Homunculus

Homunculi are a physical representation of a standard humanoid form. It can refer to both miniature, and life sized fully formed humanoids. A humanoid in this case being, a creature that has opposable anterior forelimb-appendages (i.e. thumbs), visible spectrum-binocular vision (i.e. two eyes) or biomechanic plantigrade-bipedalism (i.e. the ability to walk on heels and metatarsals in an upright position). Homunculi typically observe this body plan, however can exist beyond this standard. Homunculi are artificial in nature, commonly being brought into existence via forms of magic, higher powers, or unknown forces beyond the control of mortals, but origins may vary from Homunculi to Homunculi. On account of their artificial nature, most cultures and religions consider Homunculi, or the concept of Homunculi due to their rarity, very taboo as it breaks the natural cycle of life and death and most never attempt to create any.

Etymology
The word Homunculus or Homunculi when referring to a group, comes from a dialect of human language, too uncommon to be documented in any official capacity. However, it is known to mean "little man" when directly translated from that dialect.

Evolution
Homunculus creation is extremely rarely documented in Rathnir, only having a handful of currently known members of this subgroup of living constructs. Mostly due to the fact that Homunculi (given currently known methods of creation) break many laws regarding life and death in many cultures in Rathnir, and thus most never often even attempt to create any. However those who do, are often subject to " bad karma" or "God-driven" punishments such as those from the settlement of Mortem that suffered a plague of unknown origin. In currently surviving records, Homunculi are also referred to as "undead" or "undeath" creatures. Examples of which are zombies and vampires. Given the prelude detailed above, no evolutionary tree can be given.

History
There are currently not enough surviving records of Homunculi to create a complete historical record of the history of Homunculi. However, there is currently one known sub-type of Homunculi that hails from Mortem, in the Soleannan Imperium.