Bateer Helots

(commonly called Tech Goblins)

A race once enslaved by the Iron Basilisk entity who mutilated their bodies with cybernetic modification and genetic manipulation. Limbs and organs were removed and replaced at their master’s whim. Their mouths and throats were destroyed; a feeding port installed at the base of their neck made them dependent on the Basilisk for survival.

When the master was routed at the end of the first Iron Serpent war, Bateer refugees fared poorly as Cradlite tech was too primitive to support their battered anatomies. Many died within a few years of the Basilisk’s withdrawal. However, 73 years later after the end of the second war, advancements in science permitted Cradlite humanitarians to save a multitude of Bateer. Though they’d never fully regain what the Basilisk took from them, surgery and medicine went a long way to provide a good degree of comfort. Prosthetic masks, and voice synthesizers helped make socialization possible, and overall Bateer integration into Cradle lands more efficient.

Despite the luxuries given by their benefactors, a faction of Bateer rejected an easy life in sanctuary. Using their natural affinity for mechanical augmentation, the “Reforged” Bateer equipped themselves with military cybernetics to seek glory and riches among Cradlite Tamers in the Wilderness. Although versatile and potent in their uses, the Reforged bartered their health for synthetic power; the increased strain on body and mind required heavy medication to cope with. With internal damage accumulating faster than could be mended, these Bateer lived short lives, but are glad to finally live at all.

Pic 1 & 2: Bateer Helots still under the influence of the Basilisk.

Pic 3: A Bateer refugee given a porcelain mask and wig to give her a sense of normalcy among the Cradlites.

Pic 4: Reforged Bateer relishing in his hardened cybernetic body.