Golem Quest

Golem Quest by Bob

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Golem Quest is about a newly sapient Soul Grave that names itself Mordre, then goes about building an empire. By Bob.

Character List

In no particular Order as of yet (help?)

Mordre -Soul Grave, main character, sapient and sentient, wants to make an empire

Arkus -Human, mage, wants to be an even greater mage

Kyorto -(dead)Human, mage, is close to being resurrected by Mordre in return for promised service/assistance

Derkin the Machete -Human, former bandit, is now a CO for Mordre

Ellorika -Human, peasant turned warrior, she now commands troops for Mordre

Vespinto -Human, peasant turned warrior, bladefighter, espionage unit under Mordre's command

Ulzrick -Human, crazy warrior, Jojo's new apprentice, knows very basic Magnetomancy, Ozrick's younger brother

Ozrick -Human, warrior, apprentice to Ozmand(dead), now leads his troops, Ulzrick's older brother

Ugrokk, the Tall -Premen, warrior, specialises in tactical combat

Oggroth, the Mountain -Premen, warrior, has large wrecking ball and heavy armor.

Jojo -Premen, shaman, magical dream heal powers, 'floats' around on magic

Sir Keddic Harksburton the 4th -Human, warrior, uses a familial fighting style passed down generations that uses blood as a weapon

Magbum Bang -Human, AWESOME WARRIOR, comes from a desert, LOVES FIGHTING, totally wants to bone Collete the Collosus

Lenryt -Human(?), Grand Elder mage, friendly(?) towards Mordre, exchanges favors

Ozmand the Hammer -(dead)human, Hero warrior, helped Mordre against Verther

Collete the Collosus -Human(?), warrior, mentioned by Bang

Known 'enemies'

Verther -(dead)Human, bandit king, magnetomancer, killed by Mordre

Dulu -Human turned Golembound, warrior/golemslayer, works for Weinsho, also DUUUUUUULUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!

Weinsho -Human(?), mage, hero, plotting to kill Mordre

Goran -Premen, warrior/mage(?), leads many Premen clans with an iron fist

The Metal Titan Eisenhardt -Human, Mage, uses Magnetomancy very well

Abaeloth The All Consuming -(dead)Human, warrior, one leader of The Disciples of Domintus

Mordre's abilities

Languages Known: Common, Premen, Yeti, Mornostic, Land Of Dragons Low tongue, Land Of Dragons High tongue.

Can continue to run indefinitely, as long as 12 base souls are contained, with a -1 soul for every month of activity needed.

MAGIC: NOTE: Mordre, as a Soul Grave, is blessed with the combined magical stamina of every soul in his furnace (which discounts hero and mage souls). This means that Mordre is able to recover expended energy much faster than all but the most powerful of magic users. This is true for all Soul Graves, with the rate of their magical energy recover being proportionate to how many souls they possess.

-BLOOD (Daobo The Bloody): Mordre has a heightened affinity with blood of all kinds. This provides a bonus to manipulating Blood Iron (that being the iron in blood cells), but otherwise does not yet have direct uses.

-WILL: Magnetomancy (gift of Lenryt, Verther's soul):[The magic of creating attraction and repulsion between magnetic fields, able to move metal nearly anywhere at any speed with sufficient strength and a servicable anchoring magnetic field, the bigger the better. Mordre is universally capable at any form of Magnetomancy, and is limited only by the magical potency he possesses, which only increases with the consumption of further mages. Currently the equivalent of an experienced and competent Magnetomancer.

-WORLD (minor mages): Comprehension of how to tap Leylines for World magic, but otherwise no capability to draw ambient World magic.

Soulfire: At the cost of three souls, creates a penultimate fire, able to burn stone, water, metal, anything but a Soul Grave can be reduced to ash by this conflagration. However, there is a limit to how long the flames will persist, and as the souls used to fuel them are used up, the flames will dissipate. Approx. lifespan of flames: 30 seconds

Immortal Genocide:

-Default Function: Upon activation, draws ambient heat, ambient magic and assorted other forms of energy. Requires a 1d20+3 roll, with a 10 required to successfully start or stop the absorption process. Modifiers can be applied due to damage or amount of energy absorbed.

-Primary Function: ?????????????

