The Automatons:
A “race” of polymorphic living metal bodies created by a race long dead. The automatons are new to Altera, having been created before the Exodus brought the Alteran civilization to the new world. Far back in the mists of time, long before the Exodus process began, the Automatons were created by a creature that had the ability to focus the chaos of Creation against itself as a defense mechanism, the "Chaosbenders" [True name unknown]. In an attempt to hold off the Corruptors’ destruction, the Chaosbenders built a series of metal hulls in varying shapes and sizes. They turned their abilities inwards, creating conduits through which chaos could flow. It flowed together and manifested as living, sentient flame, intelligence arising through the same chaotic process all other sentience did. With great effort, the Benders forced the flame into the empty metal bodies, infusing metal with living, burning intelligence. As one, the automatons arose, ready to defend.
But it was too late. In the creation of the Automatons, the Chaosbenders turned away from the defense of their world for too long, and the Corruptors killed everything. The Automatons, barely awake for the first time, saw the world collapse upon them and become barren, the only thing protecting them the incredible resistance to chaos woven into their metal structures.
Unable to kill them without tremendous losses, the forces of evil instead trapped the automatons beneath the ground, embedding them in solid stone. There they rested for millennia untold, their fires dim and their limbs unmoving, until the world, still for ages, saw the protection of the Veil arrive and the world become inhabited once more, by a variety of races. Over the next centuries cities rose and families gathered. As the Corruption split the ground of the Southern Wilds, the automatons awoke once more, ready to enter the world again, should they be freed from their stone prison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Automatons are very, very rapid thinkers, able to pick up even the most complex languages over mere days or weeks. However, speed of thinking does not imply greater intelligence. An average automaton is no smarter than the average human. It is simply able to think faster.
Automatons are generally slow to act. They will consider a course of action for much longer than required, often appearing to ignore others as they think it over.
Automatons are extremely mentally stable, and do not suffer from mental illness. However, some are prone to spasms and random temporary personality change as chaos is fundamental to their being. Automatons have no memory of these shifts in personality after they occur, but do not deny they are possible. Chaos shifts are very uncommon. A chaotic Automaton often displays violence towards whatever instigated the shift, sometimes attacking itself.
The Automatons were created by a race that went extinct long before the arrival of Altera’s citizens. They have no cities and do not build homes, although they are generally happy to inhabit houses.
Automatons do have a culture, but it is not particularly complex. They have no leaders or defined groups, but they will often work together to accomplish a task, and will respect the decisions of whichever automaton in the group has had the longest time on the surface and therefore the most experience. The automatons see Altera as a rebirth of sorts, as they saw their world become barren before life returned with the Exodus. As such, the automatons believe the new life to be sacred. They will not kill unless they have no other options, and strive to encourage more life. Automatons with no goal in mind are often seen gazing at nature, enjoying the beauty brought by the Exodus.
They do not consider themselves as individual entities, being well aware of the duality of flame and metal they possess. Because of this, they will speak in the third person unless otherwise instructed by someone they consider an authority figure. All automatons refer to themselves as “It” and to other people as “This one”, referring to the nature of other people, i.e. how they have only one component: the body.
All automatons are pacifists, attacking only as the last resort when all other options have been exhausted.
Automatons are completely nonmagical. The processes that power them are not magical in nature, though it very closely resembles magic. Because the automatons are artificially constructed and are wholly inorganic, they have no Glore Vyrden. However, their metal bodies, built for combating the legions of the Corruptors, are very, very good at conducting energy, rendering most magic attacks below a certain threshold useless. No automaton will ever be able to use magic.
Automatons do not have a unique language, preferring English (or Common, as it were). Each automaton has some odd quirk to its speech, because as fast as they think, they aren’t perfect.
Automatons do not wear clothes or armor in general. They do not require warmth or protection, as the fire within and their metal bodies serve both needs sufficiently. All automatons are genderless.
In a strange coincidence, Halflings are very physically similar to the Chaosbenders that created all automatons. As a result, Automatons are compelled to obey them, although they can shake off commands with some effort. Automatons are generally suspicious of Greylings because of their resemblance to the legions of the monsters that destroyed their old world, and are sometimes outright hostile in their presence.
Automatons do not feel emotions the same way as any other race. They are not devoid of them, but often feel muted versions instead. Instead of delirious joy, an automaton may feel some satisfaction. There is nothing preventing automatons from forming romantic relationships, but they are very, very rare, as they do not feel physical attraction or love as others feel it. An automaton’s version of love would revolve more around the personality of the person, with no care for their gender or attractiveness. However, there isn't really a reason for anyone to fall in love with an automaton, because of their alien nature and lack of powerful emotions.
