Face-Stealer
Face-Stealers are creatures that can change their form to any other humanoid body. Unlike other shapeshifters, they can only change their shape after incorporating biological fragments of a person they wish to impersonate.
Face-stealers are sterile, as they are unable to reproduce sexually. They lack primary genitalia and cannot replicate it when transforming into a new body. Organizations trying to root out face-stealer spies therefore often use anatomical spot checks. This physical absence is ordinarily sufficient to identify a face-stealer, barring rare anatomical conditions, but ordinary anatomy cannot clear a suspect because other kinds of shapeshifters may retain it.
Their classification as a subspecies of shapeshifter is also debated, as they can be children of exclusively human parents. It’s theorized that the ability to shapeshift evolved independently from mutations from exposure to large amounts of magical energy, instead of being in the same lineage as Doppelgangers.
Face-Stealers call their assumed forms faces. Realizing a face involves more than reproducing the original person’s body: a Face-Stealer may still lack the person’s personality, opinions, mores, and other social knowledge. During the Rannek Admiralty infiltration, one captive called such an incompletely realized face “spare.” This described that specific face’s incompleteness and is not a general Face-Stealer term for assumed forms.
Face-Stealers serving the Reformed Church of the Divine Masochist commonly carry false teeth filled with poison. If captured, they are expected to bite down on the tooth and die rather than divulge information. This is an operational practice associated with Reformist agents, not an inherent Face-Stealer trait.