I normally don't like to post about Murel unless I've completely thought through the topic, but y'all have been clamoring for information so I thought I'd oblige you.

Golems are monsters made from solid rock. They are cursed spirits that have pledged to serve the rock phoenix.

To help you get the idea of what a golem looks like I've decided to pit my former MC against one.
Enjoy!



Rurel stopped short as he turned a bend in the mountain. In front of him was what looked like a statue of a man with his back turned to Rurel.

It was taller than an average man, even taller than an elf; but built like one of the dwarves. It's body looked like the maker of the statue had taken stones and haphazardly slapped them together, chiseling away the excess afterwords. Rurel started to circle the statue, hoping to get a glimpse of its face and a clue to why it stood in the middle of the forest on the abandoned mountainside.

Slowly the face came into view. Its head was rounded and its face had been carved into a permanent frown. But it was the eyes that shocked Rurel. Inside two eye sockets were green pupils, pale and flickering like a green flame. Then Rurel almost jumped out of skin. The statue's head swiveled and locked "eyes" with Rurel.

Rurel started to back away and the statue took a step in his direction. Rurel immediately turned and ran away from the "statue". As he ran he turned for a brief look behind him. Rurel had just enough time to dive behind a tree as a rock twice the size of his head crashed into a tree a few feet from where he had just been standing.

"So," Rurel said, "this is what a golem looks like. I think I'm making a habit of reviving old legends."

"I wish the legends would stay dead," Rurel thought as the tree he was leaning against was uprooted.

Rurel turned to face the golem as it threw the tree to the side, knocking down two smaller trees that were in its path.

"I doubt this will work, but I might as well go down fighting," Rurel thought as he gripped the sword given to him by the ice phoenix.

As the golem brought its giant fist down, Rurel rolled underneath the golem's legs and hopped up, quickly swiping at the golem's legs. Surprisingly, the sword cut through the golem's legs as if the rocks were made of butter. The rocks from the golem's thighs down immediately crumbled, falling on the rocky ground in two piles of small boulders and dust.

Rurel barely had time to wonder how his sword cut through the solid rock when small boulders broke from the ground next to the golem's body and started forming into two new legs. Before the golem could pick itself up Rurel hopped onto the golem's body and severed its head from its body. As the body crumbled, the head rolled a few feet before coming to a stop.

"I'm glad that's over," Rurel thought as he looked at the golem's remains. Taking a deep breath, Rurel took a few steps towards what had been the golem's head. A second later, more rocks detached themselves from the mountainside, starting to form another body for the golem.

As Rurel ran, he prayed, "God. Why can't quests be simpler? Just once?"



Questions are welcome so that I can develop these further.

I like them.

Do the golems eat anything, such as flesh, or alternately, rocks?

Thanks.

No, they don't need sustenance of any kind. (perhaps sleep/rest but I haven't decided yet)

For those that are having a hard time picturing the size of a golem, the proportions/size of a golem are a lot like this guy's proportions/size --> Juggernaut .

That's actually very close to what I imagined.

Still, a visual helps.

That is very cool, Sui - I love golems It's kind of freakishly interesting that they reform themselves - guess they've got no vital organs to worry about! I love the humor too Good job.

eru

Yes. It's good to know I was imagining them right.

Thanks. I was hoping I did well with the dry humor.

No, they don't. Come to think of it... they must not have any senses other than sight...


Yep!


I forgot to include this question in the first post-
Do you use golems and, if so, what are they like?


Keep the questions coming.
I still have two of Philli's cupcakes in my emergency stash. The next two people to ask questions get one.

What color are the golems? Gray, brown...? Or can one be a different color than another? Can one golem have multiple colors?

Their made from rocks so the color of whatever rocks happen to be around when they form a body part is their color.

They are mostly shades of black and grey, but any other rock color is possible. It's even possible to have purple colored rock if they form from something like amethyst (which would be awesome ).

*gives Jonathan a cupcake*

That makes sense.


Thanks.

Neat-o!

Alright, I'm a gallant hero who has encountered a golem. How would I kill him? Can I kill him?
God bless,
Crushmaster.

Not with conventional methods. Normal swords and arrows would just bounce off.

However, Rurel had the ice phoenix sword (I really should pick a name for that sword ). By using that he could damage the golem. Unfortunately for Rurel, a golem can still easily repair itself.
In order to kill the golem he would have had to strike at the spirit of the man that resides in the golem's head. (Which, again, can't be done with normal swords. The ice phoenix sword (must think of name ) can.)
Fortunately for the golem, Rurel didn't know this or he could have easily dispatched the golem.

I'm sure that by using water one could somehow hinder a golem but I'm not sure how that would work.
(this is where you guys come in )

*already gave Crush a cupcake in Chat*

*is out of cupcakes*

Very well written excerpt. I could envision everything perfectly.

Obviously they are very powerful, but could you outrun one? Could you maybe melt or grind them like one mines metal or coal? That sounds so morbid.

Random idea - what if, when a golem merges with a special kind of rock (gemstone, metal, coal) it gets a power from it? Just a half-baked idea.

*replenishes Sui's cupcake stash with a new dozen, a treat for posting about his story*

Thank you.


Yes. Though golems do have a long stride, they move very slowly and one could outrun them.
The one thing you have to worry about while running is getting hit from a distance. Golems generally have good aim and can catapult rocks from their body towards you (which they immediately replace).

*nods* Theoretically, melting a golem would be practical as long as one melts the head. The head is where the spirit resides and if that turns into liquid rock the golem would be immobile until it's head cooled off and became solid rock again.
The spirit could leave the golem's head and return to the rock phoenix to receive a new head; but , usually, the magma cools faster than the time it would take for the spirit to wander to the rock phoenix's lair.
Practically, it would be impossible. In order to do that one would have to try to dodge the golem's attacks while somehow keeping them under sustained heat. I guess one could trick or trip them into a lava pool, but one would have to have a lava pool available.

