Steinbjorn: On Golems

Consider the iron golem.

On the one hand, you have a magical creation whose usefulness is hard to overstate. They are large, strong, never tire, are resistant to wear, tear, and other damaging influences, and can operate in the most magically toxic areas without worry. If you lived in a city, particularly the kind with poorly thought out construction practices, you could have no better neighbor than a man with an iron golem. If your house burned down, the golem could dig tirelessly through the rubble, seeking to dig out your children, stash of gold, pet dog or what have you. If you lived in a magically active area, it could wade into a magical vortex to fish out your wife without concern. If the local mine was collapsing, the golem could hold it up for as long as it took for the miners to shore up the thing.

Around the house, of course, they can perform all manner of menial tasks, again using their inhuman strength and tireless obedience. And they can defend your home better than the most fearsome guard dog, and without all the irritating clean up.

And yet, there is hardly a fool in the world who would look at his neighbor building golems and think "oh, good." Why is that?

Because, quite simply, a golem becomes an unstated threat. An iron golem could be useful, yes, but it could also single-handedly demolish an infantry regiment. The average military is simply not set up to deal with a golem. They haven't got a storehouse of adamantine blades, and the sort of mage that joins the military is probably the sort that thinks in terms of evocation, rather than more elegant magic. A golem, therefore, carries with it a second potential, aimed at the rightful rulers of wherever the thing happens to be built; you may rule this place, but I can demolish you whenever I like.

And then, of course, the golem's creator passes on, and you have a new host of problems.

Which raises the question: given that a golem carries with it so much possible threat, is it a proper use of magic?

I think not. Unfortunately, it's not the kind of improper use of magic I was prepared to deal with today.

But there is one less golem in this world, and that can only better, in the long term.