Automatons
Do you hear the grinding gears that shamble in the darkness of this place? Metal and flesh strain as they both struggle to find their way in the endless mazes that compose Hevel's grand design. Some say it is only the machinery around us that blinds our ears with the monotonous sounds of progress and toil, but Hevel is a mystery to all. The smoke rises above to choke our hearts and spirits while black oil drips to the depths below our feet. Surely some have ventured to the deeper realms of this place, yet I know of none that have returned. There have been so many over the course of Hevel's time that have wandered into Hevels endless mazes and constructs, only to emerge saddened and confused. Such is the fate of those fools that try to understand this realm of haze and madness, but what of those that don't ever emerge at all? What becomes of the explorer that strays too far into the mystery of Hevel? Some say they become something else, indeed something worse than the deepest kind of insanity. Our minds and hearts are frail things, not meant for a world such as Hevel. Some sink too far into Hevel's mystery only to then become lost. Some lose all direction, purpose, and will to truly live, yet these things aren't even the deepest attributes that Hevel can extract from a wayward soul. There is something that one can lose and never get back, something more precious than any treasure or emotion, your identity. Pity those souls that have lost this most precious gift to the gears of time and toil, for these lost Automatons are all around us whether we see them or not.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Some rumors occasionally spread through Hevels many individuals and groups that attempt to shed light on the twisted creatures and constructs that dwell within the forgotten levels of Hevel itself. Perverse designs of flesh and metal cry out into the darkness as their spirits are mangled by the madness that dwells within them. Gears and bolts protrude from boiled skin as organic muscle strains against the weight of countless artificial limbs. Blood and oil drip from the grinding Automatons as they wonder just beyond the veil of Hevel's maddening design. Who or what they once were is barely conceivable as Hevel has taken a heavy toll on the poor souls that dared to dive into the mystery of this place, only to never return. Their heads have long since eroded as countless gears of iron and rust shackled down what little understanding these automatons once possessed. Whatever voice these automatons once had is heard no more, for only steam and clockwork remain within the Automatons eroded hearts and minds. Is madness the only true answer to this dying world, or will The Bleeding Tree's message undo the chaos that has imprisoned so many souls? Time will tell as The Tree's message of new life continues to spread through Hevel's dark constructs.
Biological Traits
For those of us here in Hevel that have actually seen one of these Automatons up close is at best a humbling experience and at worst a mind-shattering experience that can break an individual's own perception of reality. Accounts vary across a wide spectrum of details and rumors alike. Some claim to see humanoid machines limbing towards unknown destinations. Others see stranger forms that mimic some sort of animal or creature from some kind of realm that is only known to a few. Perhaps the worst accounts are those of gigantic monstrosities that defy any understanding as they seem to be part of the great engines of Hevel itself. So much variety, yet they are simultaneously all the same Automatons in the end. Mindless beings that know nothing of what they are or what they do.
Growth Rate & Stages
Though there are some eyewitness accounts of Automatons wondering throughout Hevel, almost nothing is known of how a person or being is transformed into one of these broken machines. Though the unknowable realm of Hevel places some kind of role in a creatures transformation into one of these Automatons, how the physical process occurs or even how fast it happens is a complete mystery. Perhaps the madness within and all around these poor creatures slowly eats away at their body and soul as they wonder Hevel itself. It is also likely that a person can appear completely intact and in control of their reality at one moment, only to then suddenly and sometimes even violently erupt into a chaotic abyss of insanity and ignorance. If anything can be known about this strange transformative process is this fact. Knowone knows how to stop it from happening. In the end, only the whispers of The Bleeding Tree seem to offer any hope in curing this unique and quite frightening affliction that seems to lurk around every corner of Hevel's strange designs.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Black oil drips down rotting flesh as it slowly erupts from bubbling pustules that grow withing a Automatons soul. This poison is slowly killing them, though they are completely unaware of its effects or even its existence. Strangely these decrepit monsters seem to be sustained by the white flowers that seem to grow randomly through Hevel's landscape. Knowone I know of even goes near these beautiful flowers, yet green stems are often found lying about through the endless mazes of Hevel. These flowers are never gone for long, for they always seem to grow again, larger and more beautiful than before. Though most Automatons are full of black, vile fluid, some explorers claim to see golden liquid leaking out of some of these lost beings. These Automatons, though deformed seem different from the rest. Unlike their shivering and convulsive brothers and sisters, these Automatons seem calmer than the rest. What this could be is hard to explain or know, yet perhaps we should look into this mystery for our own sake. I say this because in my own wondering I sometimes get profound headaches followed by nosebleeds that bleed black fluid. How long will it be until you start showing signs of the corruption within you? Is everyone in Hevel sick with this unholy disease?
Additional Information
Average Intelligence
What is consciousness? When one gazes at the broken form of an Automaton this question will inevitably arise. Are they alive in the traditional sense of the word, for what is life if not the experience that overwhelms our senses to the point of death? Intelligence is a vague word that offers no real comfort to the questions of life and meaning. How easy our perspective can shatter when our minds are exposed to new types of information that challenge our current scope of reasoning. Some would consider Automatons to be dull in mind and spirit, yet what are we next to them? How different are we in all are various stripes and forms when compared to these Automatons?
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Can an automaton hear anything beyond its own anguish and misery? Can they see what tears at them in the blackness of their own hearts? Do they smell the stench of their broken flesh as it grinds forward through time? Will, they ever taste the sweet nectar of true-life again? Perhaps the most disturbing question of all is if an Automaton will ever feel the disparity of its own dire situation and realize its own need for a savior? In the end, the blind, deaf, and dumb must be rescued from outside themselves, less they remain lost forever in the depravity of their own souls.
Average Height
7-12ft
Geographic Distribution
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