Golems (sage study)
Golems is a sage study in the fields of Animal Life and Black Magic, describing the art of bestowing life into creature-appearing constructs designed from homogeneous inanimate materials, typically flesh, stone, clay, wood, metal, leather, leavened dough or plant root. It's a dangerous practice, particularly for amateurs, as the ability to energize these materials precedes the ability to control them once brought to life. Most legendary stories about golems refer to individuals making their first efforts while foolishly discounting the likely consequences of their actions.
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Nor does it help that an uncontrolled golem will tend to be malicious, bad natured or otherwise vile in spirit, often possessing an evil originating with the golem's callousness. Having been animated, a golem will naturally possess no sense of bodily feeling or empathy for others, for while it is 'alive' it utterly lacks any of the characteristics that make up biological creatures. Golems do not breathe, sense physical pain or experience adrenaline-fueled fear. Without experiencing these things, golems cannot understand the perspective of others . . . in turn, causing them to misunderstand things like cruelty, suffering, hesitation or pleasure. Golems are not malicious because such behaviour brings them pleasure; they are malicious because their construction makes them so.
Golems are made so that they will be servants, to act as their creators desire for good or ill. If the character possesses enough knowledge about golems, they can be considered safely dominated - as long as the character remains alive. Sufficiently directed golems will 'shut down' or discorporate when the character dies - but many golems become dangerous if the creator was not of sufficient power when this occurred.
Those with lesser knowledge, however, must always be careful to monitor the survival of their creations. Though possessing some level of control, gollemming amateurs, authorities and even experts may need to restrain their own ambition to smaller forms or destroy their creations before they grow beyond controlling. It is a narrow line that all gollemmers must follow until the time comes when they have thoroughly learned their art.
See this post for further commentary.
Sage Abilities
The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.
Amateur Status
- Control Golem: seize control of rampant or threatening golems for as many rounds as possible.
- Mandragora: allows the animation of the mandrake root.
