An Other Doll is a faerie who lives in the business and anonymity of the parties thrown by nobles and merchants in busy areas. Their natural appearance is that of a large puppet or doll, the size of a small woman, usually intricately sewn or carved. Their exact construction varies between region to region, as does the name they're called by - some places they are carved wooden dolls, others they are sewn and wool-stuffed cloth dolls. However, it is rare to see an Other Doll in that form, as they will always be mimicking a servant or partygoer to revel in the vitality of the event. Despite the Other Doll's construction out of animate matter, the Doll can be easily targeted by Corpus magic, especially if she is in a guise.
This particular Other Doll is a side-effect of Josephine's Curse of Venus. Josie is an other doll who has fallen in love with Josephine after seeing her at a party where the hedonistic maga allowed herself to be seduced by the wife of the party's host. The Other Doll gave itself a name as it began to stalk after Josephine, attempting to gain the Merinita's love by mimicking her and acting out her part as a temptress with young noblemen. By the time Josephine noticed her little seductress doppelganger, Josephine had gotten into quite a lot of trouble with Josie's actions. By the time Josephine finally figured out what was going on and dealt with the fallout of the faerie minx, she was pretty much done with lascivious men.
If you were adjusting this Other Doll to be more generic(and cared about balance), getting rid of the Obsession flaw and the Pretentious virtue would balance, though you'd also need to get rid of some of the experience - probably lower etiquette and get rid of Organization Lore Nobility and Profession: Noble. Josie's obsessive love for Josephine is what caused her to become so interested in noble society, granting her the Pretentious virtue. Using a wooden doll instead of a cloth one would make their form Herbam - though they would still be targetable with Corpus as well if in a guise.
An Other Doll - Josie
Faerie Might 5+10 (Animal)Characteristics: Int 0, Per 0, Pre +3, Com +2, Str -2, Sta -2, Dex +2, Qik +1
Size -1Virtues and Flaws: Faerie Sight, Faerie Speech, Gossip, Humanoid Faerie, Lesser Power, Perfect Balance, Place of Power (Parties), Pretentious; Narrowly Cognizant; Fear of Fire, Lecherous(major), Noncombatant, Obsession(Josephine), Small Frame, Traditional Ward (Candles)
Personality Traits: Afraid of Fire +3, Brave -2, Sultry +5
Combat:
Dodge: init +1, Atk - , Dfn +1, Dmg -
Soak -2Pretenses: Area Lore: Local 1 (parties), Athletics 3 (grace), Awareness 2 (her chosen guise), Bargain 1 (faerie bargains), Carouse 2 (fitting in), Charm 4 (seduction), Etiquette 4 (nobility), Faerie Speech 5(entendres), Folk Ken 1(drunk men), Guile 4 (playing her guise), Intrigue 2 (gossip), Organization Lore: Nobility 2 (Personalities), Profession: Servant 3 (staying unobtrusive), Profession: Noble 3 (small talk), Stealth 3 (staying unobtrusive)
Powers:
Stolen Guise (2 points, init -3, Corpus)
This power allows the faerie to steal the appearance and look of another person. The Doll usually will sneak into a manor home or castle and steal the guise of a servant before a party, and then during the party try and steal the image of someone who leaves the main party area. While technically able to do this at will, the Doll traditionally tries to steal an article of clothing from the person they imitate. Due to Faerie glamour, their clothing usually changes to match.
(Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 Specific Person)Allure 1 point, Init -3, Mentem (ROP:F p57)
Traditional Ward: Candles - the other doll cannot harm anyone who carries a candle or is near them. The reason varies by story, either because they are so flammable, or the candles can show their true appearance with their shadow. Their fear of fire only matters if the fire is either uncontrolled or brandished - they won't avoid lit lanterns, but they will likely not stand near a fireplace.
Vis: 1 pawn of vis, a broken doll
Design Notes
Inspiration from the Caricatures in Irencillia (Guardians of the Forest) and Pinocchio.
Honestly, I don't actually know if Place of Power (Parties) works, but I'm going with it anyway. They can use the vitality of being surrounded by mortals in revelry to protect themselves. I kind of like exploring options for Place of Power. If you don't think it should be allowed, they would have Increased Faerie Might instead. I wanted her to be a little harder to affect with magic in her element, and since parties are ephemeral, unless it's lasting a few days straight, the Other Doll wouldn't have a full compliment of might points to spend, so it's mostly for MR.
Having them being form Herbam or Animal disguised as Corpus is another design choice, and they've got a Pinocchio inspiration for that.
I'll probably add an advanced/changed Josie next Tribunal. I'm planning on having Josephine resolve this plot point next Tribunal as well.
Having a faerie villain who's low-powered and a spy-style noncombatant sounds kind of weak for a +14 year magus, but this character isn't supposed to be fought. This is more a murder-mystery (without a murder) and you can easily have a companion or important noble be mimicked and have them get into a lot of trouble - the Faerie doesn't care about keeping the guise long term, just on generating story and vitality, and might risk exposing a noble's Dark Secret. The Doll would happily be seduced by a tipsy nobleman and cause trouble, even if the person being mimicked would not. The fact that the Doll (usually) doesn't mimic the same person over and over means that you wouldn't have her as a Mistaken Identity flaw, and it makes it much harder to hunt down the culprit if you're looking for that instead of the truth - a crime of passion and moment.