Clones lore - WIP

Here's a WIP on the entry for cloning in the empire, exclusive for all Patrons. This goes over the history of cloning as it pertains to Korachan. I'm in the process of getting are commissioned for this, ready to upload an art post. 

Let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions in the comments, thanks!

The Atramenta has given us many things – technarcana, dross, the gift of shaping – but amongst the most fascinating of these innovations is the creation of life – the Asicthai, or True Mortals.

So-called because rather than being corruptions of the original Immortal races, they were created through Mortal action, be it direct or indirect. These True mortals are either the result of prolonged Atramental exposure, abuse, or artificial means. Of the latter, clones are a direct result of years of research and practical application that have given rise to life born through means other than a flesh womb.

The art of cloning is the process of creating life through artificial means – often through Mortal-made technarcane equipment such as steel wombs (known as sohbal ferrolli in the empire), and less commonly via surrogacy.

Though thought to exist in previous ages before the rise of the Korachani empire (such as amongst the lhaus), our present-day methods of cloning were born independently of any ancient methods that may once have existed, and which have been lost through the Fading of past ages.

The roots of cloning date back to the first millennium RM, when the first successful creation of a haemonculus was recorded in Mharokk in around 740 RM. Haemonculi were primitive creatures made through archaic alchymical processes that have been largely forgotten since the introduction of technarcana has revolutionised the process. Emerging from occult practices, these first haemonculi were made from a base of organic matter (including blood, faeces, sperm, menstrual blood, urine, and hair), chemicals, and umbra, formed by hand into a humanoid shape and given autonomy through the use of complex shaping.

Today,, haemonculi are bred for servitude, warfare, and research purposes, and are often augmented through the application of orthoses and other implants to aid in their selected roles.

Though a far cry from the advancements made to cloning since then, these grotesque beings served as the blueprints of what was to follow. Haemonculi would go on to become ubiquitous servants and test subjects to Atramentists, and there are also records about them being made in large numbers for use in industry and warfare, though such claims are likely apocryphal or aggrandised comments made by commentators after recorded events took place.

Later attempts at creating haemonculi would eschew this archaic method of making ‘life’ in favour of what modern advancements in technarcana promised. Further work in understanding the volatile nature of umbra led to purer refinement processes that in turn allowed for more specific and safer usage. This led to the first successful extraction of a live foetus into a technarcane vessel in 1120 RM in Almagest (then a Korachani dependency). Though the foetus only survived for a few hours following the transplant, it was a massive leap in our understanding of cloning and would directly lead to the creation of the first larvae.

Larvae were the next step in the development of cloning and were the first artificially created lifeforms in the Fifth Age. The first true experiments in the creation of larvae date to around 1800 – 1900 RM, and records exist of work in the field carried out in Almagest and Pelasgos (both Korachani states at the time), as well as Parthis, the latter of which would go on to become the most adept nation at cloning around the Inner Sea.

Korachani experiments finally bred success in 2123 RM when the first batch of larvae cultured from a singular source were successfully grown in steel wombs in the city of Paraga in Pelasgos. These larvae were primitive inert bodies – bones, muscles, tendons, and organs, with very basic nervous and circulatory systems and lacking any sensory organs. Though viewed as failures in the search of creating autonomous artificial life, they would go on to revolutionise the field of technarcana – with many technarcane engines coming to rely on implanted larvae to attain a higher level of function.

Further developments in the creation of larvae were made in the subsequent centuries, including learning how to grow singular organs in an Atramentally-formulated amniotic fluid, and developing the growth of sensory organs in larvae, which together would culminate in the inception of the first true clones in the Korachani colony laboratories of northern Kharkharadontis in around 2290 RM.

The Steel Legionnaires

These first clones were a miracle of Mortal ingenuity and as techniques improved, the imperial government saw the potential for military application of beings that could be tailor-made to suit a specific function. In 2304 RM the first iteration of cloned Steel Legionnaires were incepted – adonic figures of great strength and resilience who would go on to be the fighting forces of the imperial armies for centuries to come.

Prior to this, elite imperial soldiers had been Atramentally-augmented for centuries, improving their physical prowess beyond what any human was naturally capable of, and though they too were called Steel Legionnaires, these early examples of modified men share little in common with the cloned Legionnaires that emerged from the ateliers in Kharkharadontis.

