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Golems

Golems are creatures of spirit attached to the physical.  A golem consists of a man-made physical body, propelled by magic and directed by a spirit.  Golems are creatures created by wizards or clerics as personal servants, guardians or toys.

The process of creating a golem is a multistep process, regardless of whether done by a cleric or a wizard.  The first step in the process is the creation of a physical body.  The physical body itself may be made from, stone, iron, bone, clay, gems, or even dead human flesh.  Whatever the base material, the components must be of the best quality and the body itself should be made by the finest craftsmen.  There are two critical spots in a golem, the first is the ‘soulstone’ of the golem, which is a valuable gem located on or in the golem.  The value of this gem is typically around 1000 gold crowns per level of the golem.  The second is its true name which must be inscribed on its forhead, (perhaps invisibly, etc).  This true name is actually the name of the spirit controlling the golem.

Golems must be constructed in such a manner as to be able to move, i.e. it must have working joints in all the right places to move.  This is relatively easy for bone and flesh golems and not too bad for metal golems, but it can be very difficult to achieve for stone, clay and gem golems.  If the joints are not fashioned to move, the Thaumaturgy spell, Fluid Form may be used to give the otherwise solid (nonexistant) joints the ability to move.

The first step in golem creation, is the construction of the body as mentioned above, the second step is the casting of the spell Create Golem to prepare the body.  No later than 7 days later this is followed by Fluid Form (if needed). At this point, Spell Investiture is cast and all the subsequent spells that the golem will be able to cast are placed into the golem’s body. Further Inamimate Senses is also a good idea so the golem will have an awareness of the outside world.  Also within the 7 day period, Animate Golem must be cast, and before that spell expires, a spirit to control the body must be summoned with some form of Summon Spirit spell.  The spirit summoned should be the same level as the golem to be created.  

At this point the cleric or wizard should bind the spirit to himself or herself, and follow this binding with an Invest Spirit spell to place the spirit in the body of the golem.  This should then all be followed by an 3-4 Eternal Permanence spells (one for Animate Golem, one for Fluid Form (if used), one for the Spell Investiture and one for Invest Spirit) (for truly permanent golems, for temporary ones, a Longer Lasting Permanence will work).  All of these spells must be cast within 7 days of the Create Golem spell and within the duration of the Animate Golem spell and all subsequent spells.  

At this point the creator has a fully functional golem under his or her control (thanks to the binding spell on the spirit).  If the creator wishes, he or she may create a Spirit Talisman to allow others to control the golem.  This talisman is then usually referred to as the Golem Talisman and is generally standard practice, especially if the creator wants to keep the golem in the family for generations. 


 

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