Mock

Mock

They run trough the Cage, invisible, silent as shadows, stealing bits of food here and there and bits of chant too. They brag about being the best spies of the multiverse, and that’s probably true. They are the sprites of the planes; they are the mocks. If someone spies a mock when it is visible, he might see a little, hairless, grey skinned humanoid, with an elongated head and features.

They have no noses, and only a slit of a mouth. They have cat-like ears, but down-turned. Their fingers are very long; all the better for snatching things. Their feet are big and flat. If someone met a mock’s gaze he’d see that its eyes were black and pupil-less, and with something vaporous shifting inside. That might be the last thing he sees.

COMBAT: Of course, the mock is almost always invisible, because it doesn’t want to hurt or scare people. In combat, a mock’s invisibility lend him a great advantage, those who want to strike it does with a -4 penalty to attack rolls. A dispel magic makes a mock visible for 1 turn if he fails a saving throw versus spells. Mocks hate combat and do fight only when cornered, which is a very rare event. It is never surprised and can see all things invisible and through illusions. If they must attack, they do it by surprising it’s opponent. They can also use these thief skills:

• Move Silently: 99%
• Pick Pockets: 95%
• Climb Walls: 90%
• Find/Remove Traps: 90%
• Detect Noise: 99%

They fight with blades as daggers and short sword. They can backstab an opponents for five times the normal damage. If invisible and silent, opponents are always surprised. Their last and most powerful ability is mostly a curse for most mocks…

If someone meets a mock’s gaze, he must save versus petrification or be turned into an harmless shadow, turning barmy in 1-4 days and dissipating in 1-6 days. In that state, he cannot affect physical beings or talk. He can see invisible mocks and talk to them, but most can’t help. Nothing less than a wish can save a shadowed berk. They may use potions.

HABITAT/SOCIETY: Mocks are a sad bunch. Forced to be lonely for all their lives, which are usually long: their life span is of 250 years in the average case. Their only pleasure in life is to play harmless pranks on unwary folks. Only the dabus truly know of the mocks’ existence in the Cage, and view them as mere pests. Sometimes a mock will stroll the streets wearing a heavy cape and cowl, but underneath it’s still invisible. They may be hired as spies or thieves, for they are the masters of the arts nefarious. Evil mocks may be hired as assassins.

ECOLOGY: Many things hint that mocks are not natives of the Outer Planes, but most sages agree they are planars, plane-touched like the tieflings. They might have been Prime halflings, but they have been warped by the essence of a plane, surely Pandemonium. They have not been turned evil by the plane, but they are highly chaotic. Yet they’ll do a good action instead of an evil one, sometimes saving a life and fleeing afterwards. Some mocks resent their loneliness, and take out their anger on others. These are chaotic evil mocks.

CHANT: When invisible, mocks seem to slip slightly in another dimension as with the victims of their gaze. When there, they are vulnerable to the attacks of the hostile inhabitants: the whogloaks. Another rather interesting thing is that mocks don’t need gate keys to operate portals in and out of Pandemonium as they seem to function as living gate keys themselves. Investigations continue…

Source: Martin Bourassa, art inspired by Jeremiah Golden

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