Oswald Manfred (A couple days after the Ball)

The airship was loaded up with all the supplies we needed, and then some more. I had spent the last few hours double checking the mimic and doppelganger provided to me by Charles. There was no unexpected mutations, but it was going to be a long and slow battle to erase these creatures once and for all. I analyzed every crewmate on this vessel, and burned every box to make certain we were clean before going on the journey.

The crew was excited to have me, while they talked about my death at the ball. To them I was a paragon that gave them hope. I wrote the monster manual they studied, and translated. They offered me drinks of fine ale, and wanted to hear the stories I had. I brushed them off, while heading below deck where the doppelganger and mimic were still held.

The mimic itself was a hermaphroditic race with both male and female parts. They would self fertilize, but preferred to engage with others to create more variety. They would lay their eggs in discarded trash, or even the leftovers of their latest meals. I cut the thing open from the bottom, checking to see that it still had a clutch inside it. Which meant it fertilized itself for the coming season. Mimics would only breed during the winter and spring. They had clutches of five or six eggs that varied in size depending on the mimic itself.

Another impressive thing about these creatures, was that despite the one I carved open to bare it's internal organs, it was still alive and softly screaming. This was of course a move to try and make me stop, but their nervous system was barely there, and very simple. They could feel pain from fire, but not if they were flayed and spread open. It was crude, and a way of dealing with the likely possibility that an enemy would strike them to get away from their mouths. Very simple ambush predators, that stuck to one form or another as they matured.

I looked over to the bound and gagged doppelganger that struggled in his bonds. A crewmate, and cousin of the captain. Doppelgangers only came about when a mimic infestation was left to fester and grow. Once they had a queen, they would form a wall of flesh in one of the tunnels, pretending to be that same tunnel. Any poor soul that went down those tunnels could be captured and taken within the wall itself. They were smarter about this, only doing it when the individual was alone, or in a pair. One might feel or hear something behind them, then as they turned, the torch or light source would be knocked from their hand. The wall would open up, as tendrils erupt out to catch their prey.

Once inside it was already over for most. The person would slowly be digested while the queen used her tendrils to enter every opening. She would lay an egg that would grow inside the body, as the doppelganger grew from the internal organs before taking over the brain stem, then the brain properly. This was when it really became a problem, because on the outside the person was still alive. They would bleed red, have all the mannerisms, all the memories, and everything from their past life. Yet, they would have this parasite that was always guiding them. They wanted to go as a group to see if they can't find the source of the problem. They spoke out the loudest against the mimics, wanting to become leaders of groups that go out searching for a solution to the problem.

Naturally they wouldn't count towards the group number, and you only needed two in a group of four to distract your prey. There was no telling how far along the infestation has gotten. How many families were completely made up of doppelgangers. The only saving grace there was, was that mimics did not have souls. They could not hold talents, or perform magic. That didn't stop the doppelgangers from using talents and magic that their hosts had.

I entered the cage with the doppelganger, as he kicked in his bindings to move away from me. I knelt down, using analyze to reconfirm what I already knew.

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Olfred Fraybeard (Infected)

Magic: Water elementalist

Talent: None

Strength: Above average

Dexterity: Average

Agility: Average

Stamina: Above average

Will: Below average

Intelligence: None (Brain Infection)

Perception: None (Brain Infection)

The parasite has claimed the host's life, but trapped the soul.

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There was more information, about what made him up. How healthy he was, and known relationships with individuals I have already met. I could find out what someone's talent was, after analyzing them over and over again. Though there should be no point if there were already records about such. There was a knock at the door, as I turned my attention away from poor Olfred. I saw the captain leaning on the doorframe, face flushed with ale. He took it the hardest when he learned what happened to Olfred. "Captain Fraybeard, what can I help you with?"

He rocked a little, "You're checking him again aren't you? Is there any chance you were wrong? Maybe your talent isn't working right? It's rare I know, but I just can't accept it."

I stood up, walking out of the cage and locking it. "Tell me Captain, has he tried to take you to any tunnels alone?"

The man laughed, while tearing up. "This again? We were going to get a mob when we got back. How does that make sense!? Why would he try to get so many others to go storming down the tunnels together!?" He took another swig from the bottle he brought down.

