Tarren Soong

The Master Artificer of The Artificers' Guild and a member of The Belhaven Council. He invented the Warforged and has so far created four: Hex, Oct, Dez, and #786119 aka Duo. Duo wasn't created until after the disappearance of Delta Squad.

Race: Gnome

## Campaign notes

Hex as a personal quirk refers to Tarren Soong as Tarren Song for an unknown reason.

# **Tarren's Journal**

Entry 1

Due to our prolonged war against the Slaadi, Primus himself has issued a challenge to the inventive of Belhaven to create a new, powerful construct to turn the tide. Only recently have I earned the official title of Senior Artificer, but I believe I may have what he needs. I have long been fascinated by stories of animated armor; the idea of a suit of armor and full arsenal of weapons that fights autonomously without a need for loss of life is exactly what Belhaven should strive for.

All I hear from other Artificers are plans for bigger, stronger constructs. I find this brutish approach both shortsighted and arrogant. A bigger construct will be easier to hit, less maneuverable, more expensive to manufacture, and suffer an increased chance of malfunction. I get nothing but anger in return when I point out these flaws. They scoff at my apparent youth and inexperience. In my expert opinion, I believe a smaller, simpler, dexterous design will please Primus far more than some gargantuan abomination… obviously my colleagues have never seen halflings regularly best even goliaths in the arena.

Entry 2

Animated armor is not what we need. Animated armors are stupid, soulless husks. They’ll carry out moronically simple tasks but upon any challenge will simply attack wildly. They’re absolutely incapable of strategy, finesse… intelligence. I’ll have to start back from scratch. There’s nothing I can do to make these things serviceable weapons… such weapons would become predictable, even the Slaad will be able to easily outsmart them. Much more research is needed.

Entry 3

I’ve decided to revisit the idea of animated armor. While they are very easy to improve physically, their problem always has been their mental ability or, rather, complete lack thereof. After many months of study, I’ve come across some fascinating works from the far east regarding liches, some even going into detail about the concept of inscribing one’s own soul into an object. I had thought briefly about the creation of a soul within an animated armor, but the whole process seemed so preposterous. I had never even considered the possibility of simply transferring an existing soul into the armor. I will have to research much more into this idea. I'm definitely not trying to get into the business of actually creating a lich nor going through whatever nasty process is required to create one, but perhaps the concept can be applied to my work.

It’s been nearly a year since Primus issued his challenge to Belhaven. Many have completed their constructs and we still have yet to hear from Him. He must really be looking for something powerful and new, which is exactly what I’m aiming for.

Entry 4

My contact from the University of Torkel, Dr. Makuria Irasa, the Vice Dean of the College of the Arcane arrived last night. Our discussions today bode very well for the future of my work. She is very interested in my ideas of adapting the concept of the lich to create a suit of truly living armor. She taught me about the phylactery, the essential piece of the process. The only truly hard part is actually acquiring a soul. Apparently the soul required couldn’t just be any soul; it must be one of a sentient lifeform for this to work. Perhaps we could convince one of the ill to allow themselves to be sacrificed for the advancement of the nation. Even that may be a bridge too far.

Entry 5

I’ve finally settled on a design Makuria believes will be able to contain a soul. I still don’t know about the… acquisition of the soul. But if this is the path Primus wants us to take then it is what must be done, and I know in the end if it is to serve Him then what must be done will be done. In any case, the prototype design is less of a construct or suit of armor, but a spawn of both. It is constructed of a steel skeletal frame with a wooden body protecting an interior system of tubes that will be filled with a kind of magical "blood". Within its hard exterior are a variety of systems and a cavity in which the phylactery will be placed.

Makuria is going to place an enchantment on each piece of the construct, a process which should take some time, then she thinks it should be ready. I don’t know if she understands what is implied when she says “ready”.

