The Ancients

• 26 August 2024

Ancients were mechanical golems created during the last days of the Core civilization. Ancients used the Core’s advanced technologies combined with divine power bestowed by Angels to be the ultimate fighting machines against evil. They were transported by the angels to Legere long ago, where they assisted in the Demon Wars. Shortly after, human uprising on Legere sparked a crusade against these machines-a brutal, one-sided war in favour of man. Despite what modern legends say, the Ancients were forbidden by their programming to harm mankind, meaning the so-called “Ancient Wars” weren’t much of a conflict as one might be led to believe. Destroyed Ancients can still be excavated to this day across Legere, but a particularly high concentration of their corpses were found just south of the Hydrisikk River. Suspected to be a mass grave of dispatched Ancients, this junkyard served as a primer and catalyst for Destral’s high-tech advancements.

An overconfident Demon prepares to fight an oncoming Ancient.

History #

Core Creators #

Without going into excessive detail, the Core civilization can be summed up by calling it extremely technologically advanced--the conditions within its dimensional realm of existence promoted extremely rapid technological breakthroughs including the ability to create hardened three-dimensional objects from light. The people of Core leveraged such technology on a daily basis, and as such the Ancients themselves aren't extremely advanced by Core standards. Semi-autonomous mechs had been employed by Core extensively already--however, it was the involvement of the Angels that elevated Ancients to such a level of technological marvel.

The people of Core fell, despite their great technology and weapons, to the Demons. With the edges of their very reality crumbling slowly, the Angels intervened to aid them. The divine hosts presented them with an offer: they could be taken to a sanctuary world, Legere, and be able to live as they had in Core. Legere's dimensional reality and physical laws were similar enough to Core's that they would be able to survive just fine. However, the Core people would have to pay a toll to have their kind relocated in such a drastic way. The deal was simple though--construct an armada of robots using their advanced technology for the Angels to use alongside them in battle. The people of Core agreed without question, and set to work on building the machines while the legions of Seraphim held back the demonic tides from overrunning the last sanctum of Core.

700 robots were created by the people of Core over the course of what would be the equivalent of 3 Legerian years. The goal was to reach one thousand "guardian" robots--sentinels that would be delivered by the Angels to many different worlds across Creation. In addition to this, several other specialized robots were created to travel alongside the Angels as interdimensional, mobile combat platforms to help bolster the Seraphim as they shadow the Demon army through the cosmos. While the people of Core successfully worked with the Angels to deliver fully-functional robots to hundreds of worlds, their ultimate goal was never reached.

With the launch of a new assault on another reality by the Demons, many of the Seraphim stationed in Core were forced to withdraw and reinforce the other front lines. This was a trap, as a swarm of Demons lying in wait waited until the Angels' forces were diminished before launching a final assault on the Core's final bastion of sactuary. Overrun by countless legions of Imps and Nephilim, the people of Core were slaughtered in droves as the few angels still stationed with them fought in vain to stem the bloodshed. In the end, only a single survivor of Core was successfully evacuated from the Core bastion.

On Legere #

The Ancients first appeared across Legere as large white eggs that rained from the heavens. These egg-like forms are specially designed casings that the people of Core designed to help protect Ancients during interdimensional travel as they're ferried across Creation by the Angels. Additionally, the Angels would be able to drop these eggs from high orbit, with these eggshells protecting the innards from the scorching heat (and in some cases cold) from such a fall. This would prevent the Angels from unnecessarily interacting with civilizations that did not need to know about such dramatic of a conflict spanning the cosmos. The shells were also tamper proof, preventing a civilization from gaining knowledge and therefore a technological edge that could influence its development.

![[Heaven Egg Rain]]

Of the 700 total Ancients created by Core, only 36 of them were assigned permanently to Legere. This was sufficient to help drive back Demonic forces, especially considering that both the people of Legere and Seraphim all united to help in the fight. Of those 36, 33 survived the Demon Wars and would go on to stand guard over the course of the Ancient Era. During the Ancient Wars, only 5 survived the brutality of Lord Arbam and his men. These 5 would be locked away within divine vaults across Legere, just in case the Demons returned and the Righteous Order wouldn't be sufficient. The Ancients dispatched by the army of Arbam were unceremoniously carried to a plot of land just West of Crossroads Lake. Over the Ancient Wars, this would grow to become a sizeable junkyard-like gravesite. It would grow unnatural colours at night as the divine energies and Core power cells would leak their essence into the air and upon the ground- a sight that would deter many for fear of being poisoned by the runoff.

