by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

Sure, you can play that winning card and step away from your match the glorious victor. But where is the fun unless you can also drop some lore knowledge on your opponent and add insult to injury? In this column, we don’t worry about card values or strategy – all we care about is that sweet, sweet lore. Check back every Wednesday for a new installment of Card Smart!

What happens when you pair the practical need with guarding your crops with the ruthless efficiency of a mechanical killing machine? You get a Harvest Golem, of course.

Generally speaking, a golem is a humanoid, animated construct made out of inanimate matter (clay, stone, etc.) that is brought to life, usually by means of magic.

A golem is given a simple task to follow, and will carry out his assigned role literally and without question. Typically, the instruction is along the lines of “guard stuff”, and a trigger event – somebody approaching the object being guarded – will make the golem spring to life.

Harvest Golems were originally designed by Golbin engineers to instill fear in the population of Westfall. When simple scarecrows just wouldn’t do, the thinking was that machines with knives for hands would certainly do the trick. Goblins of course are extremely skilled engineers, perhaps though with a touch of over-aggressiveness when it comes to developing their designs.

These golems were harmless looking, but possessed extreme speed and a merciless dedication to carrying out their orders.They would wait long enough for victims to get in range, then charge, and violently attack any intruder. In addition, golems further incapacitated their victims with tetanus disease and would not retreat until the task was done.

Early versions of the harvest golem were so effective that any victim was simply dispatched with ruthless efficiency. After some tweaking, the golems were slowed just enough to allow the occasional victim to get away and spread word of their horrors. Within weeks, enough people had heard tales of these golems to stay sufficiently far away from the fields and farms of Westfall.