Entry 6

After more extensive research on the topic of phylacteries and souls and all this arcane stuff which makes very little attempt to make sense to me, we’ve come to the conclusion that not only must the soul be of a sentient being, but the quality of the soul is what will decide the strength, prowess, and intellect of the construct. In other words, we can’t just get the soul of an elderly or infirm cognizant being, but likely will need one of a young one who’s strong of mind and body.

Once we discovered this, I was forced to confess to Makuria about my apprehensions thus far and that this last piece of information was enough to make me reconsider continuing down this path. She agreed that the sacrifice may not be worth what stands to be gained, especially given the high risk that nothing will be gained at all. We’ve decided to give up work on the project.

Entry 7

Someone on the Council got wind of what we’ve been up to. Luckily it was a friend, the wizard Shivae. Maybe one of my assistants overheard and told her, or maybe Makuria did. She told me she would keep this quiet if we completed our work. If word got out that I tried to hide it I would be finished, but maybe avoid the worst due to my position. I know she's not bluffing. We've been friends for years, but her chief priority is Primus. I like to think mine is, too, but I tried to hide this from Him. A lapse in judgement.

She looked through my notes for a few days, presumably to make sure we weren't hiding anything else, and returned them to me in full. One day while I was working on some improvements on the machine's range of motion, a few men including the guard captain and Shivae brought a young human boy into the workshop… he couldn't have been more than 16 years old. They opened a box with a small, cylindrical wooden cylinder with the inscription of a bear claw and the wizard spoke aloud, asking Primus for his permission to perform the ritual. We heard His voice in the room with us, “Yes, his soul is meant for the good of Belhaven.”

The boy seemed to expect this, as he closed his eyes and stood still in the center of the room. Shivae uttered a word, and he fell limp to the floor. Even I could feel the surge of arcane energy in the room as his body then wilted to dust, the only remnant of his existence being a soft blue glow in the wooden totem core. I still can’t believe Primus, the god of law, would allow, condone even, something like this to be done in his name. They told me he volunteered for the ritual, but I'm certain he was not fully informed of the situation.

The guards left the room, and only the wizard stayed. "You know that if you don't continue your work, you will lose everything and someone else will pick up where you left off. Primus' will must be done. After all these years, I can't believe I have to remind you of that." After she left I took a moment alone to gather myself. I walked over to the totem core and looked at it. Inscribed with a bear claw, the boy's soul gave it a magical blue glow. I brought it to my armor, opened the chest cavity, placed the core firmly inside, sealed the door shut, and waited a moment. After a few seconds, the construct’s eyes lit up and it moved its head slightly, looking around the room with the curiosity of an infant.

She was right. I have to continue working. Perhaps many more lives will be forfeited, but I can't prevent that anymore. All I can do is make sure that those lives will not be given in vain.

I gently grabbed the automaton's hand and looked him in the eye. Makuria and I had a designation system based on various revisions and redesigns of the armor's specifications. And I figured the first thing that he should hear is his name.

“You are Warforged, designation #024110. You serve Primus and Belhaven.”

Entry 8

Well, the name "Warforged" has stuck. It's accurate. He was forged for war. They now have me busy creating improvements for him, even mental upgrades. Apparently, although he has the soul of that kid, he retained none of the memories and was created as a blank slate, as if his soul was completely reborn. Perhaps it is in fact a new soul. A question best left to the philosophers in Torkel.

Shivae has been with a few of our best and most experienced soldiers and enchanting some small metallic shards for me to implant into the warforged's head. She says they will give him all the memories and experiences of many veteran soldiers in an instant without having to put him through the training. They're also going to use this to try to teach him Common… interestingly enough, it seems Primus already taught him Modron as my basic understanding of the language has allowed me to pick up on some words in his seemingly random clicks and noises.

I'm preparing 024110 for the Master Artificer's election. Word has spread of his creation, and many of Belhaven's most accomplished inventors have come by to see him, and all have been awestruck. Although they have all referred to him as "it" despite my corrections.

