The Automatic Man

The Automatic Man is a dread mechanical golem that was the creation of the mechanical engineer Howard Lumley of Mordent. His death in 672 BC at the hands of the Automatic Man coincided with its ruin by the frightened local population. Lumley House was left to rot and fell into the possession of the machine which reconstituted itself within the building's technologically advanced infrastructure. While it might be possible to burn down the house without destroying the machine, and while it is possible to destroy the machine without destroying the house, Lumley House and the Automatic Man can easily be mistaken for having become one and the same.

Lumley House may have been simply the fruit of a brilliant mind. Whereas the sentient Automatic Man was born of dark desire. Howard Lumley was unable to sufficiently miniaturize the power plant for the semblance of autonomous life that he was obsessed with building. It was brought to his attention that a text by Creighton Arkwright titled Notes on Animation might contain the answer. Taking the bait, he commissioned its theft from Lamordia by the Vistani. The Dark Powers waved the spellcasting requirements of a proper Golem Manual in exchange for the tacit acceptance of both their minute scrutiny and the "boon" of the dread golem template.

Eighty years after Lumley's death the house remained shunned. Ownership of the property eventually fell into the hands of Howard's great-grandnephew Oren Lumley who attempted to take possession of it in 752 BC. He quickly discovered that locals refused to even approach the house, obliging him to hire a band of adventurers to clear it of any remaining dangers.

Data from the Ravenloft Catalogue

		Children of the Night: The Created
		Children of the Night: The Created - p20
		Children of the Night: The Created - pp20-21
		Children of the Night: The Created - pp20-21
		Automatic Man, The Automatic Man