-Secondary Function: When energy has been successfully collected from the environment via the default function and the absorption process halted, the stored energy can be used to power a burst of magical annulment, rendering spell-casters caught in it's grasp unable to cast temporarily and ending any active magics it touches. The size of the burst is proportional to the amount of energy absorbed during use of the default function. No roll is needed.

-Tertiary Function: The default function can be re-purposed to absorb unbound souls, and start fusing them together into chimeric masses. Each mass usually requires ten ambient souls to be fully formed, and each mass will require a soul from Mordre's personal reserves to properly bind them. At this point, however many masses are created and bound can then manifest as Soul Soldiers, spectral warriors bound to Mordre's will. They require general orders on what to do, but otherwise can handle the specifics of general orders themselves (order them to attack enemies, they won't need to be told how to attack them.). No roll needed. Soul Soldiers vanish after approximately ten minutes.

COMBINED ABILITY: Immortal Genocide Tertiary Function + Soulfire: Inferno Golem: At the cost of 40 souls from Mordre's reserves, a short lived construct of Soulfire can be created. Capable of flight, blinding to the naked eye and able to incinerate or melt conventional materials with relative ease, the Inferno Golem is a modified Soul Soldier. Among the key differences besides power, Inferno Golem must consume themselves to provide themselves power, and constantly diminish in potency as they take actions (and even by existing). Depending on the amount of activity they endure, they can last anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes. Inferno Golems must also be more intensively controlled to be effective, so the more simultaneously active, the less precise each will be under Mordre's handling.

Soul Nexus, Left Hand:

-ACCELERATOR: When activated, anything that comes into contact with Mordre's hand will, upon losing contact, have it's velocity greatly amplified. This can lead to thrown objects achieving incredible speeds, as well as other potential applications.

-FANG TAKER: When activated, a ghostly skull of gigantic proportions will manifest through Mordre's hand, and phases through inorganic matter while rending living tissue with spectral fangs. Can venture up to three feet from Mordre's hand.

Amaranthine Annihilator (w/ 2 Pristine Souls): Passively builds a charge by drawing power from Mordre's body movement. All collected charge is then stored, until such point the Amaranthine Annihilator is activated. At this juncture, all charge is expended, creating a beam with strength in proportion to the amount of charge gathered. After sufficient charge has built (the equivalent of three days nonstop marching), the resultant laser will slowly acquire a duration increase, becoming a sustained beam that follows Mordre's line of sight for as long as it last. The beam rapidly pushes massive amounts of heat out of whatever it impacts, with such force and speed that sufficient power can cause those nearby to be burned or even outright incinerated. Conversely, the target becomes frozen so swiftly it explodes, showering the nearby vicinity in razor sharp shards. A charge of four hours spent traveling or otherwise engaging in significant action will provide a sufficient charge to be lethal to all but the largest (or sufficiently magically warded) targets at up to 500 meters. Beyond that, the beam's intensity will slowly degrade with distance, and lethality cannot be assured.

Armaments:

-Steel Fist: Left hand of prodigious size, designed to smash through walls and doors, three feet across at the knuckles. The Immortal Genocide is set in this fist.

-Sable Executioner (HS: Luo of the Winding Path): Three Black Steel ribbons, each some twenty feet long, that take the place of Mordre's right forearm and hand. The ribbons are lined with fine saw teeth, and are subtly edged, with great cutting power. Each individual ribbon can be manipulated independently, and all three ribbons can be wrapped about to form a saw-toothed lance of coiled Black Steel ribbon some seven feet long (with upper arm included, total reach in this state is 13 feet, and uncoiled each ribbon has a range of 25 feet). When so wound, if the point of this coiled lance is placed against an object and forcefully unwound, it can act as a drill until such time it finishes uncoiling (3 seconds maximum, with shorter duration uncoiling having more intense drilling take place). Wounds caused by it have a high chance of infection, are prone to higher amounts of bleeding, and heal more slowly. The Black Steel ribbons are able to saw through hardened targets with sufficient force.

