Van Richten's Monster Hunter's.pdf - Askadesign.com

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The villagers had been too
terrified to search the graoes
themseloes, so they were quite
shocked to see the mangled forms
lying uncovered within the newly
re-opened graoes. All three of the
men had been young and
powerfully built. Now though, each
of the bodies was missing one limb.
Asking as delicately as I could
under the circumstances, I
confirmed that each man had been
whole when buried. . . .
-From the journal of
Dr. Van Richten
e-: .-
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The chamber was reachable only by
arduously crawling through a network
of small caves that followed a tiny
underground stream. Although the
outside temperatures averaged over
100 degrees and the humidity was
always high, the chamber itself was
extremely cool due to its depth and
stone insulation. Thus, the collected
body parts remained quite fresh even
though the first of the limbs' "donors"
was almost a week dead.
Sffects of Decay
I do not wish to imply that a week-old
body part and one that is but hours
dead are of equal value. The fresher
part would be much more valuable
from a creator's perspective. While a
piece of flesh may be usable, it does
not follow that it reflects "peak
condition." When partially decayed
materials are used in the construction
of a golem, the creature's structural
integrity is diminished. Further, if too
many parts have degraded sufficiently,
the creature as a whole may not be
viable, no matter what the creator
attempts.
Another possibility is that a member
of the Created whose body contains
partially decayed body parts is not as
clever or powerful as a golem
constructed solely with fresher parts.
.
. ,.,
'2,
TriE CREATED 8
Presumablv, any lessening of skills
would be those-relative to-the defective
body part or parts (a slightly rotted
brain might create a less intelligent
creature, for example).
Indeed, I suspect that certain body
parts-especially those upon which
skills are based-might be more
vulnerable to decay and damage than
others. Eyes, brains, hearts, and other
organs should become unusable at a
faster rate due to their delicacy. Other,
less delicate body parts-limbs, for
example-would no doubt withstand
greater abuse before they are rendered
worthless.
A scientist with whom I am
acquainted has suggested that the
level of decay is not truly pertinent,
save that a part must have enough
structural integrity to hold together
during the actual physical
construction. I tend to dispute this
idea: it makes little sense, given what
we know of physiology. However, it is
unwise to entirely rule out any
possibility when dealing with the
Created. Take this information, your
own observations, and any other
sources you can find and come to your
own conclusions. It is your life at risk.
Wonhman Body Parts
It is indeed possible for body parts
from corpses of different races, and
even different species, to be used in
the creation of one golem. I myself was
involved in the destruction of a
particularly grotesque golem who
appeared to have been constructed
from no fewer than three different
species. Its head and torso were
human, but one of its arms was that of
a brown bear, while its legs appeared
to have been ogre limbs. It was a
terribly disfigured monster, all out of
proportion with itself, like a child's
fanciful drawing come horribly to life.
What, if any, mental and emotional
effect would this sort of meraina have? -I
That is a question which I shall explore