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Homunculi

The creation of Homunculi is an art dating back centuries.

A Homunculus is an alchemically created artificial human. One of the twelve illicit magical arts, the creation of a Homunculus is considered horribly unethical by many sorcerers, as it creates an unnatural and incomplete being that is terminally dependent on others to live, and who's genesis requires the severing of part of one's own spark.

Origin[]

The first Homunculus was created by an alchemist in a minor Secret durring the age of enlightenment. He surmised that if the Secrets could create new sorcerers from magic itself, then they could mass produce an army to fight back the tide of the Abyss once and for all. For months he toiled away in his lab to construct a perfect sorcerer, a perfect soldier in the war against the abyss. However, at the culmination of his efforts he found himself unable to create an artificial spark, and so he resorted to severing part of his own to give birth to his creation. The resulting creature was therefore an incomplete being, and as such was mortally dependent on his creator for direction and purpose in life. However, The alchemist in question grew unsettled by his creation as time wore on, finding them to be repulsive on some deep instinctive level which he could not fully understand. Eventually he couldn't continue to be in the presence of his creation any longer, so he abandoned it to make its own way in the world. However, now finding itself without a tether, the homunculus was compelled to seek out other individuals to latch onto for guidance, and in turn these individuals too were Eventually repulsed abandoned the poor creature, until it eventually let itself waste away having nobody to give it purpose.

Nature[]

As indicated in the aforementioned anecdote, Homunculi are incomplete beings having only a portion of a spark. While the rest of the arcane nature of their creation ensures that they have enough magical energy to weild magic themselves, a homunculus will feel themself to be hollow and incomplete on some level, and as a result become emotionally dependant on their creator for purpose in life. In many ways this makes a Homunculus a perfect servant, as they tend to be obedient to a fault and always eager to please, sticking to their creator even if said individual is detrimental to the Homunculi's own wellbeing or continued existence.

The obsessive and codependent nature of a homunculus is offset only by the intense disquieting effect they have on any creature with a spark. On some level, all creatures with a spark will feel that the Homunculi's existence is fundamentally wrong somehow, and often find themselves repulsed by it, with that feeling only increasing over time. This intense disquiet is only compounded by the emotional toll a Homunculi's codependent behavior may put upon an individual whom it has latched onto. Such is the paradoxical nature of the homunculi that it craves and is dependant upon other people, yet it's very nature repulsed those it wishes to get close to.

As a result, Homunculi often find themselves abandoned, at which point they flounder until they can find someone new to latch onto, or until they let themself waste away into nothing. A few take a 3rd option and become vindictive towards their former masters, seeking to destroy the lives of those who cast them asside, and many more find themselves drawn to the service of Others, whose lack of a spark prevents them from feeling the effects of a Homunculi's disquieting nature.

Ethical Concerns[]

The creation of Homunculi is largely forbidden amongst alchemists, as its argued that creating a being so terminally dependent on others is profoundly unethical, as is the act of tearing apart ones own spark to do so (or worse still, the spark of someone else). It is also argued that given the amount of Homunculi who have fallen to the service of Others, their creation is too big a risk to be allowed.

But you know what they say. If a rule exists, there will always be those who choose to break it.