Relics of the Artificers

The Brass Horse

Crafted from almost a ton of brushed brass, the brass horse stands as large as a mortal horse, but has considerably more endurance. Unlike most automata, the brass horse was built for performance and top end speed. With a gallop that reaches into the 50 MPH range, the brass horse can easily outrun most horses and bred race horses have a hard time keeping up with it.

This comes at a price though. The brass horse requires a staggering amount of maintenance as it's various pieces are submitted to stresses that most automata are never exposed to. Metal fatigue is a common problem, especially in the leg joints and the differential in the hindquarters. The other problem is that the brass and iron hooves of the brass horse are murder on any surface the one ton beast gallops across, tearing great holes in it.

The Iron Horse

A few hundred pounds smaller than the brass horse, the Iron horse was built to be inexpensive and reliable for knights in the field. It's top speed is about 15 MPH and requires much less maintenance. Most of it's wieght comes not from high strength tension coils and transmission, but from solid armor plating. Intended for use against golems, undead, and other foes of great size, the iron horse is tireless, fearless, and cannot be easily maimed or wounded.

Not intended for widespread use, the Iron horse was to be a captain's mount, so that the officers of the Artificers armies could remain in the field and not be stranded by the death of their mortal mount. In a past situation, few of these iron horses will remain as once their use as automata comes to an end, most are scrapped for the high quality iron they are made of.

Tin-Wing Hawk

This raptor, crafted of brightly polished tin is intended as a courier for artificers in the field. With a four foot wingspan and some of the lightest and strongest springs springs made they are strong fliers. They can be eaily wound (springs tightened) in the field and have a hollow cavity in the chest for holding messages or small objects.

A variation of the Tin-Wing has it's wings sharpened and is known as a Razor-Wing Hawk. These automata are used to cut enemy pigeons and messenger birds from the sky, or as last ditch attackers against a foe. Falling from height with wings out, a Razor-Wing Hawk can hit with enough force to decapitate a horse or kill a man instandly, though this destroys the hawk, leaving it so much tin scrap metal.

Hollow Hound

These relics were quite popular and compared to the birds and horses, were easy to make. In addition to being producable by apprentice artificers, Hollow Hounds never lacked for customers. Predominantly a hollow carapace, the source of the dog's name, the Hollow Hound is surprisingly quick and light. Made of medium to high grade iron, the hounds were used as nearly tireless guard animals, hunting hounds and in several instances as war hounds against non-artificer foes. The jaws of a Hollow Hound are very strong and with a hard bite can remove a limb with sickening ease.

As the age of the Artificers drew to a close, the Hollow Hounds became rare as fewer and fewer apprentices remained to craft these rather simple automata. Those that were still around were horded by master artificers and found themselves as builders and engineers for the last of the great automata.

K'tonian Scythe Automaton

A curious design dating back the end of the K'tonian Hegemony and next to the revolutionary repuslor type airships, one of the most advanced applications of artifice to date. A simple looking creature, the Automaton looks like a 15 foot tall pillar with three legs and six arms. Each arm terminates in a trio of four and a half foot long blades that are hooked like wheat scythes. once wound and released, the beast lurches about hunting down anything larger than four feet tall and warm-blooded.

Most Scythe Automatons that have been recovered have been badly smashed by explosions and bear arcane burns from sorcerous blasts of lightning and fire. There are very few surviving samples of these advanced automata.

Imperial Metal Soldier

Crafted of a commonly available alloy of zinc, tin, copper, and iron, the Imperial Metal soldier was cheap to make in large numbers. While not as durable as more expensive iron and steel automata, the Imperial metal soldiers were generally more durable than a man in full plate armor. Given a standard of manufacture, they were also cheaper in the long run. As a basic humanoid automata, the soldiers used interchangeable non-missle weapons and shields and were used as bodyguard units and as the vanguard of the army, forming the front line of it's shock troops.

In modern times, most Imperial Metal automata have become inoperative due to corrosion and rust of their base components. The design remains solid if uninspired and can be replicated by most modern artificers given enough time and raw materials.