Warbody

Warbodies were biologically- and artificially-engineered bodies meant to house the souls of the Lichlords during Waking Materia's First Age, for purposes of warfare or mass destruction. They could take any size or shape the creators decided, though most took the form of colossal humanoids, as most Lichlords found non-humanoid shapes awkward to "pilot". Nonetheless, some warbodies were known to be draconic or aquatic kaiju in physiology. Remains of warbodies have been uncovered by archaeologists, however their make & operation are outside the ken of modern scholars, not to mention the means of achieving lichdom in the first place.

Warbodies were mostly used by the the Kelpeater Empire, with little record of usage by the New Rozsans; the Rozsan Lichlord Nef, for example, spent much of his time on the front lines, but was content to fight and fly about under the power of his magicks and innate strength alone. It may be that the magical ability of the warbodies was limited, and thus mainly used by the martial Colonial Gods, like the ranger-barbarian Lichlord Io'a.

Defeating a Warbody was thought to be nigh impossible, save by another warbody or particularly demigodlike archmage, until techniques for their submission were slowly developed by the Insurgent Gods in the later First Age; most credit for their development goes to the mortal heroes, kaiju hunters and eventual demigods Ronom & Ranarim.

Creation

The method(s) to create a warbody have not, to anyone's knowledge, survived to the Third Age; they were a closely-guarded secret even then, and what little was written down seems to have been destroyed by the Deluge. What little is known is from their descriptions by third parties, which suggest they were fundamentally organic and complimented by prosthetics and exo-skeletal armour, perhaps comparable to flesh golems, but just as likely something completely unknown.

There is a possibility their creation is related to that of the Varya and/or the Galateids, however this theory is commonly rejected as there would have been no need for a mere weapon (impressive as they were) to have their own souls, the way varya and galateids do.

Famous Warbodies

God-Emperor Inum'indiron'aravaut was known to occasionally survey his territory around Alanthan'aravaut in a flying warbody, which took the form of of a giant centaur with the torso of a man on an ox's body, an eagle's wings, and two giant heads flanking the human torso, also of an ox and eagle. It carried an enlarged version of Ina'ut's Relic Weapon, the trident Verethragna. It could allegedly throw the trident thousands of metres' distance, accurately, whereupon Verethragna could return to its hand instantly, leaving only a smouldering wound in the earth where it landed.

The Rozsan Lichlord Vierix Lakodalmas was most commonly seen in the form of an ancient black dragon; it is unknown whether he was a dragon by birth or whether this was a warbody that he rarely shed.

The warbody of Lichlord Na'ashu was known to be called Ganymede.

The Dal Rhea

Colloquially known as the Dal Rhea (Low Juran: "Dances of Victory"), the fully-named Dances to be Performed Atop a Fallen Warbody are a series of celebrations set to song and dance, initially created to celebrate the first victories over the calamitously powerful Warbodies of the First Age Lichlords. Indeed, in their strictest form they are to be performed using a fallen warbody as a stage.

Banner: The great Alanthian Lichlord and Colonial God, Šaru'um Na'ashu, poses in front of her personal warbody, Ganymede.

Banner art credit: Mamoru Nagano