#golem town

[vurm]

Here's some villagers from Golem Town! Radomila is the town cartographer. She takes on an unwanted de-facto leadership role when the Mayor vanishes under mysterious circumstances. She's a hardass and a spoilsport, but its because she cares about the town a lot. Witta the shepherd becomes her apprentice when her previous apprentice flees town (like so many others).

Eggi and Lorenzo are two young friends. Eggi just got promoted from "apprentice" to "cleric" and serves as the representative for the handful of clerics still in town. She's a curious prankster who likes making herself laugh. Lorenzo has hated every job he's ever had but is mostly okay being a jeweler, which sucks cuz no one in town is buying jewelry anymore. He's soft-hearted and squishy and gets crushes easily.

Radomila used to babysit the two when she was a cartographer's apprentice, so she gets frustrated working with them as peers. In her mind, they're still two annoying kids, but to be fair, they're just as annoying as adults.

[vurm]

Just some notes on one of the villages my pillagers [attempt to] raid frequently, a bleak & depressing iron mining village called Golem Town.

It's one of the two largest villages in the windswept gravel biome. The pillagers never get far past the golems, but traders entering and leaving town are frequently attacked. The village is wealthy in metals and emeralds, but because everything else needs to be imported, the average villager is poor. Many of the villagers occupy empty chambers in the upper mineshafts. None of the villagers in the lineup have names or anything, I just drew them as examples but maybe I'll use them for something, or if anyone has ideas for them I'd love to hear it! I have some blurry mental images for some villagers who live there but I haven't finalized anybody yet.

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Oh by the way I decided that the planet Golem Town takes place on is called "Galmi".

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Elementals

Golems are so common in the cities and byways of Starya and New Boheme that those who live amongst them sometimes forget that they are not a constant in the world of Galmi.  Countless cultures in Krutya, Zlatoya, and the Novyan frontier have not developed golems, relying on themselves and their fellows to accomplish any necessary labor rather than creating constructs to do it instead.  However, many of these cultures have independently developed a type of construct that is alien to the inhabitants of Starya and New Boheme - the elemental.

Elementals are created in a similar way to golems: A binding ritual is conducted to magically infuse a large amount of a substance with an artificial mind that allows it to respond to commands.  However, the elemental binding ritual is impermanent, giving elementals a maximum life span of only a few days before the artificial mind is forced to dissipate and the body is left lifeless.  The ephemerality of the artificial mind allows elementals to be crafted out of non-solid substances, as their physical instability is less relevant.  Elementals are not used for large-scale physical labor as golems are; rather, they are temporary aides, often used to assist in hunting or for religious purposes.

Many types of elementals are shared between ethnic groups that have had no contact with each other, suggesting unrelated convergent developments.  One of the most common elemental types is the earth elemental, physically similar to a clay or stone golem but regarded as more “primitive” by the people of Starya and New Boheme; earth elementals are valued for their great strength and ease of creation, and are used by dozens of different groups for hunting and warfare purposes.  Numerous disparate groups that consider fishing an important part of life have developed water elementals to assist them.  Air elementals are also common in many cultures, but are less practical and often have exclusively ritualistic uses.  Less common are fire elementals, utilized for warfare by certain groups in Krutya and the Novyan Frontier.  

More obscure types of elementals include the ice elementals created by people in Novya’s northern tundra; the lightning elementals occasionally utilized by the plains-dwellers of Chagatai and Brann; the sand elementals used by certain Krutyan and Tajemnyan natives; the plant elementals created by ethnic groups native to the jungles of Zlatoya; and steam elementals used by the inhabitants of geothermally active islands in Galmi’s north.  Other types exist as well, depending on the materials most common in the area of their construction.

Elementals are regarded as a more “primitive” form of construct than golems by the residents of Starya and New Boheme, due to their temporary nature.  However, elementals are not inherently inferior to golems; their services are usually only required for short periods of time, and their impermanence allows them to be dispelled and re-summoned rather than having to be permanently stored.

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Types of Golems

A wide variety of types of golems exist in Nine-color Corners, although some are created and used much more often than others. A golem can conceivably be built out of any solid or semi-solid material, but a few materials that are more affordable, durable, or practical dominate the rest. These examples do not even encompass all types of golem ever constructed, as golem-makers are endlessly creative.

Basic Golem Types -Clay golems: The most common type of golem; a good middle ground of strength, durability, and a material that is both easily obtained and relatively inexpensive -Metal golems: Both the most strong and durable and the most expensive type of basic golem, generally only constructed by the extremely wealthy; can be constructed from any metal, usually lead, steel, or brass, but sometimes gold or silver -Plastic golems: Golems animated from store-bought mannequin-like bodies; slightly stronger, more durable, and less expensive than clay golems, as well as immune to magical energy, but thought to be more prone to defect and malfunction than handmade golem bodies -Stone golems: Stronger and more resistant to wear and tear than clay golems, but more expensive to obtain the necessary amount of stone -Wood golems: Cheaper than clay golems, but physically weaker and more prone to breaking or splintering

Uncommon Golem Types -Bone golems: Stronger than the basic clay golem and able to regenerate broken parts of itself, but rarely seen due to the difficulty of procuring such a large amount of bones -Cloth golems: Disparate scraps of cloth, solid cloth sheets, or even suits of clothes animated into golems; cheap and unreliable, and stereotypically considered “golems of the poor” -Flesh golems: Weaker than average for a golem and rarely seen due to the difficulty of procuring the dead flesh, but capable of making decisions of its own to preserve itself -Glass golems: Weak, brittle, and unsuited for labor, but useful for assassination when disguised as a normal glass object and constructed with sharp edges; sometimes built exclusively for aesthetic value -Straw golems: Golems that resemble animate scarecrows, and usually used for the same purpose; generally weak and brittle, but sometimes used by farmers in place of simple effigies

