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Cowls conceal, while bells reveal.
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Bowls and bells, both for purity.

Bells and Chimes

Bells and chimes exert an uncanny influence over the unquiet dead. Restless spirits will not approach the sound of chimes, and the ringing of bells can cause such creatures to recoil in terror. As a consequence, most people who spend any time around the dead - especially the stewards of the dead and magisters - will keep a bell on their person at all times.

The Highborn hang wind-chimes in their doorways to protect their homes and to bring back memories of those they have lost. Meditating to the sound of chimes or bells is said to allow the dead to “speak” to the living through their memories. There are rare accounts of Highborn pilgrims who claim to have heard a recently departed close friend or family member speaking to them over the sound of pealing bells. It is commonly held that bells can speak for those who have died, and have no voice of their own, that the memories that the sounds stir are chosen not by the listener but by the departed.

Cowls and Veils

Properly prepared and worn head coverings conceal the identity of the wearer. Unlike the masks of the League, they do not present a false-face to the world; this is a hearth magic of obfuscation, not deception. The wearer maintains their sense of self, but they present a blank exterior to outsiders, an enigma. They step away from the world for a short time and become apart from it - a tradition that leads to many Highborn circles ceremonially donning cowls or veils when they must talk of matters of justice, or frankly discuss sensitive matters. The wearer of the cowl or veil metaphorically ceases to be themselves for the duration of such a discussion.

When the Highborn don veils or draw up their cowls as a group, it means they are about serious business. For some, it means they have stopped being individual humans and for a short time embody primal forces of virtue.

This concealment can grant supernatural protection; creatures of the realms often find it hard to identify whom they are speaking to when dealing with people who have ceremonially concealed their features with a cowl or veil.

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Further Reading

Core Brief

Additional Information