Who was the Masked man?

The horrific Climb

We passed through the darkness, and the torches were left behind. I sensed a fear amongst my companions as soon as we returned to the darker area. We spotted a chamber on the left that seemed to be lit with a torch, and we entered in to have a look.
A purple piece of cloth was spread out on the smooth floor, and the several ' weapons ' that occupied it were something that appeared to me as ' sticks ', maybe a dozen of them. The flickering torch was on the wall, making our shadows dance behind us.

" So those are the ' weapons? ' " Yormen asked irritably.
" They're just some stupid sticks, let's get going, the snail has lost it completely. " Nichole snapped and started walking out, when Brandon cried, " Stop! " We looked at him with questioning eyes.
" They're not just sticks. They cannot be. " Brandon kneeled before the purple cloth and stroked one of them with his index finger.
" They haven't decomposed in thousands of years, how can they be mere sticks? "
We looked at each other keenly, he had a valid point. Brandon moved his finger to the end of the stick that was rounded up and carved to form a sort of melting ball on top of a stick.
" These are not what you think they are, " Stank said, picking up one of them and looking closely at the melting sculpture , it was the size of a cricket ball, " The serpent said, they were the weapons of the Titans. Is it possible they could be their - "
" Staffs? " I interrupted.
" Exactly. They look more like staffs than just sticks. " Stank held it before the torch to have a better look. The light danced on his dusty face, and those keen eyes glowed with hope, " I say, we pick up one staff each and take it with us. "
We had no valid reason to not to agree with Stank, well at least that's what I thought, but Yormen successfully came up with one.
" We don't even know how to use them, or what they actually do, " he said, " least of all, what help they'll be to us. We should leave them here, it's dangerous. "
" Well in that case, " Nichole said, picking up one of the staffs, " we're damn well taking em'. " 
Yormen rolled his eyes, but nobody cared to convince him. We all picked up a staff for ourselves and walked out of the room. Yormen was the last one to pick the staff for himself. I suggested we took the torch on the wall with us, but it was not detachable. It was stuck indefinitely to the wall.
We begun our nervous march down the long corridor that would lead us to a staircase, and eventually, out of the cave. Brandon lead us and used his hand to be clear of anything that obstructed our way.
While everyone was curiously waiting to get out of this place, Stank kept poking the staff, as if it was a TV remote and it would start working if we touch all buttons, as one of the attempts would hit the power button eventually. When nothing happened, he just tapped it twice on the ground irritably, and was disappointed again.
Yormen gave a short chuckle that sound like, ' I told you it's useless, '
" I wish we had some light, " Brandon said, and we all whispered our agreements. At that instant, Stank's staff came to life. A bluish-white light escaped from the melting ball structure of the staff, giving a view of what lied around us. It was a wide corridor, with nothing but walls covered with dust and cobwebs all around.
" That worked, " Stank's eyes glitted in the staff-light. We walked briskly now, in a hurry towards the staircase that lied around two hundred yards from us. I kept poking my staff too in a waking hope, just like Stank did, but mine didn't light up. The stairs went up in circles, and turned several ways, it was supposed to end up at the other opening. We climbed the stairs behind each other, Stank was ahead of us all, as he had the source of light. I knew we were running short of time according to my escape plan. We had no clue what was happening amongst the Titans and Burnthounds, but we could only hope that they were not yet done shedding blood, rather they exaggerate the brawl to a full fledged war immediately. That was our only hope to escape. We kept climbing the stairs, and it felt like we'd climbed up to the fifteenth floor, yet there was no sign of an end to the staircase. Being an army man, it wasn't difficult for me to keep climbing for even an hour, but I could see my companions struggling really hard. Brandon was ahead of me, and he was breathing heavily. There were no bannisters on either side of the staircase. He wasn't climbing anymore, it was more like crawling. We had to be very careful, because if we fall, there would be no coming back up. The pain would be too severe.
We couldn't die of the fall, could we?
I wasn't so sure.
A couple of hours waved by and Stank landed himself on a stair heavily, looking at his Adam's apple, gasping for breath. His staff kept glowing and the light showed us nothing but the stairs and darkness beyond. I picked up his staff and pointed upwards, my eyes shimmered, focusing on the steps above. It was yet another climbing of twenty minutes.
I felt someone pushed me from behind, because my feet left the stair I was standing on. I toppled sideways and reached out for the bannister, but there were none. My hand caught only air, while I fell from the staircase.
" CHRIS! " Brandon's voice reached my ears, I screamed too. The glowing staff was in my hand and they were in the darkness, yet safe.   I felt my head crashing against a stair and a shooting pain ran through my entire skull. It felt like several seconds before I landed hard on the smooth surface. My shoulder was numb. I wasn't dead, and that was the worst part. I felt the pain scratching through my bones, as if they were broken permanently, my spine seemed to be yelling to tell me it was hurt. My knees felt as if a hammer had been hit with all the force. I lay there, partly unconscious, groaning in the unimaginable pain everywhere in body. Tears rolled out of my eyes and made their course on my face like a river on barren land. I didn't know if I was bleeding or not, and I didn't care. It was so much worse than being hit by a Burnthound. I wished I had never run away, I would've been back at my cellar, without any pain. I would've been sleeping and waiting for my shift, and escaped this horrendous fall.
Why did I leave? Why did I even try?