Specialty Golem Types, golems usually utilized by a specific industry or service -Blood golems: The blood of numerous donors, voluntary or otherwise, combined into an animate form; slightly macabre, but often used for transfusions in hospitals or by battlefield medics -Brick golems: Heaps of bricks held together exclusively with magical energy, able to be disassembled; often used to more efficiently assemble buildings -Chalk golems: Golems created from pieces or blocks of writing chalk; often created in smaller bird-like or spider-like forms, used to unobtrusively write or draw preprogrammed patterns or information -Garbage golems: Golems constructed from whatever trash is within reach; large amounts of garbage are required to build a strong and durable garbage golem, restricting them to waste management industries -House golems: Entire habitable homes able to walk or fly away from danger at their owner’s command; expensive to create, upkeep, and maintain, and so inhabited only by the wealthiest of the wealthy -Molten golems: Golems constructed from specially treated metal that allows them to retain control of themselves when melted; used in blacksmithing as well as in construction and demolition operations -Paper golems: Golems resembling animate heaps of paper, able to withstand sheets of paper being torn free from their bodies and reattached; often found as couriers in libraries or in the employ of scholars who need a place to keep their notes -Plant golems: Distinct from wood golems in that their plant matter is still living; can be constructed from any species of plant or even fungus to aid in gardening or conservation efforts -Rope golems: Dozens or even hundreds of ropes wound together into a single body, capable of disassembling and slithering in a swarm to detain criminals or execute prisoners; related to the more durable chain golem -War golems: Golems with no use beyond killing and destruction, distinct from metal or stone golems with attached weapons but that may be put to other uses; famous war golems include the antipersonnel napalm golem and the bunker-busting gunpowder golem

Novelty Golems, golems with no purpose that cannot be served better by a more common type, created only for fun or experimentation -Coral golems: Not constructed, but grown from special species of coral that makes them extremely durable and strong, but unable to remain out of water for too long without drying out and growing brittle and unresponsive -Entertainment golems: Golems with no use beyond providing entertainment to those who witness their actions; famous entertainment golems include the explosive firework golem, the plush golem loved by so many children, and the balloon golem, helium-filled or otherwise -Ice golems: Approximately equal to clay golems in durability and strength, and able to regenerate with the use of water, but liable to melt if used for too long in above-freezing temperatures -Jelly golems: The only steadily popular food golem, constructed by the wealthy or eccentric for desserts at dinner parties; too weak and physically unstable to be used for labor -Leather golems: Durable yet quick-moving golems valued by some for their utility, but with an unfortunate fetishistic connotation gained in recent years -Mud golems: Relatively durable and strong, but with constantly dripping, messy bodies that make keeping them around require too much cleaning for most -Oil golems: Similar to tar golems, intended to be ignited before use; used in the ancient world as expendable frontline soldiers, but now regarded as a relic of the past, replaced by more efficient war golems -Rubber golems: Strange golems capable of stretching their body parts to great lengths and bouncing after great falls, but no stronger or more durable than standard golems and more difficult to procure and shape -Sand golems: Impressively endowed with the ability to dissolve into swirling clouds of sand and reform, but too weak and physically unstable to be useful -Wax golems: Equally strong and durable as clay golems, but liable to melt in extreme heat; generally constructed only by artists, performers, and fetishists

Signature Golems of the Nine Families, described in greater detail later -Clockwork golems: The signature golems of the Violet Family -Fulgur golems: The signature golems of the Gold Family -Furnace golems: The signature golems of the Rossi Family -Kleinstone chain golems: The signature golems of the Midnight Family -Lode golems: The signature golems of the Kyanos Family -Rot golems: The signature golems of the Moss Family -Rust golems: The signature golems of the Rust Family -Tar golems: The signature golems of the Black Family -White clay golems: The signature golems of the White Family

[butch-king-frankenstein]

I have literally fucking run completely dry on things that golems can be made out of

Anyone who has suggestions, fire them away, I want three more examples before I make the masterpost

[butch-king-frankenstein]

I wrote this story for my fantasy literature class.  It takes place in the Golem Town setting.  It doesn't have a title.

"Jonas!" Marta waited for a response, but one didn't come. That did nothing to make her less upset. "Jonas!" Marta shouted down the stairs again, more forcefully this time. "Yes, Marta?" said Josef from somewhere in the basement. "Get up here!" After a moment of anticipation, Marta heard Josef begin shuffling around in the basement. Eventually, the stairs began creaking, and Josef came into view around the corner.

[butch-king-frankenstein]

Orima-Kazooie  asked: let's hear some stuff about spiralist culutre

The symbol of New Bohemian Spiralism - and of the White Family, who controls the Spiralist church in New Boheme - is that of two intertwined spirals, one black and one white.  This symbolizes the main tenet of Spiralism: that life and death are constantly linked, and the end of one is merely the beginning of the other.

Spiralists believe that all souls are continuously reincarnated in a process known as the Spiral of Life and Death, or simply the Spiral.  Human souls are reincarnated upon death into various different bodies, depending on the virtuousness and piousness of the person in life.  A virtuous individual, for instance, may be reincarnated as a peaceful or long-lived being, such as a tree, or as one of the sacred animals of the church.  The less virtuous, however, will be reincarnated as insects or other less fortunate creatures.  After their reincarnated life ends, the soul will be reborn as a human, and given another chance.

New Bohemian Spiralism split from Original Spiralism, or Old Bohemian Spiralism, when the colonists of New Boheme seceded from the old country.  The differences are honestly very slight.  New Bohemian Spiralism is more commercialized, for one thing.