Gollum

An autonomous Mechanistic Engine capable of independent movement and governed by patterned arranger logic. The term is most often used to describe mechanistic engines capable of independent movement and at least limited independent decision making. At their simplest, a gollum may be a simple foundry tool used to repeat a specific simple task in an assembly line. At their most complex humanoid gollums may serve as waiters, for use in entertainment, for police and military roles as guards or crude scouts, etc. The arrangers used to hold and enable the patterns that control the gollums are generally extremely intricate and expensive both to manufacture and to power - meaning that the cost to build and maintain gollums rises sharply with their complexity. As of 3300 AF the use of gollums, especially the more sophisticated varieties, has been in decline due to their growing cost and scarcity of crystal.

Utility

They can most often be found carrying out routine or repetitive tasks in foundries, air habors, ley line stations, ports, and other centers of large commercial or logistical activity. They also remain common in the military of more developed nations where models are routinely used for scouting and logistical purposes.

Manufacturing

Gollums universally require an expensive arranger (sometimes more than one) which is their most expensive and complex component by far. Arrangers themselves are only produced in less than a dozen foundries scatterred around the more highly developed cities of Visere. Even aside from the arranger the rest of the Gollum is usually a complex Mechanistic Engine in and of itself.

Social Impact

Before the crystal shortage Gollums were beginning to become increasingly common, to the point of appearring in the homes of the upper classes as a status of wealth. However, their drmatically increased expense due to the crystal shortage has limited their use to largescale commercial and logistical enterprises as well as to the military of well developed nations.

Parent Technologies

• Arcana
• Magick Technology
• Mechanistic Engine

Children Technologies

• Mechanistic Eye

Inventor(s)

Pioneered with early crude examples by Magi Bertaine of Braze in the 2780's.

Access & Availability

Today Gollums can still be found in widespread use in wealthy locales sighted on powerful ley lines where ambient mana is available.

Complexity

Gollums are expensive and sophistcated high-end goods manufactured in only a few highly developed regions.

Discovery

Gollums are a relative recent development in modern times. Early models dating to the late 2700's were mostly a novelty but by the early 2800's crude control runes resembling primitive arrangers were developed and useful Gollums began to come into widespread use. Gollums reached their zenith in the 3230's fueled by cheap crystal and rapid economic growth as Visere fully recovered from the Second Viserian War. Their use has been in sharp decline since the crystal shortage began in the 3250's though they remain common in wealty areas where strong ley lines reduce the need for expensive crystal. There has been progress in recent years towards making a type of arranger that requires less mana energy which has spurred some hope for a revival of Gollums if this new type of arranger can be produced in volume. Evidence for ancient Gollums does appear in the archeological record from the late 3rd Eon and into the 4th Eon before they apparently fell out of use in the millenia before The Fall. Scholars still debate how sophisticated these ancient Gollums were as there is no evidence for anything resemblng the arranger from the period.