Shadesteel golems

The construct army that supplements the cysgoroesi in patrolling the Shadows--the golems form the defensive core protecting the fortress monasteries and other bases.

Appearance

Made entirely of shadesteel in the form of hulking, 8-12-foot tall humanoids (much like an iron golem, but much more graceful), the golems are all organic-looking curves and fluid movement. In a fight, they extrude greatswords, spears, or other melee weapons from their bodies, often molding their appendages into weapons.

Each golem is slightly different, often taking on aspects of their controlling soul.

Power Source and Control

Shadesteel golems are classical golems with solid, non-clockwork bodies animated by an embedded source. Unlike most golems, however, this source is a living soul that has been anchored in a crystal housing. This entire crystal and its housing is embedded in the armor's chest cavity, but can (in principle) be removed. This soul serves as the mind of the golem and makes them much more effective than most. In essence, the golem is the soul's new body and it acts as a living being...albeit one immune to most of the ravages of time and physical damage.

The souls do deteriorate over time, becoming senescent and/or insane. When this happens, the soul is removed and set free and a new soul is emplaced to control the body. There are whispers that the bodies remember their old souls, making the older golems act as an amalgam of their previous pilots. It's said that some rare golems have moved even without a powering soul, despite that being a magical impossibility.

Construction

The shadesteel golem army is created and maintained by the Bran Vras (magpie) sect of the cysgoroesi, cooperating with the Myji (raven) sect who acquire the souls to pilot them. Mostly, to be fair, consensually. The arts of construction are a fiercely-maintained secret. It is known that it requires an active connection to Shadow, if not being impossible outside of that realm.

Numbers

Current (circa 260 AC) census of shadesteel golems is approximately 1000. Many of the past legions were lost and left behind in abandoned monasteries, now probably fallen into disrepair, gone insane, or become daemonhost.