Defacer

Wizards know a little about the other planes of existence from the start. Some even believe that all magic flows from some otherplanar source. No one knows whether that’s actually true. There are as many hypotheses about magic as there are spellcasters. Defacers, however, know their magic is drawn from a specific and terrible demiplane called the Grove of Crows. A would-be defacer begins their journey with a mask. Perhaps they make their face covering from sticks and feathers after an unsettling dream about a flock of dark-winged birds smothering the sky. Or maybe they find the mask after following the sound of squawking crows into the forest, and there discovering a lightning-struck tree. From it, they pluck a shard of dead wood because it’s already an ideal, if disquieting, mask. The defacer known as Alghurab describes finding a “weird old coin” in a shop selling junk and oddities that turned out to be a Path token. Activating it by accident, pulled onto the Path before he realized he was embarking on an interplanar trip, he got lost and couldn’t escape the road until he finally emerged in the Grove of Crows. There, claims Alghurab, he became the first defacer. More than that, he will not divulge.

"Crow" Familiar

A companion tentacled crow—and also probably a spy—is sent to you from the mysterious but certainly aberrant entity nesting in the heart of the Grove of Crows. You learn the find familiar spell. You always have this spell prepared, and it doesn’t count against the number of spells you can have prepared. If you already have a familiar, it’s eaten by the tentacled crow, which becomes your new familiar. While your tentacled crow is within 5 feet of you, the time you must spend to copy a spell into your spellbook is 2 minutes per spell level.

Faceless Mask

You found or fashioned a mask that has no clear features, inspired by your connection with the Grove of Crows. The mask grants you some benefits, plus a couple of drawbacks.
• You can use the mask as a spellcasting focus for your wizard spells.
• While wearing the mask, you have darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
• Your otherworldly gaze can magically blind another creature. As an action, choose one creature that you can see within 5 feet of you. If the target can see your mask, it must succeed on a Constitution saving throw against your wizard spell save DC or be blinded until the end of your next turn. On subsequent turns, you can use your action to maintain this effect, extending its duration until the end of your next turn. However, the effect ends if you and your target are more than 5 feet away from each other or if the creature takes damage. Once the effect ends, or if the creature succeeds on its initial saving throw against this effect, you can’t use this feature on that creature again until you finish a long rest.
• Each time you take off the mask, you gain one level of exhaustion.
• You suffer from face blindness while you wear the mask, meaning you have a hard time recognizing people by their features. While face blind, you have disadvantage on Deception,
Intimidation, and Persuasion checks.

Aberrant Mask

You find that you get a better night’s sleep if you keep your mask on, even though the dreams are unsettling. One of those dreams imparts new magical prowess to you. You gain resistance to psychic damage while you wear the mask. In addition, you gain the ability to speak Deep Speech when the mask is on.

Erase Face

Your mask has been whispering to you lately. Usually, you can’t make it out, and no one else seems to hear it. Suddenly you realize the wisdom it was trying to impart: You learn the erase face spell. You can cast erase face without expending a spell slot. Once you cast erase face in this way, you can’t do so again until you finish a short or long rest, though you can still cast it normally using an available spell slot.

Inevitable Call of the Grove

The entity in the Grove of Crows wants you. But in the meantime, it’s satisfied with the occasional visitor you send its way. As an action, you transport a creature within 30 feet that can see you to the Grove of Crows, if it fails a Charisma saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. The target returns one minute later, or sooner if they succeed on a Charisma saving throw on their turn. The returning target reappears in the space they left, or in the nearest open space. Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
The returned target is affected in the following two ways.
• The target suffers from the effects of the erase face spell.
• The Grove of Crows is a difficult place for unprepared newcomers, and the target can’t recall anything of their visit unless they succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your wizard spell save DC. If they succeed, they recall only an unending mass of battering, flapping wings.