!Ancient Wars

The vibe of the Ancient graveyard did not drive off everyone. In 208 DHT, a group of scavengers decided to wander into the gravesite and attempt to salvage what they could from what remained there. Digging through the mounds of robotic bodies, the scavengers would find all manner of interesting devices that once contributed to the internals of Ancients. What was first a simple part-stripping band soon evolved into a community of families as the brightest of the tinkerers would begin to study the Ancients' corpses. Over time their knowledge grew, becoming capable of things that magic was not able to accomplish. This community named themselves Destral, and would soon flourish into a mighty city that still studies the Ancients to this day.

Ancient Technology & Design #

Physiology #

While most people view the Ancients as towering bipedal humanoid machines, the truth is that Ancients came in a variety of shapes and sizes. No one can guess as to why Ancients weren't created with a standardized model, but some suspect that it may have something to do with harbouring the sentience and therefore personality of each individual Ancient. Every Ancient was unique in its form and capabilities, making it impossible to narrow down a list of abilities other than a few of the constants like projection of hard light. While features like the presence of eyes or lack thereof and the number of limbs varied dramatically from Ancient to Ancient, a common feature is the white armour that covers their torsos and limbs. This gave the Ancients a distinct pale appearance.

Underneath this white armour is a mass of pipes, gears, pistons, vents, engines, battery packs, jets and other high-tech machinery. These all differed from Ancient to Ancient as they reflect the Ancients' individual abilities. For example, an one of the Ancients stationed near The Nameless Town lacked arms and legs, instead floating through the air like a jellyfish with armoured tendrils. As such, hover jets and other structures contributing to flight were visible in the cracks of the armour.

The Hallowbrain #

It wasn't long into the Ancient Wars when people soon discovered what was within the Ancients. After cracking open the white skin of their skulls and chests, Arbam's Army found the Ancients to bleed a deep blue, glowing fluid. While one would think this is simply some kind of coolant or hydraulic fluid (which it partially was), the warriors called it what it truly was: Ancient blood. What many had not realized was that Ancients were not fully metal, but rather had fleshy brains, fed by blood the same way Legerian organs were.

A hallowbrain in a Core foundry being prepped for insertion into its housing.

Unlike the Demons who had created soulless, unholy constructs like Imps and nephilim, the Angels worked with the people of Core to give the Ancients true life. This central organ, the hallowbrain, was capable of processing that no Core computer was capable of: true consciousness. The hallowbrain took the form of a large brain not unlike that of a human's, except it glowed blue from the divinely-charged blood that supplied it. This was the true form of an Ancient, and its fleshy tendrils extended through the machinery of its body to give the mech life.

The true nature of the hallowbrain was never revealed to the people of Core and it was never gleaned by the people of Destral--as such its origin was relegated to conjecture. Some theorized they were the inchoate minds of Angels while other believe them to be the unified minds of Core citizens. Neither theory has much evidence to back them up. A common consensus was that the hallowbrain existed to not only give Ancients a true soul, but also to further prevent civilizations from reverse engineering the computational technology that would otherwise be used to run an Ancient.

Utilities, Capabilities, & Technological Elements #

Hard Light Projection #

Ancients' signature abilities during the Demon Wars were their ability to create physical objects from photons alone. Taking on a bluish green colour, these projections could be used by Ancients as projectiles, armour and striking implement. Hard light is incredibly difficult to pierce, and can be healed or repaired as soon as damage befalls the object. As such, they fulfilled their purpose exceptionally well. Hard light is the hardest aspect of the Ancients to replicate, as the Legerian laws of physics prohibit the behaviour of photons required to form it. Only with the power of Angels could such technology be transferred out of Core and into other worlds. However, weaker and more fragile forms of hard light projection have been made possible, although expensive and power-intensive to produce. As such, hard light has been relegated to weak but weightless shields and sculptures/ decorative art pieces.

