Mentalos

Long ago, long before the Awakening of the younger races, the Mentalos were already abroad, scanning, studying, learning. They are a race of machines, humanoid in form. They all stand exactly 2.47 meters tall, just as they were when they were produced from the Patriams that are sprinkled across Mentalos worlds. No Mentalos lifespan has been recorded, and many doubt the Mentalos are even capable of truly dying, for the individual personality and knowledge of each Mentalos - in essence, their souls - are all linked to the Factorem on their homeworld of Casam. Whenever the body of a Mentalos is destroyed, its soul is placed in a newly made body and released back into the universe.

The Mentalos are a race of scholars and philosophers, scientists and theologians. They are the race with the strongest link to the Psychon that fills the universe, such that every Mentalos has some measure of Psionic ability. As a result, most of the current knowledge on Psychon and its uses has been recorded and kept by Mentalos monks in Psionic Temples.

The history of the Mentalos is unknown - they were found when the younger races began to explore the galaxy, and they themselves do not know who created them or for what purpose, so the study, and they learn, for they wish to know who they are, and are built with a strong desire to learn and comprehend. What they know is that they were made by a race that was incredibly advanced, capable of making a machine with the capacity for abstract thought and emotion, yet no longer exists. What become of this promethean race is uncertain - there are no signs of war, disaster, or exile. It is as though an entire race simply vanished from existence entirely, leaving only their dedicated servants to perform tasks they do not yet understand.

For the most part, Mentalos are completely autonomous, left to govern themselves and make their own choices. However, one of the last remnants of their creators is from the Factorem itself, the hub of souls and the codex of all their knowledge. From it come occasional commands, guidance and direction from an unknown source, and the Mentalos are compelled to follow as these commands dictate.

Not all Mentalos are linked to the Factorem, however. In some rare cases, a Mentalos may become disconnected from the Factorem, in which it becomes the equivalent of a mortal being. Its knowledge is no longer synced with the archives of the Factorem, and its soul will not be relocated should its body be destroyed. These rogue Mentalos, despite no longer having the security of eternal consciousness, are completely free to make their own choices. They are not constrained to follow the commands of the Factorem, and can pursue whatever life they wish. Rogue Mentalos become highly more unstable, and are susceptible to their own form of insanity, yet they are freed to feel on a level deeper even than living beings are capable of understanding.

''"Look upon our people and wonder - what, then, is life? For I do not eat and breathe as you do, yet we think and feel in much the same manner. Truly, there is more to the universe than such surface truths." - RM-1108''