"As I have said before, whenever enough of the population has been taken over, they try to get more. Doppelgangers feed fear and anger to those around them. Their job is to look innocent, and provide solutions to the problem. They will arrange mobs where two thirds of the mob is safe, while the other third can be suppressed by them. Their race is a cancer that grows on fear and anger." I stood my ground in front of the cage.

The captain ran a hand over his face, trying to remain calm, "Just... just let me talk to him. I want to see if I can tell if he's still in there."

I frowned, "No, he'll talk and act like he would if he wasn't a doppelganger. The only way of testing if he is or isn't is to crack open his skull. Which you don't want. We'll do a less fatal test when we get there, but if you open his cage I will kill him to show you the black blood inside."

The captain balled his fist, shaking his head. "Please don't, I promised I'd keep him safe. Is there any chance you can reverse it? I mean, if he even is?"

"I'm afraid not, Captain. You would need a miracle from a bishop for that to be done. He would need to be killed, then revived. This is not a matter we can do halfheartedly, we need to tackle it with practiced discipline, and cold logic. Emotions are a weakness that will be exploited by the enemy. Despite being simple creatures, their queen is a bit smarter. She is connected to other mimics, and all the doppelgangers. She learns through them, but only by fully digesting the doppelgangers once they return to her."

He nodded slowly, "Why wasn't this stopped sooner? Your king surely had to know? The nobles said he's aware of everything important."

"As you may have noticed from the Ball, our nobles aren't exactly the best or most reliable. My king is very capable, but he is not all knowing. Unless he is personally in the area, he will not know what will happen in the future. If your kingdom had told us there was a problem, he would have prepared to help you sooner. Instead, you brought us gifts and trinkets in the hope of calling me over. This is a problem that has been going on for years, and what do you do? You bring it to us without a single word. If we were not taking precautions against all goods brought in, we'd have to deal with our own infestation." My goggles glowed, as the man paled.

"I'm... we're sorry. We were told that the boxes were not to be opened. Others checked the contents." His lip quivered as he slumped, "I see... they are probably infected as well. If you gave us a box that might lead to an infestation of these monsters, we would have declared war. At the very least, we would have left you to rot."

I crossed my arms nodding, "Every season the doppelgangers get smarter, because they are connected to their Queen. I'll need a list of all the names of people lost, or reported dead without bodies being found. It is likely they were already digested by the Queen, making this the single worst infestation I'll ever have the displeasure of dealing with. You will accept every request I make, and agree to all my terms. I am a patient man, and I can leave at any point. Eclipse can leave you to die, and we have that right since your kingdom launched an attack against us. Even if we both know it wasn't willingly."

The Captain hung his head low, "How many do you plan on saving? What is the best way to deal with it all?"

I stroked my beard, "Personally? I would send a team of clean people towards a magma chamber, and have them mine it until the tunnels were all purged with fire. Simple, clean, and efficient. The problem with that is how far it would set your families back, and how you would need more food than what we are giving you now. Which means we're doing this the hard way. I'm locking down everything, and going through your guards one by one. Anyone infected will be put to death, and we will enforce a curfew. During that time, everyone seen breaking it will be marked by the guards, while I analyze every single thing in a room. We'll go from these sanitized rooms spreading out and burning all the mimics we find. People will die, but the numbers should be lower than a full on purge."

The Captain looked up at me, swallowing hard. "Don't you feel anything? What you said you wanted to do was awful. What about the children? The old? The youth? You really would rather kill them all over the second option?"

I nodded, "Yes, it's harder to kill doppelgangers when they are inside children, or someone you care for. Emotions make things harder, which is why I would rather do a full purge. Wipe the slate clean, and start anew." There was a still silence between us as I turned back towards the doppelganger. "But, that would erase your history. That would destroy your way of life, and you would rely on us more and more. Eventually the remnants of the families that are left, would vote to join our kingdom as another part of it. My king is only one person, and he cannot bear the weight alone. That is why I'm moving to save what I can of your kingdom."

"I don't understand, you're doing this to keep your king from worrying about more? Everyone wants power, isn't that why you became as strong as you are?" I admired how well my kind could hold it's ale.

