Just to clarify, these arnt artifacts. There biological robots created by a bunch of mages to do there bidding. For years they were forced to work day and night. Not minding at first, since this is what they were created for.
But they looked upon there human masters. They took a few hours out of te day, to rest, have fun, socialize. And most took the night to sleep. They began to envy there human masters.
One night, one of the robots killed there master and stole all the scrolls he had on the art of magic. Let's call him Creak.
Creak learned how to do magic, and stealth fully slew The town it was enslaved in and freed it's kin. They now run rampant throughout the land, doing what they feel, not regarding the consequences just like they were disregarded for decades
Cool