Gearforged

The gearforged are an artificial race, created in the likeness of their engineers and brought forth into Fallen London to work in factories and shipyards. At first, they were merely machines: mindless automatons, controlled remotely by magic to accomplish tasks in the stead of beings of flesh. It was at the suggestion of the devils that soul gems were forged for the purpose of socketing into modified automaton frames, which in turn led to the creation of the gearforged. It seemed as if they would be the greatest technological achievement of the millennia: a legion of inexhaustible workers and warriors, set to conquer the Undersea in the name of Fallen London. Their form was often tailored for the specific job they would engage in. Gearforged tended to retain a vaguely humanoid shape (all the licensed ones, anyways), mostly to avoid alarming people when they were first produced. With their advent the economy boomed; the Soul Trade flourished. People even began volunteering to give up their souls to help the production process for soul gems, much to the delight of the devils. All seemed well. Then, many decades later: trouble. The infamous Clockwork Incident and its pogroms which wiped all gearforged from Fallen London. Strong steps were taken to prevent their return as well. Production factories were burned down, unfinished units scrapped and spare parts collected to prevent the few survivors from repairing. Heavy restrictions were placed on the Soul Trade, too, and spirifrage was outlawed. As it turns out, not every soul is compatible with the stress and magics necessary for being bound to a soul gem. Nearly all gearforged who managed to survive the purgings have been driven mad by this malfunction, becoming extremely dangerous and highly unpredictable.

Relations

Several centuries have passed since the Clockwork Incident, meaning that the whole situation should have passed from society's collective mind. That said, no gearforged has walked within Fallen London's limits for a long time so who knows how people will react. Other nations would likely view them as a curiosity, should any suddenly appear.