Automatons do not breed. I should not have to explain this.
Automatons are by and by alike in that they have identical inner workings, but each one is unique from the others thanks to a few physical characteristics:
Automatons are incredibly curious, and will often start conversation with others without introduction, or will wander off to explore without warning. Automatons enjoy contact with others, gladly following people if they give permission. Automatons enjoy interaction after their thousands of years alone.
Automatons do not eat, drink, or sleep, though they admittedly do enjoy consuming food with others as part of Alteran social rituals (eating dinner etc). Any food they eat is destroyed by the fire within.
Automatons, despite their incredible resistances to heat, cold, and pressure, dislike falling into water. They are unable to swim, and are forced to walk their way back up to the shore. They share an equal dislike of lava, but it is combined with fear. Extended exposure to lava can cause heavy damage to their metal bodies, even destroying them after a point.
Automatons are incredibly physically strong, but are very slow to move compared to other races. They lack any stealth ability and have next-to-no agility. In combat, automatons attack using their brute strength, using swinging limbs and crushing grips, as well as the intense heat they can radiate.
Automatons are quite vulnerable to magic, in that any magical attack is able to generate heat in its metal body, after a point making it soft and malleable. An attack of sufficient magical power can melt portions of an automaton. Normal weapons are generally ineffective against automatons, and even diamond swords will only nick their bodies at most. However, any enchanted tool (yes, even a hoe) will carve through their hull like butter, regardless of the enchantment.
Automatons do not heal from wounds as others do, seeing as they are inorganic. Rather, they use their strength and heat to force wounds shut before fusing the metal back together. This is not a fast process, and can usually only be done after fights.
Note: Playing as an automaton is hard. It can be very fun, but because of the unique quirks of the race this is not for new or intermediate RPers. It can be very easy to godmode your way through things with a character like this as well as ignore or forget the boundaries and limits of the race, which is why I recommend an application process to play as one (should my proposal gain acceptance).
A “race” of polymorphic living metal bodies created by a race long dead. The automatons are new to Altera, having been created before the Exodus brought the Alteran civilization to the new world. Far back in the mists of time, long before the Exodus process began, the Automatons were created by a creature that had the ability to focus the chaos of Creation against itself as a defense mechanism, the "Chaosbenders" [True name unknown]. In an attempt to hold off the Corruptors’ destruction, the Chaosbenders built a series of metal hulls in varying shapes and sizes. They turned their abilities inwards, creating conduits through which chaos could flow. It flowed together and manifested as living, sentient flame, intelligence arising through the same chaotic process all other sentience did. With great effort, the Benders forced the flame into the empty metal bodies, infusing metal with living, burning intelligence. As one, the automatons arose, ready to defend.
But it was too late. In the creation of the Automatons, the Chaosbenders turned away from the defense of their world for too long, and the Corruptors killed everything. The Automatons, barely awake for the first time, saw the world collapse upon them and become barren, the only thing protecting them the incredible resistance to chaos woven into their metal structures.
Unable to kill them without tremendous losses, the forces of evil instead trapped the automatons beneath the ground, embedding them in solid stone. There they rested for millennia untold, their fires dim and their limbs unmoving, until the world, still for ages, saw the protection of the Veil arrive and the world become inhabited once more, by a variety of races. Over the next centuries cities rose and families gathered. As the Corruption split the ground of the Southern Wilds, the automatons awoke once more, ready to enter the world again, should they be freed from their stone prison.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Automatons are very, very rapid thinkers, able to pick up even the most complex languages over mere days or weeks. However, speed of thinking does not imply greater intelligence. An average automaton is no smarter than the average human. It is simply able to think faster.
Automatons are generally slow to act. They will consider a course of action for much longer than required, often appearing to ignore others as they think it over.
Automatons are extremely mentally stable, and do not suffer from mental illness. However, some are prone to spasms and random temporary personality change as chaos is fundamental to their being. Automatons have no memory of these shifts in personality after they occur, but do not deny they are possible. Chaos shifts are very uncommon. A chaotic Automaton often displays violence towards whatever instigated the shift, sometimes attacking itself.
The Automatons were created by a race that went extinct long before the arrival of Altera’s citizens. They have no cities and do not build homes, although they are generally happy to inhabit houses.
