Fell Designs are anomalous objects containing an 'essence' that magical scholars have yet to fully understand. These objects can be destroyed and banished, but they always somehow find their way back into reality in some way or another, in some cases merely causing localized havoc and in others potentially threatening the world. Each Design attempts to infiltrate Elstren in its own ways, but usually appear to 'creatives' that have been unfortunately selected at seemingly random, although some designs seem to be much more malevolent and clever than others. Fell designs present themselves in prophesies, visions and dreams as though they were artifacts of vast fortune and strength, fostering obsession and hiding their true nature. Mortals can only recreate them through exhaustive  and often destructive processes, usually requiring years or even decades of obsessive work.

The source and nature of these objects and the 'souls' they contain are hotly debated. No item has ever directly communicated with a person, despite in many cases having both an observable will and a degree of intellect that implies some kind of sapience. The magic contained within them is often far beyond mortal capacities, meaning that they cannot be of man-made origin as anyone with the power to create them would surely have been a significant historical figure and the most skilled enchanter who has ever lived, despite the objects being in existence for nearly 1,500 years.

Scholars are aware of eight Fell Designs. Each design varies in its degree of malevolence and danger, ranging from a dangerous but useful tool all the way up to potentially apocalyptic. The known Designs in ascending order of risk and notoriety are:

- The Astral Bell, also referred to as the Ghost Bell in much literature, a special bell that allows the wielder and anyone within hearing range of its otherworldly knell to view into higher planes depending on where the bell was struck. Might permit view into the Deep which could easily kill the wielder by viewing Angels, and steadily wears on the wielder's soul the more they use it. Of the artifacts considered Fell Designs, the Bell is the only one that is not considered to be actively malicious--simply treacherous to use.

- The Visage of Mayi, a statue constructed with marble. Each person that looks at the statue sees a different person--a lost loved one, typically. If sufficient offerings and energy are poured into the statue, it may animate for a time, 'becoming' the person that it appears to be and holding conversation. Whether it actually somehow drags their soul from the Firmament or merely somehow perfectly imitates them is as yet unknown (to the people of Elstren, anyway), but the perfection of its duplication would imply that it in some way acquires the real thing. However, when more than one person looks at the statue while it is 'live', those people will become new statues, taking the place of the original Visage and allowing it to remain animated permanently.

Horrifically, if multiple people look at it at once, their bodies will seem to merge on its pedestal in a tangle of limbs and marble, visible only to the first person who looked at the statue originally and otherwise acting as another Visage of Mayi for anyone else. Perhaps contradicting the idea that it is actually the person in question, they will always be eager about the idea of deliberately sacrificing someone else to return permanently, but will only bring it up if it is brought up by the person they're talking to, behaving entirely normally otherwise for the rest of their life.

When the statue is produced, it will always have its arms raised and palms up, as if holding something up. When it is completed, a small red light will appear above these hands, growing brighter the more offerings and attention are heaped upon the statue. However, it grows much brighter each time another person is 'resurrected' via the statue, the hands of all entangled souls instead depicted as reaching out for the red light rather than holding it.

Eventually, the light becomes nearly blinding. If a statue is permitted to 'absorb' a total of exactly 27 people before it is destroyed, the 'Ritual of Recall' begins. Each of the existing resurrected Visages suddenly changes. Though indeed they may be the true soul of the person in question, the forceful and eldritch resurrection warps their soul and puts it under the permanent command of the Visage, which it only exercises when the time is right. These Visages mind control the subjects who brought them back, bringing them on a long journey on foot back to the original Visage of Mayi, wherever it may be. Any insurmountable distance is bridged by a portal.

When all parties return to the Visage, the light expands into a red portal leading to infinite darkness. In a line, each person who had used the statue is lead into the portal, never to be seen again. When the ritual concludes, the portal shuts and the statue breaks apart like an egg, its fragments dissolving into a small sea of human blood. It reveals a new Visage of Mayi within, ready to begin the cycle again.

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- The Howling Masquerade, and its individual components, the Howling Masks. The Howling Masks pose a nearly apocalyptic threat to Elstren if they were permitted to spread, displaying a combination of magical power, malicious intellect, and the capacity for uncontrolled growth.

The first Howling Mask is typically extremely ornate, but may adopt many forms in order to avoid being identified before it can take root. It is often somewhat disquieting in appearance and is usually black and heavily adorned with silver and opal, both highly prized in Elstren. When this mask is first worn, it suddenly extends tendrils into the eyes and mouth of the subject, piercing the eyes and pushing into the brain. The Howling Mask immediately takes control.

The first Mask will then begin to produce new Masks as rapidly as possible, typically out of Ichor, and can also convert any mask that it finds into a Howling Mask. This leads to dangerous situations in which organizations with large numbers of masked people such as the Lantern Bearers can experience very swift outbreaks due to the prevalence of and familiarity with so many masks. It is very easy to mistake a Masquerader for a real person at a distance, and stories swirl about calling out to Lantern Bearer patrols only to have the Masquerade bear down upon them.

In spite of their name, the Howling Masks tend to be silent and dangerous stalkers. Despite possessing clear human or even superhuman intellect, they never speak or make any attempt to communicate whatsoever, even to each other. This seems to be due to some sort of telepathic link, as the Masks clearly strategize with each other and relay information and even sensory data. Masks tend to travel in groups of 3-5, but start forming larger and larger groups as the local number of Masks goes up.

Each new Mask increases the intellect of the Masquerade as a whole, and consequently an outbreak can happen very suddenly and grow out of control rapidly as their power grows exponentially. By default, they are of fully human intellect and will do anything that a human might do to advance their goals, including highly advanced tool use, alchemy, magic, construction of defensible structures and more, siphoning knowledge from those that they overtake and putting it to good use. If allowed to reach this stage, Masks will eventually begin adopting advanced military tactics, with even seasoned tacticians struggling to keep up with them, potentially threatening the world.

The sole weaknesses of the Masks are their silence, the weak point that their Mask represents, and their unwillingness to kill, much preferring to forcibly restrain targets and affix masks to their faces. Their silence makes them poor impostors despite the guise that their stolen body and garb might provide, at most offering them the element of surprise--but up close, a Mask is always obvious. Finally, the Mask's bodies no longer operate on normal rules--seemingly animated by an otherworldly force, they do not sleep, eat, and will not die unless their body is entirely and permanently incapacitated, burned, or the mask is heavily damaged.

They are called Howling Masks because, when their mask is destroyed, they will release a pulse of magic and a piercing scream that seems to empower nearby Masks. Each time a Mask dies, the ones around it become much more powerful for a time as they appear to consume their essence and magic.

The Howling Masks are far and away considered to be the most dangerous Fell Design. While most of the other objects could invite disaster on small or even vast scales, the Masks are the only ones that represent an extreme, worldwide existential threat from the moment they are invited back into Elstren. It takes only one city to fall before an outbreak turns into total war with superhuman foes.