Eventually, I'll link my ao3 fics to this character for the full backstory.
Warnings for mentions of dismemberment.
Lyke is a clockwork Warforged from around 200DR.
The Warforged of that time were called "Frames", each falling into a specific design based on their original purpose. Lyke was a Mystical Frame, built for assisting Magician Onar with her experiments on the physics of magic. Because their people were given the freedom to do as they liked once the Sol elves realized that they were sapient, Lyke wouldn't have been confined only to that role. Lyke chose to stay because Onar's research fascinated him.
After the Event, and after Lyke came back online, they searched the deserted city for any signs of life or clues as to what happened. Aside from the tiny space around them that was untouched by time, the underground city was destroyed completely. Stalactites of limestone dripped down and pooled over the remaining structures. Rocks that tumbled where a few minor cave-ins occurred had the mostly rusted-away sword covered in dust and rubble beside them, its owner crushed in the collapse. It was an ancient ruin with metal skeletons of buildings and crumbling pieces of Frames here and there.
A pocketwatch rested in their lap when they came to, no longer ticking. Lyke didn't remember having it when they shut down, but it held little details that symbolized the god Kairos. This is one reason that led Lyke to pursue time magic, seeing the watch as the god's blessing to go into the world to help however they could with what gifts he gave them. The other was a book in a language they didn't quite understand but were willing to learn.
Common, they later discovered.
The strange diagrams and sigils in the tome guided them on how to wield the magic Kairos gave him.
They happened upon a deserted town after leaving the High Forest and wandered into a shop to look for supplies. While there, they found several books that they took with them to add to their languages. According to the books, Lyke knew Primordial, Celestial, and Sylvan. They knew nothing of his people's language. With a journal in hand, Lyke created a mini-dictionary for themselves to translate from Lanyrys to Common. It's in this town that Lyke finds the book on time magic, their weapons, and gear.
Lyke left that town and headed to what was now called Baldur's Gate. There used to be a port town there in their time, and Lyke hoped to find something familiar to start on.
Unfortunately, they fell into a collapsed passage on the outskirts of the city. It dropped them into catacombs, which eventually turned into sewers. It was down there that he ran into a massive frog. It tried to eat him, discovered he didn't taste that great, and spat him back out and into a corner. The damage was done, however, their power source mostly destroyed, and their lower half missing. Lyke remained conscious long enough to think, 'not again.'
There are blips of consciousness, times where there's a tiny gnome talking absently while he worked on Lyke. He flitted around the room and tirelessly tried to put Lyke together. During one brief bout of consciousness, there was a large group of people in the room with the gnome. One wore a familiar mask. Lyke didn't get a chance to say anything more than a 'hello' to the Wanderer before he was out again.
It took months, but finally, the man managed to get enough power into Lyke for Lyke to remain conscious for at least an hour before he powered down again. He learned the gnome's name: Ingevar. Ingevar managed to get Lyke running for longer and longer periods of time until Ingevar and Lyke had solved the power problem: Lyke was missing a crystal that was used to help house the energy source. Lyke still wasn't completely fixed; he still needed a lower body. Now, however, he could guide Ingevar on what he's supposed to look like down there and how it all works and fits together.
Weeks went by, and the pair finally finished. Lyke took his first steps in months and would have smiled at Ingevar if he had a mouth. His narrowed lenses were enough, and Ingevar grinned brightly, bouncing in his excitement and then hugging Lyke tightly. It was only around his hips, but Lyke appreciated the embrace nonetheless. Ingevar continued to help Lyke acclimate to their new body, and this time period, enthralled by the idea of Lyke being millennia old. He bombarded Lyke with questions about their people and technology, which Lyke gladly shared.
Ingevar wasn't his friend Tormayne, or Magician Onar, but Ingevar filled them with the same warmth that they had.
Their happiness together was not to last.
A few months after Lyke was able to walk on their own, the Cataclysm happened. The new Wayfarers had failed to stop two people named Malyn and Friedrich. All non-humans were targets.
Wanting to keep Ingevar safe, Lyke tried to convince him to run with them, to go back to where Lyke once lived so they could hide. Ingevar refused until Baldur's Gate was decimated, and everyone was forced to flee. Lyke and Ingevar packed their bags and left the city through the catacombs, taking what refugees with them that they could. Ingevar wouldn't leave people behind if he could help it, and Lyke wanted what Ingevar did. Not that Lyke didn't have a mind of their own, but if helping others is what Ingevar wanted Lyke to care about too, then they'd try.
Ingevar still came first in their life, however.
Despite their best efforts, the pair were still caught going back and forth with the people they were trying to smuggle out of the city. They'd split up, with Ingevar in the city and bringing the next few out while Lyke was preparing to sneak back in.
The passage the pair were taking back and forth was blocked. Too many guards, waiting and watching the path; they figured out where people were leaving from. Lyke waited, hoping they'd grow bored and leave, but it never happened. Not until Ingevar and two families slipped outside and ran right into the guards. Ingevar caught Lyke's eyes from Lyke's hiding place and subtly shook his head. Don't help him.
That was the last time he saw Ingevar, and Lyke is still trying to find him. Was he killed? Enslaved? Locked up? They didn't know but they couldn't get close enough to the city to get access to their records of the non-humans and where they were taken.
Lyke eventually ran into another "Frame," but not one that was anything like them. Hohenheim, he called himself. The ways in which they were different were found primarily in their build; it was the most obvious. Hohenheim was built like the Robust Frames but taller and more intimidating than the ones Lyke remembered. Apparently, Hohenheim and the others were made because their creators saw Lyke in Ingevar's workshop. When Ingevar wouldn't sell Lyke or any of the schematics Ingevar had developed after studying Lyke's Frame, they built their own as "defenders of the peace." Lyke called bullshit. They were too heavily armed for them to be defenders. They were more like enforcers and gatherers, in Lyke's opinion.
Hohenheim was the only one Lyke could tolerate. The others scared them.
Frames:
Mystical Frame:
Clockwork automatons with innate magical abilities. Using the magic they were created with, they were to assist those that were more magically inclined, with a greater capacity for learning as well as the ability to store and use magic themselves.
Magical Processing: Exposure to magical power has manifested itself in the ability to replicate parts of it with your own abilities. They learn a wizard cantrip.
Original roles in society: assistants to physicians and researchers, office staff, test subjects, and teachers.
Finesse Frame:
Clockwork automatons that are agile, small, and light on their feet. They were built for entertaining crowds with daredevil stunts, though their speed can easily be put to other uses.
Bounce Back: Designed for tumbling, it takes only five feet of movement to stand after being knocked prone.
Original roles in society: Because of their size, they were valued in the home, service industry, and jobs that required the motor skills needed for precise work.
Robust Frame:
Clockwork automatons with robust frames. They were built to protect and serve others. They fight off foes and can physically carry the helpless out of harm's way.
Evacuation Subroutines: Built for carrying people and items to safety, their speed cannot be reduced from over-encumbrance or when lifting, dragging, or carrying another.Â
Original roles in society: Because of their strength, they were usually miners, guards, builders, etc.