Doppelganger Butcher (Basic Lore)

Doppelganger Butcher (Killer; CR 21)
Pure Evil - Medium - Protean
This creature possesses the Killer role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Killer role, but may be set to other roles if desired. Doppelgangers are a strange race of shape shifters that act as parasites of entire civilizations. Their mindset is alien compared to most humanoid races, and their ability to steal the identity of others triggers nearly universal revulsion. Doppelgangers may exactly and perfectly mimic anyone they have had a chance to touch for a few seconds. What is not widely known about Doppelgangers, is that they come in many castes. They all have the ability to perfectly mimic other creatures, and they are all parasites that subsist upon the civilizations of others, but the Doppelgangers do not care very much about that at all. The reason that Doppelgangers are so little engaged with the other societies is two-fold: First, Doppelgangers are really, truly alien, both in their natural appearance and in their mental and spiritual processes. They have no souls, nor do they have spirits. They aren't even really alive in the same way as other races, and it is unclear if they even eat food or breathe air. They have very little in common with other races. Second, Doppelgangers are utterly and completely consumed by their war. Plain Doppelgangers (CR 3) are little more than mindless drones, pawns that exist to breed and infiltrate the world. The higher level Doppelgangers are the ones who are aware of their secret war and they are responsible for prosecuting it, to the exclusion of all other tasks. Everything is devoted to the War, every waking moment consumed with prosecuting the War or building up to make another attack. On the very rare occasions when a Doppelganger has been captured and interrogated, their answers, made in Kern, make no sense at all. The Doppelgangers seem to be at war with themselves, absolutely and implacably. No outsider has ever figured out what factions or divisions exist in Doppelganger 'society', if such a thing can even be said to exist. Most Doppelgangers placidly subsist on the largess of the societies they infest. But other Doppelgangers are much more sinister and menacing, and are ruthlessly driven to seek out and destroy other Doppelgangers. Whether a Doppelganger will see another as foe or ally seems completely random. It should be noted that Doppelgangers and Vampires, where they co-exist, are unrelenting enemies as well. Doppelgangers and Vampires both infest and feed off of larger societies, and so they see each other as competitors. Both factions will seek to destroy the other whenever they come into contact. Among Doppelgangers, Butchers are 'the things that go bump in the night'. Doppelganger Butchers are relentless killers, moving in their mysterious ways to prosecute the War to the exclusion of all else. Butchers are often, but not always, paired with a Consul, and two or three Butchers get along perfectly fine by themselves. Butchers will show up, exterminate every 'enemy' Doppelganger in a night of horror, and move on, leaving the infested community shaken and wondering what just happened. Butchers willingly accept commands from Consuls, and will help even lower level Doppelgangers if it moves the War along. Butchers, if revealed to the community at large, will flee if they can, usually leaving a trail of corpses behind them. If a Butcher discovers a nest of vampires, it will notify another Doppelganger (an Overseer, a Dictator, or a Consul) and then will wade into battle without hesitation. Doppelganger Butchers are truly scary in a fight, and they are perfectly willing to trade upon their frightening reputations to get their way. Despite their tremendous combat prowess, Butchers are not mindless beasts. They can get along in society perfectly well, despite being utter aliens, and are actually pretty positive additions to most societies, serving as phantom protectors of their host species.