Miragi (Meer-azh-ee)

Strange, tentacled creatures thought to be related to mimics, the Miragi have the ability to change their shape to resemble other creatures and potentially even objects.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In their true form, the miragi are formed up of a mass of tendrils that extend from the cone top of their form come together to create a humanoid body. Many speculate that this cone is the "true body" of the miragi, and all the tendrils that create their body are akin to thousands of hyper advanced tentacles, fingers or even strands of hair working together in tandem.

Genetics and Reproduction

The miragi don't reproduce sexually, instead going through a gestation period, known as Spawning. During spawning season, most of a colony will converge in trench-like areas specifically tunneled for this event, where their bodies extrude a thick, glue-like protoplasm. The plasm all the miragi mix together in this bowl-like trenches, and eventually form young miragi, who resemble, tiny, malleable squid-like creatures. Usually, a small set of adult miragi are chosen as caretakers of the spawn-pits and must toss in food at regular intervals. These pits must be maintained diligently, as miragi spawn are constantly hungry, and a lack of food will often lead to spawnlings feeding and consuming each other.

Growth Rate & Stages

The miragi spawn remain in their pits for around a year, then emerging as a youngling, which are known as a Shapeless. Shapeless miragi are voraciously curious and are constantly changing, going through a series of molts throughout its youth while it practices taken on different forms until it finds the form of its obsession.

Ecology and Habitats

Most miragi prefer a stable, temperate climate, as intense heat causes them to leak a viscous fluid, similar to sweating, that causes discomfort, while extreme cold hardens their flexible body and hinders their shapeshifting powers. However, the miragi that obsess over creatures that dwell in lands of extreme temperature and take their forms often evolve resistances such environments.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Shapeless miragi have extreme metabolisms, requiring lots of food to fuel their shapeshifting, but this metabolism often mellows out as the miragi ages. Since they usually consume the same foods as whatever race they mimic, their dietary needs slowly morph to match that creature. This leads to a wide variety of diets, with some colonies even developing allergies to the food that another colony nearby might consume.

Biological Cycle

Most miragi avoid the cold, as it hardens their flexible joints, and thus become less active in the winter, but as in most things, the miragi mimic the cycles of those around them, to various degrees of success. For example, a miragi who takes the form of an Ursan will attempt to hibernate, but lacks the true metabolism to rest for such periods, and may even starve to death in the attempt.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Most miragi colonies are built around the obsession of single species or object, and are often anarchically ordered based on the miragi who has the most knowledge of the subject, but this can vary from colony to colony. Some colonies that mimic more hierarchal societies, such as the Hobgoblins, will reflect similar methods.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

Due to their strange, gooey, nature, some alchemists believe that their fluids have potent alchemical properties, especially when they are young. Thus, some more unscrupulous alchemists will hunt them for experimentation.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Miragi colonies are scattered all over the world, often near the settlements of other creatures. Such miragi are usually formed by a prominant family or number of families who moved to the area to be closer to the target of their obsession. It is not unheard of for a miragi to leave their birth colony and travel across the world to either join a new colony or even form their own colony.

Average Intelligence

The miragi are simple creatures, and struggle with anything that isn't the creature or object of their obsession. Miragi that form obsessions for creatures that have a high penchant for math or language must overcome their naturally short attention spans and fluid minds to grasp such concepts, but become highly respected by their miragi peers if they succeed.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Most miragi can see in the dark, although some lack greater vision in exchange for being able to excrete an extremly sticky substance through their skin.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

The connection between miragi and mimics has long been speculated, as they both have similar reproductive stages and shapeshifting abilities. Indeed, many speculate that the miragi are simply a newer breed of mimics who have moved onto mimicking objects into life forms. However, mimics seem to detest the miragi, and go out of their way to attack them, even often breaking their cover prematurely to attack them when they wander into their layers.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

As a society, the miragi lack their own naming conventions, instead taking the some conventions as the race the eventually becomes their obsession. The more rare miragi that model themselves after objects instead often just name themselves after that object, usually taking the name of a rare form of that object, such as the name of a specific type of sword or a high-quality make of barrel. While this wild variance in names can cause confusion in outsiders, all miragi are accepting of the names of other miragi. The only conflict that arises is when two miragi of the same name and same obsession encounter each other, at which at battle breaks out to discover which one is truly worthy of bearing the name. The oldest and most respected of the Miragi, who work together to create and maintain colonies are know as Cultured Ones, and have a great deal of knowledge of the nearby societies that the colony emulates.

