| Aluvians
Gharu'ndim
Sho
Viamontians
Ispar
History
Auberean
History
Texts
Rumors |
by Chris
L'Etoile
from the
Zone
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In the volcanic half-light within Mount Lethe,
the stones began to move. A few, glowing like clumps of embers,
trembled and clattered across the floor. Then larger pieces began to
stir, twisting and swirling upwards like leaves in an autumn zephyr.
The blackened pieces of basalt slowly assumed a hulking shape -- a
purpose.
“Golem!” a female voice called, from down the corridor.
Vaguely humanoid in form, the shifting stones pounded down the magma
tube, throwing their deep red ember-light on the walls, and on two
small figures bathed in sweat and soot. “Hendac!” the woman called,
hurling a smoky gray nabut to her companion. As it sailed through
the scorching heat, its trail of frost melted to a rain that sizzled
and steamed on the charred rocks. The man, Hendac the Watcher,
caught the weapon handily, spinning it into a classic Aluvian
quarterstaff guard position.
The Golem drew back and launched a fist of churning black gravel
at the woman. She sidestepped and flinched away from its broiling
mass. The near miss bathed her in bloody light. Her companion swept
in behind the Golem, striking again and again, to little effect.
Frantically, the man snapped his fingers, then hand-signed to his
companion, Jenavere. She nodded, and they both sprinted back up the
magma tube. The Golem thundered down the corridor behind them, gouts
of flame erupting between its component stones.
They led it to one of the swinging rope bridges erected by Lord
Cambarth when he had attempted to mine the mountain. There, Hendac
spun and faced down the beast, striking it ineffectually as Jena
circled around behind it. The golem, angered, moved to the edge of
the bridge to smash him.
Hendac ducked, and swing at the rocks that passed for legs. Jena
charged and shoved it from behind, yelping in pain as her hands
struck its semi-molten form. In a long stream of stones and gravel,
it tumbled over the low hemp railing, hitting the bubbling magma
below with a series of thick plops.
“Dumb as a pile of rocks,” Jenavere panted, wincing as Hendac
wrapped her blistered hands in a clean strip of cloth. “Thanks be to
the Poet.” The Golem stared up at them, flame belching from its eyes
and mouth, and roared.
He motioned for her to follow him, and walked into the cavern at
the far end of the bridge, away from the suffocating heat wafting up
from the magma pools below. She followed, taking a last, thoughtful
look at the Golem splashing in the lava.
Hendac sat in the center of the cavern, and shrugged out of his
backpack. She sat across from him and placed her throbbing hands,
palms up, on her knees. He pulled a small wand and a few reagents
out of the pack. “What are you doing?” she asked. He glanced up, and
gestured with the wand at her hands. “Ah.” He had taken up the study
of life magic lately, and seemed to be intending a healing spell.
As he puttered, she looked back at the bridge, which swayed gently
in the hot air rising from the magma. “Hendac?” she asked. “What do
you know about Golems?”
He looked up with a smile. She returned it, having come to recognize
the subtle gleam in his eye; this was evidently one of the many
topics he had been collecting stories about. He set aside the wand,
dug into his pack again, and pulled out a battered journal. He
flipped through it a moment, then laid it open across her lap. The
pages were filled with notes, in elegantly scripted Roulean.
“You know," she said, "in our lands, there are men and women who
devote their entire lives to making their words a thing of beauty to
the eye as well as the ear. Some work for decades to produce a
single manuscript of the Alamakhaida.” Hendac shrugged
noncommittally.
“I only say,” she continued, “because you have the skill of one of
them.” At that, his soot-smudged cheeks showed a blush. His finger
traced in the dirt, “Do a lot of writing.”
She laughed fondly at his discomfort, and began to read as he
went about preparing his healing spell.
_____________
Golems are magically animated “clumps” of material. They are
found in greater variety than any other creature in Dereth. Examples
have been reported of mud, water, wood, limestone, sandstone,
copper, granite, iron, obsidian, and, of course, magma.
Celcynd of Rithwic claims to have seen one of another type. He told
me once that he had managed to swim through the strong sea-currents
to reach the island off the coast of Eastham. He found a large
castle there, of the same High Empyrean design as Neydisa near Mount
Esper, which is commonly held to date from the Age of Lore. The
gates to this island castle were guarded by Golems made of clear
gemstone. The light caught within their bodies refracted into
rainbows -- quite lovely, he said. They promptly sent him back to
the Lifestone.
However, inebriated as usual, he also claimed a family of
Tremendous Monougas lived under the Obsidian Span, demanding a toll
from all who would cross. The account of the Golem may be merely
another drunken exaggeration. No one else has managed to swim to
this island, and the so-called “Diamond Golem” has never been
reported by any reliable source.
The sages have had many heated discussions about the Empyrean use of
Golems. While it is unlikely that anything short of an explanation
from Asheron himself will settle the issue, one theory seems to have
gained grudging acceptance by all schools of thought. That is the
“agent” thesis. This holds that the Empyrean used Golems as simple,
expendable laborers.
