Automaton

The Automata of Ucharon share many similarities to their counterparts in Golarion but their origin is different as are many details of their culture and the nature of their bodies and Cores.

"The Automata are rare but found all around the world, if only they remembered the mystery of their own creation, then magical research could truly reach new heights." ~Sollaine Whisperdew of the Chimeric Library

Biology

Whether the term biology is correct to describe Automata is of some debate among scholars, some argue that their construct nature means that they cannot by any sense be called biological, but others argue that their ability to reproduce, however unusually and their cores that react to positive energy like a living thing means that they must be classified as such.

The Core

Their Core is what makes an Automaton unique, their cores act as databases with their Will engraved upon the surface and the positive energy within sustaining their life. Each core glows with its own light, and even over an Automaton's life if an event changes their Will greatly enough it may affect the colour of light emitted from their Core.

Reproduction

Though Automata are constructs they do have the ability to reproduce using a ritual known as the Ritual of Binding (see sidebar for more information) using this ritual they can combine their wills into a new entity that can then grow into it's own individual by combining the personality fragments given by its parents with those experiences it makes itself. An Automaton can supposedly have any number of parents though it is frowned upon to enact the Ritual of Binding without at least one partner, and many Automata see such beings as simply clones of their one parent in a new body. The highest number of documented parents for a single Automata is 20, likely due to their rarity and the lack of huge groups of Automata together.

Gender

Automata are genderless and due to the nature of the ritual of binding to not require any sexual dimorphism to share their wills and reproduce

Appearance

Their nature as constructed bodies means that Automata have physique that do not respond to exercise the same way other mortal races do. As they are created at the size they will be for their whole life their physique is static and is shaped by the stylings of their creator. Some common threads do stick however such as single eyes that glow with faint magical light, and stone or metal bodies with edge detailing.

Intelligence

Automata Have the same variance of intelligence of most humanoid creatures varying from slow and dimwitted to brilliant geniuses.

The Problem of Time

Though Automata do not age normally, they do eventually run into the troubles of time as there is a limited storage of experience upon their core. Automata can safely live normal lives for around 1000 years before this becomes a problem. Once it does however it can quickly change their nature, When the storage for memory becomes full upon their core, it begins randomly overwriting existing memories, these memories will be from random times across the life of the Automata from their earliest days to their last few weeks. This can quickly drive Automata mad and so most generally submit to time at this point.
Those who don't are called Memory Mad and are generally hunted by their own kind to remove the threat to other living beings and save their kin from their personal living hell.

Modern Culture

Automata culture varies wildly from area to area, but there are a few things that they share in common.

Binders

The Binders are consummate crafters and the keepers of the Ritual of Binding, it is these individuals who keep the ancient methods of crafting a new Automata body and guide prospective parents through the process of preparing for the ritual and helping them form a body for their progeny. These individuals also keep the lore of creating enhancements to improve the bodies of living Automata as their Cores accumulate Positive energy and become capable of powering these enhancements.

Lorekeepers

Lorekeepers are even more Rare than Binders but keep an equally if not more revered position among Automata. Most Automata when nearing the age in which they will go Memory Mad seek out a Lorekeeper. When they find this individual a Lorekeeper will help them remove their core from their own body without damaging their body to keep it's memory retained. The Lorekeeper then prepares the Core for stasis, if this process is successful it remains possible to ask the Automata for Aid in knowledge provided, but due to the stasis on the core it is impossible for them to make conclusions from new information given to them, as they cannot retain that new information long enough to compare to memory. In this way it is possible to store the memory of ancestors without resorting to necromancy, though many other humanoid races see no difference between the practices.
Any given Lorekeeper likely has at least 20 of these cores, and those in the longest lived groups may have hundreds under their care. Due to the difficulty of moving these cores Lorekeepers rarely leave their homes and must be sought out by Automata seeking their aid.

History

Unfortunately in the early days of the Automata the danger of Memory Madness was unknown, so the Lorekeepers were not yet founded to save the memories and experiences of the fallen. This means that much of those early days was lost with those who succumbed to Memory Madness. Due to this the history of the Automata is mostly shrouded in mystery, so most of what's presented below is theories of their own scholars and of the scholars of the other peoples of the world.

Creations of a Lost Age

One of the most accepted theories is that the Automata are creation of an age which history has forgot, whether this is The Giants in their dying days or Mortal kind in the days soon after is up to debate. However most of the theorists share the belief that their creators gifted their creations with a fragment of Will with the hope that it would allow them to serve better only for their creations to outlive them.

Last hopes of a Dying Civilization

One theory posits that a Civilization beset from the outside created the Automata as a way to escape their fate imprinting their own will and personality or perhaps even transferring it with the hope of escaping the destruction of what they had built. When they did so they obviously had no time to check for flaws that wouldn't arise until 1000 years had passed so the Memory Madness destroyed the last knowledge of their tragic origins.

Grown Sentience

There's even a theory that the Automata began as Constructs powered by Positive energy, with the hope of making Constructs that didn't require maintenance to retain functionality, and the positive energy allowed them to grow a soul and create their own Will. Where in they separated from their creators and started out on their own.

Ritual of Binding

The Ritual of Binding is sacred to many Automata and likely due to the expense of performing it it's rare for an Automata to seek out a child lightly.
To begin the Ritual an Automata must create a body by carving it from stone and inlaying metal, finally they must put a crystal that can store positive energy into the center of the construct to allow the ritual to implant Will upon and create a new Automaton.
Over the course of the Ritual each parent will impart a portion of their own Will as a baseline for this new entity to start from, they will then spend at least 48 hours channeling positive energy to the freshly engraved core to breath life into the new Automaton

Automata and Heritages

Automata can gain Versatile Heritages like any other race, but when it does happen rather than it being due to their parentage it is most often due to a flaw in the Ritual of Binding that created them, maybe the Ritual was conducted near a Hellgate giving them tiefling ancestry, or they were created while the stars where in perfect alignment to make them an Aphorite. Any heritage is possible, though some would need to have more deliberate tampering like a vampire tampering with a ritual to claim parentage over a newly born Dhampir Automaton, one can only imagine what a Vampire might do with an intelligent construct powered by Negative Energy.

The Matter of Soul

There is much debate on whether Automata do in-fact have a soul, some argue that their ability to be healed by divine magic is evidence that they do, but others argue that that only proves that they are powered by positive energy.
Most Automata themselves do not concern themselves with this argument as to them their Will is much more important than whether they have a soul. Those that do engage however argue that the Ritual of Binding creates a soul by opening a conduit to the positive energy plane inside the Core of any Automata, and that is what allows them to learn divine magic as any other race would.