The party, being stuck in the dream realm for the time being, stumbles across what looks remarkably like a treasure chest – in the middle of the forest. If you’re a player, right there and then, you will cross your fingers and hope it’s not a mimic – but it is, of course. It couldn’t possibly be anything else.

So there’s a fight. A surprisingly easy fight, considering the party left a sleeping member behind, but weapons and even body parts sticking to the mimic’s skin does give them a few headaches.

After slaughtering the poor thing, they open it up and find a heap of shiny stuff – along with a small, elaborate box. This gives the party’s wizard, by far the smartest of the bunch, pause. After a few moments, she carefully puts a finger on the box, the player wanting to know if the box sticks to it. Puzzled, I tell him¹ no, and he sits back with a loud sigh of relief.

It’s not a baby mimic, then!

1. Yes, he the player plays she the wizard. I’m not yet at the point where I forbid my players to do a little gender-bending. [↩]