Wiki / Threats
The Mimics
The Rift does not only send demons up from below. It feeds on fear, and it listens. On the worst nights it reaches into the oldest stories we have, the ones we told our children to keep them inside after dark, and wears them. The Hollow Relay calls them Mimics. Demons come from outside; Mimics come from us.
How it works
- THE IRON WIDOW, the Night Line. Engine 1919, mothballed on the Ashgrove spur, was the bogeyman of every Diersville child: be home by ten or the Widow comes down the line for you. She came. Eight iron legs, a porcelain face, a whistle you hear for miles. She hunts the biggest group of survivors between 22:00 and 02:00, chases cars, and leaves when the whistle blows at two. See The Iron Widow.
- FROSTGRIN, the snowman in the yard. A father and his child built him the winter the fever came: the father's old top hat, a lipstick smile so he would always be happy. The father went to help the Guard at the river and never came back. Frostgrin never melted. He drags through the snow at night with branch claws and a grin that keeps getting wider. See Frostgrin.
- THE DOLL ON THE SHELF. Now and then a small, grinning doll waits in a house among the sleepers, with a knife and a voice. Nobody remembers buying it.
- THE NIGHT LINE PAGES. Three pages tell the Widow's story: a yard dispatcher's log, a child's drawing from Diersville Elementary, and the Relay's own report on the Mimics. Every Firebox Hoard holds one; desks, bookcases and mailboxes hide them now and then.
- FROSTGRIN'S PAGES. A letter a child never sent, and a hunter's notes from the snow line. Frostgrin sometimes carries one; they turn up in snowbound houses too.
- Like every lost page, each one pays a Hollow Mark the first time you read it and counts for Lore Keeper.
Tips
- The Relay talks about them at night: listen to the 21:00 and 02:00 broadcasts.
- A story has an ending. Every Mimic can be put down, and each one leaves a trophy for the Trophy Room.
- Mimics are rare. Most nights you will only hear about them.