Fate of Golems

Little bit of a wait for now. Should have time to write an update on thursday.

 

Orc Knight
Um the explorer decided the world needed more forms of life. Seaweed had colonised the waters, grasses sprawled the hills and plains of the world of golems and worms dug through the depths, but there were other beings that could be imagined. Worms of the sky, worms of the waters. So Um thought deeply, as many other golems had done before, with the intention of having their thoughts made form after being hit by lightning.

After great pondering, with necessary smoking sessions in between, Um’s mind gave form to a worm with a mouth. They called it a snake, but when it bit Um, they threw it into the grass, where it slithered away. A new being had been created, sure, but a friendly fellow it was not.

So Um pondered further, and from their mind came forth a snake that lived in water. Um called it an eel, but when they wished to pet it, the being turned out to possess powers of lightning. It zapped the golem, after which it swum away. To Um’s annoyance, no being brought forth by them had any desire whatsoever to be amicable, let alone tolerant of their presence. Now Um was no newly created golem, and their many adventures in the dunes (now rolling hills) had hardened their heart somewhat, but to add onto the hostility of the world with greater hostility was, as the bowls of Mesdames Qa had augured: “A shite state of affairs.”

Why meanwhile, had come up with a worm that turned into a not-worm with wings, the former of which Why had called a caterpillar and the latter a butterfly. Gazing upon those butterflies, Um, baked as always, figured that if the eel they had come up with was in possession of the form of a butterfly, then perhaps it would be capable of greater warmth and joy, and bask with Um and Why in the delightful world that could be created.

So the golem pondered up a new being, a being akin to an eel and a snake, but with wings and legs. Before long, Um had created a Dragon, which proved itself to be a massive beast of a size to rival the demigod Doris Day. Um ran up to it with stretched out sandy arms…

And got their lights smacked out with a hit of the dragon’s powerful tail. After putting Um to the ground, the Dragon flew to the lightning-riddled skies, where it can be seen flapping its gargantuan wings.

In their final moments, Um saw the accomplishments of their life pass before them. They saw the first worms they found and the seaweed they had brought to life. Um remembered their many voyages across the world, the first time they saw grass and water and above all, they remembered Why. Why, the wormball companion Um had carried around for decades as their inseparable friend, sat besides Um as the spark of life left them.

Um would be buried in sight of their hut, which was turned into a museum by Why and the posthumous admirers of Um, who recognised the golem as the greatest explorer the world of golems had ever known.

(Delusional Act. Roll = 20. Result = Death)

S.T. Ockenner
Poo, stroking their beard as was custom for the Beardbearers, decided it was high time for the entire golem world to be bearded. No golem should have to suffer a life devoid of hair. So it was settled. The three steps of the Beard Tablet would become common knowledge to all golems everywhere, who would praise the great self-styled god Poo for their magnanimous gift to golems. Wait... wasn't it the philosopher Sagacious Wu who came up with hair?

Poo conveniently ignored the truth as their religion spread quickly across the world, for the proof of its truth was apparent on its adherents’ faces. Before long, golems far and wide sported incredible amounts of facial hair, styled in manners rich and strange. Some curled their moustaches, others forked their beards and some? Some shaped their hair into figures so elaborate that beards became an art… NAY… A SPORT unto their own. And so it was that the Beardbearer cult became a full-fledged, accepted religion and the newly created annual Beardbearer Beard festival was recognised as a prestigious event across the world. Poo would spend their days overseeing their religious flock, while rating golem beards aplenty.

(Ambitious Act. Roll = 44. Result = Success)


Maker of Things Not Kings

Mesdames Qa decided it was time for the golem world to know commerce, so everyone in Gaaaaaaaa and beyond might learn about the magic of glass bowl divination, and perhaps more importantly: Give Mesdames Qa their fair share of diamonds and wormballs. Last time Mesdames Qa possessed the latter it led to the creation of a demigod, so what could go wrong?

