A cloth-wrapped wooden case holding the quiet tools of a changed face: small pots of skin-tinting pigments in several tones, sticks of charcoal and chalk for shading, a lump of beeswax and a tin of theatrical gum for altering nose and brow, false beards and mustaches on gauze backing, a wig or two of stitched human hair, rolls of cotton padding for cheek and belly, a folded mummer’s cloak that can be worn inside-out, a thin voice-pipe for roughening or raising the tone, and a small polished brass mirror. Players, mummers, and more than one Silent Talon carry such kits on long assignments; a ruse that must hold for a full day needs more than a pulled hood.
The kit is the working tool of the Theatrics skill when applied to disguise: altering one’s own appearance — age, class, ancestry, gender, or specific individual — to pass under the eyes of those who would otherwise know the face. A disguise attempt without the kit can only manage rough concealment (a pulled hood, a smear of dirt) and rolls at severe penalty; with the kit in hand, a skilled user can pass through a market square under the eyes of people who know them. The quality of the result is the quality of the Theatrics test, and observers who have reason to look closely (guards alerted to a fugitive, a suspicious lover, a spymaster) roll opposed Awareness or Intrigue to penetrate the ruse.
The work is less about looking like someone else than about not looking like oneself. A clumsy user will be marked at twenty paces. The pigments stain the skin for days after a job and the false hair never quite sits right after a hard night, so a careful user replaces components often and trusts no single piece too long. The kit is distinct from the Grooming Kit (which is the traveler’s ordinary upkeep) — the grooming kit makes a man look like himself at his best, while the disguise kit helps him look like someone else entirely.