Homunculi

[ScipioSmith]

Homunculi, in my WIP, are artificial humans (techically they could be artificial anythings, but humans in this case) created by magic and imbued with anima- the poor man's substitute for a soul, the same as possessed by animals- that allows them to function. Though they can be designed to be stronger, faster etc than humans, they will ultimately always fall behind men as they lack the human ability to better ourselves.

One of my characters, who has the nascent ability to do bend the world to her will, has created some of these to be her servants, and when the villain kidnaps her he asks her to create him an army of them (this is not the real reason he abducted her, see above for why.)

My question is this: as it stands at the moment Miranda the nascent goddess is the only person in the story presently living with the ability to create homunculi, but would it make more sense if others could create them as well, albeit more laboriously and possibly not as good? Since it isn't the villains prime goal he would still need Miranda, so it doesn't blow a hole in the plot, and I've been wondering if it makes sense for them to be so rare: I feel like they could be so useful others would have tried to crack the secret by whatever means they could. Plus there's the dramatic potential in android-like not entirely human characters.

Any thoughts? Should the ability to create (half)life come along once every thousand years, or should it be available with hard work and practice?

 

[Caged Maiden]

I usually dislike the idea of one person stumbling upon a game-changer like that.

It would be one thing if other people could make animal homunculi, but she succeeds in making human ones, or something, but if no one else in the world is close, what made her the one?

Could it be an offshoot of other related magic, say making golems or raising the dead or something? Something about creating artificial life would make me question whether the good guys or the bad guys would wield the power.

 

[Saigonnus]

A couple things come to mind. I would think it would be possible for others to create them, but using a different methodology than the main character (thiers is like illusion compared to true magic). It could be the reason it's so rare is due to using some rare element... or perhaps in needing the "extract" of human that can only be gathered when a person dies (like they capture the soul and imprison it in the artificial body) It could be that only the very rich can afford to make one and that usually at the expense of a poor person's life so it's a very devoted servant.

The main character could have the ability to simply "fabricate" a "soul" without any requirements or resources and thus can make as many Humunculi as she wants.

 

[RedMorningSky]

I don't know if this will help at all, but I have something similar (yet really different) in my WIP. It's a type of magic/ritual that lets someone create another human or animal by dripping some of their blood in a fire and then "forging" the creature from the flames. There are only certain people who can do this who are pat of a monastery and have learned the method. When the person who did the forging dies there creation dies as well. What makes one of my characters different is in a fit of rage he breaks the rules and uses blood from dead people as well as himself so even when he dies it still has all of the other life source and the creature stays alive.

 

[ThinkerX]

My question is this: as it stands at the moment Miranda the nascent goddess is the only person in the story presently living with the ability to create homunculi, but would it make more sense if others could create them as well, albeit more laboriously and possibly not as good? Since it isn't the villains prime goal he would still need Miranda, so it doesn't blow a hole in the plot, and I've been wondering if it makes sense for them to be so rare: I feel like they could be so useful others would have tried to crack the secret by whatever means they could. Plus there's the dramatic potential in android-like not entirely human characters

My suggestion:

Yes there are others who can create homunculi - maybe a couple in her general area who can do so in a labored or inferior manner, but there are others with skill comparable to Miranda. The catch is these others live a long, long ways away - as in 'edge of the map' or beyond. Somehow, Miranda picked up at least part of her technique from them, maybe a tome they'd written which made its way to her; maybe one of them traveled to her part of the world long ago. However, the distances to reach these other competent homunculi makers is so great your villian, even if aware of them, would consider going there only as a absolute last resort.

 

[ScipioSmith]

Could it be an offshoot of other related magic, say making golems or raising the dead or something? Something about creating artificial life would make me question whether the good guys or the bad guys would wield the power.

Could you elaborate on that a little? Do you mean you find the idea too immoral for the good guys? Or am I missing something?

 

[Loupgarou]

Well, one of my favorite films Blade Runner has only one company making synthetic humans, though synthetic animals are common. I know it's a whole other genre but i don't really see someone managing a groundbreaking achievement as a plothole. Then again, if it fit the world of the story there'd be nothing wrong with giving others the ability, at least a lesser version. The problem is you might have to re-imagine elements of your world to make way for all that unpaid labor.

 

[ScipioSmith]

Well, one of my favorite films Blade Runner has only one company making synthetic humans, though synthetic animals are common. I know it's a whole other genre but i don't really see someone managing a groundbreaking achievement as a plothole. Then again, if it fit the world of the story there'd be nothing wrong with giving others the ability, at least a lesser version. The problem is you might have to re-imagine elements of your world to make way for all that unpaid labor.

Not really. Slavery is already common, this being a faux classical setting, and homunculi still need to eat so it wouldn't be much different from having human slaves.

 

[Loupgarou]

Well, then right there could be a problem. If slaves are commonplace and Homunculi take upkeep (food), why would slave owners bother with them? Especially if it's hard to make them.

 

[ScipioSmith]

Speed. Manpower is finite, and if you want more you have wait sixteen years, but a homunculus can be made in a day (the difficulty refers to the effort it takes out of the creator, not the time the process takes) and so they are very attractive if you are in a rush. Also, as the backstory now stands thanks to all your help, their original creators did not have slaves and created the homunculi for that very reason. Once they started enslaving humans homunculi fell out of favour for a time.

I quite like the idea of less powerful versions of homunculi, because it actually enables of comic scene I've had in my mind for a while, where the obnoxious prince proudly unveils his 'future of the Imperial army' (supplied, unbeknownst to anyone, by the villain with whom he is in cahoots) which will make soldiers obsolete, the first of his new homunculi army. The unimpressed general casts one eye over the thing, and orders his sergeant to take out the trash; the whole thing is over in ten seconds. It works if, as you have suggested, the villain is keeping the top quality homunculi for himself while supplying his 'ally' with second rate knockoffs.