The Grand Cathedral. It was a temple once run by monks, but now it was little more than a site of many an evil thing, and many a victim. Run in by the harshness of the climate? Chased by a storm? Drawn inside with curiosity? If skeletons could speak, they would each have quite a tale. It would, however, be far too creepy to listen for very long. If a skeleton began speaking to any normal person, they would probably run away screaming. Unfortunately for Golem the temple albie, this isn't a valid choice of action. Golem, you see, was gifted with the ability to sense and hear spirits. Spirits can immediately tell who possesses such a spirit sense and are often elated to find them. One time in the depths of the cathedral, Golem came upon a wraith-soul with quite a spectacular death.
"I was murdered in this very cathedral," he whispered with a breathy voice, "I want nothing more than to protect you with the story of my demise." A ghastly tear glistened in the corner of one white, pupil-less eye.
"Gwaah!" Golem shouted in thought-speech. She tried to run, but the wraith-soul followed, whispering and pleading for quite some time before she gave in and stopped to listen. Golem, well-equipped with the knowledge of how to spot and run from at least one hundred different, long-dead murderers, retreated to a safer part of the shrine where less people had died.
It was in this very part where a great monk had lived, one who had tried to leash the great spirit of the storms and thus stop the seemingly endless thunderstorms that raged around the temple. He failed, partly because there was, and still is, no such thing as a storm spirit. He also died of pneumonia from walking around in the heavy rain without proper insulation. Golem had never tried to speak to him. It would be just fine with her if all dead things stayed dead like they were supposed to. She spent the bulk of her time in that room, gazing down at the doors with the gargoyles. She had enough practice to mimic a gargoyle perfectly, so perfect that only the best of eyes could hope to see her. And that was fine with her.
Weeks Later. . .
Golem paced around the perimeter of the balcony. She came up to a hunched stone gryphon and cleared in in one short leap. As she walked, she thought about which gargoyle she would pose with that day. The gape-mouthed griffin was too small, and the man-like one with the twisted face was too hard to mimic since his back was crooked oddly from poor craftsmanship. She squeezed behind a large stone dragon-like creature with old water stains down its front, and jumped over the griffin again. The dragon-like one had grooves at its base that suggested it had been moved. The others certainly didn't have water stains on them. Golem slowly stopped pacing, eyes on the gargoyle. She hadn't done that one before, and it was nice to have a change. Golem retraced her steps and sat comfortably next to it. It had a hunched back, but not crooked like the man or inverted like the griffin. Golem shifted her paws, arched her back just so, tilted her forehead forward just right, and locked down. Her "eyes" and other lights dimmed, sucked back into the more vital regions of her being. She didn't move, not even to "breathe". Anyone who walked in now had to be super-observant to even notice she didn't belong. Golem sent a soft mental Heeeelp as bait for the unwary and waited.
ooc: This is where you come in. Look up, peoples!
(Just to be clear, only pets with the Recognize Imposter trait can see Golem. I'm going to ask you to not run out and add that trait to your pet just to point her out, because I was kind of hoping she wouldn't be spotted. She'll see you though, of course. . .
)
)