I put a hand on the bar of the cage. "My king never wanted power, but he needed it to protect those he cared about. Our Queen cared so deeply for those under her. As his love towards her grew, the more he realized he needed to protect the people. Charles never wanted power, he needed it to protect what he had. Even that wasn't enough when our darkest night fell upon us. It is a terrible thing to watch a kingdom fall, worse still for those that were around to remember its glory. All those lives that fought for it, all those artists that bled for it. Everything burned or destroyed because of one idiot. The lives of my friends turning to dust as their culture was destroyed."

"What happened in Dark Fall? Before it fell? There are no records of it, even from the elders."

I lowered my head, "They destroyed those records with the other kingdoms. Back then, Dark Fall was a place to send all the criminals to die fighting the monster hordes. They wanted to wash away the blood on their hands, by destroying all of the records. In reality, Dark Fall was just a place where monsters came out. The other kingdoms were terrified, and used Eclipse as the place to store and process problems before sending them off to die and end the monster threat. It was a death sentence for anyone to be sent to that town back then. I never imagined how much different it would actually be once I promised to protect our King as a young boy back then. That was so long ago, and we were just children trying to keep each other alive."

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"I feel like there is a story there, we have a month before we make it to the kingdom. Will you share some with us?"

I moved away from the cage, "If it will keep you from coming down here, I will share a few. Though I will never tell you how beautiful Dark Fall was before it fell. That is not my story to tell. The eggs of the Mimic have dried out, and died by now. We do not need to worry about them hatching, we need to stop your sister ship and inspect them. We can't let them do their job until we have determined they are clean. After all, we have a job to do, going forward. A grim task, that must be carried out. I'm afraid that even the most optimistic estimate I can make, has a third of your population dying. All trade with other kingdoms are to be halted if you haven't already. The king likely sent out a few heralds to dispatch anything you missed. Keeping the elves from starting a war with you in the future."

"We don't trade with those knife-ears." The Captain scowled, crossing his arms.

"You don't need to lie, we were aware from the start. We overlooked it, because we couldn't feed your kingdom and our own. If this is going to work, you need to be completely honest with me. Now, let's go talk to the crewmates, and drink a bit. I'll tell you some of my stories, while explaining what we need to do."

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Oswald Manfred (One Month after the Ball)

The sister ship was so infested, I was surprised the damned thing wasn't a mimic by itself. Doppelgangers were easier to kill, since their bodies were still just as capable of suffocating as before. Every five steps, the plank you were standing on would suddenly rise up to lunge at you. They couldn't be controlled by a doppelganger, responding completely predictably to any stimulus that wasn't related to their family.

Everything that needed to be used was a mimic. The rope for the sail? That was a mimic. The barrel holding the rations of water? That was a mimic as well. That one book that fell to the ground when the ship rocked? You guessed it, a mimic! Which only confirmed my fears that the queen behind these mimics had enough time to eat a decent of the population and had the sky port infested.

I had Fraybeard and his crew take the clean ship and enough rations to head back to Eclipse to pick up the food shipment two weeks ago. After I burned every tool or mechanism on this damned ship. Now I was using my magic to fly the thing by myself, with all the supplies I needed going forward. This ship was likely a move made by that damn queen, hoping to infest Eclipse through sheer numbers and hoping a couple might slip through any cracks.

It worked in scaring off the crew I was with, and making them feel this endeavor was a little more hopeless. After all, what could one old man do against a port likely infested and crawling with doppelgangers? One of the bastards managed to sever my head from my neck in a surprise attack, but truly didn't understand how well I could cope with it. I could pull the air I needed into my blood without lungs, I could reverse the bad air into good air. Severing my head just left me with a small scar on my neck, and really pissed me off. That was the real reason I sent the other crew back, while keeping the cages and supplies I needed. I had two weeks to brew a special surprise for these shifting shit stains.

Dawn arrived, as I closed in on the port. I stood on top of the bowsprit, the long pole sticking out of the front used for grappling the thing and securing it as it came in. With every passing second, my goggles would begin to glow as surrounded myself with the dark gas that began to erupt from the floorboards that were missing. I loomed as I rose to the crow's nest from my spot. The gas was taking shape and form as the green mixture took it's spot where the eyes were. I could see the people in the port stopping everything they were doing.

