Ancients

The Fragments of Core

Ancients were mechanical golems created during the last days of the Core civilization. Ancients used the Core’s advanced technologies combined with divine power bestowed by angels to be the ultimate fighting machines against evil. They were transported by the angels to Legere long ago, where they assisted in the Demon Wars. Shortly after, human uprising on Legere sparked a crusade against these machines- a brutal, one-sided war in favour of man. Despite what modern legends say, the Ancients were forbidden by their programming to harm mankind, meaning the so-called “Ancient Wars” weren’t much of a conflict as one might be led to believe. Destroyed Ancients can still be excavated to this day across Legere, but a particularly high concentration of their corpses were found just south of the Hydrisikk River. Suspected to be a mass grave of dispatched Ancients, this junkyard served as a primer and catalyst for Destral’s high-tech advancements.

History

Core

Without going into excessive detail, the Core civilization can be summed up by calling it extremely technologically advanced- the conditions within its dimensional realm of existence promoted extremely rapid technological breakthroughs including the ability to create hardened three-dimensional objects from light. The people of Core leveraged such technology on a daily basis, and as such the Ancients themselves aren't extremely advanced by Core standards. Semi-autonomous mechs had been employed by Core extensively already- however, it was the involvement of the Angels that elevated Ancients to such a level of technological marvel.
The people of Core fell, despite their great technology and weapons, to the Demons. With the edges of their very reality crumbling slowly, the Angels intervened to aid them. The divine hosts presented them with an offer: they could be taken to a sanctuary world, Legere, and be able to live as they had in Core. Legere's dimensional reality was identical enough to Core's that they would be able to survive just fine. However, the Core people would have to pay a toll to have their kind relocated in such a drastic way. The deal was simple though- construct an armada of robots using their advanced technology for the Angels to use alongside them in battle. The people of Core agreed without question, and set to work on building the machines while the legions of Seraphim held back the demonic tides from overrunning the last sanctum of Core.
700 robots were created by the people of Core over the course of what would be the equivalent of 3 Legerian years. The goal was to reach one thousand "guardian" robots- sentinels that would be delivered by the Angels to many different worlds across Creation. In addition to this, several other specialized robots were created to travel alongside the Angels as interdimensional, mobile combat platforms to help bolster the Seraphim as they shadow the Demon army through the cosmos. While the people of Core successfully worked with the Angels to deliver fully-functional robots to hundreds of worlds, their ultimate goal was never reached.
With the launch of a new assault on another reality by the Demons, many of the Seraphim stationed in Core were forced to withdraw and reinforce the other front lines. This was a trap, as a swarm of Demons lying in wait waited until the Angels' forces were diminished before launching a final assault on the Core's final bastion of sactuary. Overrun by countless legions of imps and nephilim, the people of Core were slaughtered in droves as the few angels still stationed with them fought in vain to stem the bloodshed. In the end, only a single survivor of Core was successfully evacuated from the Core bastion.

Legere

The Ancients first appeared across Legere as large white eggs that rained from the heavens. These egg-like forms are specially designed casings that the people of Core designed to help protect Ancients during interdimensional travel as they're ferried across creation by the Angels. Additionally, the Angels would be able to drop these eggs from high orbit, with these eggshells protecting the innards from the scorching heat (and in some cases cold) from such a fall. This would prevent the Angels from unnecessarily interacting with civilizations that did not need to know about such dramatic of a conflict spanning the cosmos. The shells were also tamper proof, preventing a civilization from gaining knowledge and therefore a technological edge that could influence its development.
Starting 37 years before the Demon Wars on legere began, the Heaven Egg Rain occurred. This time period would have been parallel to the time about midway through the Core's manufacturing of Ancients.

These "eggs" appear completely dormant, but people center a great amount of awe on these eggs. Many people worship them. Others simply celebrate their arrival. Many myths and legends formed, trying to explain how and where the eggs came from. The two year period where these eggs appeared over was dubbed the time of the Heaven Egg Rain. Note that many of these myths and legends were shattered once the true purpose of the eggs were revealed in the Demon Wars.

