"A Summer's Day" ~ 1894

"A Summer's Day" ~ 1894

This young woman is Emalia Nyland, Jeter's ward since she was a toddler. Her parents both died to a disease known as "The Rust", and has been under her future husband's care since then.

It's not unusual for sick parents to hand their child over to an automaton, as it provides the kid with an immortal bodyguard. Most, if not all, of these kids end up forming a strong bond with their automatons, and end up marrying them. This is also what will happen with Emalia, since she and Jeter are nearly inseparable. Ever since she was little, she looked up to the automaton and eventually fell in love with him.

Now, this may seem odd, but Jeter is the only loving figure that she has had in her life. (Besides her parents of course. Zala, her cousin, could also be considered a loving figure, but he rarely ever sees her.) Because of this intense bond, Jeter has given himself the golden filigree that you see on his right cheek. (Once an automaton is considered married/ spoken for, they will get filigree somewhere on their face. Most commonly on their cheeks or chin)

Ema spends most of her days at the manor with Jeter, doing her own thing or getting things ready for meals. Her life is pretty routine, but she couldn't be happier about it. The times where she does go to the city, she finds herself sticking to Jeter's side. It's a big place with a bunch of strangers, and Jeter provides a warm feeling of protection. Of course, they sometimes visit Zala at his home a few hours away, but this is only once or twice a month. As he is very busy with his studies, and Ema doesn't want to bother him.

Personality wise, Emalia is very much an introvert. She spends most of her day inside or around the manor, her nose in a book or hands full of ink from drawing. She's extremely creative, constantly writing stories or doodling pictures, anything that pops into her head will be jotted down. Her room is filled with journals and miscellaneous novels, all sorted by date of recieving them. She wishes to become an author one day, or even an explorer like her parents. Anything to gather more fun stories and drawings that will hopefully make it into their own books one day.

Fun fact about Emalia, she is completely colorblind. She sees the world through shades of grey, and this trait is shared with every woman in her bloodline. This doesn't bother her at all, as she has found other ways to enjoy "colors". Instead of seeing colors, she relates them to textures, emotions or even flavours. Dispite not being able to see these colors, Emalia considered a delicate light blue her favourite. Jeter has told her that she reminds him of this color, as she is soft spoken and welcoming.

Headcanon voice/actor: Phillipa Soo

An alcoholic and a strict doctor, a relationship that contains more arguments than agreements. Despite their mutual annoyance for each other, Jeter is always willing to spend money to bail Henderson out of jail. A blessing and a curse, as what comes afterwards is a long and stern talking to from the automaton. These talks can last mere minutes, or hours, depending on how Henderson behaves.

~ "Spare me the lecture." Henderson grunted, bringing a hand up to his temple. Maybe it was the extreme hangover, or the multiple wounds on the back of his head. Either way, he couldn't think straight.

Jeter sighed at the other's tone, steam escaping from the vents in his cheeks. He kept his hands folded, tapping the right index finger against the left knuckle. A small tick, but Henderson immediately picked up on it and continued.

"If you're waiting for an explanation, I ain't got one. Last night s'all one fogged up blur." The man stated in annoyance, receiving no response from the automaton sitting across the table. "All I know is, that bastard swung first. I was defendin' myself, but... I admit, I may have gone overboard."

"No surprise there." The doctor replied after a moment of thought. "I suppose I should put you under a more strict ruleset, I prefer my students to be in one piece while under my care." ~

Some Facts About The Automata in my World

These are just a few points. There are some names and terms mentioned that will be elaborated on in future posts.

Nearly all automatons are built around human skeletons, which gives them their humanoid shape. The spine, fingers and bottom jaw are exposed, and that tells you how old an automaton's model is. Older models will have more bones exposed, their plates and mechanisms built directly on top. Mostly relying on the skeleton to keep the frame in one piece. Newer models will have less showing, and may even be made with a fully mechanical skeleton. No matter how new a model is, the spine is always visible. 

They can come in any shape or size, though most are 6’5 and under. The shortest ones are just below 5’, and are mostly nanny’s or other child care workers. Automatons can be thin, stocky, round or lanky. It all depends on their occupation and the capabilities of their model. Changes may be made if needed, and these procedures are rather expensive. Usually they are only done once an automaton passes (in which the husk will become a host for a new personality), or if a company needs a specific body type for a job.

The automata of Brenning are treated as equals, instead of being seen as the lower class. They can get any job, or live in any financial status just as a human can. It also isn’t uncommon for humans and automata to get married, and is embraced by the city. Once an automaton is married, they will receive golden filigree somewhere upon their body that is visible at all times. The most common place is the face, mostly upon the cheek or chin. Hands are also popular, and you may even see an automaton with a completely golden hand. The human has two choices when it comes to marrying an automaton. They can either get molten gold poured upon the skin in lavish designs, or get a special plate implanted into their arm. This plate allows the human to feel the emotions of their automaton partner, and vice versa.  

There is a race of automata called Gardeners, who are bipedal humanoids with multiple limbs. They tend to Brennings plantlife, and are extremely docile. They are very agile and strong, able to climb up the clock tower with ease. The city has multiple gated tunnels that the gardeners use to traverse the city without bothering the human population, or to escape the rain. Emotionless, thoughtless creatures, the gardeners tend to keep to themselves. The only thing they care about is the well being of the plants within Brennings walls, keeping the city green any way they can. Standing at 7’ when straight, they have a large compartment in their stomachs that they use to house dirt and plants for transport. As long as people steer clear, the gardeners are quiet and diligent.

