Morthagi lore

The Clockwork Dead

Terminology

The Morthagi (a singular and plural noun) is what we call the large variety of constructs, and even, dare we say, beings, that combine once-living flesh and magic with mechanical components and clockwork,in order to achieve a semblance of life, and in some cases an all-too-real agency and cunning.

Mortificial is a term for a mixture of dead tissue and clockwork, bound together with magic, to serve some purpose, such as a prosthetic limb. It would not be incorrect to say that the Morthagi are mortificial beings.

Mortificer is the term for one who invents and builds Morthagi. They tend to be a blend of tinkerer and mystic; both crafts are necessary, and mortificers come to the craft with a variety of skill and motivations. Some are history's greatest villains, and some (more rarely) are heroes.

Ecology

Mortificial devices in general, and the Morthagi in particular, tend to remain operational indefinitely or until destroyed by violence, whichever comes first. Thus, it's not unheard-of to find the loathsome constructs in ancient tombs, or sealed caves, untouched by time for eons. Such constructs often have unique designs, but again certain designs seem to be timeless, repeated by every practitioner of the artform.

Some of the simpler Morthagi must be powered by an external mystical or mechanical source, and can fall dormant in the absence of a power source. Others though have been crafted to harvest their own power from their surroundings, sometimes by consuming raw materials such as "the flesh of the living" or some other such magically rich substance. Still others seem to gather energy in a more complicated (and probably even worse) way that we don't completely understand. Regardless, it is never safe to assume that a given Morthagi is dormant. Almost all of the common designs include a storage mechanism for energy, and can reactivate when certain conditions are met.

If a Morthagi is encountered in a dormant state, it is sometimes possible to remove its power source without destroying the body. This is an extremely dangerous operation obviously, but we have some accounts from the literature of skilled mortificers who have safely disabled dangerous constructs in the field.