Of the 700 total Ancients created by Core, only 36 of them were assigned permanently to Legere. This was sufficient to help drive back Demonic forces, especially considering that both the people of Legere and Seraphim all united to help in the fight. Of those 36, 33 survived the Demon Wars and would go on to stand guard over the course of the Ancient Era. During the Ancient Wars, only 5 survived the brutality of Arbam and his men. These 5 would be locked away within divine vaults across Legere, just in case the Demons returned and the Righteous Order wouldn't be sufficient. The Ancients dispatched by the army of Arbam were unceremoniously carried to a plot of land just West of Crossroads Lake. Over the Ancient Wars, this would grow to become a sizeable junkyard-like gravesite. It would grow unnatural colours at night as the divine energies and Core power cells would leak their essence into the air and upon the ground- a sight that would deter many for fear of being poisoned by the runoff.

The Ancient Wars were a brutal sequence of events led by a group who named themselves as Arbam's army. Their leader, Arbam, was incredibly charismatic and radical, leading to him gathering soldiers and men from all across Legere. His army was little more than an enormous mob of people, but with sympathizers in nearly every major city. He led his followers to believe that the Ancients were nothing more than jailers, and that they must be destroyed before they wipe out the planet! Kingdoms everywhere were quick to surrender their Ancients to Arbam and his followers in order to avoid potentially greater civil unrest.

The execution of an Ancient was a diabolical, sad scene. At night, hordes of Arbam's soldiers gathered, celebrating drunkenly as they tore the machines limb from limb, spilling their sapphire blood over the ground. The Ancients did not fight back, programmed only to destroy targets that threatened the realm as a whole as opposed to drunken, confused men. Forbidden to harm those they were built to protect, the Ancients quietly went to their graves as Arbam's men spread word about their "glorious battles" against the cosmic robots.

To this day, many believe the lies spread by Arbam. The gist of it is that the Ancients were powerful god-machines that were sent to protect Legere from Demons, but over time their minds broke. This caused them to become filled with murderous fury, attacking and burning villages of innocent people. Arbam and his followers bravely fought against the tyrannical mechs. Fortunately, the Righteous Order often tries where it can to correct this false information, but it's very hard to stop the spread of legends.

The only places that were free from Arbam's major influence were the Eastern Provinces. The Ganpoumi Fi were quick to remember the Demon Wars and dismissed the rumours propagating through the lands.
The vibe of the Ancient graveyard did not drive off everyone. In 208 DHT, a group of scavengers decided to wander into the gravesite and attempt to salvage what they could from what remained there. Digging through the mounds of robotic bodies, the scavengers would find all manner of interesting devices that once contributed to the internals of Ancients. What was first a simple part-stripping band soon evolved into a community of families as the brightest of the tinkerers would begin to study the Ancients' corpses. Over time their knowledge grew, becoming capable of things that magic was not able to accomplish. This community named themselves Destral, and would soon flourish into a mighty city that still studies the Ancients to this day.

The Ancients Themselves

Physiology

While most people view the Ancients as towering bipedal humanoids, the truth is that Ancients came in a variety of shapes and sizes. No one can guess as to why Ancients weren't created with a standardized model, but some suspect that it may have something to do with harbouring the sentience and therefore personality of each individual Ancient. Every Ancient was unique in its form and capabilities, making it impossible to narrow down a list of abilities other than a few of the constants like projection of hard light. While features like the presence of eyes or lack thereof and the number of limbs varied dramatically from Ancient to Ancient, a common feature is the white armour that covers their torsos and limbs. This gave the Ancients a distinct pale appearance.
Underneath this white armour is a mass of pipes, gears, pistons, vents, engines, battery packs, jets and other high-tech machinery. These all differ from Ancient to Ancient as they reflect the Ancients' individual abilities. For example, an one of the Ancients stationed near The Nameless Town lacked arms and legs, instead floating through the air like a jellyfish with armoured tendrils. As such, hover jets and other structures contributing to flight were visible in the cracks of the armour.

