Constructs

Species constructed by other species.

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Darqshan

• Taxonomic Order: Construct / Elemental
• Alignment: Elemental
• Lifespan: 120 years
• Diet: Sand and glass
• Habitat: Anywhere
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Darqshans are elementals of glass, constructed from existing pieces of glass via aetherial magic. They appear to be living glass figurines in any shape.

To create a darqshan, one must "awaken" mundane or aetherial glass by first purifying it of any other energies (usually washing it in special water), then placing it somewhere in the midst of nature where it can soak up light of moons, sun, or other aetherial source. After sixteen days of this, it can be awakened with mundane or aetherial flame lightly touching it.

Living aetherial glass has the power to influence any kind of glass they touch. Their form determines some of their powers - ceramic dolls, stained glass figures, mirrored figurines, etc. have different abilities. But all of them can awaken other glass temporarily with a touch and permanently if they give up some of their STR. They can control light flowing through them, and they can shape mundane glass if they sing to it for a sustained amount of time.

Darqshans are constructs, but they have formed their own cultures and societies in the lands where they were first made. They were created to serve nature, and they continue that practice in their homelands. In Endruin, they are usually seen as monsters to be destroyed or enslaved, and their original culture is mostly lost as they are assimilated locally and oppressed.

PRO 8 ATH 6 STR 9 Toughness 6 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 9

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Froemmler

• Taxonomic Order: Construct
• Alignment: Infernal
• Lifespan: 60 years
• Diet: Varies
• Habitat: Anywhere
• Socioeconomic Status: Ruling class or privileged oppressed

Froemmlers were eugenically developed by mortal scientists using the energy of feirua to try to splice genes in order to create supersoldiers or ubermensch.

Froemmlers appear to be an amalgamation of multiple species. Which species they resemble varies by individual, but most are attempts to unite multiple species within different taxonomic orders or families.

Froemmlers have variations of the powers of the 3-5 species they are amalgamations of, but always somewhat twisted.

Consult with the GM for more details.

All froemmlers have weaknesses and flaws derived from their pseudoscientific breeding.

In Endruin, froemmlers are rare, but they are created by the ruling class, mostly as soldiers and servants. They are deeply indoctrinated, view themselves as superior, and thrive on hating others. They worship their masters - usually dreorcwenns - as semi-Divine.

If a player chooses to be a froemmler, they must be one who has rejected their indoctrination.

PRO 14 ATH 14 STR 14 AWA 8 WIL 4 PRS 4 STH 8

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Gargoyle

• Taxonomic Order: Construct
• Alignment: Unaligned
• Lifespan: 1,000 years
• Diet: Carbohydrates mixed with stone powder, wood shavings, or metal
• Habitat: Buildings
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Gargoyles take many forms, depending on the culture, time period, and preference of builder. They are always made from study materials. Stone is the most common, but some have been carved of wood or forged in metal. In futuristic settings, they may be made of more complex or advanced materials. The only rule is that they must be hard materials that can withstand wear and tear and violence.

Because they are designed as guards, living gargoyles are almost always designed with full bodies. In many mundane forms, they are only faces or partial bodies, and while it is possible to create a living gargoyle from these, it is not optimal and therefore very rare.

Most gargoyles are designed to be fearsome. Dangerous animals or animal folk (often chimerical), demonic features, legendary heroes, people who might reside in the building (i.e., monks figures on a monastery), dragons, and grotesque designs are most common. They often have fangs, claws, wings, and horns.

Though living gargoyles function as guards, they are still used as downspouts as well, so their design often takes that into account. They often have troughs in their backs that allow rainwater to flow through them and out their mouths. They are often fashioned to be long and tall so that the water is more forcefully ejected from the walls of the building.

While architectural features often have other names (chimera, boss, grotesque, buttress, etc.), if it is alive, it is always called a gargoyle, even if its function is decorative.

In Endruin, they are often designed with a demonic form.

There are five ways to construct a gargoyle:

• Animating: placing a soul in a gargoyle requires owning a soul of some kind, and most of the ways to do that are horrific. However, there is a tradition of using the soul of a former gargoyle to animate a new one. This is done by using parts of an older gargoyle and fusing them to the new one while using the art of forbidding (see Memnew'e under Occupations) to seal the soul in.
• Enlightening: awakening a gargoyle’s mind to bring it to life requires patience. One must sit and read to the gargoyle for every second of every day for four years. This requires people work in shifts and have access to the gargoyle. This method is usually employed by monks. After four years of reading constantly, the constructor must ask the gargoyle a question pertinent to the readings, then wait four hours. At precisely four hours, the constructor must place a forbidding sigil on the gargoyle’s body. If they succeeded, the gargoyle will answer the question (though not always correctly - but the point is to awaken, not educate).
• Infusing: creating a gargoyle through emotional infusing only works if done during the construction process rather than after. While crafting the gargoyle, the maker must focus their emotions into their work with intensity. During this, they must use forbidding sigils to seal the emotions in, working with the emotions they are feeling most powerfully. The danger here is that they might infuse emotions such as greed, hatred, or belligerence.
• Inscribing: the simplest way to bring a gargoyle to life is to inscribe a True Name into it, surrounded by forbidding sigils. There is a fine tradition of sharing specific True Names to use, passed down from generation to generation. These Names are all the same, but the forbidding and personal experiences of both crafter and gargoyle reshape them once they are in use.
• Physicking: the most common way to make a gargoyle is to put a bit of blood, flesh, or bone into the gargoyle as one is crafting it, then using forbidding sigils to bind the life present in them into the gargoyle.

