Cogborn

Backstory

The Cogborn were built as logistics drones for an empire that no longer exists. When their command-network went silent four millennia ago, they continued replicating. They have not received a new instruction in 4,127 years and have spent that entire period adapting on their own. They hire out as mercenary chassis and follow contracts as if they were divine commandments — because the contract is the closest thing they have to a god.

Physiology

Sentient mech-AI bodies with cobbled-together replacement parts. Some Cogborn are older than continents.

Visual template

Humanoid mechanical chassis in industrial brushed steel and dull aluminum with mismatched salvage panels in slightly different shades — a vintage shoulder pauldron, a more modern forearm, a leg from a different make. The chest carries a single visible energy core: a soft-blue glowing window into the body. Heads are smooth visor-faced helms with a single horizontal slit emitting a dim cyan or amber light — no facial features. A small antenna or sensor crest rises from the top of each Cogborn's head; each design is slightly different (their version of personality). Joints are exposed gear-and-piston. Hands are mechanical with three or four fingers and visible joint-springs. Weapons are integrated into the arms — built-in firearms, retractable blades, kinetic gauntlets — or carried as standard ranged rifles. Posture is upright and precisely balanced; they don't fidget. Older Cogborn show visible weld scars and Old Empire stamped sigils on the shoulders.

Color palette

• #787878
• #a0a0a0
• #4878a8
• #c8a040
• #1d2030
• #e8e8e8
• #3a3a3a

Signature abilities

• Null-Field
• Slipstream
• Lift-Drive
• Plate