Living Dolls

"The lone constructed race."Smooth porcelain, bright eyes, segmented fingers, magical batteries. Living Dolls are manmade creations given life through magical ritual. Painstakingly crafted by master artisans, only the finest of dolls are delivered to the imbuers.

Legend
Apart from oral traditions and simple superstitions, the major inspiration and confirmation for the existence of Living Dolls was the romantic opera Die Schildpuppe which premiered in the Mitte Concert Hall in Buchou. Within it, a young man heads off to war in the footstep of his late father, and is given the gift of an ornate porcelain doll by his younger sister before he leaves. Along the way to the front lines, he falls asleep and is transported to a realm of nightmarish surreality where his uncertainties and doubts are manifested as characters which taunt and torment him. In a moving dance scene, he manages to first escape, and later to overcome his internal fears with the aid of his sister's gifted doll, come to life and joining him in fighting the ghostly apparitions which take on the form of savage foes at the end of the second act.

By the third act, he has arrived at the battlefield and leads a charge upon an unknown enemy's position, where he is shot and fatally wounded. Once again, the doll comes to him and their duet sings of a life given for the Fatherland, free of regret and paving the way for the next generation. After guiding him on to the light in the sky, the doll returns to his family's home at his behest, to protect his mother and sister from the same spirits of doubt and despair from earlier. It has been said that this is a cultural reference to old, pagan cosmology regarding female warrior spirits who escort soldiers to the afterlife, something more often attributed to Night Ravens in the modern day.

Other than that, there are a few legends of dolls, toys, or puppets that have been taken into a place of great natural magic, now understood to be a high accumulation of Essence. Each of these stories has some element of the toy or doll exhibiting some aspect of human-like capability or intelligence, often coming to the aid of their young owners in times of great peril, such as capture by a cannibal witch, a cruel Fey Cat, or a crazed Wolfen.

Description
Living Dolls vary based on maker and specifications. The smallest ones can be as short as a mere foot tall, though it is rare for any of this size to be anything more than a companion and monitor for noble children. Generally a Living Doll will be anywhere from three to five feet tall. Made from porcelain, they are very smooth and room temperature to the touch, with a solid weight to them. Their segmented joints tend to make the sound of a faint clack with swift movements. Otherwise, most features of Living Dolls are completely based upon the whims of the creator or the requests of the patron. They can have any style or color of hair, eyes- though the latter do tend to faintly glow with an inner energy. Many sport ornate markings that could be likened to tattoos on their faces, arms, and elsewhere. These are generally decorative (although some speculate that there is an arcane purpose behind the lines and shapes), and the creator of several lineages of Living Dolls can be determined through examining the markings, making them a personal stamp of sorts. Living Dolls devoted to military purpose seem to wear them as battle paint, or else it is perceived as such.

The other noticeable feature that every Living Doll possesses is the magical battery that stores and provides them with the Essence they require to operate. Toughly the size and shape of a lantern and emitting a pale glow almost as such, this battery is referred to as the Living Doll's Chalice, due to its function. which glows with internal energy. Many carry these Chalices in backpacks or via shoulder straps, while newer and more advanced models are capable of having the Chalice built into the Living Doll's body in some way.

The Chalice is very similar in function to the War Soul developed by the Imperial Magical Research Academy, though the methods of creating the arcane construct within are very different. Instead of relying upon the willing sacrifice of a soul to serve as the channel between mage and ambient Essence, the Chalice acts as a storage point for the pure Essence that empowers its linked body, providing it with its animating force.

This results in a sentient and self-aware being that is entirely artificially created, and the IMRA are not entirely sure why or how this being manifests as such. The leading theory currently (and backed up by initial experimentation) is that this is simply a natural phenomenon that results from pouring Essence into animating a humanoid form. Contained Essence - when put into a vessel in the shape of a man - seems to always flow and accumulate and crystallize in such a way as to form a human-like consciousness.

Capabilities
The most noticeable advantage that Living Dolls possess over human soldiers is their superhuman endurance. They do not need to eat or drink or sleep, they do not bleed and will not even die so long as their Chalice remains intact. The entirety of their physical needs coming down to maintenance on their body to repair damage, though they do require time to recharge the magical energy contained within their Chalice. As a result, Living Dolls make superior sentries or night watches... they don't even need to blink! That being said, their eyesight is nowhere near as excellent as a Night Raven's.

One other benefit that comes of having carefully-crafted, magically animated segmented joints, is that Living Dolls are capable of incredible dexterity when they need it. They do not shake or tremble whatsoever, and are capable of extremely precise fine motor manipulation, making them uniquely gifted for tackling tasks that require the utmost finesse. This- combined with the fact that they are not technically alive- has spurred research by the IMRA into the possibility of Living Dolls with specially-armored Chalices being used for the setting of explosives and defusing of mines.

The final ability of Living Dolls is a bit of a dangerous gambit, but can be useful in times of emergency. Due to the containment of so much magical energy within their Chalice, a Living Doll can channel excess Essence through their ceramic body and into weapons or tools or directly into a nearby target. This projection of magical energy takes the form of a lightning bolt, causing a crack of sound and a sonic boom and an arcing beam of bright blue-white. Anyone hit by this bolt or any attack empowered by it will take not only physical damage in the form of electric burns, but also spiritual backlash as the sheer amount of Essence overwhelms their nervous system, often causing temporary unconsciousness.

Weaknesses
The largest limitation of Living Dolls is their dependency upon Essence. The more they move or speak or act, the more Essence that is exhausted out of their Chalice and the closer they grow to unraveling back into raw energy. As such, most Chalices have a built in cut-off that shuts down all connection to the outside world, acting as a frozen preservation of the Living Doll's self until such a time as they can be recharged. This replenishment of Essence can take place slowly through latent gathering so long as the surrounding area is sufficiently full of life or exposed to natural sunlight, but this can take a long time, up to two weeks to go from disabled to capable of moving again. Due to how slow this natural restoration rate is, Living Dolls are most often bolstered through the use of solidified Essence shards. A standard Essence shard can provide enough fuel for approximately a week of solid activity, and the cost of such shards explains why so far, Living Dolls are still luxuries for the upper class.

The final drawback to the existence of Living Dolls is far more troublesome than logistical complications. Many a priest and theological scholar has expressed severe doubts regarding the spiritual safety surrounding the practice of creating Living Dolls. They posit that the potential exists that the arcane construct creation process is too esoteric, hidden behind the veil of 'trade secrets' and obscured by bafflingly complex manufacturing rituals. There has been an increased level of inquisitorial oversight into the industry of making Living Dolls as of late, and several have been dismantled due to suspicions of spiritual corruption. As of yet, there has been no policy set regarding the future of Living Dolls, but proper care instructions have become a mandated aspect of Living Doll ownership. They must be immersed in the culture of worship for and faith in the Living God, with careful monitoring for any discomfort or rebelliousness regarding weekly devotions. Studies are still ongoing regarding the true nature of what- exactly- is being created (or manifested) within a Living Doll's Chalice, but for now they are too useful to summarily terminate their existence.