The Forsaken Machine

''A short story documenting events regarding the Gnomes & their ancient conquest of Maddrak. The story also touches on some Lutumite & Mřau history by nature.''

The Gnome Conquest of Maddrak. One of the most chaotic & violent times in Onthukhan's --no, Eldham's ancient history. Though the Gnomes had dominated Maddrak during the early days of their campaign, conquering new territory became more & more difficult, their expansion had caused such confusing bureaucracy within their legal system, that it was difficult to get things done.

One of the Gnome kings had enough of this, and decided to form a secret group within his empire to enact his will; 'The Ordinance.' The Ordinance was made up of some of the most talented Gnomes within their respective fields, and out of all of them --by far-- the alchemical division was the most horrific.

Xahana Arbastor. A young royal, brilliant scientist, & the Baron of the Ordinance's alchemy division. As the Baron of Alchemy & granddaughter to one of the kings, she was allowed to do almost whatever she pleased, and had the budget for it as well. She could have tried to develop better crops, better medicines, perhaps better armor --or even, general defenses; but, no.

During the entire reign of the Xáma Rakhar, slaves were a crucial part of their workforce. Often, prisoners of their war would be turned into slaves & be forced to work on the Gnome's projects. Many died. Xahana however, gave them an "out," an illusion of the chance to be free. She offered these slaves & prisoners to become part of a revolutionary project, an invention that would change the world! And of course, many accepted. In fact, more than even she thought would take the bargain. Hundreds of their slave & worker population were now a part of her test subject army, because of course, it seemed preferable to them than working tirelessly for days on end. But it would be far, far worse.

Xahana would hire great wizards & scientists alike for her dire experiments, contracting potion-makers to create strange elixirs & medicines, as well as deadly chemicals & poisons. She hired not only gnomes, but also Dwarves, traitorous Catfolk, and many interested scholars across the seas. She was doing all of this to create what she described as “the perfect soldier.” She would have the Baron of Military train those that endured her torturous tests, in the hopes that at least a few would excel in the field. And indeed, some did. With the help of her hired workers & loyal helpers, she brainwashed these soldiers, making them believe the worst of the empire’s propaganda against the natives of Maddrak, forcing many to antagonize & attack their own people. It drove some over the edge, with a couple more dying in the process. “It will all be worth it” she thought at the time, “all of this bloodshed will bring glory to the Xáma Rakhar!”

In the end, less than 20 remained. 20 loyal soldiers that she had created, and they were powerful. Each one able to take on a small battalion. And yet, Xahana was not done. She was not satisfied with these results, for soldiers tend to decay, they tend to wither and die, and this would simply not do. So as each one slowly got more & more hurt, often returning home bloody & beaten, with many even losing their limbs, she would “fix” them. She would replace their missing parts with new ones crafted by the fine engineers who created the Gnomish Tanks. These new appendages were often made of steel, wood, and occasionally, stone. The method of attachment was horrifically painful for the subjects; due to them having to be attached at joints, they were often melted on to the soldiers skin, with new nerves having to be artificially grown –with fungi and other organic matter– and passed through these new limbs, attached directly to each soldiers nervous system.

One by one, each soldier died off, whether it was due to the immense pain of the procedure, or in combat with one too many enemies. All but one died. The final subject of Xahana’s experiment was a catfolk named Yonamu, every last piece of his body had been replaced, or melted together with the steel & wood. He had an additional set of arms sautered on to his back, allowing him to hold more weaponry, and inflict a great amount of pain. His soul tried to escape his body during one of his final procedures, almost leading to his demise, but Xahana had learned from her previous attempts, and had a group of necromancers on standby at all times. Yonamu had gone from a prisoner of war, to a prisoner within his own mind and body. He was forced to kill his own people, and he was powerless to stop it.

The worst part of it all is the fact that it worked. Xahana’s goal of turning the tide in the war had been achieved, for Yonamu inflicted fear among the catfolk population, forcing many to turn themselves in, afraid that they may be mangled by the horrific defile of nature, kept together by nothing except magic & machinery. Her twisted experiment would not last forever, however.

Yonamu would eventually be bested By Nyava Konekoshka himself, and his holy battalion led by Asařay, his 2nd in command. They did not slay Yonamu on that day. Instead, they showed the machine mercy, proclaiming him to still be one of their own, and Yonamu –after many, many months– finally showed signs of recovery from Xahana’s brainwashing. To repent, Yonamu would go on to be one of the Konekoshka’s soldiers, getting revenge on those that turned him into what he was, including Xahana herself, meeting a grim end on the other end of his blades.