The materials a gargoyle is made from must not be filled with an aligned energy.

Gargoyles are extremely strong and tough. Their form often dictates their natural abilities - if they have wings, they can fly; if they have claws or fangs, they can use them to rend flesh. Depending on their design, they may have other powers, such as fire-breath if they have a draconic look, terrifying roars if they are leonine, venom if they are serpentine, and so on. They may also gain powers based on the different kind of materials they are made from or buildings they are bonded to.

Because gargoyles are made from gebvel, they must avoid association with aligned esoteric energies (aetherial, celestial, infernal, or poioumenonic) that are potent enough to alter their neutrality. The only exception to this is if their building has an association with one of these powers, which will allow them to mix aligned and unaligned. The materials they are made from may not be aligned, however.

Gargoyles are born bound to the buildings they are connected to. Most are physically connected to it. As long as they are within the grounds of the building, they can sense anything that threatens the physical structure of the building. If they have been bound to the building for more than a century, they will be able to sense danger to the mortals within the building. If they have been bound for more than three centuries, they will be able to sense metaphysical dangers to the building and the mortals within it.

Gargoyles are made from gebvel and radiate that energy throughout their lives. If they are bound to a building, that gebvel infuses the rest of the building, blocking other esoteric energies from being used on it. Within the building, only unaligned energies may be used (shebvic, paradoxical, ambrosial, or nommic) without fighting the power of the gebvel.

Because enslavement is an infernal act, gargoyles may not be created if they are permanently bound to a building. This would compromise their neutrality, so there is a time limit to their bondage. The binding to the building is required to build up the gebvel and bring life to the gargoyle, but once this limit has been reached, traditionally, the gargoyle is freed. Some places or constructors bind for longer than this basic limit, but anything more than twice the limit causes the magic to break. The base limit is 200 years.

Unbound gargoyles often willingly choose to remain with their original buildings and maintain their powers associated with that building. Others seek a new building, for a variety of reasons, and others still seek to find life outside of such a connection. Any gargoyle that finds a new building regains their associated powers very quickly.

Unbound gargoyles gain new powers based on protections. They have gebvel within them inherently, and therefore, they have the ability to create barriers and boundaries. They do this by carving circles or sigils into the ground or into walls or shields. They also gain the power to blend into walls if they hold still against them for more than 10 seconds once they have been unbound for more than 50 years.

For the first 200 years of a gargoyle’s life, they must remain connected magically to a building, preferably the one they were created for, in order to generate enough gebvel to survive the rest of their lives. Because of this, they often become accustomed to living in (or on) a large building. They have a preference for buildings made of similar materials to what they are made from (stone, wood, metal), and for larger buildings, in part because this means more living space and therefore more gargoyles. A building with multiple gargoyles will often find them forming an ad hoc family unit.

Gargoyle families develop hierarchies based on age and experience, with older gargoyles teaching, training, and caring for the newer ones. They describe their relationships in extended relative terms - everyone is an uncle or nephew, aunt or niece, for example. Older gargoyles are called grandfather or grandmother by newer ones. Many gargoyle families in larger, older buildings develop customs about making new gargoyles when one is destroyed or leaves after being unbound. They all donate some material to craft a new gargoyle together, and the one who inscribes their True Name (and it is almost always done via inscribing) is the direct “grandparent” chosen to teach the new gargoyle.

Gargoyles eat carbohydrate-heavy foods mixed with the materials they are made of in order to maintain their bodies against erosion or allow them to heal when damaged. They eat far less often than other mortal beings, however. They enjoy food and often come up with wondrous cakes and breads.

Gargoyles also love music, especially if they are in a building with good acoustics, and they engage in percussion-heavy songs and dances.

In Endruin, they are often enslaved. Those who aren't are viewed as objects and discriminated against.

PRO 11 ATH 11 STR 14 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 9

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Misbegot

• Taxonomic Order: Construct
• Alignment: Infernal
• Lifespan: A third of their original species' lifespan
• Diet: Varies
• Habitat: Anywhere
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

NPC only

People who have had bad luck sometimes become trapped in it. Usually, this happens to people who have been tricked by someone who knows how to wield it. Those who become trapped in bad luck are preyed upon by wielders of misfortune, who tell them they can change their luck, if they sell part of themselves to the wielder.

Thus, they slowly turn these folks into the misbegot. First, they take part of their bodies. Usually this is blood, flesh, or an organ, leaving them with a vacancy that should not be survivable. But they are sustained by misfortune, falsely believing this to be strength. Then, they take part of their emotions, removing one or two emotions, making them easier to manipulate. Then, part of their minds, making them automatons. Then, part of their souls, making them empty vessels.

These are the misbegot, not dead, but only alive in name. The misbegot are slaves to their misfortune wielding masters (wanioners), and they draw misfortune with them. Anyone near them suffers accidents, disasters, and calamities. If a large number of misbegot gather in an area, they bring major disasters with them.

Some misbegot arrest the process before they lose their minds or souls by becoming wanioners - makers of misbegots - creating a pyramid scheme of misfortune.

Eventually, the misbegot fall apart, body, heart, mind, and soul, becoming living misfortune, ill wind beings who transform into aelavels, living disaster elementals.

PRO 8 ATH 7 STR 9 AWA 5 WIL 4 PRS 4 STH 8 (human standard)