Golem
Crafted of base materials and then magically animated into a powerful guardian, the legendary golem is a living construct that mindlessly obeys its creator's commands— often continuing to do so for years or even centuries after its creator's death.
Made of odd scraps of skin and muscle, a charnel creation is a grotesque parody of life. Though it has no mind, it can still go into a berserk rage when harmed, giving it a faint semblance of emotion. These constructs are often fashioned to guard the secret laboratories, unhallowed funerary grounds, and bloody charnel houses of fleshwarpers and necromancers who feel no compunctions about desecrating corpses for their own ends. Though the first charnel creation is believed to have been a misguided attempt to create life from simple base elements, these monstrosities are far from human. In isolated cases, echoes of a personality might rise in a charnel creation if the brain used as part of its construction belonged to a particularly powerful personality, but such tragic instances are (thankfully) rare in the extreme.
Traditionally crafted into the forms of giant suits of armor or powerful animals, iron wardens are products of exquisite artistry and skill. Their articulated joints and sturdy, armored bodies require great care and mathematical precision to craft, and regular cleaning and oiling ensure they don't rust over the ages. With proper care, iron wardens can remain in good shape for thousands of years, being passed down for generations, as long as they aren't destroyed by meddlesome adventurers. In addition to their incredible strength, iron wardens possess a potent toxic breath that is often more than enough to dispatch entire groups of opponents.
Though their impressive stature prevents them from being inconspicuous, iron wardens are often placed in areas where they are easily mistaken for decorative objects. An iron warden might be hidden among decorative suits of armor or disguised as a statue in a city square. Occasionally, locals are shocked when something they assumed to be a historic landmark animates into an iron warden, called to action by an unknown mystic command. Stories tell of ancient civilizations, such as the Jistka Imperium, that created iron wardens of massive size. Most of these constructs have since been melted down for resources, but magicians and historians still chase down rumors of one of these lost colossi.
Wood golems are often given vaguely humanoid shapes, almost as if cobbled together from scraps of firewood and discarded burls. It's less common for wood golems to have artistic embellishments such as engraved patterns, or to be carved in the shapes of different types of creatures to meet the tastes of their owners. While wealthy patrons have been known to commission wood golems to be painstakingly carved to resemble themselves or their ancestors, to serve dual purposes of protection and ego bolstering, most wood golem crafters don't bother. Druids and creatures who protect woodlands, such as arboreals, typically see wood golems as an affront or an abomination, akin to the horror humanoids often feel when facing a carrion or flesh golem. As a result, it is rare to see such creatures serving as guardians for fey or druidic holy sites, despite the thematic match between the wood golem's appearance and such locations.
Creation
There exist two known methods of animating a golem. The traditional method involves harvesting and implanting an elemental soul or essence within the newly crafted host statue, a procedure seen as vile and blasphemous to those who value the sanctity of the soul; evil or amoral golem crafters tend to prefer this method. The other, less disreputable technique involves siphoning pure positive energy into the statue to artificially imitate the creation of a soul. The result does not give the golem a true soul and is generally a more costly and time-consuming method of creation. Regardless of the method used, the resulting golem functions the same. A golem's unique animating force leaves it susceptible to certain forms of magic, but apart from these few weaknesses, it is impervious to magic and difficult to damage with weapons.Varieties
There are many types of golem that can be created by skilled golemwrights.Flesh Golem
The Canker
The Canker was created to be a vessel for Belcorra Haruvex's spirit upon her resurrection. It was crafted by the Cult of the Canker, a group whose sole purpose was to see this plan into fruition. However, the Exterminators ended their threat and Kaliff Raiboren used the Canker as the base of his clockwork reanimation, Thud.Iron Golem
Wood Golem
Geographic Distribution