A good deal of documentary evidence supports this. Recently
recovered texts, dating from the last war with the Shadows, detail
the use of Magma Golems as guardians and workers in Empyrean pyreal
forges. These forges seem to have been built solely within the heart
of active volcanoes. Mount Esper, in the north of Osteth, was at one
time such a foundry. (There is some scant evidence that Neydisa
Castle was used as a treasury for new pyreal.) It seems clear that
the Magma Golem was needed to work the metal -- sometimes within its
own semi-molten form, sometimes in liquid lava.
Other recovered texts, more obscure in source, mention that the
creation of Mud Golems was a frequent activity of Empyrean juveniles
-- their equivalent of making mud pies. Mud Golems would be used for
large-scale games of “toy soldiers,” or for help with chores (though
probably not cleaning). Perhaps these simple anecdotes alone serve
to emphasize the enormous gap between the knowledge of the ancient
Empyrean and our own cultures. The average child of Yalain could
create creatures beyond the ability of our most learned mages.
Other known uses of Golems are legion. Golems have been found in
ancient mines, kitchens, and storehouses, doing menial and difficult
labor that the Empyrean apparently considered beneath them. Judging
by the singular scratches on the stonework, it seems that Golem
labor was used to help construct the great lighthouse near Tou-Tou.
Golems do not appear to have been used as soldiers, possibly because
of their susceptibility to a mass disenchantment spell that the
Empyrean are known to have possessed. Most often, Golems appear as
simple guardians, keeping visitors clear of areas considered
dangerous. It is curious that Golems often resort to aggressive
behavior -- perhaps a symptom of decay in their vital enchantments,
a kind of senility, if you will.
The wide variety of Golem materials simply reflects the diversity
of environments in which they were created. Empyrean enchanters
apparently made use of the tools at hand. Thus Granite Golems tend
to appear in the Linvak and Lost Wish mountains, Sandstone Golems in
the A'mun desert, Wood Golems in the Tiofor Woods, and so forth.
Further, there is some indication that when a Golem's enchantment
begins to ebb low, it will return to the place in which it “feels
most at home.” For example, Mud Golems seek out swampy areas, and
Limestone Golems will return to caverns.
Destruction of vast numbers of Golems has revealed very little
about their method of creation. Over ninety percent of their mass is
undifferentiated, inert material. Only two Golem “organs,” if such a
term may be used, seem to exist. The first of these is the Golem
Heart. This appears to be a core enchanted object, around which the
rest of the creature is assembled. The second organ is the mote of
magically forged pyreal alloy. While intact pyreal motes have only
recently been recovered, I have little doubt that they have existed
all along. Gondibyr Langarl, the archmage of Rithwic, believes that
these motes may have been what passed for a mind in the creature.
Instructions the Golem was expected to carry out were magically
imprinted upon the pyreal mote.
It seems likely that, in addition to taking commands directly from
an enchanter, Golems were designed to absorb instructions from
enchanted items and places. The basis for this theory (championed by
Shikiru Nohon of Hebian-to) lies in the numerous Golem “shrines”
scattered across Dereth, often in remote locations. These “shrines”
can appear as anything from simple standing stones to statuary.
Golems cluster around these artifacts expectantly, as if awaiting
orders.
Perhaps these “shrines” once contained instructions, in the form
of pattern enchantments? Surely the small mote that serves as a
Golem's mind can only hold a finite set of instructions. Is it not
logical, argues Shikiru, that these shrines could be enchanted with
more elaborate series of commands? When a Golem completed one task,
it returned to the shrine for another. When the enchantments on the
shrines expired, the Golems were bereft of direction. Yet, after all
these centuries, they still patiently stand, awaiting orders.
As a final rumination, it is interesting to note that most Golems
appear to have eyes and a mouth. These are often quite obvious.
Possibly the most striking Golem visage is that of the Wood Golem.
This entity resembles the classic daemon-tree Aluvian mothers use in
stories to keep children from wandering too far into the trackless
woods. However, one need only look at the shimmering, featureless
form of the Water Golem to prove that these are merely decorative.
The eyeless Water Golem can track its victims well enough. It seems
clear that these features are merely there for the comfort (or
perhaps discomfort) of the humanoid creatures that once interacted
with them.
Unfortunately, the secrets of Empyrean Demiurgy, or Golem
enchantment, continue to evade discovery. Perhaps one day, the
people of Ispar will learn this art for themselves. I do wonder,
however, what the result would be. With servants that can be made to
do the vilest, most dangerous work, would we grow decadent? Or would
these creatures serve to free us for the higher, finer pursuits of
art and learning, as they did the Empyrean?
__________
Golems are said to be remnants of Empyrean magic, left behind as
guardians for their strongholds, both above and below ground. Now
that the Empyrean have vanished, however, they have become mindless
automatons, attacking anything that comes near. They stand seven to
eight feet tall, and are made of many materials, including earth,
wood, water, ice, stone and metal. They bash with their club-like
limbs, and some also attack with magic.
Dangerous to Lethal,
depending on material
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