Magus Mask
From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe
Adrian Hestor is the third in a generation of famous Hestor archeologists. His grandfather and father were world renown on Praetorian Earth for their findings. Because of this, Adrian was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He has no concept of life without an infinite supply of money. Adrian is a refined gentleman, and enjoys the "finer" things in life.
While on a dig, Hestor discovered a grave site guarded by one hundred armored statues. It seemed as though they were protecting something, or so his notes say. In the center of the room was a chest, and inside the chest an ancient mask. This mask belonged to Nergal, the Babylonian god of War as told by myths.
The mask was sentient. It spoke to Adrian. He brought it to his camp to study and it convinced him to put it on. From there it took hold. Adrian Hestor became slave to the Mask. Magus-Mask is a brutal and devastating villain, who craves nothing but destruction. The Mask itself controls him, and lusts for blood and death. Adrian does not talk for himself, but for the Mask, and now lives only to do its bidding. During times of intense battle, the Mask itself will transmogrify Hestor's body into a magically infused behemoth.
Wanting only to destroy, the mask allied itself with Phanto. It fought in the front lines during The Blacklist's assault on Bloody Bay. It was instrumental in the plot to publicly reveal the identity of Nimbus, the heroic Lord of Storms.
Recently The Mask was sighted causing mass destruction in Steel Canyon. The Challengers responded promptly and were able to remove the mask from Hestor's head. Hestor was sent to the Zigursky, and the mask sent back to The Challenger Mansion for safe keeping.
In The Challengers - Issue 19: Artif***ed, Harold Wellington unwittingly came in contact with The Magus Mask, The Ripjaw Bone, the Book of Death and The Earth Talisman, transforming him into the ultra-powered being known as Artifact. After a painstaking battle, the individual magic items were separated and began to take on tangible bodies which were used to battle each other. The Challengers used this to their advantage, letting the individual items battle themselves. Following the battle, the artifacts disappeared.
The Mask was intercepted by Longbow, who have since harnessed it's power via a synthetic robot.
