Constructs, or Anima, are sentient (or semi-sentient) automatons that run on magic. They can look in any which way, but are most commonly employed by the Golden Tower, where they have become something of a secondary workforce. Gilder Constructs are usually gold or polished copper, and make no attempt at seeming completely human - rather, it is customary to show off robotic joints or doll-like features, because it is unseemly to make them seem to be something they aren’t: Human.
Constructs are crafted by mages, and are used by mages. They are in many ways an enslaved class of beings, just like magical creatures, but with no revolution of freedom in sight. Some are programmed to obey their masters, and some aren’t; the level of agency depends on the Construct-mage, and what the Construct was made to do. However, any Construct or Anima that was intended to perform social activities, must almost by default be more intelligent and have more independent thought.
Animas are completely dependent on mages for survival. They need to consume mana, in some form, in order to stay functional, and they can’t connect to the Stellaeri on their own. The longest an Anima can be programmed to work without a mana-refill is a week, and all of them have some kind of phylactery that works as their re-chargeable battery. This battery will, once its out of mana, sputter and die out; thus effectively killing the automaton. It can be revived, but might then suffer memory and functional damage.