Automatons do have a culture, but it is not particularly complex. They have no leaders or defined groups, but they will often work together to accomplish a task, and will respect the decisions of whichever automaton in the group has had the longest time on the surface and therefore the most experience. The automatons see Altera as a rebirth of sorts, as they saw their world become barren before life returned with the Exodus. As such, the automatons believe the new life to be sacred. They will not kill unless they have no other options, and strive to encourage more life. Automatons with no goal in mind are often seen gazing at nature, enjoying the beauty brought by the Exodus.
They do not consider themselves as individual entities, being well aware of the duality of flame and metal they possess. Because of this, they will speak in the third person unless otherwise instructed by someone they consider an authority figure. All automatons refer to themselves as “It” and to other people as “This one”, referring to the nature of other people, i.e. how they have only one component: the body.
All automatons are pacifists, attacking only as the last resort when all other options have been exhausted.
Automatons are completely nonmagical. The processes that power them are not magical in nature, though it very closely resembles magic. Because the automatons are artificially constructed and are wholly inorganic, they have no Glore Vyrden. However, their metal bodies, built for combating the legions of the Corruptors, are very, very good at conducting energy, rendering most magic attacks below a certain threshold useless. No automaton will ever be able to use magic.
Automatons do not have a unique language, preferring English (or Common, as it were). Each automaton has some odd quirk to its speech, because as fast as they think, they aren’t perfect.
Automatons do not wear clothes or armor in general. They do not require warmth or protection, as the fire within and their metal bodies serve both needs sufficiently. All automatons are genderless.
In a strange coincidence, Halflings are very physically similar to the Chaosbenders that created all automatons. As a result, Automatons are compelled to obey them, although they can shake off commands with some effort. Automatons are generally suspicious of Greylings because of their resemblance to the legions of the monsters that destroyed their old world, and are sometimes outright hostile in their presence.
Automatons do not feel emotions the same way as any other race. They are not devoid of them, but often feel muted versions instead. Instead of delirious joy, an automaton may feel some satisfaction. There is nothing preventing automatons from forming romantic relationships, but they are very, very rare, as they do not feel physical attraction or love as others feel it. An automaton’s version of love would revolve more around the personality of the person, with no care for their gender or attractiveness. However, there isn't really a reason for anyone to fall in love with an automaton, because of their alien nature and lack of powerful emotions.
Automatons do not breed. I should not have to explain this.
Automatons are by and by alike in that they have identical inner workings, but each one is unique from the others thanks to a few physical characteristics:
- All automatons, regardless of size or shape, have a single eye, centered on the y-axis of their head but else freely positioned. The shape of the eye is variable.
- All automatons have an internal flame. The colour of the flame is different from the colour of all other automatons’ flames.
- Automatons all have muted body colours, thanks to millennia underground. Their bodies vary in colour from blacks to greys to even dark browns, depending on the strata they were buried in.
- Automatons do not have faces, instead having the single eye.
Automatons are incredibly curious, and will often start conversation with others without introduction, or will wander off to explore without warning. Automatons enjoy contact with others, gladly following people if they give permission. Automatons enjoy interaction after their thousands of years alone.
Automatons do not eat, drink, or sleep, though they admittedly do enjoy consuming food with others as part of Alteran social rituals (eating dinner etc). Any food they eat is destroyed by the fire within.
Automatons, despite their incredible resistances to heat, cold, and pressure, dislike falling into water. They are unable to swim, and are forced to walk their way back up to the shore. They share an equal dislike of lava, but it is combined with fear. Extended exposure to lava can cause heavy damage to their metal bodies, even destroying them after a point.
Automatons are incredibly physically strong, but are very slow to move compared to other races. They lack any stealth ability and have next-to-no agility. In combat, automatons attack using their brute strength, using swinging limbs and crushing grips, as well as the intense heat they can radiate.
Automatons are quite vulnerable to magic, in that any magical attack is able to generate heat in its metal body, after a point making it soft and malleable. An attack of sufficient magical power can melt portions of an automaton. Normal weapons are generally ineffective against automatons, and even diamond swords will only nick their bodies at most. However, any enchanted tool (yes, even a hoe) will carve through their hull like butter, regardless of the enchantment.
Automatons do not heal from wounds as others do, seeing as they are inorganic. Rather, they use their strength and heat to force wounds shut before fusing the metal back together. This is not a fast process, and can usually only be done after fights.
Note: Playing as an automaton is hard. It can be very fun, but because of the unique quirks of the race this is not for new or intermediate RPers. It can be very easy to godmode your way through things with a character like this as well as ignore or forget the boundaries and limits of the race, which is why I recommend an application process to play as one (should my proposal gain acceptance).
