[✗] [World Lore] Mimickite - Fossilized Mimic Stone

[Helmet 1454]

Mimickite Fossils

 

Overview

Mimickite Stones are the fossils of starved Mimics- trapped in the middle of their transformation between organic creature & physical object long, long ago.

Ancient relics in their own right, they are found most commonly underground, especially beneath marshes & underground ruins. What acts as a key identifier between all of these morbidly shaped horrors of the past, is that the stone audibly yet subtly ‘breathes’ after all this time, & howls when it is chipped or cracked into.

 

Since Mimics have no true shape, their fossilized remains are just as variable in form- Inhuman limbs, maligned skeletons & fractured body parts hybridized with physical objects remain frozen within the soil or stone, immortalized through calcification. Given their immense age, it's more likely that such fossils are the result of some kind of bizarre ancestral cousin to the mimic that has gone extinct since then for one reason or another, rather than directly being ancestors to the modern day mimic.

 

This phenomenon of Mimickin forefathers being found half-transformed while fossilized are theorized to be the last ditch attempts of these ancestral Mimics attempting to lure something in, the form being one they had taken during their final days, though is widely up to speculation. Due to how old these Fossilized Mimics can be, the stones are more commonly based off of ancient trinkets, statues depicting historic figures, monstrous idols, or outright legendary items like the hammer of Urguan in form.

 

Harvesting

Simply chisel around any mundane stone, then sweep off remaining debris to reveal the Mimickite Fossils. It is important to ensure no mundane stone or dirt clings to the Mimickite before using it in refinement, as otherwise it will be unable to be removed within the metal- thus weakening the purity of the alloy.

Striking Mimickite Fossils during harvest will release a ghastly shriek, often echoing throughout caverns- potentially attracting more trouble than the stone itself is worth.

 

- Raw Mimickite is as durable & heavy as any other mundane rock or fossil.

- You can’t ‘farm’ Mimickite, as modern-day Mimic 'fossils'- if any, neither match Mimickite in make up, nor are able to be turned into a fossil within a reasonable time frame.

- Mimickite cannot be "communed" with, as it is not truly alive.

- Howls from breaking or damaging Mimickite Fossils will rarely deafen or deal harm on their own, but are generally obnoxious and echo easily.

- Mimickite in all forms is ST signed.

 

Refinement

Powderize the thoroughly cleaned Mimickite with a machine press, reducing it to a dust finer than sand. During the process an obnoxious wailing will come from the stone, damaging or deafening the ears of those nearby without a means to protect the eardrums from the onslaught. Afterwards, alloy the ground stone with your pre-refined molten metal of choice in a 1:1 ratio.

 

When done correctly the stone within the mixture will take on the exact properties of its partner by adapting its physical makeup, essentially “doubling” the amount of material you have to work with while not actually increasing the amount of metal in the item. In the case of reforging existing items, the stone will supplement the metal lost during the reforging process while applying it's own detrimental effects.

 

Alloying materials naturally made with or saturated by magics is impossible, as it would require the Mimickite to copy the potency of a Greater soul (Rokodra, Menhir, Dracanium) or draw upon energies it has no access to (Shadegrain, Arcanium, Argentum). Mimickite may only copy the physical properties of a material, not anything further.

 

- Alloying Mimickite MUST follow the 1:1 ratio. You cannot make infinite material with it by throwing more Mimickite into the mix. Mimickite does not change the amount of actual metal within the item.

- Mimickite wailing is nigh deafening when being ground up by a machine press. Without ear protection, a descendant within the vicinity will be rendered deaf for 30 OOC minutes. This is only forced on the person handling the Fossil.

- Permanent hearing damage can be picked up should the player wish it during the refining process.

- Not usable in combat. Don’t weaponize Mimickite screams.

- Mimickite cannot be used on organic materials like bones, plants, woods, chitin, scales or leathers- stones, metals & other inorganic materials are your only options.

- Mimickite cannot be alloyed with Dracanium, Argentum, Rokodra, Arcanium, Shadegrain or Menhir due to their magical origins/properties.

- In the case of Lunarite, Volatite/Boomsteel & Thanhium/Thanhic Steel, Mimickite will NOT contribute to the properties dependent on how many ingots of material the item is made up of.

- Mimickite cannot substitute Pure Carbarum in the creation of Bluesteel. It can however, still be applied to Bluesteel AFTER the alloy is made.

