Doppelganger Consul (Basic Lore)

Doppelganger Consul (Leader; CR 18)
Pure Evil - Medium - Protean
This creature possesses the Leader role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Leader 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, by far the smoothest, most suave, and most civilized are the Doppelganger Consuls. Consuls are well spoken and tremendously intelligent, as well as able to fake warmth and sincerity with perfect fidelity. No Consul has ever given itself away through clumsy mistakes or errors, for example. Consuls blend in perfectly, and may actually be slightly beneficial to the societies they infest, as they understand that a strong culture of lesser creatures makes for a strong race of Doppelgangers within them. In the mysterious annals of Doppelganger 'society', the absolute and undisputed commanders of the War are the Consuls. Doppelganger Consuls are never encountered alone, as they always have an escort. They occasionally will have some lower level Awakened Doppelgangers with them, but they usually have Harvesters or sometimes Butchers as their companions. A Consul and a Butcher with a few lower level Doppelgangers as an escort is a serious threat indeed, and can be expected to prosecute their goals aggressively. Consuls understand, if any creature does, the War. That said, Consuls will never, ever, explain such matters to non-Doppelgangers, and it is suspected that they simply cannot. In battle Consuls are capable foes,fully able to crowd into the front ranks and sway the tide of battle. Or, they can stand back and direct their allies to terrifying effect.