The Mock Graf is no more powerful than the average mockery, but the others bow and scrape to him as if he were their legitimate liege. He provides them no protection or benefits, and prefers instead to spend his days drinking and playing cards with his guests... which precisely matches Rivia's memories of Graf Lhorik of Thrommel's Green.
The real Lhorik was a lazy man who had grown up pampered with his family's fortune. Like many of the nobilityof his generation, he didn't really believe in knightly duty or noblesse oblige. He outsourced protecting the people to a trio of knights and armsmen that he paid well, and trained hard so that he would not have to. I spent much of his life idle. When he was not idle, he was networking and hobnobbing to ensure that he could stay rich by selling the surpluses of his land high, and attract guild business to his larger holdings.
Lhorik was neither a net gain or net loss for his people by the end of his reign a few years ago. Nobody did particularly well under his watch, but nobody did poorly, either. There was always food, always work, and thanks to the zeal and training of his men, there was little trouble with bandits or monsters. The real Lhorik has been retired, and these days is nearly bedridden with gout, deaf, and spends his days blisfully reading in a small garden when he bothers to get out of bed.
The mockery in his image takes the laziness, idleness, self-importance, and schmoozing Rivia remembers from her few times spent at the Graf's house and adds in stupidity, bad temper, and incompetence to the mix.
If the PCs Kick in the Door and Start Waving Weapons
He will splutter, curse, and identify himself as Graf Lhorik and demand that they put their weapons away at once, apologize, and leave, or be slain where they stand. If they don't do all of these things with extreme courtesy, he will call for his butler and Sir Helm to put them out and escort them from the bounds of his land... at which point they will be attacked, and marched at spear point to Area 6.
If the PCs Enter the Door and Begin Speaking
He will puff himself up, insist that they comport themselves as is proper for being in the presence of "their betters", and introduce himself. If they comply he will become indifferent, and will be invited to the table if their manners are good enough. (However they will have irked the Butler... which is very dangerous.)
If the PCs Knock
The Mock-Graf will summon the butler, and invite them to refresh themselves with brandy and pastries, while he interrogates them as to who they are and what they are doing on his "land."
He is aware that he is in a strange underground realm, and is not quite sure how he got there, but he knows that he is in his parlour, he has guests to entertain, and his realm spans to the edge of the "river of tears." (Area 6.)
He insists that his "subjects" are quite right to hunt local game and pillage Thrommel's Green, who he regards as hostile neighbours, hideous, and barbaric. Not to mention "rude and insulting" for looking so much like themselves.
After a few minutes of conversation, roll a fresh NPC Reaction Check for the Graf with the following modifiers:
If the result is 8 or More, the Mock-Graf will ask the PCs to help him out with one of his schemes.
The Mock-Graf's Schemes
The Mock-Graf has a number of Schemes that are often ill thought-out. Their consequences will lead to more troubles and more solutions required. At each step of the way, he will offer to reward the PCs in gold. Each mission is available 1d4+2 days after the last one. If the PCs do the first two, the Mockery will send Sir Helm to deliver summons to them about the following ones when they become available.
Destroy the Carrion Crawler: "Kill that vile thing that lurks in the halls beyond the river of tears and haunts the midden!" 200gp. This will lead to an infestation of giant rats in in Areas 18 and 19 that will begin raids into rooms 12 and 15, causing injuries and disease to several mockeries.
Exterminate the Giant Rats: "The rats are simply overrunning us! Get rid of the filthy vermin for me!" 250gp. This will simply bring an even nastier plague of shriekers, violet fungus, and Carrion Crawler grubs feeding on the meat.
Poison the Midden: "I can hardly sleep at night for all the noise. Half the damnable mushrooms in the midden howl like banshees. The other half are carnivorous and ate a perfectly good wainwright! Worse yet, the rats stopped eating the grubs that the first creature you killed laid, and now they have hatched! Poison the whole damned pool so nothing can live in it!" 400gp. With nothing dangerous left, the Hound of Anxiety, a creature that dwells on the second floor of the dungeon will come up here to hunt.
Slay the Hound of Anxiety: "We are beset by a terror! A metal beast that whispers horrible, rude things in the dark. It ate our baker and our miller, and told me I am an unfit ruler. I don't know what he said to the priest, but the poor fellow has been sulking for ages. The had of the beast to go up with my boars, if you please, sirs!" 500gp. The Hound of Anxiety, if killed, becomes the phantom hound, which continues to drive the locals mad for several days before it is banished. By then it has planted so much doubt in the Graf's mind, that he will go consult the pigs.
Interpret the Pigs' Prophecy: "I have been most ill-at-ease as of late. Ever since the hound incident. Did you know the infernal beast continued to haunt us for days after you beahded it? Kept on talking. Horrid business. Anyway, I needed to ensure the future safety of the realm. So, I enquired of our local oracle - the two talking pigs heads just beyond the borderlands. They have given me the means to secure my people and my rule. Alas, it requires a long journey, and my people need me here. Obviously, I require your aid to see it fulfilled." 500gp. The Prophecy will lead the PCs to a Goblin lair a couple of day's journey from town, to liberate them from a Hill Giant.
Demand Tribute from the Goblins: "Dratted goblins! They take up my prophecy, benefit from my adventurers, and hardly a word of thanks! I sent a diplomatic envoy to them telling them all about my leadership and goodwill, and do they give me one wretched farthing? I want you to go back to those beasts and make them pay me tribute! Take their totem or something until I see some respect! No less than 800 pieces of respect, if you catch my meaning. " 4000gp. This will start a war between the Mockeries and the goblins, which the mockeries will win, but colonizing the Goblin lair will make the mockeries a power outside of the Dungeon.
Deliver an Ultimatum to Lord Helm: "I have heard more than enough of this nonsense about another Graf. I am the rightful heir of Thrommel's Green, not this twisted parody of my own Sir Helm. I shall e demanding recognition, capitulation, and tribute immediately! Kindly deliver this letter to his allegèd grace forthwith!" 600gp. Graf Helm will be unimpressed, and send a letter back, declaring enmity and advising the Mock-Graf to "remain in his dark hole, and not to get too big for his already amply-seated breeches. He will then post more guards near the dungeon entrance. This will in turn tell the mockeries that their confidence in the Mock-Graf is ill-placed, they will start leaving the dungeon and clashing with the guards more often.
Assassinate Lord Helm: "I will brook no more insult from that plumed idiot! Lord Helm, indeed! Bring me his head, and worry not for the rest!" 1,000gp. Obviously, if the PCs take up this job, killing Lord Helm will throw Thrommel's Green into disarray, and the mockeries will become even more bold. If the PCs warn Graf Helm, or fail in an attempt, the Graf will go to war with the Mockeries, sending in soldiers, which will lead to small numbers of armed Mockery soldiers coming from the false doors to counter them. How the clash will play out will vary based on the way the PCs help or hinder either side.
Deal with that Bloody Dragon: "Dragons! Greedy, vicious, ill-tempered brutes. I have has reports of Dragons out in the colonies, and I won't have it. Thankfully, they caught this one while it is young and small. I don't even care about its hoard or its pelt. Just bring me its bloody head and I shall pay you handsomely. " 1,500gp. Worried that the PCs are becoming a threat, the Mock-Graf is trying to eliminate them by sending them on a suicide mission. His Goblin subjects have told him the location of a sleeping dragon, and he is deliberately understating its size and power.
The reward from the Mock-Graf's schemes will manifest with The Butler when next he appears from a false door, The coins all bear his face. They are real gold, however, and will not dematerialize.
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