The Hallowbrain

It wasn't long into the Ancient Wars when people soon discovered what was within the Ancients. After cracking open the white skin of their skulls and chests, Arbam's army found the Ancients to bleed a deep blue, glowing fluid. While one would think this is simply some kind of coolant or hydraulic fluid (which it partially was), the warriors called it what it truly was: Ancient blood. What many had not realized was that Ancients were not fully metal, but rather had fleshy brains, fed by blood the same way Legerian organs were.
Unlike the Demons who had created soulless, unholy constructs like imps and nephilim, the Angels worked with the people of Core to give the Ancients true life. This central organ, the hallowbrain, was capable of processing that no Core computer was capable of. The hallowbrain took the form of a large brain not unlike that of a human's, except it glowed blue from the blood that supplied it. This was the true form of an Ancient, and its fleshy tendrils extended through the machinery of its body to give the mech life.
The true nature of the hallowbrain was never revealed to the people of Core and it was never gleaned by the people of Destral- as such its origin is pure conjecture. Some theorize they're the minds of Angels while other believe them to be the unified minds of Core citizens. Neither theory has much evidence to back them up. A common consensus is that the hallowbrain existed to not only give Ancients a true soul, but also prevent civilizations from reverse engineering much of the processing required to create a fully sentient automaton.

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Utility

Hard Light Projection

Ancients' signature abilities during the Demon Wars were their ability to create physical objects from photons alone. Taking on a bluish green colour, these projections could be used by Ancients as projectiles, armour and striking implement. Hard light is incredibly difficult to pierce, and can be healed or repaired as soon as damage befalls the object. As such, they fulfilled their purpose exceptionally well. Hard light is the hardest aspect of the Ancients to replicate, as the Legerian laws of physics prohibit the behaviour of photons required to form it. Only with the power of Angels could such technology be transferred out of Core and into other worlds. However, weaker and more fragile forms of hard light projection have been made possible, although expensive to produce. As such, hard light has been relegated to weak but weightless shields and sculptures/ decorative art pieces.

Simple Automatons

By simply copying the straightforward mechanical form of the Ancients, smaller and less energy-intensive constructs have been able to be created by Destral engineers. While they lack the sentience of Ancients, these smaller mechs are capable of following commands- unfortunately the programming required to create these robots are pretty hit-or-miss, making many of them unreliable and prone to malfunction. This has led to some grisly scenes in the past. Naturally, the existence of Ancient hallowbrains have limited what programming Destral people can copy- and to top it off, the coding language of the Core is based on an entirely extradimensional language.
Despite significant setbacks, the thought of creating automatons has always been a goal for Destral scientists, and progress has not stopped. While smaller = safer is the name of the game for now, research is being conducted to try and create larger, more powerful functional forms. Magical constructs and golems are still far more reliable for the time being.
Some automaton research has been adapted to create simple prosthetics and other devices.

Alloy Synthesis

Ancients were covered in a matte white armour that contributed greatly to their silhouette. This white alloy was commonly found across Core. It's somewhere between an actual metal and a polymer. Highly durable, light, resistant to heat and deformation, this material made the perfect material for Core soldiers' armour & weapons, plating on vehicles, and other things.
While this alloy has been able to be emulated by Destral successfully, it is nowhere near as strong as the Ancients' armour. This is because the Ancients' version of the Core alloy was blessed by the Angels, enhancing its durability a thousandfold. At the least, replicated alloy is only slightly weaker than fire iron while remaining much lighter, making it still quite useful. It is still extremely expensive to produce, requiring a very exact combination of rare Legerian metals and silicates. To top it off, the heat needed to mold its shape and power required to press it into proper sheets is astronomical.