One of the major differences to the earlier modified Steel Legionnaires, was that the true clones lack reproductive organs. Also, the Atramental forces responsible for their creation have left them with alabaster-like skin that is hairless. Other physical traits include jet-black eyes and dark veins that lie stark against their pale skin, a well as a large stature, with the average clone standing around 6’6” – a veritable giant next to the average person of the empire, who stands at around 5’6”.

The inception of the first Steel Legionnaires opened the floodgates to cloning in not only the empire, but other regions as well. Clones became so ubiquitous in the empire that the term umbran came about to refer to any being bord of an artificial womb or which has had its body tampered with in any way.

Following the Sundering of the Empire in 3705 RM, and its subsequent faltering economy and waning resources, the use of cloning has diminished in Korachan. The practice is obscenely costly and was employed as much as a means of flaunting wealth and power as it was as a viable method of populating its armies. The practice waned and in 3845 RM the Steel Legionnaires were manumitted and no new clones were incepted.

This stance lasted until the early fifth millennium RM, when a new breed of legionnaire was once again incepted, in anticipation of a war with the east. These new clones are less extravagant, more cost-effective, and are used more prudently than the cloned Legionnaires that its military became famous for.

Other clones

Despite the Steel Legionnaires being the most well-known clones in Korachan, there are many other forms of clones, each having been made to fulfil different niches, as deemed necessary. In the height of its dominion over the Inner Sea, prior to 3000 RM, the Korachani empire was flagrant in its display of its mastery over technarcana, and created clones for all manner of uses, most of which are now obsolete.

Different forms of clones include:

Broken Thing (Mkisih): cloning techniques are complex, and the results often misshapen. Such clones whose bodies are not up to the task of their intended design, but which are still capable of general movement are often retained and used as slaves. Mkisih is a general term, used most commonly with such malformed bodies when used in a military capacity. Not all mkisih are helpless. Some, by circumstance of their deformed bodies, may be gifted certain unintended traits that make them competent in a particular field.

Chattelserfs: immobile larvae that are part of the very structures in which they reside, adorned with orthoses to facilitate their work – they are commonly found in manufactories and ateliers, aiding technarcanists and shapers in their duties.

Germ-born: individual creatures cloned from the body of a specific person. They are most commonly commissioned by wealthy families who are unable to conceive through mundane means, and who want children. They are designed to the specifications of the person commissioning them, and need not be an identical clone of them, though that is also possible. Despite them being indistinguishable from womb-born mortals, germ-born are believed to be missing spirits.

In many cases germ-born are created to serve as a repository or organs should their owner ever require them, in which case they are kept in stasis until they are needed. This allows many influential people to live well beyond their natural lifespan by using tailor-made organ transplants to replace their failing bodies.

Grotesques (grotteschi): common vernacular used pejoratively in reference to any being created through technarcane means, including clones.

Shadow-beast (Hagheour): animals that have been modified through technarcane processes (either being vat-born from a singular source, or altered through technarcane means following a mundane birth). They were typically used by the military or certain industries where particular traits were required that could not be bred naturally. Today they are almost exclusively found within the armies of the empire, though bespoke designs can be purchased by those with the means.

Living Machines (Sichtainen Techna and Technachi): advanced technarcane automatons with a larvae at their core. Usually humanoid in form, they were shock troops in imperial armies though, much like the Steel Legionnaires, they waned in popularity as the power of the empire began to wane. Old technachi remain in use in some places, often under private ownership, though this is not common-place. They are more common in Parthis today, though are still rare there.

Shadow-horse (Khursumbra): a rare and costly breed of shadow-beast, created through complex technarcane processes that melds an artificially-constructed Atramental mesh to the muscles of a vat-born equine hagheour, making the creature incredibly powerful and capable of moving for extended periods. They were employed by elite regiments of the imperial army. Today they are reserved for special forces and leading ranks, and they are not a common sight.

Occlusion

In the   field of technarcana, the bodies of umbrans and other vat-born creatures and   clones are often fitted with occulsions – sockets grafted to flesh and linked   to their organs, through which Atramental tinctures are pumped to help in the   maintenance of their bodies. Different drugs or antibiotics can also be   administered through there occlusions, and certain shock troops are often   fitted with vials of performance-enhancing drugs, or pain -inhibitors, prior   to battle.