Blanks: Blanks are mindless drones that are tasked with finding and destroying the trull they look like. They have a shelf life of about 12 hours and if they do not find their target in that time, they disintegrate into a puddle of ectoplasm. They know instinctively where the target is at all times, and will take the most direct route there that they can manage. Blanks are almost impervious to attack because they are much like ghosts. They are solid, but it is a homogenous solid ectoplasm. They have no organs and any possessions they have (or appear to have) are just projections of their ectoplasmic substance. They are neither particularly strong nor intelligent.
Once they contact their target, whether by touching or by killing it, they begin the changeling stage. The blank first becomes aware. The DG begins to think like the target, and anticipate its moves. If it can capture or kill the target it will complete the changeling phase fairly quickly (a few hours at most) by a process called "Stealing Power" (see below).
During the changeling stage the DG is almost as strong as it's target. It can be killed by physical force (crushing, chopping into little bits, etc), or if it is isolated from its target for more than 2 days it will disintegrate into slimy goo. This phase ends with the death of the target and a "real" DG.
While in the changeling phase the DG will seek to keep the target alive until all of its power has been stolen. If the process is not completed, the target will be weakened but not dead. The target can recover if IT destroys the DG and takes back its power. (see "stealing power" below).
"Real" DGs have stolen all of their target's power. This makes them fully exist in the Earth dimension. At this stage they are capable of being destroyed by any means that will destroy the original EXCEPT supernatural means. For example, a DG steals the power of a vampire then can be staked, beheaded or burnt. Crosses, sunlight, or holy water will not affect it.
The "Real" DG will seek out experience by doing dangerous or thrilling things. It will seek out sensations like sex, drugs, intrigue, power, greed, danger, and others. These experiences won't affect it much (it is passing them back to the EE). The DG does not age, get diseases, and does not need to eat, sleep, eliminate waste, or dream.
As far as the "real" DG is concerned it IS the target. It thinks, feels, and acts (for the most part) like the original, but has a constant feeling of boredom and a driving need to do new things. If it is deprived of the ability to do these things (such as being imprisoned) it will eventually be abandoned by the EE and will collapse as an inert corpse.
- Login to post comments
Post to Twitter
Stealing Power
DGs need to become real. They do this by stealing the "items of power" that their target has accumulated through a lifetime of experiences. This makes children and very boring people (like accountants and most librarians) terrible targets because they have very few experiences that have marked them.
Every human, however carries one special mark, their navel, which the doppelgangers cannot steal. Because doppelgangers are never born, they cannot experience birth…even through theft. Other "items of power" include scars that carry a story (so no acne scars), laugh lines, tattoos, items of jewelry with sentimental value, favorite items of clothing, and talismans of protection (crosses, medallions, talismans, etc). In ages past all of these things marked the bearer as special (and still do today to a certain extent).
The DG steals them by removing them from the target and assuming them itself. So tattoos fade and appear on the DG, Scars gradually disappear and show up on the DG, and so on. Clothing and jewelry is easier to steal and usually the first thing taken.
In the cases of boring people and children, if the EE decides there is a need to infiltrate as one of these, the DG will capture the target and torture it to give it suitable experiences to steal. This is usually a last resort.
Stronger and more experienced targets take longer. Targets with extensive experiences or lengthy lives take longer to steal all of the marks. As a general rule a DG can steal about 1 year of experiences an hour. Bear in mind that many people do not have very interesting lives before they are 20 and many of them do not have many experiences in their life at all, just a few very dramatic ones. Someone like Xander (21 years old) might only take about 7 or 8 hours to steal the last 6 years of his life (the life before that being a few beatings by his dad, and maybe an early sexual experience).
The "life" cycle of Doppelgangers
u know i got told that real dopplegangers were like evil twins that played tricks on you. they are always directly behind you so you can't see them. oh well.
The "life" cycle of Doppelgangers
I have been using the term "doppelganger" for lack of a better term. But I did find this facinating reference on doppelgangers in general:
http://www.occultopedia.com/d/doppelganger.htm
The "life" cycle of Doppelgangers
oh. my only ref. was this site:
http://webhome.idirect.com/~donlong/monsters/monsters.htm go to D and then Doppelganger