Cogling
Coglings are a sentient species of Construct that can be found all over Harmony, most typically in densely populated urban areas. Coglings are comprised of broken objects, cobbled together by the awareness that inhabits them. They typically form into humanoid shapes, mimicing the forms of those who once owned their component parts.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Unlike most other Constructs, Coglings are not intentially built by other mortals, but instead awaken spontaneously out of piles of trash that include a particular critical mass of discarded once-sentimental objects. The remnant emotional and sapient resonance of the owners of said objects imprint on them, which coalesces into a unique awareness that is the Cogling.
Due to this spontaneous manifestation, it is not possible to intentially create a Cogling, even for other Coglings, meaning their species grows very slowly. Attempts to make Coglings intentionally typically have null or very bad results, with the resultant Construct destroying their creator before tearing themselves apart. Culturally, this has resulted in the Coglings being insular, but holding all members of their species as adopted family.
Ecology and Habitats
Coglings typically manifest in dense urban areas filled with refuse, such as middens, alleyways, gutters, and attics. Given their forms, they find these habitats easy to hide in away from predators who would kidnap or kill them for their own ends. Furthermore, these places are the most likely spots for them to find new members of their species, so for these reasons most Coglings continue to live in their birthheaps.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Coglings do require sustainance, much like other mortal species, from which they gain their energy. However, unlike most mortals they do not "eat" food but rather desicate it with their touch, transferring the once-living energy into themselves. A Cogling needs to "comsume" about as much food as a typical Halfling in a given day to remain healthy, reducing the leavings to ash.
Due to the nature of a Cogling's eating habits, they do not need to cook their food. The only stipulation is that the food was once living. In urban environments, this tends to mean dead vermin — either hunted or scavenged — or food waste thrown out by other mortals. "Taste" is irrelevant to a Cogling, though small waves of emotion from the creature consumed do press into the Cogling during feeding, therefore those few Coglings that find themselves in greener environments tend to become vegans, preferring the calmer emotions of harvested plant life to that of hunted animals.
Biological Cycle
Coglings are "born" with a rudamentary understanding of the world around them, framed through the fragmented memories of their component pieces. After this, both by exposure to other items — from which they can glean new memories — and other Coglings who they communicate with, a Cogling can rapidly reach the equivalent of Human adulthood in a matter of days. Coglings also do not age, except through wear and tear on the items that make them up, which once they disintegrate the Cogling will die. Most Coglings do not fear this fate, seeing it as a natural extension of their already curious lives, treating it much the same way that other long-lived species view old age.
Civilization and Culture
Common Myths and Legends
Theologians are conflicted on the nature of Coglings, seeing them with a wide range of interpretations. For many, Coglings represent an extremely "pure" form of Awareness from the Song of Creation, whilst others view them as little more than Soul-stealing parasites. Some within the Church of Eighteen Eyes view them as sacred to Rudderless, for they are anarchy personified, whilst others believe them to be Demon spawn, and call for their eradication.
Though they are rather rare, and barely known outside of scholarly circles and to those who dwell near them, when the nature of the Coglings is brought up in theological debates, the subject is sure to become heated. It is fiercely debated whether they have Souls or not, or if they are merely mimicking those from which they come.
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