Another special race is the Watchers, medieval knight like automata who patrol the city streets at night. They are protectors, diligent guards that walk the city streets once the sun falls. They were built to protect the people from night time criminals, and they also keep people from sneaking into the city. The civilians of Brenning created a nightly curfew after a few years, due to a multiple deaths that occured due to people messing with the automata. They are extremely violent when provoked, not letting up until the person they are focused on is either incapacitated or dead. There are a select few who are able to evade the watchers' gaze, and those are the ones who work for the Tower. To the automata, a Tower worker is completely invisible, unless physical contact is made. This same rule applies to members of the Circle, but the Circle is able to control the Watchers whenever it is necessary. Usually, a Watcher will walk a specific pre-programmed path, but a member of the Circle may order it to follow them, or to chase a specific person.

Automatons never truly die, but are just reset. Their programming enters a state called “The Phoenix Code” in which the automaton's skillset is recycled and passed onto a new life, giving the new personality a muscle memory of their past skills, but with no recollection of their past life. A single automaton may have multiple lives within their programming, giving them a wider range of skills to potentially use. For example, My character Jeter is on his 8th phoenix. This means that he has lived seven previous lives, all living more than 80 years each. Each one had a different job, and passed on their skills to the next life. Jeter started off as a guardsman, and has been a baker, a businessman, a mechanic, and is currently a doctor. Everything he has learned has been passed on, but he has no idea who exactly he was in a past life. 

Generation 1 automatons are considered “children”, as they currently have no skills to build their lives off of. The first life of an automaton is mostly spent within the Tower, learning multiple skills that will be passed onto their next life. The teacher is another member of the Circle (I will be going more into the Circle and its members in a different post as well), who spends their days making sure each and every newly forged automaton knows how to survive in the city.

I am finally opening commissions!

IMPORTANT EDIT: I WILL ATTEMPT FURRY CHARACTERS, NOTHING TOO COMPLEX. SAME WITH WEAPONS

Just in case it isn't known, robots/automatons fall under Humanoids in my eyes. So if you have a vaguely human shaped robot character, I will happily draw them!

Any extra characters will be 50% off, and simple backgrounds will be an added 5$.

Feel free to DM me for commissions

Experimenting with a style to see if it was more fun to use and I actually quite enjoy it?? So I think I have found the style I will use for my comic, as this could potentially create some nice atmosphere. Also, using this style, would allow each character to be identified by their own colors. Jeter would be brown/gold, Henderson is Burgundy/Mahogany, and Zala would be green, etc. Most environments and objects will be in simple black and greys.

These two images are a little muddied, which is something I will practice with as time goes on.

Also, these two panels are not connected, even though it looks like Jeter and Zala have spotted each other across a room. I promise, Zala is too much of a recluse to attend any event that includes strangers.

You can't have a story without at least one asshole character, and my story is no exception.

Henderson Mortimer Balgraven. He is the kind of man who would insult you while he give you medication, berate you while stitching up your leg. He may be a doctor, but that doesn't mean he has to be nice to people. This doesn't mean he hates his job, in fact, he rather enjoys what he does.

Henderson is a prosthetist, the best one you'll find in Brenning and it's neighboring cities. No matter how bad the wound is, he is able to skillfully amputate and replace any part of the body. Not only in humans, but automata as well. He uses spare parts from automatons to build and install the prosthetics, making it so they function like a natural limb. It's an extremely painful procedure, but it's worth it in the end. In fact, he replaced his own eye, after it was destroyed during a bar fight. Henderson was nearly black out drunk and was still able to get the eye working as if it was his own. And several years later, the eye still works perfectly, only needing a small tune up here and there.

Born and raised in the slums of Brenning, Henderson was a part of a group called the Mulligans. Named after the run down building the group lives in, they were a decently sized found family. Anyone who was homeless or broke found themselves under the headmistress' care, who raised them like she would her own children. The Mulligan kids were free to do as they please, as long as what they do doesn't harm another member. Henderson is the oldest member, and is seen as the older brother of everyone else there. He may be sour and aggressive, but he has never hurt any other Mulligan. Screamed at, yes, but never hurt.

When Henderson was in his thirties, his skills were discovered by a doctor. That doctor was Jeter Nyland, who hired the man on the spot. Henderson was a little skeptical but agreed, and later moved into the manor in order to help Jeter with his work. During this time, however, he signed some papers he was too drunk to fully comprehend. Next thing he knew, he woke up in bed with multiple large scars running up and down his body. His skeleton had been replaced with one made of metal, giving him a heavy yet sturdy base. Unfortunately, the human body wasn't built like an automatons, and the metal skeleton brings more harm than good.

Every day is filled with a numbing pain, and the strange new weight has caused Henderson to have a strong limp. He turns to the bottle in order to forget the pain and just relax, but Jeter has forbade the use of alcohol within the manor. That doesn't stop Henderson, he just finds ways to sneak in a drink here and there.

Jeter and Henderson argue nearly every time they're together. It's very one sided, however, as Jeter has learned to ignore the man during his tirades. The only time that the automaton fights back is if things get physical, or if Emalia is brought into the conversation. Thankfully, Henderson has never directed his anger towards the young woman, only ever focusing on her protector.

Fun fact about Henderson, he actually loves Emalia like a daughter. He isn't as aggressive when she is in the room, and has even tried to make peace with her through gifts of new journals. She is extremely nervous around him, but he hopes that some day, she'll come around and at least talk to him without fear in her voice. Of course, his behavior isn't helping, but he tries to keep the volume down when she's in the room.

Headcanon voice/actor: Peter Kaleghan

I have so much more about each and every character, I love them all. I just want to dump everything but I also don't want to spoil the story.