Masterworks, often called Carved Folk, were sapient Fereinan constructs. They were non-biological organisms, with bodies made of hard materials like stone, wood, or metal. They often took on colloquial names based on their material, such as The Chiselled, The Whittled, or The Forged. They were unified by a common element: a core-gem. Core gems were colourful crystals imbued with natural magic that were used to animate the folk.
Masterworks were made, not born. Their birth was actually a community effort of sculpting the new being. As such, they took many forms. However, the forms were usually meant to mimic the appearance of existing creatures (often humanoid forms of animals). This forming process was typically a labour of love, and making a new member of the community was often considered a Masterwork’s life’s work. This forming could be done by one individual, but was most often done in community. The time required varied greatly by the number of people involved and especially the level of care and effort taken.
The material choice for a new Masterwork was typically the time-honoured tradition of their family or clan. It was largely dependant on what natural resources were available where they were from. However, wealthier communities occasionally opted to use metals to create hardier, more powerful, or more opulent members of their kind. As Carved Folk ventured to Hohm, their material choice became more varied.
Once the preparations were done, a ritual was performed to turn the sculpture into a new Masterwork. The creature’s chest was left hollow, which was then filled with a core gem. The communal ritual then awoke the new person into Legere.
The beauty of the Masterwork was a reflection of the effort and care that their ancestors took to create them. As a disturbing inversion of their culture, piratical Carved Folk were known to hastily carve more of themselves out of wood, giving them horrid, gnarled appearances.