Snuffers

“A colloquial term for the tribe of face-thieves that prowls the back-rooms, parlours and sculleries in Fallen London. They are named for their appetite for candles, which they devour – though none knows whether they crave the wax, or the flame. They are searching for something, or perhaps somewhere. Facts are elusive, for they change faces as often as a gentleman changes his waistcoat.”-Baedeker’s Guide to Subterranean Elements of the British Empire

One of the more unsavory creatures from the Elder Continent, snuffers are a disturbing infiltrator species that have settled in possibly every major community in the Neath. Snuffers not only can disguise themselves as any human, ripping off their faces to use for their own goals, but are a immense danger to anyone around them. Snuffers are surprisingly fast and strong for their size, and can easily overtake single men in fights if caught off guard. Fallen London's Department of Menace Eradication and the Presbyterate spends a great deal of time and effort into rooting out Snuffers, but despite this it is impossible to tell how many citizens of the empire are secretly monsters in disguise.

While the Snuffers have no real organization, at least one apparent to the common man, it is widely recognized that the legendary Thief of Faces, the original Snuffer, holds sway over many of them. What the Thief of Faces and his followers want is not clear, although it may have to do with his lover Stone and perhaps the Judgements themselves. Several elements in Fallen London, from criminal organizations to members of London's elite, also use Snuffers as the perfect spies and informants. This is not wise, however, the Presbyterate are on a virtual crusade to exterminate Snuffers, for which might have to do with the Thief of Faces defiling the purity of Stone.