| The Imperfect | |||
|---|---|---|---|
The Imperfect (Legends) |
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| Type | Golem (Factotum) | ||
| Range | Clockwork City | ||
| Appears in | |||
The Imperfect is a factotum variant created by Sotha Sil that was designed with advanced combat and excavation features.[1][2] A new prototype is created and is improved upon each time it is destroyed. Sequence plaques containing its core functions are collected after each combat test. They are subsequently analyzed for their data so further advancements are made in hopes that one day it shall obtain its true form, and fulfill its ultimate goal.[3] Its abilities can vary across iterations, and it can gather data such as combat behavior that may be caused by cultural influences. An example being that at one point, it found Nords, Khajiit, and Bosmer to be consistently unpredictable.[4] For melee combat, it can brawl with its large arms at melee range, and use its leg thrusters to create an shockwave when it crashes back down. Ranged combat capabilities include emitting laser blasts via concentrated power, with split pathing, or with tracking abilities. It can also overcharge and create a kinetic shield for safety.[5] The Imperfect requires a huge power input, and thus needs a fully charged anima core in order to function.[6]
Imperfects rely on a signal emitted from AIOS, Clockwork City's Automata Incarnum Overseer System. If its range is not detected, it will activate emergency protocols.[7] To collect data for improving upon the Imperfect, AIOS tasked a "Clockwork Facilitator" with convincing adventurers to battle the Imperfect.[3] By battle log 17901, the stats showcased a success rate of 66%, with 126 opponents being killed, 58 forfeiting, and 93 opponents defeating the Imperfect. However, the experiment became controversial, and less people dared to fight it. This led to the facilitator to optimize a strategy, leaving out words like "slaughter," "decapitation," and "likely death" from its job postings, while emphasizing a reward and a need for allies to fight it.[4][8] Elixir of the Imperfect, extracted from the remains of the automaton, restores one's health, magicka, and stamina.[9]
HistoryEdit
Around the 2E 582, the Vestige encountered several Imperfect factotums during their journey in the Clockwork City. Within the Asylum Sanctorum, they functioned as attendants for Saint Llothis the Pious. They defended him, but Llothis was slain as he along with two other Dunmer saints threatened the Clockwork City in their madness.[10][11] The Vestige was also aided by an Imperfect in the Ventral Terminus.[12] The newest iteration of the Imperfect was found in the Sanctuary of Verification, but they were ordered to be destroyed so that it could learn from the battle and be improved upon.[3]
These constructs have also at times rarely been found outside the Clockwork City. Also in 2E 282, an iteration of the Imperfect along with other creatures across space and time also manifested within the Dwarven ruin of Nchuthnkarst in Blackreach,[7] due to the temporal and spatial distortions caused by a malfunctioning Dwemer device there.[13] The significance of the Imperfect allowed it to be documented within the Infinite Archive in Apocrypha. There, copies of various entities were subsequently created as maligraphies, creatures composed of vivified ink manifested by stories from books, and served as mindless extensions of the Daedric Lord Tho'at Replicanum. A maligraphy copy of an Imperfect was formed, which was destroyed by an adventurer or two who were aided by augmentations directly from Hermaeus Mora.[14][15][16]
By circa 3E 427, these constructs were considered a failed project, hence why they were still known as "Imperfect".[UOL 1] Two were encountered by the Nerevarine when they ventured into to the Clockwork City; only one was functional, and it attacked the Nerevarine and was defeated.[17]
The Clockwork City and its people, creatures, and constructs were still around in the Fourth Era. Circa 4E 201, a battle occurred between the Forgotten Hero and Mecinar, and the fate of the city and its inhabitants remains unknown. Some stories claim that the Forgotten Hero destroyed the Mechanical Heart that powered the Clockwork City, and its inhabitants were forced to abandon it as it ceased to function.[18] Another account holds that the hero used the Heart to harness its power and fought Mecinar on equal ground, allowing the Heart to live on along with the city.[19][20]
GalleryEdit
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The Imperfect circa 3E 427 (Tribunal)
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The Imperfect circa 2E 582 (ESO)
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An Imperfect behind Sotha Sil (Legends)
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An abandoned Imperfect (Legends)
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Imperfect concept art
NotesEdit
- Imperfect Blobfin are a species of fish found in the Clockwork City, though it is unknown if they share any qualities with the Imperfect.[21]
ReferencesEdit
- ^ The Clockwork City Adventure Guide on the official ESO website
- ^ Imperfect Operations Manual
- ^ a b c Clockwork Facilitator's dialogue in ESO: Clockwork City
- ^ a b The Imperfect Logistics Log — AIOS
- ^ The Imperfect's Skills and Abilities in ESO
- ^ Imperfect Operations Manual
- ^ a b Imperfect Iteration's appearance in ESO: Greymoor
- ^ Factotum Classification - Log 233 — Proctor Neimos, Apostle of Sotha Sil
- ^ Elixir of the Imperfect item ability in Morrowind: Tribunal
- ^ Saints' Mercy quest in ESO: Clockwork City
- ^ Introducing the Asylum Sanctorium on the official ESO website
- ^ Deepening Shadows quest in ESO: Clockwork City
- ^ Thaddeus Cosma's dialogue in ESO
- ^ Loremaster's Archive - Infinite Archive — Master Malkhest
- ^ Master Malkhest's dialogue in ESO: Necrom
- ^ Barbas enemy in Infinite Archive in ESO
- ^ The Mad God quest in Morrowind: Tribunal
- ^ The City Falls in Return to Clockwork City
- ^ Journey's End in Return to Clockwork City
- ^ Events of Return to Clockwork City
- ^ Imperfect Blobfin in ESO
Note: The following references are considered to be unofficial sources. They are included to round off this article and may not be authoritative or conclusive.