Warforged
Old stories and tales tell of ancient Netherese technology, things that the best smiths and tinkerers of this age could only dream of creating. One such mythical creation is the Warforged: beings of metal and magic grafted with a living soul. The question of why warforged are appearing in numbers now may have answers as cryptic as the technology that created them.
Forged for War
It is generally believed that the warforged were created during the Shadowed Age, in order to fight off the threat of the phaerimm. The warforged were realised too late, however, and never fought the war they were created to win. After Karsus’ Folly caused the cessation of magic, the warforged too we deactivated for a time. Their re-emergence now is a mystery — perhaps they were released by an errant adventurer stumbling upon a tomb, or a wild magic surge, or even the whim of the gods. But the warforged are not as war-loving as their name and constructed nature my imply, and they are generally able to function as meaningful members of society.
Living Constructs
Warforged are humanoid constructs, standing taller and broader than the average human and made from a variety of different metals and other materials. In some ways, they are similar to the golems that those who are adept in the magical arts can create. Even with bodies forged from rigid metals,
they appear to be able to move just as well as any commoner, with flexible plates allowing for fluidity in motion.
These beings lack many of the features that one would consider human, such as missing noses or toothless jaws. Composed of inorganic material, a warforged does not hold any distinction of gender, each holding some sense of bulkiness and a basic muscular form. Warforged do have personality, however, and may act either masculine or feminine.
Artifical Life
While manufactured as a partial construct, Warforged can and often do have unique personalities. Each can feel fear, pain, hatred, and anger, just as those that created them did. They are usually more reserved creatures, hiding their true feelings behind their expressionless faces. However, they can still share emotion, despite the lack of physical facial expression, as their eyes might shine brighter as they feel stronger or specific feelings. Some may also have some modifications to their faces to allow them to be more expressive; they are learned expressions, however, and often
feel awkward. The way a warforged might feel about its own existence varies from being to being. Some may lack any sense of introspection while others are the polar opposite, worrying about what happens after they pass. Are their souls freed from the machine once it expires, or is it to remain locked in its prison? Those that have higher capacity for thought might create complex philosophies about what they see and learn.
While a Warforged can excel at many things, having a single minded focus allows them to hone in on a single skill or task, especially during combat. However, this tunnel vision may lead to many being unable to adapt as quickly as their more human counterparts.
Free Outcasts
Without a real place to call home, and lacking in many of the aspects that define living creatures, many of the Warforged struggle to integrate into the communities that they find themselves in. Most commoners view these creations with curiosity and apprehension, due to their mostly unknown origins. Warforged that do integrate into societies often find themselves obtaining work with a guard force, under close watch of those that serve with them. Those that wander might attempt to find where they were created, or answers about their life and death, or even just to find more information about the world that they have been brought into.
Warforged Names
Warforged generally dislike being called “it” and usually accept the gendered pronoun that they feel most akin to. Some Warforged adopt names from the culture that they find themselves, though many take the nicknames from those that they stick around, while they seek for more meaningful names that best describe them. Some warforged, especially wanderers and introspective individuals, adopt a name for themselves. This usually carries a special meaning to them emotionally and is what they prefer to be called, particularly by friends.
Warforged Names: Azm, Book, Bulwark, Cart, Cutter, Falchion, Graven, Hammer, Mark, Morg, Nameless, Pierce, Pious, Relic, Rune, Steeple, Three, Titan, Unsung, Victor, Watcher, Zealot
Warforged Traits
For a list of Warforged traits and subraces, see "Warforged" in Chapter 1 of Eberron: Rising from the Last War. The Languages trait have been replaced with the following: Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Netherese.
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For more information on the reflavor of the races from Eberron on our server, please read the HTA Eberron Revised Document.