Electricity

While electricity is native to Legere, many of the circuitry inside the Ancients have revealed how to harness it inside non-magical devices.

Manufacturing

Actual Ancients require the advanced technology and physical laws of the Core dimension to create in the first place. Additionally, the blessing of Angels has elevated what advanced technology was already there into divinely fueled giants.
Legerian replicative manufacturing of Ancient-based technology requires extensive knowledge and the aid of magically-enhanced tools to reach the levels of precision and energy required to form some of the associated devices.

Access & Availability

Very limited

Ancient-based technology is extremely limited. It is protected by the government of Destral, and on top of that, the raw resources from Ancients are few.

Complexity

Very complex

As they are based off of extradimensional physics and enhanced by divine powers, Ancients technology is still not understood very well despite many years of study. Combined with a lack of many working examples of devices, Ancients tech is still primarily unknown.

Discovery

258 DHT

A group of scavengers decided to wander into the gravesite and attempt to salvage what they could from what remained there. What was first a simple part-stripping band soon evolved into a community of families as the brightest of the tinkerers would begin to study the Ancients' corpses. This community named themselves Destral, and would soon flourish into a mighty city that still studies the Ancients to this day.

Noteworthy Ancients

Yobediah

Appearance

Bipedal, 2 limbs, eyeless symmetrical skull with twin "horns". Approx. 17 feet tall.

Powers

Could summon hard light sword from its arm. Hard light spines could also manifest over its shoulders, granting it a devastating shoulder tackle maneuver- especially effective against Demonic nephilim.

Station

Was delivered to the people of a city in the tundra lands North of the Phayu Wing Mountains.

Events

Successfully help off several waves of Demon giants singlehandedly for years, but it could not stop a wave of small imps very effectively, leading to the demise of its target of defense.

End

Vaulted. Yobediah waited patiently in the tundra by itself for many years, not being attacked by Demons or Arbam's army due to them not being able to make it all the way out to its location. Yobediah was stored in a divine vault somewhere in the Phayu Wing Mountains.

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Tsalav

Appearance

Four armed biped with dome-shaped skull. Two symmetrical eyes. Approx. 18 feet tall.

Powers

Designed primarily for ranged combat, Tsalav would use its four arms to draw two hard light bows at once, launching volley upon volley of hard light projectiles onto enemy forces. Tsalav could also create an "acceleration gate" using hard light. This enhanced the projectiles of others fired into it by adding a layer of sharpened hard light- especially useful in conjuction with Angels and human foot soldiers.

Station

Was delivered to the people of Siman.

Events

Protected the port city of the old desert kingdom to ensure human supply chains were not annihilated. Fought in for 72 hours straight against the Demons during a bloody siege against the port from all sides.

End

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

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Tikkal

Appearance

Bipedal, two-armed humanoid with ovaloid shaped skull. One central eye. Approx. 16.5 feet tall.

Powers

Heavily armoured, Tikkal had excessive armour plating on its forearms, legs and chest. To further amplify its defense, Tikkal could summon a suit of hard light armour on top of his already impressive protection. Tikkal could then dispel the armour passively, or discharge it with a powerful shockwave. Tikkal could also summon a hard light multiweapon with its arms, capable of firing hard light darts or vaporizing bombs. The weapon also came with a hard light bayonet for close encounters.

Station

Delivered to Phovezila to protect the countryside.

Events

Was the first ever Ancient to fight against the Demons on Legere. Activated in Dorfeld, Tikkal slaughtered over a dozen imps and 2 Demons in a single day.

End

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

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Ganett

Appearance

Bipedal, two-armed humanoid. Boxy skull with no eyes, but a single V-shaped "eye slit". Approx. 15 feet tall.

Powers

Ganett was exceptional at long range bombardment. Its arms housed photon launchers that could mortar strike imps from afar, causing massive, widespread damage. Ganett could also erect hard light shields to protect civilians or itself from ranged attacks or when surrounded. Ganett's weaknesses lay in close range combat, something that would be exploited towards the end of the Demon Wars.

