Golemgame:Setting
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==Warforged== | ==Warforged== | ||
Before the golem war had taken a turn for the worse, the dwarves were working on an assassin just like their Namoki rivals, only instead of flesh and blood, they turned their knowledge of golemcraft towards this task. The result of this research was a dozen metal dwarves, all twelve in various stages of completion. While they could obey simple commands, these creatures (dubbed battle-forged) could not adapt to changing circumstances quickly enough to be effective assassins, and were far too expensive to produce en masse for use in the field. It was decided by the Dwarven Elders that the project be scrapped, and funding be directed to the Namoki assassin program, which was yielding considerable results by this point.<br> | Before the golem war had taken a turn for the worse, the dwarves were working on an assassin just like their Namoki rivals, only instead of flesh and blood, they turned their knowledge of golemcraft towards this task. The result of this research was a dozen metal dwarves, all twelve in various stages of completion. While they could obey simple commands, these creatures (dubbed battle-forged) could not adapt to changing circumstances quickly enough to be effective assassins, and were far too expensive to produce en masse for use in the field. It was decided by the Dwarven Elders that the project be scrapped, and funding be directed to the Namoki assassin program, which was yielding considerable results by this point.<br> | ||
| - | Dwarven sentimentalism for their work being what it was, the battle-forged were given a warrior's burial, loaded into a boat that was then put out to sea and set ablaze. It is not known whether the battle-forged were able to put out the fire, or had merely washed up on some distant shores. What remains fact, however, is that shortly before the end of the war, several scouts from both nations reported "miniature Golems" wandering the countryside, as near as the rivers of the Tapestry, and as far as the easternmost reaches of the continent. When comparing these reports to the research of the dwarves, it is clear that the units were heavily modified, and by different hands - the nearer warforged were made taller and slimmer than their prototypes, with protruding arrays of devices and various grafted instruments, while those found further away were often considerably larger, with bodies of wood rather than metal. Some of these latter ones were even said to be able to speak, which didn't save them from annihilation but earned them a footnote in the history books. | + | Dwarven sentimentalism for their work being what it was, the battle-forged were given a warrior's burial, loaded into a boat that was then put out to sea and set ablaze. It is not known whether the battle-forged were able to put out the fire, or had merely washed up on some distant shores. What remains fact, however, is that shortly before the end of the war, several scouts from both nations reported "miniature Golems" wandering the countryside, as near as the rivers of the Tapestry, and as far as the easternmost reaches of the continent. When comparing these reports to the research of the dwarves, it is clear that the units were heavily modified, and by different hands - the nearer warforged were made taller and slimmer than their prototypes, with protruding arrays of devices and various grafted instruments, while those found further away were often considerably larger, with bodies of wood rather than metal. Some of these latter ones were even said to be able to speak, which didn't save them from annihilation but earned them a footnote in the history books.<br> |
| + | Intelligent warforged appeared relatively recently - probably the machinations of some secluded dwarven engineer determined to finish his people's work, though the 'forged themselves are mum about it. Thanks to largely their own efforts, many of the older prototypes have also been brought online and upgraded to near the modern level of functionality. Still, the world has fewer than 100 functioning warforged, and no permanent community of them exists. They are almost universally despised, but few adventurers feel that way about warforged. To them, the warforged are the same as any other artifact they hunt after, though one deluded into thinking that it's a real boy. Most adventuring parties will thus tolerate and even humour warforged companions, but one in a position of leadership anywhere would be pretty much unthinkable.<br> | ||
| + | To the dwarven people specifically, warforged represent both a grim reminder of the war, and the once mighty tradition of dwarven artifice. Depending on how much the particular dwarf cares about his past compared to his present, their reception might be warmer than usual, even if they will almost certainly want to take the warforged apart "just a little bit" to see what's inside. | ||
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==Feral Humanoids== | ==Feral Humanoids== | ||
The very first ferals were discovered in Faradan - mutated and vicious animals born of the inscrutable jungles. In rare cases, condition seemed to be contagious - and very swiftly fatal - to the elves of Faradan. Bas-Karakat transmuters spent many resources kidnapping infected creatures and elves and studying them, and eventually managed to reduce the condition from a rapid, violent and eventually fatal transformation to a gradual hereditary growth that resulted in a powerful, resilient and cunning soldier that was jokingly termed Knives, for their slight build when compared to the Orc warriors that composed the bulk of the armed forces. While the majority of these Knives were deployed immediately, the most promising specimens remained in the labs for further testing. The results of that research were forever lost when the lab itself was burned to the ground by enemy saboteurs.<br> | The very first ferals were discovered in Faradan - mutated and vicious animals born of the inscrutable jungles. In rare cases, condition seemed to be contagious - and very swiftly fatal - to the elves of Faradan. Bas-Karakat transmuters spent many resources kidnapping infected creatures and elves and studying them, and eventually managed to reduce the condition from a rapid, violent and eventually fatal transformation to a gradual hereditary growth that resulted in a powerful, resilient and cunning soldier that was jokingly termed Knives, for their slight build when compared to the Orc warriors that composed the bulk of the armed forces. While the majority of these Knives were deployed immediately, the most promising specimens remained in the labs for further testing. The results of that research were forever lost when the lab itself was burned to the ground by enemy saboteurs.<br> | ||
