" &image=ctgic; &style=stDetail1;17/04/2006 Life in Vana'diel&style;&br; &style=stDetail2;Puppetmaster&style;&br; &br; &li=ng01;The Birth of Mnejing&li;&br; &image=im00;&image=398_5.png; What a ridiculous question.&br;Whether it be this automaton, or a marionette from years past,&br;I pour the same amount of heart into every piece. All puppetmakers breathe a soul into their work.&br;- Ghatsad the Puppetmaker, in response to the query "Do automatons have a soul?"&image=im00;&br; Automatons were developed by a group of craftsmen led by Ghatsad, a Galkan puppetmaker. Ghatsad has never explained what he hoped to achieve with the creation of automatons, but rumors say that the gigantic automaton-like being that appears in Aht Urhgan's founding myth is the ultimate goal of his work.&br;As if to underscore the truth of the rumors, it seems that Ghatsad was provided with a substantial research fund from the Imperial Treasury under the pretense of encouraging private enterprise. With a massive amount of capital at his disposal, Ghatsad set about putting together a research team from the finest alchemists the Empire had to offer, not to mention expert blacksmiths, goldsmiths, bonecrafters, and clockmakers from every corner of the world. After ten years of painstaking work, they finally completed the very first automaton--Mnejing.&br;However, when a triumphant Ghatsad entered the palace with his newly created automaton, he did not receive the warm reception he expected. The Emperor and his court entertained visions of the giant creation of legend, and when they beheld the shaky gait of Mnejing and the command cord trailing behind her, they assaulted Ghatsad with gales of derisive laughter. Only one face among the hecklers lit up at the sight of the tottering automaton--Crown Prince Jalzahn. The prince not only convinced his father to allow him to keep Mnejing, but also to employ Ghatsad as his personal tutor. Even while Ghatsad's creations were quietly ridiculed as the "prince's toys," the puppetmaker continued his research within the palace up until the day the Emperor died, many years later.&image=im00;&br; "