-(Right Shoulder Mount) Anti-Vanguard Blade Launcher (HS: Balboa The Butcher): Carries up to six large, fanged circular blades that can be launched individually. Each blade is capable of cleaving through armor far more effectively than the standard Anti-Infantry rounds. Further, Magnetomancy can be used to control their flight path. Blades create a vacuum field around themselves, and suffer no loss of speed to air friction. Each blade takes 1 hour to regenerate, with multiple able to regenerate simultaneously (10 minutes to regenerate with Magnetomancy fully focused on the act). Range 600 ft (Control via Magnetomancy), 2500 ft (no control)

-(Left Shoulder Mount) Anti-Golem Cannon (HS: Ozmand The Hammer, Balboa The Butcher): An enlarged and elongated cannon with heavy rifling, that fires a massive, spiral etched spike, designed to punch through even large masses of metal. Each shot has incredible piercing power, and anything the shell punches through will be struck by a ghostly hammerblow, able to crush stone and break bones. Further, the shell creates a potent vacuum about itself, and is able to maintain maximum velocity until impact. The round is larger and more complex than normal, and takes three hours rather than one to regenerate (30 minutes with dedicated Magnetomancy use). Further, the cannon itself takes up extra room, the massive cylinder of the cannon protruding both to the front and rear of the golem’s shoulder. Range 30ft+ (The cannon's maximum range is now only limited by what Mordre can perceive and direct it to target.)

(HS: Merrack The Swift): passively increases the speed at which Mordre can move. Mordre would not be as fast with or without Magnetomancy without this soul.

Still assembling information

Races/Creatures

Human: Basic humans. Highly common with many different Nations, Governments and the like.

Froggock: A frog-like race. (?)

Yeti: A tricky race that dwells in the north, known to have shamans and warriors of high caliber.

Premen: Strong Human-like race that dwells mainly in the north, operating in clans. Has warriors, makers, and shamans.

Morgren: Life Golems. They have formed a strange, perpetually warring set of Clans since the fall of the empire of their masters, and now fight both each other and everyone they find, pillaging and raiding as they go, only submitting to those they deem stronger.

Core Beings: Highly powerful magic beings comprised of the world's energy. Usually wreck major havock when released upon the surface world, until they run out of energy and dissipate.

World Information and History

Mosmordre Empire: Mordre's "birthplace", now destroyed. The lands once known as this empire are now known as The Cursed Lands, because a curse used to destroy it corrupted the land itself. The Mosmordren Empire was an oligarchy, with anyone able to elevate themselves into the ruling class by demonstrating sufficient magical skill to become mages, at the cost of having to serve the born nobles despite their gained prestige. Society was caste system, with aforementioned ability to get placed into 'mage' roll available to all caste levels. Yes to slaves and forced labor, as well as serf caste. Since it was a caste system, mindset roughly of: bottom caste: life is shit, but if I don't do as told, I die. mid castes: The empire provides, I must return the favor Mage: The empire is wonderful, but it needs my help to exist, and it is my duty to give it. ruling caste: The empire is shaped to serve my whims, but cannot persist if I do not bend my whims to the betterment of the Empire. There was nationalism as well as racism and speciesism, Mosmordren citizens viewed themselves as superior to others, this extended to the caste system. The Empire started the war, they wanted land and resources, and sought to take it from the 'lesser' nations. Prior to war, Mosmordren Empire was feared for past displays of strength, but had otherwise not pursued unified war, building the hostilities that led to Castiliathen being able to get so many allies. No one allied with the Empire, that's why it's said EVERYONE was against it during the final war before it's fall. The war lasted for three decades, but was not 'everyone against empire' until the last eight years.

Castiliathen Empire:

Drazken Clan: Premen clan in the northern mountains, operates a large ruby/bronze mine. Allied with Mordre due to his actions in reclaiming their mines.

Gorkin Clan: Lead by Goran, a powerful Premen leader. Goran controls eleven clans besides his own Gorkin Clan, all subservient to the Gorkin Clan. He controls them with the strength of the Gorkin Clan, which under his leadership has grown to hold more than five thousand warriors, all who follow Goran's will without question. However, fully half of his clan is devoted to policing and taxing the clans he has conquered, forcing them to labor for him and his clan so that they as warriors one and all need not.

The Mortal Coil: an international Wizard society that hoards knowledge like mad, and out of necessity grew to become a chain of exclusive magic colleges to continue funding the research of graduates. Ruling body are the seven Grand Elder Mages, a position with no term limit, with new members selected wither by political maneuvering, or by demonstrating enough skill to best an existing Grand Elder mage in combat.

Magicks and their properties

Magic is a relatively rare, costly and difficult to master line of talent within the setting.

Magic needs a feul source, and a type.