Beauty Ideals

The miragi place all their value on their ability to become other things, and thus their ideals of beauty stem from that fact. A miragi that is well practiced at transforming into the perfectly hideous ogre will be seen as much more beautiful than the one who can only to an imperfect reflection of elven beauty.

Gender Ideals

Due to their lack of sexual reproduction, the miragi don't have a true gender, but will often emulate a gender when taking on the form of races that do. Thus, while "true" miragi society lacks any sort of gender ideals, a colony will often adapt to the gender ideals of whatever creatures are most mimicked. A colony that mimics Orcs is likely to view females as only for breeding, while one that mimics Weaverlings will view males only as slaves and status symbols, and a colony that obsesses over a particular barrel type will simply act confused when confronted with the idea of gender.

Courtship Ideals

Due to their method of reproduction being spawning, the miragi don't have traditional courtships, instead bonding over shared interests and obsessions. Like with most things, they attempt to mimic the ideals of other creatures, and will usually attempt to court those of their obsession (despite being completely biologically incompatible). Unfortunately, their smaller stature, strange true form, and neurotic tendencies usually means that they are thoroughly rejected.

Relationship Ideals

The miragi form fast friendships with other miragi who share their interests when they are young, and usually almost completely ignore any other miragi. These friendships often develop into friendly rivalries, getting more competitive over time, and sometimes devolve into intense competitiveness and even hatred. Once a miragi meets a creature that is the same species of their obsession, they will attempt to befriend it, although their intense interest often leads to failure. Still, if the miragi succeeds in this endeavor, that creature is often considered the most important relationship in the life of the miragi, and they will go to nearly any length to maintain the friendship. Many miragi attempt to go through great lengths to ensure their first impression goes as good as possible, often leading them to perform stalker-like behavior in order to learn everything about their potential friend before confronting them. Most Shapeless miragi form a bond with a mentor who shares or kindels their budding obession, acting as a sort of surrogate parent. Sometimes, in the case of smaller colonies or lone miragi, these surrogate parents might even be of the species of the miragi' obession, and has taken the Shapless under their wing.

Average Technological Level

The miragi seek only to emulate the same levels as those they venerate, and thus vary wildly, with most being not very technologically adept. Those that obsess over items will usually become a master craftsman of that item, and thus miragi history is full of brief bursts of advancement as a generation might master new technology, only for the next to move on to something else entirely. Miragi colonies are usually crafted as a hybrid of architecture mimicking the target of founders racial obsession, and the miragi's protoplasm, which can be hardened and molded to form a stone-like substance.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

All miragi have an innate understanding of Aklo, and most speak whatever dialect is the Common of their realm. Due to their obsessive natures, most Miragi make it a point to master the language of the species that is the target of their obsession.

Common Etiquette Rules

The miragi work carefully to incorperate the etiquette and manarisms of their obsessive species, and are even more likely to become upset when those etiquettes are broken than the creatures they are emulating.

Common Dress Code

As expected from a mimiking race, the adult miragi copy the traditional clothing ideals of the race that they chose to study. The Shapeless, or the rare miragi that choose to emulate objects often just wear simple gray cloth, although those in colder areas may don extra heavy close for greater cold protection. Most miragi are exceptionally shy about their true forms, and when not taking on the form of another creature or object, will attempt to cover their forms with larger, baggy clothing.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Until a miragi is grown enough to master its obsessive studies, they are known as a Shapeless, and lack a true name. At their clans annual summit, all the Shapeless are giving opportunities to present their findings, and if deemed adequate by their elders, they are allowed to take a name for themselves.