Station

Delivered to the ancestral homeland of the duns to protect them. From its position, Ganett could help bombard enemies in neighboring areas as far away as the Northern shore of Crossroads Lake.

Events

Helped turn the tide of many battles by supplying barrages of photons upon the foe from many kilometers away. During the decisive Battle of Gasta Field at the borders of Phovezila, ganett was capable of wiping out many Demon reinforcements that were making their way West to join the front lines.

End

Ganett was destroyed after it was ambushed at close range during the end of the Demon Wars. Lured North to help bombard a swarm of imps at the Northern outskirts of the Nameless Town, Ganett was overcome by a gang of mighty nephilim that had little trouble tearing the Ancient in half.

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Adum

Appearance

Bipedal, two-armed humanoid with a back covered in solar panel-like fins. Its skull was shaped like an upside down pyramid. Approx. 14 feet tall.

Powers

Capable of dispersing smart mines by ejecting them from its chest. Smart mines would explode in response to the presence of a Demon, imp or nephilim. Adum could also summon a hard light spear. This spear could be used in melee combat, or thrown and recalled in quick succession to give it a machine gun like range attack. Finally, Adum could project energy from its back mounted fins to create a wide field of protection.

Station

Delivered to Phovezila to protect the countryside.

Events

Fought alongside other Ancients in the Battle of Gasta Field.

End

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

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Tetrapede

Appearance

Spinal, floating serpent with a single eye at its front. Approx. 67 feet long.

Powers

Tetrapede was a floating gun platform, with many different articulated turrets hidden among its "vertebrae". From its front, it could also project a potent photon ray to melt through nearly anything. Short range SSM and SAM rockets were also stored inside its back for added artillery capabilities. With all of these weapons, Tetrapede was often sent to rain fire upon enemy forces, granting suppressing fire while Seraphim moved along the ground underneath it. Tetrapede could float up to 300 feet in the air before needing Angels to lift it higher. In theory, it could also function perfectly fine in orbit.

Station

Interdimensional weapon system. Designed alongside several others to travel alongside the Angels as they moved from dimension to dimension.

Events

Tetrapede contributed significantly to almost every major battle in the Demon Wars.

End

Tetrapede is still alive presumably, fighting alongside the Angels in some far off realm.

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Halavo

Appearance

Two-armed biped with a second pair of arm-like weapons protruding from the top of the shoulders. Complex shaped skull with triangular eye in the center. Approx. 16 feet tall.

Powers

With its shoulder mounted weapons, Halavo could spray out "flames". These flames were not made of fire, but actually hundreds upon hundreds of hard light caltrops. Halavo could coat entire regions in these harmful spikes, and manually cause them to fade whenever it wished. Halavo could also summon a hard light hammerhead in its fist to bat away targets close to it.

Station

Delivered deep within the heart of Phovezila to protect the capital.

Events

Fought alongside other Ancients in the Battle of Gasta Field.

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

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Kirka

Appearance

Wide, rectangular prism-like body with a total of 6 armoured tentacles hanging from it. Round, smooth skull with three eyes. Approx. 17 feet tall.

Powers

Kirka could extend hard light whips from its tentacles and use them as whips- often flailed expertly to lacerate several opponents at once. The tips of thes whips could also be launched like darts at opponents from afar. A signature move of Kirka was to float gravefully above the enemy while dragging its deadly hard light-coated limbs through their ranks. Kirka could also summon hard light armour to coat its underside, providing protection from enemies that were often underneath it while also giving it the ability to smash down forcefully.

Station

Delivered to the Nameless Town. Kirka could move exceptionally fast, often travelling to help fight on the front lines of battles in nearby locations like the Phovezilan Countryside and base of the Snowy Mountain.

Events

Fought in the Battle of Gasta Field and the First Siege of the Snowy Mountain.

End

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

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