Shabti
"The creature spoke with me today. It bore a brass mask, frozen in a stoic rictus, but it's voice soared and sank with the emotions of a poet caught in the throes of their own great tragedy. I am not one to trust the words of fiends, just as a lion-tamer does not trust the deference of their lions, but the creature seemed to seek only my counsel and not my life. He sought my father's father's father, a man thought dead and lost to history. I could think only of one or two stories of little import, passed down through the generations. As I proved just how little I knew, his body shook with anger. When I had finished my tale and apologized for how little help I could offer, he merely deflected my sympathies with perfect courtly manners, gave an archaic bow and took his leave. I watched from my window as he left into the rain; his body shed a black trail upon my courtyard, and its expressionless mask shed black tears."
Basic Information
Anatomy
Shabti are unquestionably Fiends, with an anatomy composed primarily of clay twisted by Numena into a form roughly analogous to a human. Uniquely well-composed for Fiends, their corpus is kept accurate by their Numena's desperate desire to replicate a mortal form. Shabti do not eat, drink, age or die, but do need to sleep and breathe.
Shabti skin is primarily composed of carbon and has the cool moistness of clay but the rugose texture of shale. As part of their creation, Shabti have a bronze death mask impressed into their face in the likeness of the individual they seek to replace. This mask is fused to the skull and conceals aught but a rough-hewn skull under it. Its removal requires significant force and is highly traumatic to the Shabti.
Though often obscured under their masks, Shabti do have eyes made of banded agates thinly painted with the veneer of life, making their gaze as entrancing as it is disconcerting.
In order to best resemble the individual they seek to replace, A Shabti's Pneuma is partially Phantasmic, carrying the quasi-real reflection of the creator's soul and identity, causing them to respond to Negative energy as if undead, with all the same metaphysical consequences that accompany that.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Most Shabti don't wander far from the Abyss of All Names. Many share their creator's sense of familiarity with Yrkenvale and regard it as "home", but the distribution of their sarcophagi spans the whole of Dis, and they can theoretically be found anywhere.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Shabti awaken recognizing the name of their creator as their own, but those who bristle at the notion of being a scapegoat often reject this name and choose another that holds some significance to them.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Shabti have no unified culture, but their incomplete soul and its' Phantasmal Numen causes an insatiable yearning in the Shabti, most commonly manifesting in a desire to discover their origins, and perhaps replace their creator.
Shabti inherit much of their creator's personality, and thus have a reputation of being aloof and rather stodgy. Being used as a tool by humanity and denied a higher purpose by the death of their supposed patron, Shabti tend to trust slowly and keep to the margins of society. Many retain an affinity for Viscerimine and the Shale Throne and may perform oblations in her name, fruitless as they may be.
History
Shabti exist due to the hubris of the wealthy Yrken nobility. For centuries Yrken alchemists have brushed upon the secrets of immortality in an adversarial relationship with Viscerimine, the Shale Demiurge of entropy and her mandate that all that lives must die.
Near the end of the Age of Thrones, Viscerimine demanded a mass-exhumation of corpses as tribute, to be interred in her magnificent throne to "serve in slumber" until they were needed. For their piety, those who served would be raised and serve in an immortal paradise of the undying within the living world.
Understandably many were less than receptive, particularly those who held power in the waking world. A number of Yrken nobles and Alchemists who were already seeking the secrets of immortality or undeath devised a form of golem that could theoretically be submitted in their place. These creatures were constructed with the intent of being numenously identical to human composition, with a bronze mask in their originator's likeness. These were the Shabti, and a scant thousands of them were interred in the Abyss of All Names.
Viscerimine never directly communicated whether this particular grift was effective or that it would yield the same eternal reward and her execution at the hand of the Grand Martyr during the severing prevented history from ever knowing her eventual ruling. The Shale throne was sacked and many Shabti were hauled off with the rest of the war booty. The Numen in their body eventually crystallized into consciousness and the Shabti awakened, wandering blearily into the waking world as Fiends.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Fiend, Pseudo-Undead, Shabtim
Origin/Ancestry
Yrken
Lifespan
Immortal
Average Height
5'5"-6'0"
Average Weight
about 1.5 times the weight of a human with their build.
Average Physique
A Shabti shares their creator's build, but generally slightly idealized according to their creator's vanity. Accordingly, most Shabti appear physically appealing.
Related Ethnicities
