Manikin

With a touch of gold, a breath of lightning, and hours of meticulous welding and articulation, a manikin is 'born.' Often called 'marionettes' or 'living dolls', these creatures were originally the created by a hidden sect of the Blood Church, the Obitus Scholare, in an attempt to craft a force capable of protecting, maintaining, and fueling the city of Vallaki. Though each manikin looks different—indeed, they can resemble any race— the thin golden stitching that joins the plates of their artificial skin is a giveaway that the creature is a manmade creation.

Free Will. Inscribed on human eyes inside their skulls are the instructions which all manikin obey. More often than not, this includes a safety system that ensures adherence to the law and prevents a manikin turning on their master. In some cases, a crafter might even cause the manikin to feel love for their creator.

Conceived as animate objects capable of carrying out the instructions, manikin who express thoughts of self-liberation are often disposed of before these thoughts turn into acts. Though the intentions were initially noble, playing god has given them a taste for power and they have no intention of granting free will to their animated servants.

Within Vallaki exists two sects of Manikin: Those that have no gained sentience and those who have gained sentience. Those that have gained not sentience continue to labor away under the rule of their masters, unfeeling and uncaring. Those that have gained sentience have either liberated themselves, gone into hiding, or been destroyed.