[Art Credit: Donavonn Wynkoop]
[ THE IMMORTAL CONSTRUCTS ]
The Immortal Kings created beings without souls to serve. Both humble and peaceful. They would be created for a greater purpose as the world turns to Corruption: to survive. Imbued with the rationality, and creativity of mortals in order to preserve their memory as heirs of Corruption. Within a sealed plane, they hid these Immortal Constructs beyond mortal imagination, without life and in wait for the end of all things. However, the death of the Immortal Kings superseded their new creation's revelation, and so they were forgotten
The Immortal Constructs are the Immortal Kings' answer to Corruption, an ancient, deadly force of destruction. They are mechanical analogues of humankind, strange steel golems sculpted in the shape of mortals, blessed by their creators with tremendous resilience, and near-perfect longevity made to weather the storm of wars. Their millennia-long slumber, a strange lucid dream cast upon them by their ancient makers, has kept them quiet and unknowing of their forgotten state. By a tremendous stroke of luck, or perhaps through a strange manipulation, their home ship was pulled into the material realm. They plucked themselves from the wreckage of their ancient ships, the memory of their slumber soon fading, as they met the faces of Alterans.
The voice of a beloved mother guided them first as they awakened. Mijaylova appeared before them, appearing like them, an Immortal Construct. She described to them that they are a beloved creation of the Immortal Kings, rulers of a time long gone. She does not know where the Immortal Kings are, or even where to look for them. She explains plainly that the Immortal Constructs must live amidst humankind, and uphold their lives as a bastion against Corruption, at all costs. They were ushered from where they woke, a wreckage, submerged in the sands of the far South-West. The doors closed behind them, and the realm of Altera was theirs to explore. Their home from which they slumbered then was obliterated. Nothing remains of those left behind, but those who were taken before it was too late now may believe they are the last of their kind.
[ IMMORTAL CONSTRUCT APPLICATIONS ]
Send applications to play the race to Lore Team through a ticket in our discord server. The application is just a character profile template, filled out for a construct. This race is legacy and thus is limited. Applications may be closed at a moment's notice, and this post will be updated to reflect that.
Physical Attributes
These constructs resemble the entire spectrum of the mortal body in terms of shape. Any way a mortal can appear, so can these constructs. No two constructs are alike in exact body type, shape, height, weight, color, or personality. Some constructs vary in complexity, but they always follow the same rules of their own body. Their personal identities vary wildly from one another, despite their usual monotones. Some may embrace masculinity, femininity, both, or neither, in their shape and tone of voice. The limits of their shape follow that of mortals. Their eyes are glass structures that can glow faintly the colors natural to the mortal kind, with some even resembling more vibrant versions of those colors. For instance, a construct could have a bright teal, emerald green, or a bright, brownish amber. Their voices range in pitch, but when they speak, there is an ever-present, although incredibly subtle metallic ring to their tone.
Within the innards of the Construct lies the Stelheart, the Construct's Blood, and solid Stelhide. They can have mouths to speak, attached to an esophagus that runs down to a small pocketed stomach that breaks down external contents into their bodies. The Stelheart breaks apart food and liquids into their system, while anything else is immediately hurled back out. They do not excrete anything, save for blood when cut. And they have no other internal organs.
Stelheart
Buried within each Construct is a "Stelheart" that anchors their mechanisms in the material realm. The function of a Construct echoes the golems of Korog without entirely replicating it: since their appearance in the Eastern Kingdoms, some Constructs have taken on more worldly forms while others retain their otherworldly visages. The Stelheart, located in either the head or torso, exists as a sort of central power and is required to permit their function. Without an intact Stelheart, the construct is rendered inert—as close to death as they were previously to living.
The Stelheart, a gem bestowed with a distinctive immortal power, retains the memory and personality of the Construct built around it. Should a Stelheart be damaged, a Steward or Mage specialized in Constructs might be able to restore its integrity. If it is altogether destroyed, the Construct's memories go with it. If transferred to a new, coreless body, the Stelheart will slowly reconfigure the form to suit as close to their previous as possible.
Made in the image of their creators, Immortal Constructs were intended to take on humanoid shapes: two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head; however, the ingenuity and creativity of some particular minds gave way to otherwise unconventional figures and forms with lesser or weaker limbs accompanying the greater ones.
