Artificer

Is sufficiently advanced technology - sufficiently advanced progress - indistinguishable from magic? This and more are the preeminent questions sought to be answered by an Artificer in the Realms of Terror. Across the demiplane there are those whose intellects persist in cajoling them to pursue not higher dimensions of thought, but perfect understanding of Nature through the lens of Art. Physicians, natural philosophers, academics and alienists all may find refuge in artifice in domains where the study of miracles (and magic) is misunderstood, feared, or altogether forbidden as artifice, so they say, is Reason where miracles and magic seek to distort it, and what sublime Reason it is where applied to their endless, boundless chase of the Great Work.

Only fools portend that artifice is safe, however. Countries boasting no laws to address the worst outcomes of their craft haven't experienced those outcomes yet. Black powder, golems, debilitating narcotics and poisons all may owe their creation to the inspirations of any wayward Artificer beyond the Misty Border.

Artificers as Adventurers

An Artificer leaves the workshop for manifold reasons. Materials, funds, bare knowledge - those that do manage to survive on inspiration alone almost certainly serve another master in the Realms of Terror. Their discoveries demand field testing and exposure to new parameters, for which travel among a group is most suited.

Ideology and Alignment in Artificers

Artificers, contrary to surface optics, are often as faithful to ideas as would a Cleric to their dogmas. Yet their altar is not enshrined with prayer, but progress and the pursuit of thereof. Those who find themselves pulled to be ethically lawful do so because they are uncovering the unspoken laws of the world through their craft, where those who are ethically chaotic are more open to being held aloft by dramatic, almost religious inspiration. For most, the Great Work replaces in their heart where connection to divinities would, some believing that by achieving their magnum opus, they will find apotheosis. Others yet disclaim all affinity for the divine, suggesting that only through their designs will they ever have understanding.

Artificers in Cordova are expected to create equivalence between their Great Work and the infinite facets of Law Himself. As such those who are recognized by the Church of Law are more likely to be devout, though the Council's continued rulings disambiguating the rights and application of Artificers within the Empire suggests that this trust is far from absolute.