Instinctual fear is a turbulent cloud of contradictions occupying the deepest caves within the human brain. It has eight legs, yet is also legless; it is extraordinarily tall, yet is crushed by its own boundaries; it is forever surrounded, yet always alone.
The berserker’s mask embodies all of these things simultaneously, a paradox which grants it the unique honor of inspiring universal fear. No matter their personal experiences or biases, all human beings are driven to flee at the moment of making eye contact with its eyeless visage. Its glare cuts straight through the pupils, down into the darkness of the amygdala, triggering a reaction long before its countenance can be etched into memory.
Whosoever chooses to wear the mask is advised to wear it over the back of their skull, rather than over their face. This is because the mask has a second, unique property: its eyes gaze outward through time, as well as through space. So long as it is oriented backwards, the mask faces towards the past, and, as a result, controls possibility. Of all potential selves, only those which move forward without hesitation find their way to the future; all others who tarry behind are confronted by the backs of their own heads, and in turn, scatter deeper into the past, never becoming truth.
In this manner, the artifact creates an illusion of perfect courage. The warriors who possessed it in times long forgotten found that, so long as it faced towards their past, their charge was undaunted, and those who charged alongside them did so with equivalent ferocity. Any other possibility retreated into a history that could never be known.
As a result of its nature, you are destined to either wear this mask, or to never know that it is real. No matter which is true, never once will you look upon its face.
The berserker's mask is wrought from the same materials as the pararang.
Despite its potency, one arrow from Cupid's bow can render this mask useless.
Wearing such a mask also limits the effect of luck on one's survival.