Well you see, there's this little man inside the motor and... Oh, wait, you said "what's real", didn't you?
A motor acts like a generator, even when it is "motoring". The faster the motor spins, the higher the voltage that the motor generates. This generated voltage (called the "back EMF", with EMF meaning "electro-motive force" which is an old phrase for "voltage") opposes the voltage being applied to the motor. The current flowing through the motor coils is a consequence of the applied voltage less the back EMF, and the coil resistance.
So when the motor is going at the speed where the back EMF exactly balances the applied voltage, then no current flows (and the motor's armature generates no torque). As the motor spins slower, the current increases and the torque (which is proportional to current) goes up.
This is all complicated by the fact that you probably have a governor in the system. In that case, the governor senses the motor speed, and increases the applied voltage (or causes the applied voltage to increase, if it's a KR timer). This higher applied voltage makes for higher current, which makes for higher torque, which makes the motor spin faster, which is why a governor works.