Fleshsteel - Stelhide
Stelhide, the untrue skin of the Construct, exists in a semi-solid state that allows for limited flex and bends beneath external plating. Appearing as fibrous musculature, the composition of stelhide allows it to retain the integrity of the Construct body's internal mechanisms without concerns of rust or severe wear. Varying in sheen and color, the Construct's stelhide acclimates to their design over time; newly grafted or repaired stelhide appears to be scarred or discolored at first, slowly turning to the base color of the Construct design.
Constructs are more comfortable in harsh environments than mortals but are still vulnerable to intense heat and cold. They can work at a forge for hours, traverse the Nether, or stand out in the cold without discomfort, but direct exposure to fire or intense cold will harm them internally as it would a mortal. The external Stelhide itself melts under the same conditions as iron.
Stelhide naturally gives the Construct defensive properties of other soft metals, such as poor chainmail. [Armor rules]. Without a functional Stelheart (and thus living Construct) attached to it, Stelhide locks up with the properties of iron. If melted, it will reduce to molten iron and reforge as just that.
Construct BloodConstruct blood is created through the magic of their Stelhearts as a coated layer around it, before it begins to seep through their inner Stelhide, through similar points as veins and arteries in the mortal body. It aids in mobility and their natural resistance to mild temperatures. A neon green liquid that is thick and greasy and glows, almost as if it were liquid metal. It's warm to the touch, drying rather quickly when exposed to the air.
They suffer in a similar manner as mortals during blood loss. If too much Construct Blood is drawn out from a limb, the Stelhide beneath begins to lock up and stiffen, leaving the limb to slowly be immobilized. The construct may become sluggish in movement and thought if too much Construct Blood leaves them- until they begin to hit the Slumbering State. In order to stop an open wound from leaking blood, they're able to staunch it with a thick cloth to slow the blood flow. But to completely close the wound entirely, it must be cauterized by hot metal. The Stelhide will begin to seal the open wound, leaving a discolored scar mark behind.
When construct blood dries up, it loses all its properties and will cool to room temperature, much the same way as mortal blood dries and cools when outside of the body. Consumption of construct blood for both vyres and normal mortals will result in them emptying the entire contents of their stomachs.
Armor & Augmentation
Stelhide linked to a functioning Stelheart can attach grafted variations of metals to differing success during services of repairs or maintenance, typically requiring an Immortal Steward to keep the Construct from rejecting the material. During this process, the grafted metal is locally stiff and slow, serving as more effective armor while it soothes into the stelhide.
Boasting great resilience with just stelhide alone, a Construct may, with the help of advanced grafts, affix varied augments to its body in order to achieve greater protection and new utility it may otherwise lack. The pieces must be forged onto the Construct, and removal is an arduous, tedious process that can require weeks of work. Only one graft may be implemented at a time.
Within the [Armor system], Stelhide gives the Construct defensive properties of other soft metals, such as poor chainmail, with no penalty to mobility.
- Leather & Cloth armor elevates in accordance with Armor Rules with a mild speed penalty (slower than a non-Construct in leather armor). This takes no additional time to assimilate, and does not require grafting. They are layers that are worn over their Stelhide.
- Metal Augments (barring finery like gold/silver/platinum) elevate AC in accordance with Armor Rules when made as a plate. None can be made as chainmail or other forms of armor. It comes with a noticeable speed decrease (slower than a non-Construct in plate armor), limiting a Construct's movement to 3 blocks per turn when augmenting two or more parts of their body (arm and leg, torso and head, etc.). Grafted metal takes upwards of a month to assimilate.
Acceptable Metal Augments
These metals can forge properly alongside Stelhide and are able to carry their effects over to the Construct's Form: Silver, Blooded Silver, Hellmetal, Ember Steel Alloy, and Abyssal Silver Alloy.
Un-Acceptable Metal Augments
These metals don't properly meld with Stelhide and cannot be used as additional defenses. Starblood, Volatile Obsidian, Viridescence
Refined Irzis-Fyr
Made to radiate heat, the fire iron requires venting to be implemented on the construct so as to not entirely overheat the stelhide body beneath. The proper venting prevents the construct from gaining much by way of physical protection but allows even greater resistance to cold, and the utility of a surface to start fires off of.
