In Loki's Honor

Mimics were a type of shapeshifting monster that could emulate normal objects or other things they saw. While the most famous type of mimic was the treasure chest ones, they came in all sizes and shapes. Some imitated weapons, others common household items. Mimics had a limitation that they could only emulate objects roughly their size, more or less. Or, more precisely, their body mass. Being an amorphous monster, mimics didn't care about hollow spaces inside their bodies.

They can create eyes, tongues, teeth, legs of various shapes and sizes, and, in some cases, even arms. Their coordination is lacking though. Object use by mimics is limited to rudimentary manipulation. Despite that, without a brain, they display no sentience and only rudimentary intelligence. Some mimics can be taught tricks and there's a tale of a hero who tamed a spear mimic which aided him in striking true by bending itself. Mimics have a superb sense of touch and are capable of detecting vibrations, heat, and light through their skin. They can hear the faintest of noises and recognize voices at great distances even in the damp tunnels they often inhabit.

Little is known about the mimic lifecycle. They reproduce by splitting. The circumstances that allow that to occur are unknown as simply shearing a mimic in two by brute force or a precise cut only results in two halves of a dead mimic. Therefore, some process in which the parent mimic grants life upon splitting must occur. No records of mimic reproduction in captivity have ever been found. How long a mimic can live is also a big unknown but scholars assume mimics do not die of old age. Others speculate that old mimics just lose their lifeforce and become the mundane object they emulate. One evidence that supports this claim is that body parts cut from a mimic are almost indistinguishable from their mundane counterparts in all physical aspects. A sliver of wood from a chest mimic's lid is, for all purposes, wood.

Another puzzling aspect is how they process mass. Though they do not excrete, Mimics can eat a lot of food at once, be it an adventuring party or trash and even carrion. Despite that, their mass does not change. Scholars believe all mimics have spatial magic and store excess food there. That might explain how they can stay alive for centuries locked in deep vaults. They are very resistant to poisons and practically immune to disease. Mimics apparently extract enough water from their food and do not breathe. Breathing would defeat the whole pass-as-an-object strategy.

Their amorphous bodies can take on the properties of the material they emulate. The steel corners of a chest mimic are as hard to damage as steel. it is as stiff as steel too, at least on the surface. The mimic is capable of using his entire body as if it was composed solely of muscle and sinew. The strength of a mimic is enormous. Chest mimics can use their lids and teeth to chew through enchanted steel plate armor. A mimic's tongue is powerful enough to crush and crumple said armor into scrap, along with the person inside.

It is highly recommended to fight a mimic from afar. Not only because of their monstrous strength but also because all mimics can coat their bodies with a viscous secretion that can turn into a powerful adhesive with but a thought. Often, melee weapons used to strike a mimic get stuck in the adhesive after the first blow. The adhesive is strong enough to rip the outer layer of skin. The process used by mimics to make their secretions adhere is unknown. Many researchers tried to discover the catalyst but the common belief is that the mimic's own magic triggers the reaction. It is also localized. Mimics can make one part of their bodies sticky while the rest of the secretion remains inert. A few of these monsters learn to spit their secretions, enabling them to entangle prey from afar. Others discover how to make their secretions slippery instead.

All in all, the mimics are a fascinating and dangerous family of monsters.

- Zagan Saiga, Compendium of Amorphous Monsters, Volume II.

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Night.

In the basement of a castle under construction, a book laid on the floor while the book's owner doubled down in a fit of laughter and giggles. The book couldn't move as many books ought to do and that would be a completely normal thing except for the fact that the book was alive.

"You... pfft!" Barbara bent over as she finally tried to make some coherent words. "Got paralyzed by your own creation?"

"This!" She grunted and sputtered as she tried to reign in her bout of mirth, pointing at the rusted disk of steel with two colored pebbles jutting out of one side, "doesn't seem worth it."

Unless she reclaimed the artifact, my curse wouldn't go. Breaking it was out of the question, I wouldn't waste MP on that.

"Wait a sec," she raised a hand and turned around. More laughter.

I used a telekinetic spell to raise the heating plate and float it to touch her ankle. That's all it took.

> For returning the stolen heating plate, you are no longer affected by {Curse of Paralysis}.

Yeah, fuck you very much, Loki.

I cheered.

With a sigh, Barbara turned around and saw the heating plate next to her boot, "you cheated!" She whined. "And I can no longer sense the item."

She crouched and picked it up. Her eyes told me she was skeptical of my creation. "What is this rusted piece of garbage supposed to be?"