*shakes head* Grinding would be even harder. A golem is not going to stay still long enough for you to grind through it's head. However, if one somehow did grind through it's head, the spirit would make its way to the rock phoenix to receive a new head.

It doesn't sound morbid to me. Considering that golems don't have any sense of feeling: the golem wouldn't feel any pain.


That's sort-of how it works.
Golems were once men. But they were swayed by promises of power and never-ending life. Pledging their service to the rock phoenix, they gained what they desired at the cost of their lives. Slain by the rock phoenix's cursed sword, they become cursed themselves and are forced to reside in rock.
They get their power from the sword that killed them. The same sword that now resides in the golem patriach's hands.

Cupcakes!

Golems are really cool!

Yes, they are.

What do you know them from?

*had never heard of golems before this*
*now loves golems*

These remind me of The Thing from the Fantastic Four. Where do golems reside? Are they friendly with each other? What are their enemies, and who chooses them? Do they keep the emotions/characters of the human souls they came from?

Some of this will be repetitive but those parts apply to more than one question.


*has sent an email*


They are cool monsters.


They like to be near mountains so that they can have an abundant supply of rocks, but they'll reside anywhere. They stayed mostly in the north of Murel til The Exile because of the mountainous region there.
The Rock Phoenix and his golems were becoming to powerful so the good phoenix (what is plural for phoenix ) banished them to an island off the Northern Coast of Murel. Since then golems have become rare on the mainland and aren't seen very often.

Golems don't particularly like each other, but they would much rather attack a human/elf/dwarf than one of their own kind. They are very anti-social and -when they were on the mainland- had spread out so that they wouldn't be near another golem.
They will only join together as a fighting team when ordered to by the rock phoenix or golem patriarch.

Golems hate all humans/elves/dwarfs and will attack them on sight.
Golems don't care to leave their "home" to search for an enemy but, if told to by the rock phoenix or patriarch, they will move out and attack.

As can be guessed from above, the rock phoenix and the golem patriarch are the head of all golems and control most of the golems.
There are however a few renegade golems that ran away from their masters. These have no master.

Yes, they do. Generally the golems were cutthroats before they became golems.
This sometimes evidences itself in brawls between golems, but it is even hard for a golem to damage one of its own kind and any fighting between the ranks is quickly quelled by the golem patriarch.

*hopes that was understandable*

I almost forgot!

*delivers pink cupcake with unicorn sprinkles to BushMaid on a silver platter*

Heaven forbid you forget! *accepts cupcake reverently* It's beautiful! How on earth am I expected to eat it?


Thankyou! It was awesome.


Ahhhh, this clears up a lot for me. I can understand the character of the golems now that I know what kind of characters they originated from.

It all made perfect sense. Thanks for explaining! This is really intriguing to hear about.

By helping me you won a cupcake. What you do with the cupcake is up to you.


Good!



That's good.

Your welcome!

And thank you!

Hey Sui, are there other types of golems? Or golem-equivalents? Like, does the ice phoenix have some sort of ice creatures running around?

eru

Haven't read all the comments, but I like the story! How DOES one kill a Golem? Hacking the head to pieces?

I imagine Golems' downfall would be they are much slower, and a quick and nimble elf would stand a chance against them? Another thing...did the sword cut through solely because it was a special sword he had received from the ice phoenix, or would any sword have done that?

Jewish folklore, a book by Wakem, and the video game Dungeon siege.

Awesome, Mark. Very informative. As you know, I knew nothing about these creatures.

*laughs at the thought of little ice golems running around*
Nope. Murel's golems are just rock.


You should read the comments. Most of those questions are answered in those.

In most situations, it is impossible to kill a golem. It is only possible to delay a golem by melting it, destroying it's head somehow, or doing something involving water (still hasn't figured out what water could do to a golem ).
Rurel is a special case because of his sword. He can use the sword to pierce the golem's spirit.

Yes, an elf would have a much better chance in surviving a golem's onslaught. They would still be hard pressed to kill one though.

No, the ice phoenix sword can only "hurt" the golem because it is a special sword.


Cool.
I learned about them from the video games Shining Force I and Shining Force II.


Thanks.

*gives cupcakes to all the posters*

**devours cupcakes**

Are there different sizes of Golems, or are they all about the same?

They are all about the same with one exception. The golem patriarch is as tall as a normal golem but has normal human proportions.
In other words, he isn't as bulky.

A few things have changed in Murel's world and in the process made a few of my answers to questions obsolete.

Everything that was in the North is now in the South (and vice versa) and one of the fire phoenix now has minions of his own (a lightning phoenix might have minions as well, but I haven't decided yet). The fire phoenix's minions are more like balrogs than golems though.

Yay for disorienting, wide, sweeping changes!

Ooh! More minions Can you post about Murel's Balrogs as those also sound quite interesting

eru

*chuckles*


*looks at calender* Would you like an appointment next year?

No! We have ways of making you post (I just used both evil smileys in one post... )

Anyways, just post about them ASAP I'm curious now!

eru

But you know just as much about them as I do.

I'll tell you what. After your story is published, we can get on gchat and discuss how to improve/fix my story.

No, we will do that now. Right now. Get on gChat!

eru

We are on gchat.

eru and I brainstormed some Murel stuff. Anyways, what pertains to the questions on here is this: There are now "lightning balrogs" as well.

Awesome

Now go make some threads! One for every thing we talked about. Go, go, go!

eru

We'll see what happens during my vacation.

A lot will happen! (At least it better )

eru