Gearforged

Gearforged are made of iron, steel, brass and wood, and driven by pistons and springs. Most are made in a humanoid shape, though you might find the occasional Alseid. Their limbs are animated by everwound springs, but their bodies are animated by a soul gem, an arcane artifact containing a creature's soul. The soul gem is connected to a maze of silver, mithral steam, spark and magical conduits.

Soul Gem

The animating, vital principle of a gearforged -- its will, personality, mind is retained in the soul gem. Its destruction is the death of the gearforged. The mind and soul of a creature is placed into the soul gem through the use of a soulforge ritual. The ritual requires a body costing 10,000 gp and takes one day to complete. If the body is destroyed, but the soul gem remains it can be placed into a new body with another soulforging ritual.

It is possible to istead use spiritbinding to animate a gearforge with an elemental spirit instead of a mortal soul. This requires an elemental and a rune-etched core instead of a soul gem. It takes an hour and a 10,000 gp mechanical body.

Memory Gears

The active memory of the gearforged is kept in its memory gears, but long term memory, of its old life and its new, are retained in the soul gem. The only thing that can kill a gearforged is the destruction of its soul gem. Memories can be read from the Memory Gears of a soulforge, but only the memories since it was installed. A new set of memory gears must be installed every ten years at a cost of 2000 gp.

Everwound Springs

Are a form of perpetual engine which requires a ley energy shard to power. The shard must be renewed every ten years, which is typically done at the same time additional Memory Gears are installed. A broken everwound spring results in loss of function of the limb or digit that it powers. Repairs can be made with the mending spell.

Gearforged are produced individually by using the soulforge ritual to transfer the soul of a willing person from their body to a soul gem. The 'willing person" requirement is fairly loose, as there have been cases, such as in Milton, where individuals were given the choice between transfer and execution, which resulted in a successful transfer. The process requires one hour.

Gearforged cannot eat or drink. They cannot drink potions or gain the benefits of something like Heroes Feast.

Gearforged do not change as they age, provided they continue to conduct regular maintenance on their construct bodies. They are living creatures with some of the benefits and drawbacks of constructs.

Many gearforged continue to behave they way the did in their previous life. They have the same alignment and sometimes the same motivations and goals.

Others are completely changed by their experience. Individuals who spent decades accumulating the wealth necessary to achieve relative immortality now look forward to an virtual eternity came to realize that their future existence, while not free, is unfettered by the worry of buying the next meal, or concerns of the flesh, or enduring the concerns of time.

Most gearforged live isolated form others of their kind. They live among flesh and blood species, whose concerns are often much different form the nearly immortal living machines. Most integrate into their new societies and social situations with little trouble. Most civilizations on Pasaulis, at least the ones advanced enough to have gearforged, are fairly accepting of the creatures.

Gearforged position in Milton is quite different of course, where they are relegated to positions little better than serfs. There gearforge have built a kind of society, the way slaves often do.

Gearforged have achieved a wide distribution on Pasaulis during the last fifty years. First resident at the Arcane Academy in Bayco, they quickly spread through the more civilized portions of the world, wherever the ancane technology could support their creation.

Gearforged have the intelligence of their original flesh and blood forms.

Some gearforged use the name they had before they became gearforged. Others adopt a new name, often drawing on any culture they admire. A few take an aspirational name, for example picking a name representing a virtue they admire.

Most Gearforged develop close relationships with the people among whom they find themselves. In many cases they must develop a new relationship with those they knew in their first life, and renegotiate those relationships. For many races fifty years is not so long a time and many old friends can linger for years.

As more gearforged outlive their generation it will be interesting to see how they respond to the reality that they are likely to outlive all of the people they know.

Gearforged all speak the arcane Common language and whatever languages they understood in their first life. As a side effect of the soulforging spell all gearforge also speak and read Machine Speech.

Since Gearforged do not have an independent society they have no customs or tradiitons of their own. They either follow the customs and traditions of their first life or adopt the customs and traditions of the people among whom they live.

one thing that could be considered a kind of tradition is that every decade a gearforged must replace the ley energy shard that powers their everwound springs. At the same time most add to their Memory Gears to better preserve their active memory. Eventually all memories permeate to their soul gem.

The soulforging spell was first developed at the Arcane Academy in Bayco. Knowledge of its effectiveness quickly reached the Toresta Polyarcana Academy, and eventually all of the world, or at least those with arcane technology advanced enough to create a body and with access to ley energy crystals.

The first recorded gearforged was the arcanist Byron Breseli, who upon his rebirth took the name Discoverer. No record is kept of all of the creature who have followed.