To them, it would appear that a giant shadowy monster was standing on a ship that lost plenty of boards. Even more terrifying was when the gas I compressed tore through the hull of the ship at the bottom, making dark shadowy claws. The port itself was a large hole carved in one of the mountains kept warm through fire runes. It was large enough to launch two ships at a time, and more would be stored on platforms below with floors that could be moved by ropes and muscle.

There were at least 200 men on the port, and I could see the mimics feeling the fear of the doppelgangers. I remembered every single thing that twitched nervously, while completely covered in black mist. The air itself was reacting to my gas, and I had it vibrate to make my voice louder and echoing towards the cave itself. "Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages. Welcome to the performance of a life time. You may kneel down and pray to whatever gods you worship. I, Oswald Manfred, The Crawling Death, have come to purge this port of all mimics and Doppelgangers. Those that attack will die. You may live if you form into a single file line and step aboard my vessel. You have one hour to comply, before I release this gas into the entirety of your port. Rest assured, it is a painless death. Those of you that run away will have a mark against you. If you receive three marks, you will die regardless of whether you are a doppelganger or not."

There was one asshole that threw out a ball of fire towards the large figure of gas. I had it grabbed and smothered, while stretching out a finger towards the dumbass that tried. He coughed once before his lungs ruptured from all the pressure of the gas inside him. Then he exploded with bits of black blood where he stood. "He was a doppelganger as you can see from the blood. Would anyone else like to try?"

The green gas itself was similar to the liquid in my goggles. It allowed me to create thin layers that allowed me to zoom in and out on those staring at me. I could see all of their jaws dropping, while others began to sweat and terror. I did not have to focus on keeping an entire estate in flux anymore, so I was able to do this without potentially sacrificing an arm. My ship would scrape against the rocks at the bottom of the cave, as I moved the four claws into action. The ship itself was crawling as I could see them whispering my title. Many of them quickly moving to the port to receive me. I burned descriptions and images of those that turned to run away.

I floated down to deck, while the boat crawled into position. "The hour starts now. Single file, and you will be safe here on deck." I moved the ropes to tie them to the appropriate spots. The gangplank extending to let them slowly walk while my dark figure fell over the entirty of the ship to create a dark dome along it. The first person to enter was met with my glowing eyes and dark figure. A female that stared right back at me. She was not infected, so I ordered her to go towards the mast and face it, unless she wanted to see doppelgangers die.

The next hour was spent just analyzing each worker for the parasite. The deck was stained with black and red blood and there were more than a few still outside. However, I am a dwarf of my word and I promised an hour. The black fog exploded out, as those on the gangplank screamed in surprise. Out of the two hundred workers, only fifty were quick enough to make it onto the ship. Others ran away, or tried to use their magic to help keep them safe from my gas. I allowed them the chance to try, while facing the clearly shocked survivors. The first one on the ship shook her head shaking, "What if they weren't doppelgangers!?"

I nodded in her direction, "This level of focus is exhausting for me. I could go through each and every one of you, but that would potentially harm me. A good number of you ran, and those likely were not doppelgangers. Otherwise, I don't care, they were dumb enough to work in a port infested with mimics. Just like you and all those around you. Surely you saw them attack others."

They looked down in unison, confirming my suspicions. "You were offered a deal weren't you? The doppelgangers would protect you, if you were to try and fool me?"

They hung their heads lower, "We don't have a choice!" The same woman spoke.

I tsked at her, "You always have a choice, but let me help clear the air. Whatever they told you they were going to do, they lied. They will not spare your friends, they will not spare your family. In fact, they are likely already changed. Especially if they were the ones that made the offer to you."

The woman looked up at me and glared, showing her teeth. "We know that! They didn't promise to spare us, they said they would leave our history intact. That they would let us have children before taking us." She teared up, "They promised us that they would help us grow stronger, and cultivate food that could be eaten. There are monsters worse than the mimics down there, and they are protecting us!"

I blinked at that, completely caught off guard. Then I laughed, "Now that is a good joke. Because the captain of the other ship didn't share that sentiment."

"That was a month ago! Things changed while you were coming here. Please, just talk to a Doppelganger! We won't do anything that goes against her! Their Queen will talk to you through the Doppelganger." She looked back down, doing a good job of crying.

