Encounter: Olaf the Golem

Olaf is a flesh golem who shuffles around the wilderness, homeless and haunted by his past. His creator used the brain of a blacksmith recently killed by a kick from a horse. Olaf awoke to find himself in a new, horrible, body but still endowed with his original intelligence and free-will. Disgusted by his creator, he smashed the door of his cell, killed the guards and escaped into the stormy night.

But the necromancer did not give up all his hard work so easily. Seeing that magical control did not work, he resorted to more traditional methods, taking the blacksmith's wife/widow hostage and using that threat to command Olaf's special talents towards his dark goals and instigated a reign of terror over the course of five long years.

Olaf, however, suffered from the same red rage that other flesh golems do, and in one berserk episode he slew not only an assassin sent to kill the necromancer, but also the necromancer himself and his own beloved wife. He fled into the wilds, swearing never to harm another, except in self-defense - a clause that many have given him reason to invoke in the 30 years since that fateful night of blood and despair.

In AD&D terms, Olaf is a normal flesh golem except that his Int is 12 (and Wis 11). He speaks a language which is regional but not the Common tongue of the campaign (for example, Bulgarian but not Latin or French, in Mediaeval Earth terms - not unheard-of but somewhat rare). He knows that most things in the wilderness can not really harm him, although many try. He will tolerate almost any creature but is wary of all. Adventurers, on the other hand, he knows can (and have) hurt him and although he will not be the first to attack, he will be especially wary if he is encountered by humans or demi-humans. If he surprises a party, he will take the opportunity to flee, possibly through them. Otherwise, he might be approached carefully. He dislikes horses and will try to keep his distance from them.

Most parties will have nothing he wants and thus he will not aid nor join them unless some common threat pushes them together. If he does join a party, he will not join in any attacks against any creature of any sort that has not already tried to harm him. Despite that, he could be a very powerful ally for a party in extremis. No matter what, he will leave a party after a single adventure and seek out solitude once more so that he can nurse his grief - his only constant companion.

Olaf has no treasure and no interest in such things.

Lv/XP value: VII / 2480