Mummers

Mummers were (or *are*) a race of Dreadfolk that originate from Jesters; all Mummers used to be Jesters, as all the Jesters themselves who have been interviewed have confirmed. Mummers are extreme exaggerations of all the most bizarre and dangerous traits of Jesters, distilling their nature into a pure expression of insane malice. Whereas only some Jesters turned to violence to fulfil their need for entertainment, all Mummers had a strong and insatiable sadistic streak, and were known to laugh with murderous glee whilst inflicting agonising tortures upon their playthings. The only concrete, truly knowable fact about their behaviour is that they universally adored inflicting pain and suffering onto others, and thought there was nothing else as funny or entertaining.

While the Imperial Inquisition as an organisation never gave an explicit order to kill them on sight, most individual Inquisitors were upfront in their belief that Mummers were too dangerous to be left alive. Those who argued against killing them instead viewed them as powerful pawns to be redirected against other Dreadfolk, though the real-world efficacy of this plan was highly variable, and Inquisitors who attempted to make Mummers into puppets often ended up dying at the hands of those same Mummers.

Mummers had a highly distinctive appearance, covering all of their skin in a form-fitting black stage costume and hiding their face with a white mask. Some scholars have suggested that the mask was made of a material related to Mageglass, whereas others believed it was a part of the Mummer's body that was permanently fused to them. The mask was capable of rapidly changing shape to express different emotions or caricatures, or sometimes to display no face at all and to simply be a plain white surface. Mummers in the midst of combat were almost always seen sporting a manic grin on their mask. Some Mummers also wore additional clothes, donning elaborate costumes as part of some unknowable act, whereas others never did so. Their stage costume, which some scholars believed to actually be a layer of flesh, was extremely tough and difficult to pierce, perhaps even more so than the finest mortal armours.

Mummers were physically superior to Jesters in virtually every aspect, being taller, stronger, faster and more agile, and possessing seemingly infinite stamina. They were also capable of shadow magic, having a particular love of conjuring bladed whips from shadows, whereas Jesters could only wield healing and shield magic. However, they were significantly more mentally unstable; they were short-tempered, erratic and often spoke in meaningless, nonsensical sentences when they were not speaking in complete gibberish. They were regarded as extremely untrustworthy even by Jesters, and were universally considered to be utterly rogue agents who only acted according to their own desires, which could not possibly be known. However, it is of course possible that all this was merely an act, either as a means of deception or as part of some bizarre jest - or, more likely, both.

It remains unclear whether Mummers were simply Jesters clad in a distinctive outfit who were magically empowered by an external source, or whether they were an entirely different creature from the Jester that they used to be. The Jesters who were interviewed on the matter seemed not to know, and had their own opinions and theories. In either case, the process of a Jester becoming a Mummer involved losing their distinctive antlers and becoming both taller and more muscular. Some Jesters, including the Good Doctor, regarded Mummers as unnatural abominations that deserved nothing short of death, whereas others viewed them with amusement and curiosity. It has long been suspected, but has never been proven, that Keddaban the Trickster was involved in the transformation process.