Artifice

File:ArtificeSkill.jpg

An Artificer is doing his thing.

Artifice

 An overview of Weaving. Weaving requires a Minor Merit to pursue.

=Artifice A brief history of Artifice

Concepts Automata: - Automata are objects or golems fueled by Nodes of Alkahest and given rudimentary intelligence by a Core linked up to a nervous system of Routed veins and channels. Their logic with artificial souls called Cord Dereliction - How automata go awry and malfunction, becoming Soulforged in some cases. Tools Lapidary Wand: A handheld tool that engraves a surface with Routing veins. An Artificer possesses various tips wide and thin for the wide channeling of a Node vein or the narrow finery of logic routing. Routing Lens: A lens that highlights the glimmering spiderweb of routed veins and their embedded Alkahest nodes. Weld Spike: A sharp spike which activates Routing veins connected to Nodes, separating the material or binding it together with the average tensile strength between the materials. Techniques Routing The 'veins' of the automata linking up its joints, appendages, and more. Redundancy is time-prohibitive, but encouraged. Automata can be powered by any form of Alkahest, but depend on Relics to wield Arcana. Welding Welding two surfaces together through interlocking routing edges. Wielding to flesh is possible with Journeyman Skill in Medicine or Malediction. Cutting Making clean cuts with powered routing veins. Assessment Measuring vein outputs to diagnose Automata malfunctions, staving off dereliction. Edict Inscribing an Automata with rules. Imitation Teaching Automata skills for independent action through mimicked information, limited by the quality of the Nexus. Contrivances Automata are the sum of their parts, and their Contrivances refer to the various distinct parts of their anatomy engineered by the Artificer. The Frame Among all other Practices, Artificers require the broadest knowledge; they must form and engineer the body of their Automata themselves. Body: The type of Automata is dictated by the overall shape of its body. They are designed as tools, implants, extensions buildings - or the buildings themselves - and given examples in life such as people or animals and insects. Sapient, crawling castles and reactive airships are entirely possible through Artifice just as locks and firearms are, only limited by the scarcity of prohibitively expensive Alkahest and the time it takes to create such things. Rarely a live being will be used as a basis for a frame, usually to enslave their body with Welded implants, forcing the use of their skills or Arcana or denying them. Extensions: Any Relics and materials derived from Alchemistry must be considered as extensions of the design. If the Body is an implant, then the implantee would be studied as an Extension. Abominations of Routed, Node-embedded bone shaped and reinforced by Malediction are not unheard of, and for some intra-Practice creations are a privilege of living alongside magi or having the time to pursue multiple Practices. The Core The Core is a series of Alkahest housings dedicated to serving as the brain and logic systems of Automata. Most often they are centrally located, or spread across the body. Note that an Automata still needs the necessary frame and engineering to move in the ways required of its Skills, and cannot naturally wield or be initiated into Arcana. Logic Gates: Created from Alkahest Dust for each command, Logic Gates allow for basic reactions when their Routing veins connect. Mnemonic Sliver: A Sliver of Alkahest which contains an embedded function or idea imparted through Sovereignty and linked up to Logic Gates for further programming. With enough additional Logic Gates, a single skill of Novice or Apprentice level might be conferred by the Artificer. Practices are not yet viable for a Mnemonic Sliver, but they might still assist in other ways like being taught to pan for Alkahest. Thought Shard: A Shard of Alkahest imparted with the idea of a soul through Sovereignty. A Shard has the ability to adapt, but with limited ability to reason. Each Thought Shard has up to a single Journeyman skill or Arcana Practice through Imitation, and multiple may be routed together within a single Automata. Mind Sphere: A Sphere of Alkahest given some small semblance of a soul through Sovereignty, capable of interpreting and learning with occasional logical errors and mistakes. A Mind Sphere confers up to a single Expert Skill or Practice through Imitation, and cannot yet learn on its own; multiple may be routed together within a single Automata. Quintessence: A Globe of Alkahest which has been steeped in Sovereignty, forming a mind of its own that draws personality and Skills from each who held the Quintessence. Each Quintessence confers up to a Master-level Skill or Practice through Imitation. Soul Star: Taboo and often illegal Alkahest which contains the soul of a sentient being, a Soul Star is created by Necromancers. These impart the mind of the sentient while binding their will to Edicts. They possess the skills they had in life including Arcana, but they are limited in how much of their Skill they may access by the tier of Alkahest. Shard: Journeyman, Sphere: Expert, and Globe: Grandmaster. These true soul Automata are referred to as Venator, as they are often enslaved as warriors and beast hunters by magi, and they are the most likely to become Soulforged unless made from flesh or bone, in which case they become Draugr. Nodes Nodes are both the nervous system of an Automata, and its power source. They dictate how quickly an Automata can function when spinning or manipulating its own joints and gears without the aid of engines, and the tier of Skill they can operate at. Nodes may also be used as multi-purpose Sensors if left exposed or positioned well by the clever, but this often makes the creation less hardy against violent trauma. Extending Routed veins of Metaphor to enhance the speed of a reaction. They also enable skills or Arcana of a relevant Metaphor source to be wielded through the appendage. When casting a spell through a Node, Automata lose physical function in the Nodes they exhaust and risk malfunction or Dereliction through Mageburn. Dust: Incapable of moving steel while iron is barely mobile. Wood is favorable while paper is nimble. 5ft of distance. Supports Known Novice skills. Sliver: Incapable of moving stone while steel is barely mobile. Iron is favorable, and wood is nimble. 20ft of distance. Supports Known Apprentice skills. Shard: Stone is barely mobile while steel is favorable. Iron is nimble. Supports Journeyman skills. 200ft of distance. Supports Known Journeyman Skills. Sphere: Stone is favorable while steel is nimble. 500ft of distance. Supports Known Expert Skills. Globe: All materials are nimble. 5,000ft of coverage. Supports Known Master Skills, and Grandmaster Skills linked to a Quintessence Core. Sensors Extending the core to create the five senses, or additional senses based on Metaphor. In the case of eyes, two or more are needed for depth perception. Note that these senses require functionality to be engineered; to hear, an Automata would need a membrane. Dust: Muted senses. Sliver: Normal senses. Shard: Above average senses. Sphere: Superior senses. Globe: Supernaturally gifted senses. Alkahest Prices Dust - 10 Gold Sliver - 100 Gold Shard - 1,000 Gold Crystal - 10,000 Gold Sphere - 100,000 Gold Globe - 1,000,000 Gold

Skill Tiers

Novice A Novice can manipulate up a single Sliver of Alkahest dust by themselves in one creation. Apprentice An Apprentice can manipulate up to three Slivers of Alkahest by themselves in one creation. Journeyman A Journeyman can manipulate up to a Shard of Alkahest by themselves in one creation. Expert An Expert can manipulate up to a Crystal of Alkahest by themselves in one creation. Master A Master can manipulate up to a Sphere of Alkahest by themselves in one creation. Gestalt The Gestalt can manipulate up to a Globe of Alkahest by themselves in one creation.

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