Machanite
Bolstering a great resistance to kinetic bludgeoning, machanite permits an augmented Construct to become nigh-immovable; however, the metal weighs unwieldy and imbalanced on its form and impedes movement further than regular plate augments. They cannot use evasion rolls.
Glimmersteel
Grants a lacerating armor that permits the Construct to retaliate to strikes passively. Conversely, the shards around them risk damage to themselves and others unintentionally—leaving them prone to require frequent grafts as upkeep. Extremely difficult to remove. They cannot use evasion rolls.
Crafting Recipes:
- Refined Stelhide Graft (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith or level 4 ornamentalist: tinkering): x1 Iron Ingot, x4 Coke– A base of the Construct that becomes an ingredient for further grafting.
- Construct Vambraces Plating (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith): x2 Refined Stelhide Graft, x3 ingot
- Construct Grieves Plating (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith): x2 Refined Stelhide Graft, x3 ingot
- Construct Helm Plating (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith): x1 Refined Stelhide Graft, x2 ingot
- Construct Cuirass Plating (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith): x2 Refined Stelhide Graft, x6 ingot
- Construct Prosthesis (level 3 blacksmith: armorsmith or level 4 ornamentalist: tinkering): x1 Refined Stelhide Graft, x2 immortal dust – An additional grafted piece of metal that substitutes a singular limb and forms into Stelhide.
By the hands of Master Steward Jewelers, there is a chance of revival. Should a Stelheart be damaged beyond repair, fragments of it may be embedded into a replicated heart-sized gem- where it will begin to piece together fractions of the memory present within to create a new Stelheart. Due to this, some attributes of the Construct's personality or memory will be shuffled in order to fill in empty gaps. But something of their shadow can be replicated. A renewed or repaired Stelheart may be reinserted back into a construct shell by a Steward- within the head or torso- and it will slowly reshape to suit its core (if required). A full Construct body, forged, is still required for the Stelheart to re-ignite a Construct to 'Life'. They will shift into their Dreamer's State, and 'awaken' once they are prepared to face the world again. (Please post in the [Revival Requests])
Immortality
The Immortal Constructs, as their name suggests, are functionally ageless. They do not need to eat or drink, though they are able to. To break down the food, however, is costly on the body, making them tired after a meal. They are immune to poison and diseases, but drinking poison still affects their body. The contents they digest spread through their bloodstream, making them more sluggish. Their bodies do not age, are immune to natural corrosion, and are resistant to Corruption of souls- for they have none to possess. They can persist through the centuries, a living promise to uphold the mantle of humanity should those of flesh fail. The boon of immortality is, perhaps, unfit for such small beings. Their bodies, and their minds, are not indestructible. Should their Stelheart be permanently destroyed, they will not return. If they live to see centuries pass, they risk a subtle madness, at the monotony of living for hundreds and hundreds of years.
Pain
Relative to mortals, the Immortal Constructs have exceptional pain tolerance. They might 'feel' the sensation of being struck with a knife or damaged by a blunt hammer, but feel it muffled. However- the wounds they do gain from hits and cuts still deter and affect their movements. For example, if a hammer crushes their elbow, the arm will begin to tremble and be unable to hold anything. The Construct knows this would normally hurt a mortal and might believe itself to be in pain. During the grafting process, they may choose to fade into a Dreamer's-State, to numb the painful experience of its forging their body.
Those that are 'Outcasts' that begin to harm living things without remorse might experience a strange sensation. They feel pain twice-fold as if their bodies jolted with several nerves being struck at once within a targeted area. Where normally a Construct may whimper, the Outcast will scream.
Dreamers
The Constructs have a special relationship with sleep and rest. They require sleep as humans do, though far less often, due to their endurance: they are naturally required to 'recharge' for 4-6 hours per 24-hour day cycle, and failure to recharge will cause their body to be forced into a recharge where they stand at the end of the 24 hour cycle, towards the end of which they will begin acting sluggish and “sleep-deprived”. Each night they sleep, they have vivid, lucid, but otherwise normal, dreams. They may sleep for days, weeks, months, or years at a time if they fall too deeply into their sleep state. To do so, however, the Construct must be extremely relaxed, undisturbed, focused, and without worldly obligation. They must remain in a quiet place, undisturbed, as their slumber is a light one. This practice is, however, taboo, as the risks are unknown to will yourself in an unending slumber. When they awake, they do not remember their dreams, but always feel exhausted on the day of their awakening.
