Simulacra and Rasputin..

I had an odd thought when I was reading Rasputin must die, or rather, a nitpicky feeling.

Its described in the story how Rasputin faked his death, by utilizing mind control spells and a simulacra of himself that got autopsied and buried instead of him.

Now if the simulacra died, it should have reverted to snow, correct? Or is the assumption that it somehow 'survived' the autopsy process, or that Rasputin made a pre-dead simulacra (how does that even work?)

I know this is nitpicking, but it seemed like an oddity to me. What say you all?

This is one of those things where it works that way because the story required it to.

I dislike these sorts of things, but they're common.

You could adapt it. Perhaps the simulacrum was not really dead, but Rasputin had an accomplice who declared it/him dead. Perhaps the simulacrum was buried and died then, or Rasputin retrieved it later and it is still running around (which offers interesting possibilities in having the PCs encounter it).

You could adapt it. Perhaps the simulacrum was not really dead, but Rasputin had an accomplice who declared it/him dead. Perhaps the simulacrum was buried and died then, or Rasputin retrieved it later and it is still running around (which offers interesting possibilities in having the PCs encounter it).

Yeah but see, if he had an accomplice for a closed coffin funeral...why not just bury an empty body anyway? The simulacra's not going to survive being buried alive, so it'd pop to snow after a few hours anyway and not cost hundreds of rubles.

What if he made a Clone instead?

Variant simulacrum, in the same manner as an alchemist's simulacrum. Problem solved.

Miracle spell works miracles.

Yeah but see, if he had an accomplice for a closed coffin funeral...why not just bury an empty body anyway? The simulacra's not going to survive being buried alive, so it'd pop to snow after a few hours anyway and not cost hundreds of rubles.

I had the idea the accomplice could pretend the simulacrum was the real thing and then Rasputin did not need the mind control spells to stage his own death. Instead he would stage the death of the simulacrum. The real Rasputin could simply stay out of sight until after the funeral. The simulacrum could be asleep (or under the influence of another spell which made him effectively helpless) and then the accomplice could declare him dead and he could be put into the coffin. Afterwards the simulacrum could be removed (or they just let it die and change into snow if they do not need it any longer).