The Fuel Sources are, in order of relative average power:

Soul

Blood

Will

World

Word

The types of magic are:

Destructive

Regenerative

Augmentive

The types are straightforward: Destructive is causing damage/decay to something or otherwise causing something to wear down more quickly than it would naturally, Regenerative is repairing or reinforcing existing things, and Augmentive is adding new traits to something that already exists.

The sources are a little more involved.

Soul, be it the caster's own or those of the dead, is the most powerful magic fuel type, and it alongside Blood Magic were the mainstays of the Mosmordren empire, and were the source of much of their power. After their fall, Soul magic became a capital crime under any circumstance to practice.

Blood is less potent than Soul, but still a far cry above what one can usually expect out of Will. Blood requires a much larger amount of fuel for the same purpose as Soul does, and as such there are no blood mages who use their own blood exclusively (or at least they have very brief careers). Blood magic requires a special permit to be practice without being arrested and potentially executed. The permits can be notoriously difficult to obtain.

Will is the act of forcing magic to occur through the order and strength of one's thoughts. Will mages tire much more quickly than any other mage, and are more prone to burn out than most thanks to how easy it is for them to exceed their safe limits. Mages that become adept at Will magic can expect to be held in high demand and esteem for their prowess.

World is drawing power from the world around the caster, be it from a forest, an ancient mountain, a desert oasis or one of the planet's leylines, there are few accomplished mages that practice World alone, as there are many dead zones around the world where there are no ready sources. Knowledge of World magic usually indicates a laymen learner of magic has started to gain some decent knowledge of the mechanics of magic itself, and may be hired as an adviser or their word given more weight than a simple amateur.

Word is the known tonal combinations that can cause minor magics to occur, such as sparking a fire, snuffing a candle or moving a couple pounds of material about. Most anyone can attempt to learn these, and learning these spells are the firsts steps any would-be mage takes in most cases.

Learning any new magic both requires some source of knowledge from which to learn the spell in question, and the requisite amount of time for the individual to grasp the spell or magical theory in question through practice and study, varying in length by learner. The more advanced magics are harder to learn, and very few have the dedication and the means to become Grand Mages, those recognized in all lands as having master of magic, and because of this, it is no wonder there are less than 100 Grand Mages or better (Such as the Grand Elder Mages, those who command the greatest of power, influence and knowledge)

The magic types (Word/World/Will/Blood/Soul) are just fuel sources for the most part, like different octane gasoline for a car, I suppose. The only thing making this analogy not fit perfectly is that some fuel types are more suited to certain pursuits than others (World magic is best for detecting/manipulating leylines, Blood magic blood, etc.)

Metal Information

Most metals retain Normal properties but Steel is referred to as Base Steel.

Blue Steel: forged with inbuilt Regenerative magicks infused into the metal as it is shaped. More durable than normal steel, keeps sharp longer than normal, and cannot rust. Makes excellent long term armor for any terrain.

Red Steel: forged with inbuilt Destructive magicks that let ever cut it makes be magically widened, such that even a small cut could end up a grievous injury. Causes sharp, vibrating tremors when forged into blunt weaponry. Can destroy Blue Steel with relative ease, but when faced against other Red Steel, will start to warp and wear so long as it is forced to clash against something of it's own nature. Can make armor that magically rusts Blue Steel or below quality metals upon contact. Starts to deteriorate if attacked with Red Steel (said weapons will suffer likewise). Prohibitively expensive, not seen in any mass production form.

Rune Steel: Blue Steel with Runes inscribed into them during a second forging: The effects vary from rune to rune, so while some examples of Rune Steel may be nearly indiscernible from Blue Steel, some examples will have powerful magical enhancements. Price of manufacture varies in proportion with the quality of the rune used. Red Steel cannot be inscribed with runes.

Black Steel: Invention of the now fallen Mosmordren Empire, Steel with augmentive magicks forcibly infused into it by spilling the blood of those actively harvested for Soul Grave fuel onto the Base Steel while it is forged atop enchanted anvils, the souls of thousands ground to dust during their forging to give them a strong connection with death. Now the metal is poison, causing wounds inflicted to rot, and being impossible to wield for long without starting to decay. Only Soul Graves, the golems the metal was forged for, are safe to possess it without harm, as the blood in the metal forms a symbiotic connection with the souls and dark magicks that animate a Soul Grave. The metal is conventionally unbreakable, and causes non-soul/blood fueled magicks cast in the immediate vicinity to be weakened, sometimes outright negated, depending on proximity, the strength of the mage, and the amount of Black Steel present.

