Possessed Puppet
“What is that you've got there?” Ana's mother asked while sorting through the laundry.
“This is Trix.” Anna held the doll up proudly, the lamplight shining from the cracked porcelain. “She can dance.”
“Is that so? And where exactly did you get her?”
“I didn't. She found me when I was playing in the woods. She said she had a message for Papa.” Anna smiled. She lifted the doll's twisted braids and laid them gently against its back.
Her mother picked up the pile of clothes and paused as she walked past. “Oh Anna, she's so dirty. You really shouldn't pick up old toys from the woods. You don't know who might be looking for it.”
Anna pouted, placed the doll on the table, and chased after her mother into the bedroom. “But mummy, Trix really needed to talk with Papa. I couldn't just leave her all alone.”
Moments later the front door opened. A man walked into the cottage. He hefted a large pack onto the floor and laid his axe against the wall.
“I'm home!” he called out, making his way over to the table and picking up the doll. The black eyes stared back at him, glinting in the light from the lamp. “I don't recognize you. You're certainly not one of Anna's.”
The doll jerked in his hands, coming to life. With a start, he held it at arm's length and hastened to return it to the table. As he did, though, the doll's mouth moved, and a quiet whisper escaped it.
He lifted the doll to his ear, his curiosity overriding his panic. “What did you say?”
The doll tilted its head to one side. “Papa,” it said, mimicking Anna's voice, before pulling a pair of small blades from its dirty dress and drawing them across the man's throat. A possessed puppet is a construct created by a spellcaster to act as a spy, servant, or even an assassin. It appears to be an innocuous doll until the last moment when it strikes. It is not unheard of for the creator to lace their construct's weapon with various maladies as well.
Possessed puppets are used for all manner of tasks, some darker than others. Alchemists utilize them in their stores to assist with their work, while shopkeepers have them run errands. Due to their blind obedience and lack of conscience, though, many are tasked with assassinations and other devious plots. Nothing is quite so unnerving as a child's toy with a pair of daggers, about to snuff out your life.
What they are most prized for, though, is their ability to telepathically transmit anything they see or hear back to their creators, making them incredibly effective spies. This exchange of information is possible through the blood used in its creation, which creates a mystical bond between puppet and master.