[sblock=Ragaman the Living Fortress]
The blazing Desert has six estate cities, each with it’s own government. Each city has oasis, which were the original place where the people first settled.
There are mainly humans and tieflings in all these cities, and their dressing, architecture and way of life resembles middle-age Arabia. Perhaps for a closer example, Calisham. Each city is ruled by a single person, the Ladham, who has a cohort of counselors, for each sphere of the city life: One for Food production/acquisition, another for security, another for healthcare, and so on.
All the cities have had times of peace and war, using military power to conquer some of their weaker neighbors. In the past, there was another city, deep in the heart o the desert, which almost conquered all the others. Ruled by the archmage Ragaman, the seventh city ruled all but the first. But doomsday came to the city of Asamadar, when the troops marched to the walls of the city, and began a siege that lasted 2 weeks. When the sun was setting, the last night of the site, something happened in Ragaman’s land. The entire city was swallowed by the sand. Countless lives were lost, counting the archmage; not even his magic could save the tyrant. Slowly, each nation recovered the rule over their respective lands.
In these days, the nations are in peace, but the cause of the fall of the seventh nation became apparent each passing day. Ankhegs, but not normal ones, which use to dwell under pastures, where the soil is moist and fertile. These ankhegs are red and yellow, and dig tunnels in the sand. These creatures began to appear recently, and spread from the middle of the desert, and now appear almost in the first nation’s borders. Some argue that these creatures excavated the city's basements; some even say that it was the archmage who created the vermin, and was unable to control them. What people don’t know, is that Ragaman still lives.
Ragaman was the successor of his father, the great Ladham of the seventh city of the blazing desert. His father had been a prolific ruler, and had many wives and left many offspring. The cunning Ragaman was trained in the art of magic from an early age, and upon his father’s death, he became Ladham, as he was the eldest and most lecture of his brothers. Ragaman’s first act as ruler of the seventh city was to imprison and execute all of his brothers and sisters. The next years of his regin were plagued by massacre, dark rituals, abuses of power, slavery, and war.
Ragaman developed a taste for creating golems and other constructs, even those that are vile and which mere existence is a blasphemy. Bone, flesh, iron, sand, clay, you name the golem; Ragaman had a dozen at his service.
With his army of constructs and summoned fiends, Ragaman conquered the remaining nations. Asamadar was the last city standing under other flag than Ragaman’s. It’s Ladham, a Djinn called Losador was a worthy opponent for Ragaman, and although the sage rarely was seen in the battlefield, he was there the day the siege of Asamadar began; but that is not on the history books. Ragaman and Losador debated for one day and two nights. At the end of their debate, they came to an agreement. Ragaman wanted Losador to give life to his golems, specially one big golem he had in his sanctum. The tricky Djinn agreed, and both teleported to Ragaman chambers. Losador couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the massive golem standing on a special chamber. It’s legs like towers, it’s chest like a caslte. In one hand it hold a massive hammer, and over it’s shoulder there were three towers. Ragaman explained that the central was the control room, the second, a forge of golems, and the third was armed with arcane devices to shoot the enemies on the battlefield. He was so proud of his creation that he took Losador to the central tower. From there, Ragaman thought to control the monstrosity, and cast his spells from a safe distance. Losador for the first time wa scared. He had promised this maniac to give him the energy he needed to activate this leviathan, and was hoping to trick the mage somehow.
So a plan occurred to him. He told Ragaman that he needed him to stay ready to operate the golem when he gave it the energy, and the mage believed it. When the wizard lowered his magical protections in order to manipulate the controls, Losador trapped the wizard’s essence inside the first object he saw, a crystal ball next to the tyrant. The wizard was caught unprepared, and his soul trapped in the crystal ball. Losador laughed at the object, proud and confident of his victory. The soul of Ragaman raged inside the crystal ball, which only made Losador happier. He would leave the mage trapped in his own machine for the rest of the eternity.
The djinn teleported back to his city, and was even more contempt to behold as the golems controlled by the wizard remained motionless, and his summoned demons were returned to their native planes, as the spell that bound them was no longer in effect.
But Ragaman was far from defeat; Losador made a huge mistake in placing him inside the ‘Control Orb’. Fueling the golem with his own essence, Ragaman activated the golem. As it was still fixed to the walls and the celling, the awakening of the hulking golem was accompanied by a cave in. Ragaman was free, and seconds later, he was trapped. His castle and city fall engulfed by the collapsing basements, all over the giant golem.
Years passed since those times, now the cities are free, and Ragaman is only a bad memory, a name that mothers use to scare their sons. But this night story is far from ending: Each day, Ragaman excavated further to the surface, until one day, the three towers emerged from the sand. Now, as he finishes releasing his body, the second tower’s forges are burning, and golems are being created to fulfill their master’s desires.
Stats: This one is tricky, think of a level 25-30 colossus of the gods, armed with a hammer and shooting arcane spells from the third tower. Although now it’s completely buried, and can only attack with the tower, it could eventually unbury.
Theme:
Golems: Ragaman’s minions are golems. Once they were from almost any substance, but now they are mostly mechanical, although some of the old ones were reactivated, they are a fair minority.
Vengance: Ragaman wants Losador dead, and will stop before nothing to achieve that.
Cold minded:As Ragaman spend so many years imprisoned inside the giant golem, his human feelings have gone. He tends to be calculative, and will not rush things, no get visceral with anything or anyone, except perhaps Losador.
Rebuilder: Ragaman’s forces composed of golems need no food, need no people, need no shelter. Upon conquering, they will promptly dismantle every building (and any person left alive) to repair themselves or create more golems, and the machinery necessary to do so.
The weakness: As Ragaman’s essence is trapped inside the cristal ball in the central tower, if it happens to shatter in pieces, the wizard will reform outside the golem. That poses an advantage and a difficulty: On one side, the giant golem menace is stopped. On the other hand there is an angry archmage just in front of you who will turn you into banana pie.
The golem Forge: The second tower can produce a wide variety of golems, to use as messegers, spies, assassins, diplomatic embassadors, warriors, auxilia, etc.
Forces: Metalic golems of various sorts. The military organization and tactics is quite roman. The main force is the heavy combat golems, and there are squadrons of auxilia golems to aid those in battle against particular threats. [/sblock]