Golems 201 -- A Historical Reference
Part One: The Great Feuer
By Mark A. Jindra

Part One

Hello, young ones. My name is Professor Hollison D’Erbauer, but you can call me Hollis. Before I became a teacher here at the academy, I spent many years researching and constructing golems. I am sure you are all wondering who this extremely tall and menacing fellow standing behind me is. His name is Tod; he is a iron golem and was among the first golems that I created nearly 70 years ago. He will be assisting me with the class.

You learned the basics of golem creation in 101, and I hear that the rituals have begun on your class project. Over the next several months I will give the entire class a research project; each of you is required to research the subject and prepare a paper on your findings. We will review each research project after the papers have been turned in.

To start, I thought I would review an excellent paper written by a young sorceress a few years ago. The subject was a golem named Feuer.

The Great Feuer

Fifty-four years ago, a blacksmith named Robert Raymond lost his wife and only son, Ebon, to illness. As Ebon was his apprentice and he believed himself too old to start another family, he used his entire life’s savings to hire a local mage to help him construct an iron golem that could aid him in his business. Not much is known about this mage except that he specialized in creating golems and lived in nearby keep. To the people of this town he was known as "The Constructor."

While purchasing the raw materials for the golem, Raymond was approached by a man selling rare gems. One of the gems, a fire opal, caught his eye. Not knowing that the gem had magical properties, Raymond bartered with the man. The peddler accepted an enchanted silver dagger in trade.

Raymond began constructing his new assistant. He took great care in building the golem, working late into the nights for several months. He adorned it with ornate metalwork and intricate designs, and added a finely crafted blacksmith’s hammer in place of the short sword normally carried by iron golems. As the finishing touch, Raymond set the fire opal in the center of the golem’s breastplate.

Because Raymond was not the golem’s animator, the mage would command the golem upon its creation to obey the wearer of a special ring. Legend has it that Raymond fashioned the ring from the same iron as the golem and adorned it with a small fire opal. Some even say that the ring was placed inside the golem before the animation ritual to further bind the golem to the ring.

The mage agreed with Raymond that the golem did not need the cloud of poisonous gas common for iron golems, and said he would modify the spells appropriately. He then gathered the required items and began the lengthy ritual. To my disappointment, I could find no notes on the spells used or how the mage might have altered the ritual to accomplish his goals.

Shortly after the golem’s creation, the fire opal in its breastplate began periodically to emit heat, and small amounts of smoke would wisp from the iron plates of the golem’s body. Occasionally, the heat would increase for short periods but it always subsided. The golem served as a fine assistant to the blacksmith for many years.

Raymond went on to craft several more golems for the mage over the next eight years. Then the illness that killed his wife and son returned to the town, claiming many more lives including his own. On his deathbed, he returned the ring and the golem to the mage.

Some rumors say that the mage may have sold the golem to the king of a nearby land as a guardian for his father’s tomb; others tell of a great flaming iron golem that guards the gates to an underground city of untold riches. No one really knows for sure what became of the mage or the golem known as Feuer.

Combat

Iron golems are mighty combatants. They strike with deadly accuracy and incredible force. Their bodies are nearly invulnerable but can be reduced to piles of rubbish by rust monsters.

Feuer carries a warhammer with a +5 enhancement bonus and the special ability Fiery Burst (see page 186 in the Dungeon Master’s Guide).

Breath Weapon (Su): First or second round of combat -- Cone of Fire, 30 feet emanating from fire opal; damage 6d10; Reflex save (DC 19) halves damage. Once per day.

Fiery Aura (Ex): Anyone within 10 feet must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 11) or suffer 1d6 points of heat damage from the intense heat. Treat this effect as an emanation (see Aiming a Spell, page 148 in the Player’s Handbook). On the second or third round of combat this aura intensifies to add the effects of a fire shield spell (protecting from cold attacks) as if cast by a 15th-level mage.

Magic Immunity (Ex): Feuer is immune to all spells, spell-like abilities, and supernatural effects. A fire effect cures 1 point of damage for each 3 points of damage it would otherwise deal. For example, a iron golem hit by a fireball cast by a 5th-level wizard gains back 6 hit points if the damage total is 18. The golem rolls no saving throw against fire effects. Because of its fiery aura, Feuer automatically regenerates 1d4 hit points per round and suffers no effects from electrical attacks.

Rust Vulnerability (Ex): An iron golem is affected normally by rust attacks, such as that of a rust monster or a rusting grasp spell.

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