Sintesium #

![[Sintesium]]

Electricity #

While electricity is native to Legere, much of the circuitry inside the Ancients revealed to Destrians how to harness it inside non-magical devices. Core had succeeded in creating solid-state energy cells, colloquially called crystal batteries, which were used as fuel by the Ancients. A single Ancient had 13-40 of these high-powered crystal batteries powering them, and a single one was enough to power most of Legere's most advanced, power-intensive inventions.

Noteworthy Ancients #

The following were some noteworthy Ancients that served in the Demon Wars and beyond. From left to right: Yobediah, Tikkal, Tetrapede.

Could summon hard light sword from its arm. Hard light spines could also manifest over its shoulders, granting it a devastating shoulder tackle maneuver- especially effective against Demonic nephilim.

Station

Was delivered to the people of a city in the tundra lands North of the Phayu Wing Mountains.

Events

Successfully help off several waves of Demon giants singlehandedly for years, but it could not stop a wave of small imps very effectively, leading to the demise of its ward.

Fate

Vaulted; Yobediah waited patiently in the tundra by itself for many years, not being attacked by Demons or Arbam's Army due to the harsh conditions. Yobediah was stored in a divine vault somewhere in the Phayu Wing Mountains.

Yobediah would be released from its vault in events leading up to the Legerian War, where it was tampered with by misguided Destrian engineers into serving the forces of evil. It would then be destroyed during the conflict.

Four armed biped with dome-shaped skull. Two symmetrical eyes. Approx. 18 feet tall.

Powers

Designed primarily for ranged combat, Tsalav would use its four arms to draw two hard light bows at once, launching volley upon volley of hard light projectiles onto enemy forces. Tsalav could also create an "acceleration gate" using hard light. This enhanced the projectiles of others fired into it by adding a layer of sharpened hard light- especially useful in conjuction with Angels and human foot soldiers.

Station

Was delivered to the people of Siman.

Events

Protected Jinifar's ports to ensure human supply chains were not annihilated. Fought in for 72 hours straight against the Demons during a bloody siege against the port from all sides.

Fate

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

Bipedal, two-armed humanoid. Boxy skull with no eyes, but a single V-shaped "eye slit". Approx. 15 feet tall.

Powers

Ganett was exceptional at long range bombardment. Its arms housed photon launchers that could mortar strike imps from afar, causing massive, widespread damage. Ganett could also erect hard light shields to protect civilians or itself from ranged attacks or when surrounded. Ganett's weaknesses lay in close range combat, something that would be exploited towards the end of the Demon Wars.

Station

Delivered to Gunkol to protect the duns. From its position, Ganett could help bombard enemies in neighboring areas as far away as the Northern shore of Crossroads Lake.

Events

Helped turn the tide of many battles by supplying barrages of photons upon the foe from many kilometers away. During the decisive Battle of Gasta Field at the borders of Phovezila, Ganett was capable of wiping out many Demon reinforcements that were making their way West to join the front lines.

Fate

Ganett was destroyed after it was ambushed at close range during the end of the Demon Wars. Lured North to help bombard a swarm of imps at the Northern outskirts of the Nameless Town, Ganett was overcome by a gang of mighty nephilim that had little trouble tearing the Ancient in half.

Destroyed in the Ancient Wars.

Wide, rectangular prism-like body with a total of 6 armoured tentacles hanging from it. Round, smooth skull with three eyes. Approx. 17 feet tall.

Powers

Kirka could extend hard light whips from its tentacles and use them as whips- often flailed expertly to lacerate several opponents at once. The tips of thes whips could also be launched like darts at opponents from afar. A signature move of Kirka was to float gravefully above the enemy while dragging its deadly hard light-coated limbs through their ranks. Kirka could also summon hard light armour to coat its underside, providing protection from enemies that were often underneath it while also giving it the ability to smash down forcefully.

Station

Delivered to the Nameless Town. Kirka could move exceptionally fast, often travelling to help fight on the front lines of battles in nearby locations like the Phovezilan Countryside and base of the Snowy Mountain.

Events

Fought in the Battle of Gasta Field and the First Siege of the Snowy Mountain.

Fate

Destroyed in the [[Ancient Wars]].