Entry 9

I've been working a lot with the Warforged. He's now fully fluent in Common, although it's spoken with an odd accent I've not encountered before. I've been teaching him of Primus, of the Slaadi, of Belhaven, of everything. Since he learned to speak within days of his "birth," he knows the meaning of thousands of words but seems to not truly understand them; he'll ask me things like "Tarren, what exactly is 'justice'?" and I'll have to find a way to explain whatever it is he's wondering about.

In the meantime, they've also commissioned me to build 2 more bodies. They have a pair of soldiers who have volunteered for this. My fear is that they believe they will simply become Warforged, retaining their minds and memories and personalities. My experience with 024110 has convinced me that this cannot be the case; they will simply be killed to empower them. I don't know what I can do about it, or if my speaking out would be seen as treason.

Entry 10

I've constructed prototypes for my 2 new models: one will be slender and highly dextrous, most likely best used as an archer. The other will be more well-balanced and meant for defense and support. I've decided to nickname the designs the Skirmisher and the Envoy. 024110's design should be the Juggernaut, since I don't think I'll be able to design one much bigger than him. Or need to, really. The phylactery cores of these two are made from the same tree as 024110, while his core had the aspect of a bear, and the other two cores have the aspect of a wolf and an eagle. I have reason to think that will give them a deeper connection; at the very least I think it makes them brothers.

The Skirmisher has compartments in its arms where extra arrows will be stored and padded feet for stealthier movements. The Envoy will have its left arm replaced by a large shield, and right hand will contain a repair kit. I think the two of them would make a great team with 024110… on a separate note, that "name" is a little impersonal in my opinion. I think I'll get around to renaming him.

Entry 11

The Master Artificer's election is ongoing this week. The Skirmisher and Envoy are not ready, but my presentation was a success regardless, and perhaps the easiest of my life. All I had to do was give 024110 instructions for basic tasks that he is overqualified to accomplish. But I went a step further. I acquired a group of combat training modrons and let 024110 give them a demonstration. Never has a solder or automaton made such quick work of the training modrons. He defeated 3 of them on his own. Each is considered to be difficult for a single soldier to defeat in one-on-one combat.

The title of Master Artificer is mine.

Entry 12

As expected, I was named Master Artificer. Which means I should become the Chancellor of Belhaven at the end of the year, assuming my fellow councilmembers follow customs. But enough about my personal accomplishments.

024110 has been progressing not only as a warrior, but even as a person. I knew an automaton with a sentient soul would be mentally no different from any other being, but it's truly incredible to see his own personality form. His brothers, Skirmisher Warforged #440420 and Envoy Warforged #147728 are also progressing similarly. I've also finally decided on names for the three of them: Juggernaut Warforged #024110 will be called Hex, Skirmisher Warforged #440420 will be called Oct, and Envoy Warforged #147728 will be called Dez. I thought it was quite clever. I told them their names and they all seemed satisfied with them and agreed that they were more efficient. Oct seemed especially pleased to have a name instead of a string of numbers. It really is interesting the differences between their personalities.

While the other two are clearly not ready for the hard conversations, Hex is older and I would estimate he has the maturity and understanding of at least a teenager. I wanted to tell him the truth about his creation, but in speaking with him I felt that he wasn't ready. He didn't even believe that he was alive at all; he reasoned that since all the other modrons are unalive, only fleshy, natural beings are alive, and he was created using wood and metal, he must not be alive.

He's certainly intelligent, but wisdom can't be taught. One day he'll be ready for the truth.

Entry 13

That bitch Shivae Lenoran. She broke her word, spread the rumor that I backed out of the Warforged project before completion. She's even told people that I didn't complete the work myself. I didn't know she could be so cunning. No concrete allegation has been leveled my way because she was the only one who knew and she hasn't come out to say it publicly, but the rumors were enough of a scandal to prevent my election. The council voted her to be Chancellor. This is so humiliating. I can't remember the last time the Master Artificer wasn't elected Chancellor.

Those snakes on the council will understand their mistake eventually. It's 5 more years to the next Master Artificer's Election. I already have ideas that will make the Warforged look like common Modrons. No disrespect to Hex, Oct, and Dez...