Animate

placeholder image for Pattern Animate

The Animate are combinations of strong materials and powerful magic, created to serve their masters. They have varying ranges of strength, abilities, and levels of sentience, depending on what they were created for.

## Creation

**Creation Method:**

All Animate begin with any material deliberately shaped into a humanoid form. Magic energy is then imbued into the form, accompanied with a Spell of Animation. The strength, quality, and individual alterations to the Spell of Animation are what determine the Animate's level of intelligence. A Spell of Animation on any particular Animate can often be altered after it's original creation, to enhance, dehance, or outright remove their intelligence.

Animate cannot be created out of non-humanoid shaped things, and furthermore the humanoid shaped thing must have been artificially shaped as such.

**Creation History:**

It is believed that the practice of creating Animate originated in Garden of Gardens, where the Angels sought to automate tasks and increase productivity without largely increasing their own population. Dankind's Wizard City also developed their own techniques for producing Animate, and while the first Danwrought Animate were rudimentary in comparison to Gardenic Animate, modern Danwrought Animate are in many ways the most advance and elaborate Animate in existence. The Demons of The Crater of Fire and Hate rarely ever create their own Animate, and usually just steal and modify existing Animate. Some original Crateric Animate do exist, but they are typically very primitive.

While Animate are created in all 3 realms, Dankind (particularly the denizens of Wizard City) are the most prolific creators of them.

**Danwrought Origin Controversy:** It is highly debated whether Animate creation practices were outright adopted by Dankind, or if Danwrought techniques were invented on their own. The two share great similarities, but the Danwrought techniques were developed by Wizard City during a known period of isolation from any outside influence.

**Charging and Expending Energy:**

Nearly all Animate eventually require recharging of the magical energy that animates them. The rate at which the energy is expended by the Animate depends on what they are made of, what they are doing, etc. An Animate made of straw could sweep floors for years on a typical charge, but an Animate made of metal being made to lift heavy blocks of stone could expend a typical charge in a single day. Many Animate that are expected to expend their energy quickly are outfitted with magic-filled gems that act as batteries. Without said gem in direct contact with their body, they are likely to run out of energy within moments.

**Drawing Animate:**

Among the most advanced of Animate are Drawing Animate, which are given the ability (through rune-etching or similar means) to draw in residual planar energy, granting them a continuous supply of energy that render them able to function virtually forever. However, such designs usually come with drawbacks and limitations, such as a generally reduced output of strength or movement.

## Generations & Variations

**Danwrought Pattern Animate: (aka the Pattern playable race)**

Through a collaboration between the Wizards of Wizard City, the craftsmen of Crown Town(make page), and the Modz(make page) of Hidden Haven, a standardized technique for creating efficient, modular, and high quality Animate forms was laid. A metal humanoid endoskeleton is first created, known as the "bones". The bones are then encased with blocks and cylinders of specific sizes, known as the "filling". When fully "filled", a typical Pattern Animate has just as much flexibility and articulation as an average Dan.

Depending on the intended use of the Animate, the filling pieces can range from simple wood, solid iron, lightweight brass, or even smoothed stone. The individual pieces of the filling are often inlaid with attachments and mechanisms, and the attachment points to the filling are designed so that each piece of filling is removable and replaceable. Regular clothing or armor can then be laid over the completed body as desired. The result is a high degree of variability, repairability, and modularization. For example, many head fillings come with articulating mouth slats and speech-enabling runes, and a particular wrist filling could contain with a small, retractable crossbow.

In regards to charge, these Animate are split between Drawing Animate, or regular Animate with considerably large batteries. General purpose Pattern Animate are made as Drawing Animate, as the drawing method is more convenient and the drawbacks are not significant to most applications. However, the traditional direct method is preferred for larger, heavier Pattern Animate made for great strength and great durability, as traditional powering methods offer much greater raw power.

Along with their advanced bodies, these Animate are typically given a matchingly advanced intelligence, typically that of your average Dan. They are as capable of learning as any other humanoid, though their skills, knowledge, and memories can be manipulated through specific reuse of Spell of Animate. Like most Animate, a majority of Pattern Animate simply have no real motions or "personality", though they have been noted to occasionally develop behavioral quirks or superstitions. However, Pattern Animate custom crafted to have specific personalities or to emulate emotions are not unheard of.

**Gardenic Animate:**

Gardenic Animate are almost always made of a single material all the way through, typically created through beautifully crafted clay, stone, or metal statues. Much like their Angel creators, they are usually given the lowest level of intelligence necessary for their intended task, which they are expected to perform tirelessly, with little to no oversight. While originally considered the most advanced Animate, a lack of innovation has led to their being outshone by Danwrought Animate. They do however still maintain the single largest Animate in existence, The Greenhand Goliath(make page).

**Crateric Animate:**

Often simply stolen Danwrought or Gardenic Animate, Crateric Animate are nearly always modified for maximum violence. Generally they are given enhanced strength, attachment weapons, and intentionally modified to go berserk at a moment's notice, ready to be thrown into the frontlines of the closest conflict to wreak havoc and destruction. They are also known to be given intimidating appearances, through attached spikes, flag poles, guns, and cool paint jobs.

**Danwrought Applied Animate:**

The earliest Animate crafted by Dankind lacked any kind of regulation or pattern, and tended to be made from re-purposed things such as scarecrows or suits of armor. Their intelligence varies, but is never more advanced than that of a trained animal. With the creation and success of regulated, mass produced Pattern Animate, Applied Animate have become rare, typically only in use in poorer communities. Applied Animate are almost never Drawing Animate. Any Danwrought Animate that is not explicitly a Pattern Animate is considered Applied Animate.

## Notable Animate

The Greenhand Goliath(make page)

General Brass Tacktics(make page)

HA-HA-HA-HA(make page)

## Other Notes

Pattern player characters will be using the rules of the D&D 5e Warforged race.