Golem: Flesh
Select Subtype:
Description:
Flesh golems are the horrific work of necromancers who salvage graves for body parts, which they then stitch together and reanimate using magical or pseudo-scientific means. Flesh golems are easier to create than some other golems, as the flesh from which they are assembled is functional - or at least it was at the moment of death - and only needs to be 'jump started'. Unlike other golems, flesh golems are neither mindless nor asocial, rather, these tortured creatures are bound to the decayed and deranged minds of those whose bodies they are forged from, meaning they can be reasoned with to a certain extent, and can have their minds and emotions manipulated. Their shattered and reassembled psyches leave them particularly vulnerable to attacks that damage their Composure.
Special:
Flesh golems are immune to shock damage, and any spell that does shock damage (such as Lightning) will restore Health and Stamina to the flesh golem equal to its Casting Cost. Magical weapons that do shock damage will restore Health and Stamina equal to the damage bonuses coming from the shock. They are, however vulnerable to fire, and take +50% damage from Flame attacks.
Unlike other golems, which are mindless automata, flesh golems are psychologically vulnerable to skills or spells that attack their Composure. By the same token, their tenuous (some say blasphemous) hold on actual life means that they cannot be disabled using the Dispel Magic Spell. Flesh golems rely on normal vision to see, and cannot see in the dark without light.
After their first few weeks of animation, flesh golems will develop a contagious disease known as Chalkrot. This disease will eventually cause them to disintegrate unless they periodically have their dessicating tissues replaced - adding another horror to the mix. Chalkrot can be contracted by coming into contact with an afflicted goelm, or by exposure to the flaking tissues that fall away from their bodies.
Variants:
Flesh golems are most often created as perverse experiments to serve the curiousity or hubris of necromancers or scientists - sometimes they are not even created with a specific purpose in mind. Once created they may be used as servants or guards, but as often as not, once their disturbed creators have acheived their ambition, they may lose interest in their creation altogether, allowing it to suffer and rot in the corner.
Standard Flesh Golem
A standard flesh golem stands about 2m in height, though size will vary depending on the anatomy of the individual (or individuals) used as a starting point. Strong and tireless, they can perform repetitive labourer endlessly and are ideal for manual labour - most often working in laboratories. They are not often used for field labour as their creators typically want their existence kept secret.
Giant Flesh Golem
Giant flesh golems, which might reach up to 4m in height, are even more abominable than their standard cousins as humanoid body parts don't come in giant sizes. To make a giant flesh golem requires acquiring giant sized body parts and stiching them together to support a larger frame. Bones may come from large animals, and muscles and skin from multiple sources maybe be spliced and grafted together to lengthen and strengthen them. Sometimes even larger organs or extremities will be used; the heart if an ox, or the hands of a gorilla added into the mix. Due to the horrors inflicted upon them, giant flesh golems are presumed to be in constant agony, they are unstable and easily given over to fits or screaming rage. There is virtually no reason to contruct a giant flesh golem other than to sow fear and destruction on a large scale.
Flesh Golem Servant
Flesh golems do not normally make good servants - you don't want them touching your dinner plate or your bedsheets once they have developed chalkrot. That said, labour is labour, and deranged scientists and necromancers tend to be short on friends and are often in need of an extra set of hands around the lab.
Flesh Golem Consort
As with giant flesh golems, flesh golem consorts also add an abominable twist atop the base horror of their very existence. Most often a flesh golem consort is created to serve as a partner for a standard golem in hopes of soothing a damaged psyche in the hope of controlling it better. Very often an emphasis is placed on preserving the physical form and minimizing surgical intervention to maintain the most pleasing possible appearance. In the most abhorrent context, a flesh golem consort might be created with the demented and misguided aim of reanimating a specific loved one in a kind of 'poor-man's ressurection'. But a flesh golem is not merely a mentally or emotionally distant version of the person they were in life - they are something else entirely. They are purely automata. They have no genuine sense of self and no awareness of who they were in life. Any shadow of the person they were before death and reanimation is purely a coincidence caused by biophysical patterns worn into the flesh.