I wondered just what exactly was going on, that made these dwarves consider becoming cattle to be the best option. Still, this was a unique instance. There was a mimic queen that was willing to talk, and negotiate. I stroked my beard, trying to wrap my head around it. "I will talk to them, but if we cannot reach an agreement, then it's back to the original plan." Charles did mention staying here for two years at least.

The woman nodded, wiping her tears away. "Thank you sir Oswald. W-what about the gas?"

"This port is still being sanitized, and everyone outside will die. This ship was infested, and I acknowledge it as an attack on the kingdom. The fact that you seem to have known about this, only means you are comfortable enough to die with the mimics. Everything has become a little more complicated, which is why you lot are going to stay alive until I get to the bottom of this."

It didn't make sense, but if they had a mimic queen that could be reasoned with, then I needed to inspect her. There was no telling how this might turn out, and so I walked outside past the dead bodies. I did not need to focus on the gas anymore since it was expanding and dissolving organic materials and rusting metals. A single breath would result in death, but I was more than capable of keeping myself safe. I walked towards where a pocket of air was lingering. I tapped on it, finding someone inside.

The bubble expanded a little trying to keep the gas out, but was unable to push off what I kept on myself. I walked in, to find a woman struggling to keep a box safe, with a couple children. I moved the gas away, while analyzing the woman. She was a doppelganger, while the children were just little dwarves that had short beards. They were knocked out, as the doppelganger fell to her knees. "Please spare them."

I tilted my head at this, "Why didn't you run?"

She was an aeromancer, but not a strong one. "Our queen wishes to protect the children, I am a doppelganger. Please spare them."

I stroked my beard, "That didn't answer my question. Why didn't the children run? Did you think I would fall for a blatant trap?" I gestured to the mimic box.

"This mimic holds eggs inside itself. I was tasked with protecting it, and the children wanted to make sure I was safe. Please spare them." She put her face to the ground.

Emotions were what these creatures preyed on, but this situation was entirely wrong. The doppelganger shouldn't be trying to protect children, and then the mimic has eggs inside it? Mimics were supposed to lay their eggs, and forget about them. "You have my interest, is it possible to speak to your Queen?"

"Not up here, we're too far away. Our Queen did not want to involve herself with your kind, not after the fires. We hid in the deepest tunnels where she is now. We ate scraps to hide from you. Then the dark one started to move underneath."

"The dark one? Who or what is that?" There were too many things that weren't adding up, and I wasn't foolish enough to head anywhere they wanted me to go.

"Our Queen, she is not mimic, nor doppelganger. She is a new race, given a soul by one with the talent; Soul Giver. Disguised as saddlebags, they left before you came and burned our home. Our Queen does not wish to fight, please help her."

"Does not wish to fight, my ass! What about the ship full of mimics and doppelgangers that just so happened to attack me when I stepped on it?" Mimics shouldn't live this long, but this doppelganger mentioned their queen was a new race. I knew what they were going to say next.

"Different queen, chose to try and kill you. Not our Queen. We need help, stopping other queens. We will do as you ask, please help us. If not, please spare the children."

I frowned, "Your Queen is a new race? Then have them brought up here. If she isn't a tunnel, I'll consider it."

The doppelganger looked up at me, "She is in a golem body, she helps it work. Too large for tunnels. She is willing to let you carry all your deadly weapons with you to her. We know the tunnels that are safe, we can lead you."

"Listen very carefully, I am not marching down to her when there are enemy doppelgangers and mimics. Especially not to a tunnel that could easily be collapsed on top of me. I will let you go, so you can talk to her. If she wants to work together to get rid of the other doppelgangers and mimic queens, fine. All of her doppelgangers, including yourself will be marked with a, 'D,' scarred onto your cheeks and forehead. You will also carry a single silver coin in one of your pockets. This should keep them from realizing what you are doing. I will talk to the head of the Beardcutter family, since he is the head of the family I am going to be accepted into."

The doppelganger quickly nodded, while pulling out a knife to do as I asked. "I shall tell our Queen, thank you for not burning us all again."

I turned and left her there. If the children died then I was going to burn them with the rest. If she stayed until the fog was gone, and kept them alive, then I would give them the benefit of my doubt. Either way, this next month was going to be tedious given how everything was likely to go down. Even I didn't know multiple queens could come up, and that they would seek to fight each other. It was a surprising development that needed further study.