Newfounders

We didn't choose to come here. We had to leave our warm homeland, forcibly so. From what, the historical records don't say. But that force had to be phenomenal, to drive out a people so resilient we managed to rebuild our home in spite of a never-ending blizzard.

Legend has it that two centuries ago, a cataclysm hit the entire world, wiping most of the humanity and forcing the rest into exile far from their land. The exact nature remains a mystery, but some of those displaced people stepped into the neverending storm and built their Newfound Home.

Salvation in automatons

The current automaton craft master is Stuart Goodwill, a descendant of the first masters who designed the original automatons. They came with them, the exiled, carrying tirelessly the heaviest packs and supporting the meek, young and old. Then, when they arrived in the barren basin, the clockwork humanoids built them a new city, just like the one they had lost, for them to feel warm.

Centuries later, the original automatons have almost all failed. An old mechanism snaps the internal instruction plate, a frozen cog stops the whole body in an expedition outside. They are replaced by others, more modern, coated in a new unfreezable oil. They take the place of their predecessors, unflinching, never complaining.

A Long Winter

Newfounders are not struggling to survive, but that doesn't mean they have it easy either. As strong as they are, automaton intelligence is limited, and they are not as nimble as a teenager. They are not suited to maintain the buildings they built, and their materials are far too precious to be lost in a mine cave in.

As cruel as it may be, with the drying up of the main gold mine and the growth in population, automaton parts are becoming more valuable than human life. Some Newfounders are preparing an expedition to go back to their homeland, where the weather is warm, and automatons are no more than disposable servants.