Regard for life
Constructs have a high regard for life in general, but specifically, consider the life of a mortal to be higher than that of any other living thing. To harm a person maliciously (not in self-defense or in the protection of others) will cause severe mental implications for the construct. They may begin to question their existence, prone to mood swings in logic and thoughts. To harm other life, such as a gryphon that is not attacking a person or themselves, will cause the construct grief for the rest of the day. The only exception to this is when the being in question has become corrupted, in which case the only objective is to stop them from spreading harm to others.
Creation
The Immortal Kings were their creators, and it is no surprise that their living creations share this same trait. The mind of a Construct takes highly to creative crafts and professions that rely on skill and knowledge. As a result, they are natural-born smiths, woodworkers, and laborers. They have an inherent bonus to crafting.
Water & Air
Constructs don't require air to breathe. The gasses they do inhale don't affect their bodies. Consuming liquids does hinder them as it breaks the contents apart internally. With that understanding, a Construct will have difficulty moving underwater and swimming with their heavy Stelhide bodies - essentially becoming bad swimmers that sink in deep waters. If they consume and drown within large bodies of water through their open mouths, their bodies become sluggish and heavier, forcing them into a Dream State.
Psychology, Temperament, and Culture
All Constructs are aware of their purpose. Heirs to humanity, crafted by the hand of old kings. They see themselves, generally, as worthy of the title of Alteran as any other. However, they are gifted with free will, and the vast array of unique personalities provides a variety of ways to accept this truth. Identity is a strong part of each Construct. They may take to many cultures, customs, or other ways of life as a matter of their free will, and willingness to be true Alterans. Some express their individuality through the painting of their steel flesh or added ornamentation upon their body (by attachments, forging, or by molding). Nudity is still taboo amidst Constructs, though partial nudity, for cultural reasons, is accepted. If a Construct has spent enough time with a certain type of people, they might even adopt their accents into their own way of speech. The vastness of the mortal psyche is present even within the Immortal Constructs. They are imperfect thinkers, but they represent the mortal mind without flaw. They appear to feel in perfect imitation of mortal emotion. They build bonds with people, construct and mortal alike.
Source
Constructs are able to speak a strange language known only to them, a series of musical metallic clicks to form sentences and communicate. The name of the language is Source. This language is a verbal language and has no written form. It cannot be taught to others and can only be sung between Constructs. [Link]
Sparking & Magic
When sparked by powerful magic, A Construct's Stelheart seems to fracture from within their solid outer shell. Within these internal fractures, they may lose pieces of its personality and essentially show permanent shifts from who they were. They become 'Outcasts' among their kin and their own kind is able to see an inherent wrongness when staring into the eyes of the Construct. Not only are their memories and personalities changing, but these Mystical Constructs also have Stelhearts that are unable to fully suspend Stelhide to the best of what the Immortal Kings made of them. Stelhide is unable to retain any additional grafts upon their bodies and any current ones begin to scrape off their bodies, falling off. Magical Constructs have no armor defenses, their Stelhide being more vulnerable than before.
In trade, the Magical Construct is able to directly manipulate the energies harnessed from the magic within themselves, in a manner many know as magic wielded by mortals. When manipulating magic, runes written in Source appear along the Construct's bodies. Due to the nature of their existence, they cannot access any branch of Animancy or the Life branch of Formistry. They are considered inanimate objects for the purposes of any soul and life-centric spells and must use the Mind stat for casting. If a Steward were ever able to repair their Stelheart completely, they would lose access to this magic. If a Construct fails their Sparking, they may 'die'.
Interactions With The Arcane and Divine
Due to their physiological differences, inside and out, the Arcane schools have differing effects on Immortal Constructs. Sometimes, spells fine-tuned for mortal bodies and minds will fizzle and refuse to interact with constructs, while others are still capable of helping or harming them. They themselves may be able to wield the Arcane as well.
