I assume that *if* the Dark Powers are copying people, it would be like a mass version of the clone spell that copies the spirit as well.
And this is what happens when people get NPCs killed by mistake.. * chuckles* Sorry i know was of topic but it made me chuckle thinking of the Mist just cloning people... So thats like.. say you die in the vampire cave... and use the mist to come back... Maybe that body is just a clone then!!?!
It's not the Mists, it's the Dark Powers. The Dark Powers are either gods or equivalent to gods, given that it has been shown in Ravenloft books that they can:
Make an exact duplicate of Barovia that's identical to the original in every way (in
Roots of Evil)
Transport people through time (in
Castles Forlorn)
Split a soul between two copies of the same person (
Vampire of the Mists and presumably
The House on Gryphon Hill)
Physically wrench a piece of land from its home plane (in
Castles Forlorn)
They can send the Mists to retrieve/steal people from places that are normally cut off from planar travel, such as Athas and the Gothic Earth
They were able to imprison a demigod, Vecna, for a brief time.
They are able to keep the gods out of their demiplane
They can replace gods that have died, such as Bane for the people of Hazlan after he died in the Time of Troubles on Toril
Given all that, and probably more I've forgotten, I can't see how copying people down to their souls is that much of a stretch for the Dark Powers. It's conjecture, of course, and was never confirmed that is how the people of the domains of Ravenloft came to be (and likely never will be), but that's one way I could see it working.