Technomancer race.

You see, according to the plot, Castor (the creator of the Forges) decided not to waste time creating cyborgs, but instead chose to modify the creatures subordinate to them. The effect and quality were roughly the same. No one in all of Enroth would have been able to oppose them. He and his accomplices decided to first seize Erafia, and then move on to a rapid conquest of the rest of the world. The Erafians could not withstand such a powerful, albeit small, army. But during the war with the demons, Catherine learned about Armageddon's Blade, and once the Erafians obtained it, she was able to strike the Forge cities and balance the forces, subsequently destroying the rest of Castor's army. Thus, they initially wanted to recognize the "dark" ending of M&M7 as canonical, but when they had to replace Forges with elementals, they accepted the "light" one. So a Forge is a normal town, but unbalanced.