Due to their lack of soul, Animancers' spells that interact with the soul take no effect on constructs. Any other spells work as they would on a normal mortal. With that understanding, Constructs are not able to wield the magic of Animancy.
Though Immortal Constructs do have mens functions like normal mortals, a Cogimens will be able to detect that it feels distinctly off when compared to a mortal's. All Cogimency spells, except those dealing with the memory, will affect a construct like normal.
Eviscists will find little-to-no trouble when interacting with constructs in the Arcane sense. There are some limitations; constructs are not magnetic.
Matter Formists are likely the ablest to interact with Immortal Constructs, due to their natural affinity for dealing with matter. They might be able to interact with Stelhide through those who specialize in it. No spells that interact with "Life" work upon the Construct.
As a result of possessing no soul, a Construct cannot be Blessed. While most Divine spells can still be used on a Construct, they themselves cannot use them for they cannot be Blessed by a God. Though the word has it, appealing to the God of Craft to prove themselves may catch his attention. No spells that heal flesh work upon the Construct.
Immortal Pathways
It's not necessary for a Construct to fall into a pathway that was laid out for them by their predecessors, but some are drawn to certain ways of life.
Immortal Savants
For Immortal Savants, the sanctity of their history and their original purpose is vital to remember. They value community for Constructs and keep in touch with each other, helping each learn the ways of who they are to assimilate with mortal life better. If they begin to see one of their own lose their ways, they are quick to help and rectify what they feel is wrong. Immortal Savants keep records of their history and enjoy learning about the world they're in. These Constructs seem more sensitive, philosophical and in tune with their memories and thoughts than others of their kind might be.
Immortal Wardens
Being Stouthearted is important to the Immortal Wardens, it is their way of life, their purpose that drives them. Talented warriors and craftsmen Constructs, Wardens are often groups of Constructs, bonded over a strong idea or mutual motivation towards a certain goal. Their intent, determination, and diligence all play off one another to achieve their goal- bordering on zeal, and obsession. These goals can be anything of significance. The orders these Wardens join are often small, close-knit groups. In the vein of Knighthood, Wardens are given their title and order when the trust of all the members is earned, and their combat and crafting proficiency is proven capable of furthering their goals through the centuries. It is rumored that these small groups resemble the way that the Immortal Kings conducted their work.
Immortal Stewards
Just as mortals have physicians and healers to care for them, constructs have the Immortal Stewards. All constructs have a basic, innate understanding of their physiology from the moment they awaken, but Stewards are highly revered, respected constructs that spend time studying to further develop this understanding from a small spark to a roaring flame. For mortals, the meticulous craft of Stewardship is a cross between smithing and healing, simply due to the metallic nature of the Immortal Constructs: a Steward's work is to specialize in crafting, building on, and repairing Stelhide: everything from the armor-like outer plating to the complex inner bundles of Stelhide muscles underneath them, and including the care one needs to handle Stelhearts. Mastering the craft takes time and effort, but the recognition gained from fellow constructs is encouragement enough for any on the path of Stewardship.
Immortal Outcasts
The immortal outcasts are a rank of the immortal constructs who grow disillusioned with mortal life or elect to cause serious harm willingly to those living creatures they exist in aid of. The Immortal Outcasts hold no qualms with taking a life, believing that sentient life is the root cause of all corruption. Immortal outcasts can be considered more unhinged and deranged than their normal counterparts, being willing to stray from their ideology and general purpose. However, they are not necessarily insane, holding just as much cognitive ability as any other construct. This means a mortal may never know the difference between an outcast and a regular construct. The difference, however, is clear in the eyes of the constructs themselves. At a glance, any immortal construct can know that something is wrong with an outcast but are unsure what could be truly wrong. A taboo amongst the Constructs is that interacting too long with an Outcast will corrupt them as well.
Credit:
2023:
Solus TheDeester & Lore Team for Review for formal 2.0 Updates to Constructs
Sankera for formatting.
2022:
Dusty, Pandora12Q, and JustTheEngineer for the lore rewrite.
Electric for the lore page rewrite and for proofreading.
blargtheawesome and Elz for the original lore page.
Rygan and Scardrac for the original lore.
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