The fortune teller made a mental list of what sort of things they wanted for their “place of commerce”. For one, it would have to be located in the middle of Gaaaaaa, to ensure everyone in the city could go to it without getting sore sandy soles. Secondly, the place would have to be zero maintenance. The cave was more than enough of a hassle to clean-up.

Mesdames Qa thought it all through as they spend the next few months making tiny glass bowls for home use, until one day they had a brilliant idea. What if this place… was just a place? Just an empty space where people could sell things. Genius! That way Mesdames Qa wouldn’t have to do anything besides making tiny glass bowls and selling them to gullible foo... loyal customers!

The golem put on their psychedelic headband and left their cave-parlour to stake out real estate in Gaaaaaaa. To their chagrin, the centre of town had been completely covered by the bungalows the city was known for. Damn, there went the plan.

A deep, booming voice spoke to Qa: “I am Doris Day, My Kingdom come, My Will be done. What problem do you face my miniscule creator?”

Mesdames Qa turned around with a shock, seeing the enormous might of the wormball deity Doris Day standing behind them. They told the being of their problem, to which the wormball replied by single-balledly bulldozing the dozens of bungalows before Qa’s sight. Luckily, old Ol's restaurant was still standing by the end of the rampage. Where else could a golem go for a hearty worm stews?

Although the destruction of central Gaaaaaaa led to many golems becoming homeless, no golem dared speak up against the will of Doris Day, which allowed Mesdames Qa and a number of terrified golems to clean up the rubble and create a large town square in the city of Gaaaaaaaaaa.

Many glass bowls would be sold over the coming years, with Qa, in time, perusing enough merchant stalls in the square they had created to build a novel invention to sell their bowls out of: a cart. Other golems during this time thought the wheels beneath said cart were a more impressive invention, but what did they know? They weren’t the ones who first made a golem home, they weren’t the ones who invented fortune telling and they definitely did not possess Qa’s rocking headband. No, no, that was all on Mesdames Qa, for despite early setbacks with pesky worms and a loss of faith in themselves, Qa knew well to heed the advice of their glass bowls:

“Don't stop believing
Hold on to that feeling”

(Common Act. Roll = 74. Result = Super success)

 

Lynea
Ga walked out of Mesdames Qa’s cave at the outskirts of Gaaaaaaaaa, looked back at the bungalow town they had created, seeing the gigantic demigod wormball that is Doris Day guard it in their rotund glory, then averted their gaze and looked forward. Ga let loose a deep sigh of relief as the weight of authority washed away from them, for they were no longer a tribal leader, nor the head of the town that bore their name, but a simple wandering golem like they used to be many decades ago.

Rolling green hills, clear water creeks with diamonds shimmering underneath and deep, dark caves were seen by Ga the Wanderer on their journey through the world of golems. So much had changed since they last wandered it. There were creatures all around, snakes, worms and eels of all types, and from time to time Ga found wormballs and golems wandering the same roads as they did. Ga greeted them, asked them if they had heard of West Virginia, then went on their exasperated way when they heard no one had. Ga would never find West Virginia if no golem, nor wormball had even heard of it!

After a while, Ga stumbled upon Mount Ra, the tallest mountain around, known for its enormous diamond statue of Ra on it. The high mount was settled by a small cabal of glass golems led by a glass golem named Or. Ga and the odd, light-channelling golems hung out for a while, with Or noticing the stiffness Ga’s long reign had brought them. Or hopped around, until their unmoving arms were in reach of an odd-looking grass. The glass golem told Ga to roll the vegetation up in regular grass and then smoke it. Ga shrugged their shoulders and did what they were told. They had a very pleasant journey from then on.

Ga would walk in every direction, from grass to grass, meeting golem friends aplenty, but none had heard of West Virginia. To Ga, it did not matter much, for they were pretty chill right now, desiring only to talk about nonsense, smoke grass and eat ample amounts of cookies made from worm paste.

One day though, Ga found a village comprised of caves between high-rising hills. This was odd, for in all the years of wandering, Ga had never found such a thing before. Huts? Sure. But until this moment, Ga had assumed Gaaaaaaaaa was the only place in the world that could truly be considered a settlement.