Common Taboos

While ideals vary from tribe to tribe, a majority of the miragi frown upon forcing their obessions on their colonies Shapeless, and work carefully to ensure that the children are free to explore their own obessions, rather than force them to follow in the footsteps of their elders. However, this can be difficult in practice, as many miragi love to talk at length about their obsessions, which can often spark the obsession in a young Shapeless.

History

Some records dating back to around 2800 AC indicate the existence of miragi colonies, mostly in remote mountains in Kirru, but it was only after 3400 AC that miragi colonies started being discovered with more frequency, and most colonies have little-to-no record keeping. Many colonies don't last much longer after all of their founders have died, with many miragi setting out to form their own colonies, and thus their colonies rise and fall quickly in the grand scheme of history, keeping their origins shrouded in mystery.

Common Myths and Legends

Due to their origins being a much-debated mystery the miragi have a wide range of worship, with many picking up the same practices as those the emulate. A majority of miragi who don't simply worship along with their obsessions choose to venerate Enreic, the god of shapeshifters, and many believe that they are his chosen people, created by him shortly after his ascension. Some belive that they are the creation of an ancient Gnome wizard, or perhaps even the gnommish god Néshomu, who experimented with ancient forces to create them and their mimic breathren, and thus they worship Néshomu or other gnommish gods.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Due to their many colonies all over the world, the interactions of the miragi with other races vary greatly. Some miragi colonies live among the target of their obsessions, and are accepted with open arms, while other races find the small doppelgangers incredibly disturbing and work to eradicate them when they are found. They often find kinship with the Drentouk, as they to emulate other species, and the gnomes, who are one of the few species that can keep up with the obsessive nature of the miragi.

Racial Table - Miragi: Hit Dice: D8; Class Skills: Bluff, Disguise, Knowledge (Any One), Perception, Stealth; Skill Ranks Per Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier per level; Weapon Proficiency: None; Armor Proficiency: None

Level	BAB	Fort	Reflex	Will	Abilities
1st	+0	+0	+0	+2	Pratical Mimicry, Racial Obession
2nd	+1	+0	+0	+3	False Figure
3rd	+2	+1	+1	+3	Polymorphic Immunity
4th	+3	+1	+1	+4	+1 Charisma, True Figure
5th	+3	+1	+1	+4	Perfect Mimicry

Random Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive¹	Self-Taught²	Trained³
5	+1d4 years	+1d6 years	+1d8 years

^{1This category includes armigers, barbarians, bloodragers, imbuers, kineticists, leaches, oracles, psychics, ravelers, realmstriders, rogues, sorcerers, and spiritualists.} ^{2This category includes antipaladins, arcanist, armorsmiths, bards, brawler, cavaliers, fighters, gamblers, gunslingers, hunters, mediums, mesmerist, paladins, pantheists, rangers, samurai, shamans, skalds, slayers, spellthiefs, summoners, swashbucklers, tricksters, vigilantes, wardens, weaponsmiths, and witches.} ^{3This category includes alchemists, clerics, druids, explorers, inquisitors, investigators, jewelers, magi, monks, mortalists, ninjas, occultists, painters, travelers, tinkerers, warpriests, wizards and zealots.}

Random Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Base Weight	Weight Modifier
Miragi	3 ft. 4 in.	+1d8 in (3 ft. 5 in. - 4 ft.)	10 lbs.	+(4d8 lbs.) (14 - 42 lbs.)

Miragi Aging Table

Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha	Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha	Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha)	Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age)
25 years	36 years	50 years	50 + 1d10 years (51 - 60 years)

Random Miragi Homelands

% Rolled	Homeland	Trait Gained
01-40	Miragi Colony	Mastery of Form
41-70	Humanoid Settlement	Adopted
71-90	Cave	Surface Stranger
91-00	Unusual Homeland	(Roll on Unusual Homeland Table)

Random Miragi Families (Miragi don't have parents in the traditional sense, instead bonding with older mentors)

% Rolled	Mentor Status
01-55	Mentor is alive
56-100	Mentor is dead and/or absent

Random Miragi "Siblings"

% Rolled	# of Siblings
01-95	1d4 "siblings"
96-00	No siblings

Lifespan

50 - 60 years

Average Physique

Due to their smaller size and flexible body, a miragi are usually lean, lacking muscle mass.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

In their natural form, youngling miragi are a grey or yellowish-white, but as they age and molt, they often take on a more brown or dark gold coloration. Many adult miragi slowly take on the coloration of their obsession, with a miragi who mimics orcs taken on a more green or grey color, while a miragi that takes the form of a sword may take on a more metallic sheen.

