had nothing to do with your high school, your home town, or the current year? So what? Time capsules are stupid.

It was sitting in the special collections cabinet of Arnholm's Used Books with a bunch of other rare and expensive items. The glass door was ajar, so you quietly pulled the book out for a closer look.

Intricate designs of golden thread were woven throughout the cover; the same anarchic, subtly shifting designs covered the title page and facing papers. Just looking at them made you dizzy. Whoever created them had masterfully conveyed the illusion of movement and alteration with his pen strokes. This was especially true of the stylized faces that gazed out serenely along the bottom of the title page: an old man, a young woman, a hale warrior, and a child. As you studied them, they seemed to shift ages and attitudes, so that the old man from a different angle became a double of the young woman, and the child aged into a crone.

So without even looking through the rest of the book you took it up to the front to ask about the price ...

Chapter One: "The Fake Book

Other links

* "The Book of Masks Homepage: An update blog + quick links to recently added chapters.
* "The Book of Masks: Archives: A range of BoM storylines in interactive format, maintained for those without WdC accounts.
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Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/books/item_id/2183353-The-Book-of-Masks-Abridged/month/4-1-2021