Golems
Golems are magical constructs of stone and machinery that have often been used for two purposes: guarding cities or mines, and helping their mage creators complete their work. Only recently, and only once, when Rentar-Ihrno unleashed them on Monroe Province, were they used as an instrument of war.
Types of Golems
- Guardian golems are large, lumbering stone constructs. They take very simple commands.
Plague Golems
Rentar-Ihrno designed five types of golems specifically to ravage Monroe Province during the Plagues. As far as anyone knows, all of the plague golems have been destroyed, although their prototypes may still exist in a Vahnatai lab somewhere.
- Blade golems are designed to be devastating in melee combat. Equipped with several blades protruding from their arms, they can hit more rapidly and often than any humanoid.
- Fire golems are elementals. They can breathe fire, similar to a dragon, although are far less powerful.
- Ice golems are elemental golems. Their main form of assault is freezing cold, much like an ice lizard.
- Jeweled golems are even more dangerous than the elemental golems as they can discharge electricity and they are much tougher than their fiery and icy counterparts. The early models of jeweled golems had the ability to spit acid at their opponents, but this was phased out in favor of the ray weapon for the later models.
- Demon golems are the most dangerous of the plague golems because of their limited intelligence and magical prowess. They can also breathe fire, although they prefer to pepper their enemies with spells.
Controlling Golems
Golems are usually controlled by a stationary command centre, which is also often the golems' main energy source. They can exist, fight, etc. without a constant energy source as well, but then they are either much weaker or they can't exist and fight for a long time, but with their normal power. Either way, they will run out of energy sooner or later and crumble.
Stationary sources are often too weak and can only give energy to the golems for a quite limited time, but special crystals can work years without any problems, due to the energy being better conducted through the crystal ends. At the time of the Surface Plagues, the Vahnatai used powerful Mind Crystals to control the golems. Once they and all possible energy sources were destroyed, most golems crumbled or got unusable.
Mages who are able to create golems are usually also able to give them energy, but if the mage is not exceptionally strong, both the golem and the mage can exist, but both are weakened. Stronger mages can control many golems alone, without an energy source, but if too many golems are connected with a magic caster, it shortens the lifetime heavily. If the golems are only connected to a mage, they usually got no emergency energy stored and crumble or get immobile as soon as the living energy source dies.