Shadow Ironbound was forged by a consortium of artificers decades ago, programmed with one simple function - to stand bolted to the ground as a sentry at their factory, along with hundreds of others in the same design - though each with variations to ensure that no two ever looked or sounded the same.
The factory specialised in heavy artillery for the various factions and armies of Tellus, but also would happily sell to nomads and other independent warlords - if they could afford the higher-than-average pricing.
Recently, during a violent coup on the head of the company by a group of dissidents, shadow was caught in the crossfire - hit by an errantly thrown potion of awakened conscience, he suddenly found an overwhelming rush of thoughts coming to his… “mind” - was that even the right word?
He was immediately made viscerally aware of the mundanity of his duties and position so decided to plan his escape. Making use of his inherent dexterity and guile, he managed to break free of his stand and sneak out from the fortified warehouse complex, heading out on his own to discover what more could be done with the heavyset iron frame of his.
On his way out he stumbled into a testing chamber where the company had been developing something new - miniaturised metallic help and companion techdroids MMHACT - (pronounced like “Umm-hakt” for short) - tiny little warforged automata designed specifically to be helpful in any manner their master chose, but never to steal the glory of a kill away from them - perfect for any edgelord fighter types. Shadow took his chance, quickly flipped one over his shoulder and ran out with it.
He found that the heavy armaments he had been issued with for his duties were totally inoperable as soon as he had left the confines of the area, but conversely the little droid sprang to life with a series of tuneful beeps and whistles as soon as it was outside the containment field it had been placed within.
The pair quickly developed an efficient synergy of movement and tactical prowess, finding they could get in to - and out of - most places without detection, they modestly armed themselves - though always took care to properly pay for what they took, sneaky as they were, they were not thieves. Shadow could never actually understand the little droid, but they found a helpful connection of sorts between them allowed them to interpret the other quite effectively - save for the occasional moment of blind confusion.
Travelling across the land, Shadow was learning more and more about what it meant to be in the “real” world, but his quest for understanding and meaning to his “life” drove him to enrol in a college - partly so he could work on and develop his defensive strategies, but mainly so he could benefit from the collective knowledge of the other attendees and faculty of the campus.
If you asked him, MM-HaCT would simply say “bleep-bloop-bleeeep” - which if you were to understand Droid, you would probably find hilarious but ultimately unenlightening.