In Service to the Hierophant DT

The first official storybook of 2019 is here! If you're interested in joining, reserve your spot! I'll roll a die as soon as you do and let you know whether you won the racial lottery, in a manner of speaking. (If you don't, that's perfectly fine, since I don't expect anyone to anyway. ;P)

Also, if you have any questions you'd like to ask, don't hesitate! I'm more than happy to provide answers. And as I said at the bottom of the main post, I'll add more information to the intro in the following days and as time passes. This is just the basics, for now.

Finally, if you prefer discussing things via Discord, feel free to join The Astral Corner! I'll post all relevant discussion in summarised format here as well, so even if you can't or don't want to join it, you won't miss out on anything.

I look forward to writing with you, whoever is currently reading this!

Spoiler

I've seen a lot of change logs lately, so I decided to make one for the golems for the sake of it. ^_^


Version 1.4
•

Version 1.3
• renamed Dart Golem to Darter Golem
• added Chaser, Dancer, Sharpshooter, and Versatility Golems to Woodwatch
• added Illumination, Trapper, and Observation Golems to Citywatch
• added Premonition and Reaper Golems to Skullwatch

Version 1.2
• added Sunbird and Stormbird Golems to Skywatch
• added Tinder, Mortar, and Inundation Golems to Woodwatch
• added Sentinel and Detention Golems to Citywatch
• added Skullwatch
• added Lurcher, Shadowbird, Terrorbird, and Voracity Golems to Skullwatch

Version 1.1
• added Thunderbird Golem to Skywatch
• added Dart, Vanguard, Corrosion, and Erosion Golems to Woodwatch
• added Citywatch
• added Bondage, Stalker, and Omniscience Golems to Citywatch

Version 1.0
• added Skywatch
• added Screech and Firebird Golems to Skywatch
• added Woodwatch
• added Scuttler and Blaster Golems to Woodwatch

Yay, golems and die rolls to determine things! Also, awesome fantasy maps, Pokémon vibes (I cannot believe I got Pokémon vibes out of golems, you're good at this XD) and... Is that- dude, spider golems? I'm in. Screw phoenixes. No offense.

I'm in. This sounds really fun!

Count me in. Let's rock and golem!

Awesome! Welcome, everyone! I'm delighted to see so many people interested already. ^_^

As promised, I shall roll the die! (I'll do it for myself too, while I'm at it.) A four or an eight means you get a nymph, whereas a twelve means you get a paragon. Let's see what fate chooses for us!
• @TinkerTwaggy: 9
• @Europa: 8
• @Chaser: 4
• @AstralHunter: 9

Wow, two nymphs?! I admit, that was unexpected! Europa and Chaser, you're free to pick any additional element for your nymph (besides Ether, of course), but if you could avoid picking the same one, that'd be great. (You know, diversity and all that.) I'll add more information on nymphs in the intro post soon-ish. For now, it ought to be enough to know that they look just like humans, except... Hmm, you know, do you have any preferences? I guess I can let you two decide what they look like! The only concrete aspect so far is that they have a significant advantage in summoning and controlling golems of the element for which they have an affinity, with the reverse being true for their polar element.

Tortwag, it seems you and I both have humans! That's good, since we shouldn't all be exotic.

Are you kidding me? I'm always exotic by accident, darn it, I wanted my nymph T_T
Uugh, but I do need to work on my consistency, so yeah, you're right. Oh well! guess I'll get my exotic-ness on backstory and characterization. I got a nice spider golem out of this deal, so I don't get to complain :3

I'm going to go ahead and claim Fire as my element

So are water-attribute golems just not designed yet?

Indeed not! I was feeling lazy yesterday, but I'll populate the list more today. Water golems will require a bit more creativity, since we don't simply want golems that are restricted to the water. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Hmm... It could be something like Spiritomb? So, a mass of liquid (instead of his gaseous spiral thing) that's linked to a specific artefact that's like its core, and as long as that's thing's intact, the Water golem takes minimal damage? Megaman's few liquid-based golems also work that way, like this one:

Spoiler

Obviously, it wouldn't be a robot head as the core, in this context, but yeah! That. It would be a nice reference to the fact that the original Golem can only be defeated via the very gimmicky "replace 'Emet' with 'Met' to kill it for good". Though we could also make it so that the user can put the core elsewhere as a trade for more difficult control or something, to make it less obvious what it's weak point is.

It looks like a fascinating idea, but I think if we used that, it would need to be applied to all the golems, since using that only for one kind would be odd. We shan't be using that, but it's a great idea! I actually meant if anybody had any suggestion for a type of water golem, sorry.

I added some more golems for you all to inspect. The Skywatch is a bit limited, but yet more golems are to be added. I also included the Citywatch, but that's just for reference. Nobody will be part of it, so using golems in the other lists is probably better suited to your characters' goals.

...Oh, yeah. Didn't think of that. Huh. Weeell, we don't wanna remake a perfectly working power system, so I guess that's that!

Ah, yes! More golems, thanks! And yeah, it's cool that the Citywatch's here, at least for lore. Thanks for the additions!

*reads* ...Huh. Vanguard Golems are rather interesting! They're usually my role, in MMOs, so maybe that's why XD Can't wait to get me one of those, later in the story! Well, that and the Dart ones, as I'm still a speed-freak at heart :3
Also, salutes Thunderbird

...the Corrosion Golem is just straight up cool, though. So is the Erosion Golem, 'cause #GiantSnakesWithGuns, but it's scary to think that I'm usin' the thing it's weak against. Interesting tidbit about bandits and outlaws, though - can't wait to meet 'em!

"They are frail for their large size, but move silently and swiftly, transmit sensory and auditory information to their masters, and can ambush targets with frightening efficiency." Oh, gosh, that sounds like the Spyder Spider, except... so much worse. Really interested to see all of this in action, to be honest!

I agree, these new golems sound awesome!

Crucial question: How big is an Erosion Golem?

Thanks for the feedback! It's appreciated.

Now, when it comes to the size of the golems, they tend to vary according to the power of their essences. Lesser golems are smallish, usually around the size of medium dogs, since the single elemental that powers them can't support a very large body. Greater golems, however, are considerably larger. For example, the Fire- and Thunderbirds are large enough to be ridden fantasy-style; the Stalkers are the size of a large dog, the Blasters, a small car, and the Vanguards, somewhere in between; and the Corrosion and Erosion are both significantly larger, simply because they're rather long - they'd be about two metres (6'8'') tall when rearing, and about... two to three, maybe even four, times that in total length? If you guys want the other greater golems to be larger to compensate for the serpents' length, that'd be fine by me!

@Vellichor, you joined the Discord server, but to be sure, does that mean you're interested in joining, or just that you want to be in the server? I'm fine either way. XD