Bestiary

Siege Golem - by T.A. Saunders ©2010 v1.0

Stats

Description Siege Golems take many shapes and forms, depending largely on the will of the creator of said golems. The standard appearance is that of a walking suit of armor, that would be fit for a Voraath to wear, standing roughly fifteen feet tall and can be made with any number of metals and alloys. Most commonly, Siege Golems are made from Boromandite, though the earliest ones were fashioned from bronze and iron. Beyond these basic characteristics, no two Siege Golems will generally look anything alike, save for the ones constructed en masse for the Shar`Vaire armies.

Lore The mighty Siege Golems cannot be traced back to one particular Mage or tinkerer, other than to recall that the first appearance of these weapons of war was around 8481 BF in preparation for the invasion of Zissah lands. At first, these were hand-crafted, but as the first few proved exceedingly successful in putting boots on the ground in invaded territories, the need to mass produce Siege Golems became a necessity. The Shar`Vaire war machine is a hungry beast indeed and because of the furious demands of the Theocratic Imperial Senate, the first batches of these mass produced Siege Golems tended to be a bit twitchy and if orders were not worded with extreme care, said Siege Golems could just as easily turn on their masters.

After a few executions within the ranks of those Magi put in charge of the Siege Golem production, the process smoothed out considerably. Iron and Bronze were replaced with Boromandite for greater durability and custom orders for Moonsteel and Blacksteel Golems could be filled for discerning Theocrats who wished to have an exceptionally fierce defender or two at their disposal. The same foundry this process was developed, still stands in the city of Anthalas. While there are a few other foundries around the sovereignty and one other in Farwind, the ones made in Anthalas are considered to be of the best quality and the greatest durability.

While many Siege Golems come with a variety of armaments, including Witchfire Cannons, steam-propelled Ether Charge launchers and various sorts of melee weapons, the primary weapon of any Siege Golem is their fists, by which they are quite capable of bashing down nearly any door, including ones made from Boromandite plating or better. This Crushing Blow is administered by a steam-powered piston located within the forearm, that builds a charge, then hammers outward. Such strikes will literally turn a normal person's bones to powder and has been known to even knock Voraath unconscious. When used against a structure, a Siege Golem will typically take down a heavy door in one hit, a plated door in two and flagstone walls within five hits. Each successive blow requires time (one round) to build a steam-charge in the piston, before releasing.

All Siege Golems are powered by a Radiant Crystal that is stored within the chest, where typically their armor plating is thickest. This Radiant Crystal also undergoes special enchantments that give the Siege Golem a basic intelligence, so they can follow commands. Typically, such commands include guarding, defending, attacking and the like. There have been some instances of Siege Golems becoming self-aware, though those that do are immediately shut down and their core removed for fear of another “Voraath Rebellion Situation.” Sundown's famous Siege Golem, Gunthar was one such golem, that Lord Kithanis uth Braegon purchased from the Anthalas Foundry for that characteristic, rather than despite of it.

Siege Golems once given an owner, are unswervingly loyal to that owner and will allow themselves to be destroyed, before either harming, or by way of action, indirectly harming that owner. The newer Siege Golems follow orders quite well and have a perfect operational record in campaigns across Imarel. By the time the War of Eternals was underway, Siege Golems were decimating Elvish strongholds with little resistance from the Moon Elves, who had built their homes and buildings for beauty, rather than sturdiness. Between Siege Golems and the introduction of Voraath onto the battlefield, the campaign against the Moon Elves was quite brutal and those that did not flee were more often than not, mowed down by one of these fearsome constructs.