Ga asked one of the golems in their caves if this was the prophesied West Virginia, to which the golem laughed and replied: “Yeah, haha, sure.”

That must mean that these hills are Mountain Mamas! Cool. Ga found themself a cave to hang out in for a long, long while. West Virginia and its ample grass was a lovely place for a golem’s sand to grow old, until one day it will erode into dust. But who cares for entropy while the sun’s still shining and that strange substance called life’s still coursing through one’s body?

(Common Act. Roll = 69. Result = Super Success)

 

Final Update:

The world of golems is located on the inside of a hollow orb. It is small enough that one can walk the full circumference of the world a few times over in the span of a decade.

The world is comprised of lakes, islands, hills, caves, green grasses of all types, seaweed, glass, sandy/dusty soil and diamonds enveloped by thunderous, light-emitting clouds which strike the lands below with plentiful bolts of lightning. A deep dark sky lies beyond the clouds, beyond which the other end of the hollow golem world is located. An enormous dragon flies through the darkness above, who can sometimes be seen by light of lightning strikes.

There are:
-Zap-happy Eels
-Slithering snakes
-Fluttering butterflies
-Tiny little greyish worms who tunnel through soil. Found in caves. Taste pretty good.
-Big, arm-length juicy worms that taste pretty good. Cultivated for farming.
-Sentient and sapient hiveminds called wormballs, made from tying worms together in a ball. They are wonderful artists of all kinds and all types.
-Blocky, Glass golems who move by hopping around and say: "Or!" ...or what? Or they hit you with fire by guiding light through their glass forms.

Cities:
1.
Gaaaaaaaaaaaa is a city of stone and glass, which no longer has a leader since the resignation of Ga, its founder. It is made up of glass and stone bungalows.
-It contains the Doris Day Theatre, a massive art institution with pillars and balconies, on which the wormball demigod Doris Day is sat.
-It contains the world's first restaurant.
-A fortune teller's parlour is located in a cave just out of town.
-A large town square used as a market place
2.
West Virginia is a village of huts located in the hills called: "the Mountain Mamas". It is known for being an exceedingly laid-back place.


Locations:
-The tallest dune is called Mount Ra, on which a giant diamond statue dedicated to the deceased self-styled goddess is located. It is a holy site for the Glass Devotees religion.
-The Um Museum is a museum by a lake dedicated to Um the Explorer, who discovered many of the things golems know. It is tan by the wormball Why, who was a life long companion of the golem.

Sports:
-Golemerican Football is played with a diamond ball.
-Beard competitions are common in the world of golems, with the Beard Festival held by the Beardbearer religion being the biggest and most spectacular one.

Religions/Schools of thought:
-The Glass Devotees are a scattered religious group who worship the deceased goddess Ra, a golem who created the first glass golems, built a diamond statue to themself on Mount Ra and spread their religion by fire and glass. It is led by the glass golem Or, who spends most of their time chilling on the mountain with his glass golem pals.
-The Beardbearers are a large religions of golems dedicated to the "great god" Poo, who promised them wealth, splendour and facial hair. They succeeded in allowing all golems to grow beards, which they are known for sporting. They follow a holy scripture called the Beard Tablet.



This is the final update of this game. Thank you to everyone for participating! I hope you enjoyed your time in the world of golems. I gained a good deal of GM-ing experience and I like the direction you've taken the golem world in. If anyone reading this would like to run a game like this one, feel free to use the format.

 

Hey Maker, I'm glad you enjoyed the game. We created a fun, unique world together through the oddball journeys folks took. Now that the game is over, I'll reveal that the idea of the world (midway through) was that it all took place in a single grain of sand on an alternate version of our world, thus explaining why the world is a hollow ball of sand and why the glass bowls worked like radio's.

I would recommend the simple system I made for this game to a more experienced GM, as it is quite fun to mess around with. Perhaps in the future I'll run another "campaign" with this system, but if I were to do it again I might cap the game at 8 or 10 turns.