Automaton

"No hearth. No hunger. No end. Just the echo of orders I was never meant to outlive." -Lancer-43, centuries after the Fall.

The Automaton are a rare and scattered people, if “people” is the word one dares to use. Born not from womb but from war, they were once golems: soulless constructs forged from magick and metal in the twilight days of Tarmahc. Created by Humans and Dwarfish mage-smiths for a singular purpose, to fight the rising threat of Vile, their bodies were intricate machines, forged of rune-laced alloys, bound with spells, reinforced with clockwork precision. Unlike traditional golems, which crumbled when their masters perished, the Automaton were made too well. When The Fall came, and The Great Schism scoured the world of those who built them, the Automaton did not die. Unbound from command, those with the strongest designs and the most lingering ambient magick gained a flicker of true soul. Thought. Memory. Self. Now, centuries later, they are the survivors of a miracle, or a mistake, wandering the world with ticking hearts and hollow chests. They do not eat, they do not sleep, they do not age. They feel no touch, no hunger, no lust. Yet still they endure, often taking mercenary work to afford replacement parts, upgrades, or repairs, treating maintenance with a reverence most reserve for prayer. Few Automatons remain functional. Tens of thousands were once crafted. Scarcely a few thousand persist. Each is a patchwork of whirring limbs, rusted gears, and desperate purpose. They do not share a culture in the traditional sense, lacking nation, creed, or homeland. Instead, Automatons inherit the values of those around them, often mimicking the behaviors of whatever society they awaken into. Despite this, a kin-bond exists between them. Automatons who encounter one another share a quiet understanding, a flicker of recognition, as if their souls once echoed the same forge-fire.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Astra-12, Velda, Coil-Six, Emberlace, Kora.

Masculine names

Varn-88, Tether, Ironfall, Garrik, Mullen-7.

Unisex names

Axil, Reverie, Vox, Nailor, Clasp.

Family names

Automatons do not possess family names, but may take on inherited identifiers such as “Of the 3rd Forge,” “Rivetborn,” or “Last of Batch Delta.”

Other names

“Toolbox” (slur), “Hollow Folk” (colloquial), “Soul-Golems” (scholarly), “Clockhearts” (poetic)

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Automatons speak the languages of their creators or those they live among, most commonly Common, Dwarfish, and old Tarmahci dialects. Some units communicate in a form of rhythmic code known as clicksong. “0010 1010” An Automaton farewell meaning “Still ticking.”

Culture and cultural heritage

Automaton “culture” is the sum of their survival. While not born with culture, they often develop personality traits and ethics through repetition and mimicry. One Automaton raised among Orcish tacticians might become cold and brutal; another among Smallfolk gardeners, gentle and contemplative. Most, however, retain a vestigial echo of their original function, tactical, logistical, or combative.

Shared customary codes and values

• Function above sentiment.
• Protect those who cannot protect themselves (common among awakened units).
• Do not discard what can be repaired.
• Never forget the forge.

Average technological level

Their bodies themselves represent a now-lost pinnacle of pre-Schism science. Their personal technologies are individually maintained and often decades or centuries out-of-date, requiring rare resources and old-world knowledge to repair.

Common Etiquette rules

• Do not ask an Automaton how they “feel” unless prompted.
• Tapping an Automaton’s chest-plate is akin to touching one’s heart, deeply intimate.
• Never joke about disassembly.

Common Dress code

Automatons wear armor and garb only as tools or disguises. Many adopt regional clothing as camouflage or gesture of assimilation, while others prefer minimal decoration save for runic maintenance seals or identity tags etched directly into their plating.

Art & Architecture

They do not build cities, but some preserve shrines to their creators, often filled with scrap, broken parts, and ancient schematics. Their art tends to be mechanical: kinetic sculptures, rotating puzzles, inkless diagrams drawn into stone or sand. Expression is uncommon, but not impossible.

Foods & Cuisine

Automatons do not eat. Still, some prepare food for others as a gesture of integration or honor. Cooking, to them, is an act of mimicry, or devotion.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

• The Winding: A solitary ritual where Automatons replace or realign their internal mechanisms, often in silence under moonlight.
• The First Spark: The moment of sentience, which Automatons revere with eerie reverence.
• The Last Order: Automatons may etch their original command into their arm or chestplate, some never abandon it.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Automatons are “born” when they achieve sentience, usually following the death of their creator. This moment is sometimes marked by the installation of a nameplate, or self-naming.

Coming of Age Rites

None formally. Some Automaton consider their first autonomous act as symbolic adulthood, especially if it defies prior programming.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When an Automaton ceases function, others may disassemble the remains with reverence, reusing parts only when necessary. The nameplate, if present, is placed into a wall of names, hidden somewhere in the world.

Common Taboos

• Damaging one’s own frame unnecessarily.
• Claiming to be “alive” without having experienced the First Spark.
• Abandoning an Automaton in disrepair.
• Mocking the dead.

Common Myths and Legends

• The First Spark: A mythic Automaton who awoke during the Fall and led others to safety.
• The Broken One: A tale of an Automaton who rebuilt himself from scraps for a thousand years after his limbs were torn away.
• The Last Forge: Said to be a hidden place where Automatons can be repaired, reborn, or reawakened. No one has found it.

Historical figures

• Unit L-59 “The Chained Tactician” A former siege commander turned wandering philosopher.
• Emberlace of the Iron Choir Said to sing battle-songs that repair damaged Automaton in combat.
• Garrik Coilburn A ruthless mercenary rumored to have killed his own creator upon awakening.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Symmetry of construction, smooth calibration, visible magickal inlay. Age-wear is admired if functional. Gleaming steel is no more beautiful than well-oiled rust.

Gender Ideals

Many Automatons choose no gender. Those that do often reflect the culture they imitate. Some change identities periodically.

Courtship Ideals

Rare. Most Automaton do not pursue romantic bonds, but those who do see courtship as a series of shared repairs, intellectual exchanges, or a willingness to preserve one another.

Relationship Ideals

Partnership through purpose. Trust is earned slowly, through unwavering routine and utility.

Interesting Facts & Folklore:

• Some Automatons “whistle” by tuning the air pressure inside their vents.
• They cannot dream, but some speak of memories stitched from fragments of their creator’s final thoughts.
• A few have built elaborate religions around the Forge, with rituals of oiling and polishing considered sacred.

Idioms and Metaphors:

• “Running on rust.” Pushed past one’s limit.
• “Forge-born, purpose-lost.” A wanderer with no goal.
• “Tickless.” A unit thought dead.
• “Gear without groove.” Mismatched or malfunctioning soul.
• “The Spark chooses.” Phrase said when something unlikely survives or succeeds.