Lesser Servitor

"*A floating light, a sleepless eye. Their hope, their faith, their sustenance. Kill it*"
— Martian Sovereignty Grimoire description.
**Lesser Servitors** are large, semi-spherical, floating, semi-sentient machines used by the Elkiedai as support units in combat. They are forged in the Founder's image.

## Overview

Servitors are semi-spheres, built of a dark metal in a shape reminiscent of the Ha'llumiid. Most have a central glowing eye emblematic of a House's colors, but rarely if ever possess any other distinguishing features or liveries that link it to their House. They are capable of flight, and hover as their main method of travel, however, this seems to be a function of their shell, as the cores of Servitors, once stripped of their armor, appear incapable of movement, yet still react to their surroundings. The desperation of most modern Elkiedai Houses can be seen in the state they keep their Servitors, as the House of Desolation and House of Frost have reduced the amount of plating dedicated to their protection, leaving more of the Servitor's circuitry exposed, however, in the case of the House of Frost, this is intentional, degrading their appearance as a manifestation of their House's hatred for the Great Machine.

While they support Elkiedai in battle, shielding allies, facilitating communications and transmitting tactical data between one another, the Servitors' main function is to process matter and energy into R'akta's for the Elkiedai's sustenance. Besides that, they also offer technological acuity as navigation aids for Ketches, and possibly Skiishas. Some specialized Servitors also serve as personal support and as pilots for High-ranking Elkiedai.

Servitors possess extremely sophisticated and valuable technology, such as Servitor plugs, filters and R'akta circulators, to the extent that their artificial intelligence gives them a limited degree of sentience. Despite this, they are vulnerable to being overloaded and shorting out. Not only do they generate R'akta, they also hold it, until they are eventually drained of it. The communication network a Servitor is connected to can be accessed by certain frequencies, through which those connected to the network become quickly locatable.

There are more powerful Servitors known as High Servitors, capable of jamming signals. Above High Servitors are Prime Servitors, the largest known form of the Servitor. Prime Servitors are potentially integral to Elkiedean space travel, offer logistical support, and the Elkiedai worship and revere them as if they were gods, presumably given their symbolic relevance to the *Great Machine*, as well as the fact that they produce major tons of R'akta and are an integral part of the leadership of most Houses, alongside an Archon and Kel'min. For these reasons, almost every Elkiedai House has their own Prime Servitor; if it is destroyed, the House quickly becomes extremely vulnerable. Certain Servitors are rebuilt and configured to function as pilots, and are called Pilot Servitors.

## Combat Role

Servitors' primary usage in combat is to support accompanying Elkiedai units by emitting an ethereal glow, giving them a nourishing boost. To evade incoming attacks and flank their targets, Servitors will occasionally teleport short to medium distances. They are shown to be a resilient threat and are capable of firing powerful blasts of Void energy from their eye, which is also a weak spot. They frequently try to protect this weak spot when in combat, making them difficult targets.

## Variants

### Prime Servitor

Worshipped as machine gods borne of the Great Founder, the Prime Servitors provide the life sustaining R'akta to the Houses. The Servitors are floating, spherical Elkiedai that have powerful attack capabilities, being able to dish out more damage than the rest of the Elkiedai by launching Void projectiles from an eye-like structure on their frames. The Thorcennae Archons and their Acolytes worship the Servitors, as they are the Elkiedai' primary source of R'akta.

### Pilot Servitor

"*Pilots once mapped the stars. Time turned them into weapons.*"
**Pilot Servitors** are a group of Servitors that are rebuilt to look pseudo-humanoid and programmed for piloting Ketches.

#### Servitor Optic

The **Servitor Optic** are Pilot Servitors encountered within the House of Crowns Ketch. Wherein they protect the Crowns own Black Armory wherein they dwell within.

##### Overview

The Servitor Optic is stationary, affixed to the ceiling near the corners of the room. They will move their Eyes from side to side, and any enemy caught in its radius will be slowed and weakened. Allowing the Optic to activate, transforming into its combat mode as its Eye stares down its enemy in an attempt to keep the enemy encumbered and to commit the killing stroke.