GREEN
173
0
1319 7.69 KB 71
1319 7.69 KB 71
-
A piece of lore about golems made by snowponies, inspired by an AI generated image.
-
-
-
>The north is a very magical place.
-
>Spirits roam freely, basking in the natural magics of the region.
-
>Everything is soaked in magic, which gives objects which are considered completely inert and inanimate a very basic, low level of awareness.
-
>The earth, the rocks, the trees, even the wind is, in some sense, "alive".
-
>In other words, they have spirits, formed due to the bountiful magic of Snowponia.
-
>They are incredibly simple-minded, compared to the sapience of a pony, but still powerful, which allows those that are capable of communicating with them to call, communicate, and nudge them to do various things, with mixed results.
-
>Shamares know not to call on the spirits of nature too often, since they are wild, and can only carry out the most basic instructions.
-
>Summoning rain on a dry summer could go well, or you could get a deluge.
-
>And controlling the results isn't really possible, since the shamares can mostly only "talk" to the spirits - it's not *them* performing the actual magic that happens, it's the spirits.
-
>And other, more defined and intelligent spirits such as the windigoes, are sufficiently smart and willful to not only resist any attempts to command them, but also try to wreak revenge on the one that attempted it.
-
>Truly helpful spirits are few and far between, the only exception being the spirits of the dead ponies.
-
>However, while they are a boon to anyone they choose to aid, they are not very powerful.
-
>Unless it's a shamare's spirit, they're not able to do very much, mostly helping others through advice and passing on their experience.
-
>Slowly, though, the snowponies keep learning about how the northern regions work, and that includes a deeper understanding of the very nature of the spirit and it's relation to the world it's in.
-
>A surprisingly large part of a pony's behavior is dictated by their body, not their spirit, for example.
-
>Even the most sedate pony that spent their entire life in the village suddenly finds themselves utterly fearless when faced with a northern beast after they become a spirit.
-
>Turns out that the insane adrenaline rush, heart beating like wild, and your instincts screaming at you to run are all coming from your body, not your mind.
-
>Which leads to some interesting musings among the shamares and other ponies.
-
>If they built a pony body, a strong protector made of ice, what would it act like? Would it gain a spirit, like the rest of the world around them? And would it's spirit behave like a pony would?
-
>Such musings lead to experiments, and, over time, to some very interesting results.
-
>Golem-making is usually thought of as an occupation of a highly advanced and industrialized society.
-
>It involves many ponies and steps needed to reach that level of magic and craftsmareship.
-
>The most common materials are metals or stone, which need tools and skills to be worked into a proper shape.
-
>Then come the runes.
-
>The materials may make golems very durable, but programming even the most basic facsimile of a mind is a massive undertaking.
-
>Getting the golem to do anything but the most basic of tasks takes ages of painstakingly creating, carving, and combining dozens upon dozens of runes, each one of which corresponds to one tiny command, such as "move left foreleg forward".
-
>In the end, you end up with a mindless, obedient servant, sometimes useful in dangerous environments, but one which takes a lot of effort to make for a questionable amount of rewards.
-
>Cost-wise, it's often cheaper just to buy regular machinery or pay ponies rather than use golems.
-
>As such, golem-making is mostly an idle curiosity for wizards trying to find an easier way to manufacture them, or a way for rich ponies to show off.
-
>Which makes it very surprising that the snowponies have a tradition of making golems.
-
>Rather impressive ones, too, which act almost like they were alive.
-
>Unsurprisingly, the process is completely different from the "traditional" methods of golem-making.
-
>It does involve magic and materials, at first.
-
>A "Heart" is created for the future golem, usually from an unbroken crystal geode, which is an excellent natural magical battery.
-
>The surface is very carefully carved and painted with runes, while the shamares carefully breathe magic and life into the geode.
-
>They are not just enchantments or "come to life" spell runes though, but words in the snowpony language.
-
>"Courage", "Kindness", "Protector", and similar terms are painted upon the heart, to coax the golem into acting according to those principles.
-
>Next, a body is prepared for it, though not from stone or metal. It is made from the most plentiful material in the north - ice.
-
>Not the most durable material, but it makes it immensely easy to repair the golem.
-
>Just pour water on it's "injuries".
-
>There is a whole ritual and a ceremony for the activation of the golem, which is treated more like welcoming new life into the tribe rather than an industrial achievement of a job well done, even giving the golems names.
-
>There is song, dance, cheering, and many, many drums, constantly beating in the tempo of a heartbeat, the "heart" resting next to the drummers.
-
>The shamares put the heart into the chest of the ice statue, pouring water on it to seal it inside.
-
>Breathing life into it one last time, they step back, watching the golem's eyes slowly light up.
-
>The golem is treated with respect and gratitude for it's duty, even though it's still quite obviously an artificial construct.
-
>They are almost always placed on small cairns of stones on the outskirts of the village, standing motionlessly in their silent vigil.
-
>Ever watchful, never tiring, they constantly look out towards the tundra for any threats to the village.
-
>The ponies that pass by greet them by name and nod to them, as if they were full members of the tribe.
-
>Most of them remain stoic and silent for the longest time, but over the years, their nascent spirits slowly grow and develop.
-
>Despite being created artificially, they develop, almost like living beings.
-
>They're still not very smart. They don't have brains, after all.
-
>But they do have hearts.
-
>Eventually, they start nodding back to the snowponies passing by, the older golems even developing expressions on their usually featureless icy faces.
-
>Some look stoic and fierce, looking over the tundra.
-
>Others have a smile frozen (heh) on their face, looking over the ponies they're protecting.
-
>Either way, even this proto-intelligence is leagues ahead of what the artificially-coded golems are capable of.
-
>They are able to understand whether something is a threat or not, and to react to cries for help.
-
>Every time a golem steps down from it's cairn to confront a threat, it is accompanied by cheers and gratittude of the snowponies.
-
>And every time one falls, they make sure to retrieve it's heart, placing it back on the cairn and burying it in snow where it slowly reforms it's body.
-
>The cairns themselves function as "charging platforms" of sorts, with the stones also being carved with runes to help the golem keep it's magic up.
-
>Grateful ponies make sure to give it thanks as they're passing by while it "heals".
-
>Overall, the golems are truly impressive, with the only drawback being the material.
-
>Ice is relatively easy to smash through, certainly easier than metal.
-
>And when summer comes, the snow melts, which happens to the golems, as well.
-
>The golem's hearts are left on the cairns to for a "well-earned rest", until the ice and snow come back again, with all the beasts of the north.
-
>Regardless of any drawbacks of their designs, the snowponies love their silent protectors.
-
>Some even say that in their stony hearts, the golems love them back...
by Wingnut
by Wingnut
by Wingnut
by Wingnut
by Wingnut