And for a poet like you, that meant stuff like poems.

When the mechanism giving it orders breaks, the machine just stops on the spot.

I assume those were more like instincts, fragmentary memories drawn from your body and not your rotted brain.

You've probably had some memories return whenever the spell controlling your body was gone, but...

Jiangshi.

It originated as a spell to send home corpses that died while traveling.

From there, the more they could move, the more they were abused for other purposes... and in the end, jiangshi became more akin to "tools" or "machines".

But... to start moving on your own, not to mention getting back the rest of your living functions?

Never have I heard of a jiangshi doing that.