Gemstone golem

Gemstone golems, also called gem golems, were beautiful but deadly automatons created from various precious gems. The three most common forms of gemstone golem included those made from rubies, emeralds, and diamonds. "We have discovered that Zulkir Thrul's gemstone golems do indeed exist, and they are highly resistant to the magic of Rashemen. Even if we manage to defeat the Thayans, it may be at such a terrible cost that we will be helpless against their next attack."

- Nythra of the Seven Rivers, a witch of Rashemen

Description
Owing to having the appearance of being carved from glittering precious stone, the average gemstone golem had a decidedly more delicate and agile look than the average golem. This was deceiving, however, as a gemstone golem could easily weight up to.

Each type of gemstone golem was said to embody the power of that specific stone's gem magic, a lost and imprecise form of the Art: However, just as gemstones may be flawed, so too were gemstone golems, and these flaws led them to diverge from the intentions of their creators and the powers which they were intended to embody.
 * Ruby golems were said to embody healing and the powers of earth
 * Emerald golems were said to embody teleportation magic and were able to open gates
 * Diamond golems were said to embody perfection

Behavior
As a general rule, gemstone golems were not as accurate in following commands as other golems, and could be hard to control. In order to control a gemstone golem during battle, a circle of at least a dozen wizards, led by a superior, was needed. Directing the golem required the circle's complete focus, and any interruption resulted in the golem wandering aimlessly. The control extended for beyond where the circle was first formed. Gemstone golems were deactivated when not in use by a circle.

Gemstone golems could understand verbal commands and language, but could not speak.

Combat
Regardless of the type of gemstone used during construction, these golems were highly resistant to physical damage and were practically unstoppable when unleashed.

Society
By the 14 century DR, gemstone golems were controlled almost exclusively by the Red Wizards of Thay, although many had since gone somewhat rogue, wandering the lands to fulfill partial or garbled versions of ancient commands. And it was not uncommon to find them in Mulhorand's Land of the Dead, acting as guardians of the various pharaohs' tombs.

Creation of a gemstone golem did not require that the entire body be carved out of a certain precious stone, as was a widely believed myth. Instead, the golem could be cobbled together from many semi-precious stones, however the golem's "heart" did need to be a large and valuable specimen of ruby, emerald, or diamond. This heart became the magical locus of the golem's construction, and could cause the other component materials to meld into a facsimile of the same gemstone. If the creation process failed, the heart would be lost but other materials could be reclaimed to try again.

A gemstone golem would collapse into a pile of rough cut precious gems and powder when slain. The gems were quite valuable and the powder could be used by wizards for spell components.

History
The first recorded creation of a gemstone golem was by the god-kings of Mulhorand. The secrets to their construction was lost for centuries, until in the, when the Red Wizard Zulkir Aznar Thrul discovered the ancient Mulhorand manuals that detailed the process of their creation. He went about unleashing them upon the Rashemaar, agianst whom they proved highly effective as they were largely resistant to the Wychlaran's spells as well as Rashemen's natural magics.

Thrul also experimented with creating golems from gemstones other than diamonds, emeralds, or rubies but the results were always mixed. The original means of crafting gemstone golems was only half-remembered, and there was reason to believe that Thruls modern methods were based on a misunderstanding of the original Mulhorandi texts. A number of Thrul's notes and texts were kept in the library of the Chambers of Twin Burnings.

After a few successful raids which left no survirors among the Rashemaar, Thrul prepared for a major assault. He prepared to amass a force of 100 gemstone golems by Nightal 15 for use by his allies, the Zulkirs Lauzoril and Nevron, to lead against them, with the ultimate goal being to win presteige in their ongoing efforts to undermine Szass Tam. However, the Simbul intercepted a document which detailed both the plan as well as the gemstone golems' weakness, namely that they required a circle of a dozen wizards to maintain control over them. She entrusted this information to a group of adventurers, who rushed to aid the Rashemaar The gemstone golems clashed with the Rashemaar in the Battle of the Gorge at the Gorge of Gauros. As the golems crashed through enemy lines, their command circle, led by Zulkir Nevron himself, was broken (although it was unclear whether this was because of efforts by the adventurers or thanks to Tam loyalists within the circle), and the entire gemstone golem army was freed of their control.

Soon after, Thrul found that we was not able to control his remaining army of gemstone golems either, and they too broke away, scattering across Faerûn via the gating abilities of the emerald golems. By the, they wandered the land as semi-independent constructs, many still following faint echoes of their last commands.

Appearances

 * Adventures
 * Throne of Deceit &bull; The Runes of Chaos