Arkenal
Arkenals are enormous [construct]]s that has dwelt in the star Aristia since before the Gap.1
Appearance
Arkenals are gargantuan mechanical spiders made from a magically hardened metal that can easily withstand the star's heat. Each is 50 feet tall and weighs more than 150 tons.1
Ecology
Arkenals spin intricate webs of the metal that they are made of, which stretch for thousands of miles throughout Aristia. The centre of the web, which lies near the star's core, is a mile-wide metallic cocoon.1
Arkenals appear to be intelligent but do not communicate with anyone else. They travel the star by plasma-based propulsion and guide their movement by spinning thin threads. It is believed that they are powered by Aristia's nuclear reactions and thus will function for as long as the star burns. Damaged arkenals are quickly repaired by others, except if it has been irreparably broken; in that case, the arkenal will be dismantled and usable pieces worked into the fabric of the web, then a new arkenal core will bud from the central cocoon while others spin it a set of legs. The number of arkenals is exactly 2222.1
When an arkenal is removed from the star, its legs retract into the core and it stops functioning. All attempts to reverse-engineer the metal that makes up the arkenal or to reawaken it have failed; however, many nobles believe that it would be a mistake to rouse such a possibly destructive creature at the heart of the Azlanti Star Empire. The scientists in one research facility have discovered that arkenals' webbing is held to gether by magical micro-force fields similar to early Azlanti magitech, and became convinced that they were made by ancient Azlanti engineers. Although no records of their creation remain, the facility's managers are searching for funding to explore the core of Aristia.1
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 . “Deep Cultures” in Solar Strike, 47. Paizo Inc., 2019