- Mimickite Refinement itself is common knowledge, however you will still need to know how to smith it’s partner material.

 

Application

In exchange for the added mass, all manner of weapons including ones that are blunt will be rendered deeply brittle & dull, incapable of dealing harm- making armors, shields and trinkets the only real viable options. Should the Mimickite-alloyed item be reforged again the fossil will come off entirely as slag, leaving only a quarter of pure metal left instead of half of the total mass.

 

- Reforging items alloyed with Mimickite will yield a quarter’s worth of pure material rather than half, all the Mimickite within the item melting away as slag in the process.

- Mimickite-alloyed items cannot be made into weapons. This is defined as an object with the express purpose of harming something else, shattering and cracking uselessly if done. That is to say that you could punch with a gauntlet & be fine, but if that gauntlet is made with spikes, sharp claws or razors with the express intent to deal harm then it would be brittle/ineffective.

- Mimickite-alloyed items should always be represented with a separate item when paired with an object made of pure, unalloyed metal. As an example, Don’t smith pure lunarite talons over a gauntlet of mimickite-alloyed lunarite within the same item to try to circumvent the consequences. Keep things simple & separate, don't loop hole.

 

Reasoning

Spoiler

A very short write for this one. My intention is to make ST metal armors more accessible, & let ST be less afraid when handing out said armors WITHOUT seriously updating the material compendium & messing with the ST metal economy. Seeing more fantasy armors in this fantasy world would be nice.

 

The 'how' of the material is pretty easy to justify. It's a calcified mimic-like creature thats been dead for a very, very long time. You are taking it's superior/fermented shapeshifting properties and effectively making a very sturdy soup with it when tossing it into another molten metal of choice for the dead mimic to take the properties of, just as it did similarly in life with mundane objects.

 

The properties, or 'what' of the material is quite simple. Mimickite-Alloyed items can't be used for the sake of weaponry or offensive implements like spikes- crumbling if attempted, & if it is reforged all the Mimickite is reduced to slag- being removed from the metal entirely which leaves only a quarter of pure metal rather than half. This ensures that Mimickite-treated objects can ONLY be used for trinkets & armors, hopefully making it more worthwhile for people to go along and make them, without flooding the economy with more actual metals.

Aside from that, there are plenty of restrictions are put in place on what it can and cannot do. You can only ever add Mimickite to metals in a 1:1 ratio, never higher or lower- this prevents someone taking a tiny nugget of Carbarum & mixing it with 30 ingots of Mimickite to acquire a comical amount of the metal. You can't use it to make more magic-based materials due to lore reasons. Can't be put on organics, since... Not sure how you'd alloy a stone with a wood. Theres quite a few misc redlines slapped in as well to ensure things aren't exploited or to avoid making things overly complicated, like Mimickite not contributing to the amount of actual metal in a Thanhic Steel/Lunarite alloy.

 

On the 'why' end of things however. Very, very few people can amass 36 of anything ST signed nowadays, let alone ST metal ingots. 18 is still a ludicrous amount (& around 50k minas minimum), but still potentially manageable within a reasonable time frame. ST may also have more fun/freedom in handing out armors without flooding the market as loot, since a chest piece alloyed with the stone would only have a reforge value of 2 ingots. This also would allow people to make more trinkets & parts that don't fall under the armor or weapons category, which I think could be fun- letting more people make simple RP items on a budget.

On a less important note, the combination of it and azhl would quite frankly just be funny to see as a glorified ore chunk.

 

From a more flavorful aspect in the fossil itself and how it can be represented or found, you can have quite a bit of fun with the appearance of Mimickite. You can make it a misshapen creature frozen in time, look like artifacts or trinkets from a civilization/time lost, have it look downright janky/misplaced as all hell, or bait players into thinking they just found the axe of Krug.

 

I am not opposed to making this Player Signed (harvest-able during player events) given its current rulings & the heavy nerfing it gives, but I will leave it ST Signed with common knowledge since it seems more appropriate due to it's primary effects used to mingle with other important materials which are ST signed.

 

As always if there are concerns or suggestions, do feel free to let me know below.

 

Edited June 6, 2025 by Helmet
Threw in redlines for alloying with Carbarum.

[DizzyGrey 1229]

I think this is pretty interesting!

Never considered the idea of a starved mimic before, and the refinement process sounds like fun RP. +1

[Islamadon 9162]

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