Necronostrium: Called 'Death Metal' or 'The Reaper's Steel', Necronostrium was invented and crafted in small amounts by the Mosmordren empire during the height of it's power. A collection of powerful magics allowed the metal to make edge implements of unparalleled viciousness, even the smallest wound made with such a materiel magically being enhanced until even a shallow cut could be a dire injury. Further, wounds will fester, rot and reject the power of leylines flowing in the area, causing agony and some mutation to those struck. The wounds are unable to be treated, magically or otherwise, until the wounded has been exposed to the light of dawn. This metal can claim dominion over all earthly materials, able to cleave a path through any conventional defense. It's forging process was lost with the fall of Mosmordre.

Lortoxite: A.K.A. Starmetal, A.K.A. The Blessings of Lortox, the patron deity of the asteroid ring around the planet Zakrath. Lortoxite (conventionally, a predominantly Tungsten-Carbide alloy) falls from the asteroid ring as blazing meteors. If the fallen metal is sufficiently heated and infused with enough magic, it can be forged into unbreakable equipment, making particularly effective instruments of combat, as the power of the reforged meteors gives otherworldly impact to blows. Conversely, armor made out of Lortoxite has the capacity to absorb and nullify tremendous impacts delivered to the wearer, in correlation with the amount of Lortoxite-forged armor they were and what hit them. The drawback is that any piece of Lortoxite can only be forged ONCE, and once shaped into a knife, hammer or helmet, it will forever hold that form. Some astronomers make significant wealth, predicting the fall of new pieces of Lortoxite.

Golem information and Types

For normal golems, think of them like computers. Given a problem, they can solve it. But they need to be given direction on what to do.

So, once an owner dies, if there is no one else listed as next in line to be master (such as in a military setting), the golem goes inactive. It must then be awoken to bind it to a new owner. In theory anyone could do this, but the tools needed to activate golems are rare and expensive, especially for Soul Graves.

-CLAY: The first type of golem ever made, a basic form has been perfected in efficiency of craft that nearly every town has, a seven foot tall, seven hundred pound vague, rotund humanoid shape. Other designs are seen as well, but none are nearly as easy to make, and are thus rarer. Clay golems are made with clay from dead volcanoes and crystals from live volcanoes, upon which control runes are inscribed. The runes for the default clay golem are readily known, though access to the materials needed is not.

-STONE: Vary in size, shaping and purpose greatly, as they are crafted almost exclusively with World magic, by drawing on the power of mountains or rock quarries (preferably over leylines for best results) to imbue stone with life. Not frequently used in warfare, as the time and energy required to craft even relatively simple ones is not worth the relative ease most common stone golems can be shattered with.

-WOOD: crafted with World magic in ancient forests (also benefiting from from being over leylines), wood golems can be made relatively easily out of any tree and at great speed if necessary, but different trees make different golems, and the time spent shaping the golem impacts the quality. They cannot have runes inscribed on them, and can be burned fairly easily.

-LIFE: Life Golems are made with Blood Magic, and are the grafting of traits onto a base living form to create a new species that can be controlled as a sapient slave. Morgrens are examples of this. Approval from the local government is required to make life golems, and learning Blood Magic is rare on it's own, so very few Life Golems have been made since the fall of the Mosmordren Empire.

-METAL: The only golems forged of metal, Soul Graves were the invention of the Mosmordren Empire, and their greatest military strength. Can only be forged with Soul and Blood Magic, and the souls of many fresh dead are needed to power the golems. Nonetheless, their power is considered vastly superior to most other mid-to-large production model golem.

-MORGREN: Morgren are a Life Golem species crafted by the Mosmordren Empire as shock troops, and they were bred and molded to be violent and powerful, vicious fighters. Made from a base Premen (The great, hairy and freakishly strong barbarians to the north. They have little civilization.) augmented with Gorilla, Tiger and Rhinoceros, they are eight to ten feet tall, have some seven hundred to twelve hundred pounds of slabs of ropey muscle, have patches of thick, pelt-like hair on their shoulders, forearms and pelvis, and have rough, pebbly skin, their hide tougher than good leather armor. Their jaws are massive and ludicrously overdeveloped, with viscous fangs and a horn protruding from their forehead, their necks and spines heavily reinforced.

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