Miragi

Type Aberration

Ability Score Modifier +4 Charisma, -2 Strength, -2 Intelligence; Miragi are masters of disguise, but lack physical might.

Size small

Speed A miragi has a base speed of 20 feet

Language A Miragi begins play speaking Alko and a Common dialect of their choice. They can select from any non-secret language for their bonus languages.

Materil: A Miragi is intrinsically tied to the Light or Shadow Materil, meaning they must become either Lightbenders or Shadowcallers

Darkvision: A miragi has darkvision of 60 feet.

Pratical Mimicry: At 1st racial level, a Miragi selects a single racial feature from another race of 1st racial level. They gain that ability as a racial feature. At 3rd level, they may select another racial feature from any race, up to a 3rd racial level ability. (it need not be the same race as before, but if that feature relies on another feature, the Miragi must also possess that feature).

Racial Obession: At character creation, select a single race of creature (such as human, elf, or orc). The Miragi gains a +2 racial bonus on all skill checks related to that race, such as a Knowledge check to learn about them or a Survival check to track them. For every 2 hit dice beyond the first, this bonus increases by by 1.

False Figure: At 2nd racial level. a Miragi learns how to change thier form to match the target of their obession. They may cast disguise self as a spell-like ability, save that instead of altering their normal form, they can appear as the same race as they chose for their racial obessions feature. This is a polymorph effect instead of an illusion effect, but otherwise fuctions they same as disguise self. They can do this a number of times per day equal to their Charisma modifer. A miragi can mimic a creature not chosen with their racial obession ability, but the duration of the effect is halved.

Polymorphic Immunity: At 3rd racial level, a Miragi becomes immune to harmful polymorphic effects.

True Figure: At 4th racial level, when utilizing their false figure ability, a miragi can instead mimic the spell alter self, allowing them to change their size category and ability scores.

Perfect Mimicry: At 5th racial level, when utilizing thier False Figure ability, a Miragi can gain either their choice of one 4th level racial feature, up to two 3rd level racial feature, up to three 2nd level racial feature, or up to four 1st level racial feature. They can only gain half the number of racial feature if they are changing into a race not selected by their racial obession feature.

Alternate Racial Traits

Object Obession: Some Miragi are obessed with objects instead of creatures. Instead of selecting a creature with their Racial Obsession they select a category of objects, such as swords, wands, or a type of wonderous item. The object can not be larger than the small sized category. They gain their racial obession bonus to all skill checks relating to those type of items. At 2nd racial level, the Mirage can take on a mundange form an item of that type in a process that takes 1 minute (more complicated items may take longer, at GM descretion), a number of times per day equal to their Charisma modifier. They gain the basic forms and function of the objects, but none of its magical properties, but only gains half of that objects base statistics (such as hardness). At 4th racial level, the Miragi can duplicate one of the magical effects of the item, as long as the caster level of those effects is not greater than the total hit dice of the Miragi. At 5th racial level, the Miragi can duplicate all abilities of an object (as long as it meets the casting requirments), and gains the objects true statistics. This trait replaces the Racial Obession trait, the False Figure Trait gained at 2nd racial level, the True Figure trait gained at 4th racial level, and the Perfect Mimicry trait at 5th racial level. Regardless of thier level, a Miragi can never duplicate the special abilities of artifacts.

Sticky: Similar to mimics, some Miragi oozes an adhesive glue. These Miragi gain a +4 racial bonus to Grapple attempts. A Miragi with this trait only gains Low-light vision instead of Darkvision. This trait alters the Miragi senses.

Varied Heriatge To more closely match with their chosen targets, some Miragi are more varied than others. These Miragi gain a +2 to any ability score of their choice. This alters the Miragi normal ability scores.