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The Colossus Of Sarna

The kingdom of Sarna is a small but powerful kingdom in the Northwest, sitting on the edge of the Western Sea. Its power comes from the strength of its royal lineage - during the Shogunate, it was a small military outpost for the local Daimyo, and a pair of Dragon-Blooded survived the Contagion and the subsequent invasion by the fae. They did not choose to sign up to the Scarlet Empire when it was first founded, instead joining the empire of Bagrash Kol, and when that empire collapsed, they became a nominally independant nation, uninterested in entering the field of Dynastic politics when they could be the big fish of their own small pond - by that time, they had born several children, a few of whom had Exalted as well. While the Empress could likely have flattened them without significant effort, the kingdom was deemed too remote to be worth the effort of sending a few Circles of Dynasts.

Since then, Sarna's royal family has continued on its path, usually breeding with mortals, but occasionally drawing other Outcastes into its family and revitalizing the blood. The royal family typically holds five to ten Exalts, and a slightly larger number of mortal relatives. By ancient tradition, there is always one royal Sorcerer who supports the family. By a similar tradition, that sorcerer always must be an artificer, and during their lifetime must craft a new modification or addition to the Colossus of Sarna.

The Colossus was once a simple scout warstrider, piloted by the first King of Sarna in the days of the Contagion. The Court Sorcerer of the time crafted a complicated AI system, allowing the Colossus to deploy as an automaton rather than a suit of armour; this slightly reduced its capabilities, but allowed for it to defend the kingdom without serious peril. The second Court Sorcerer modified the Colossus to be lighter and more manueverable, then crafted a special armor coating from yellow jade, granting the Colossus increased power. The third designed for it a powerful weapon to be wielded in battle, and the fourth designed a special movement system for it. The fifth and most recent Court Sorcerer has created Essence batteries for the powerful golem, allowing it to use its modifications to full effect, and leaving power for future generations to continue to upgrade it.

Parts Of The Colossus

Currently, the Colossus is designed with six seperate sections, each of which is an level 3 Artifact. The sections are designed to function together, allowing the makers of the Colossus to partially bypass the normal difficulties of creating high-level Artifacts and giving the Colossus a surprising degree of power. The people of Sarna have yet to consider that the Colossus itself is becoming a tempting target for thieves and conquerers; while the kingdom itself is not powerful, this Artifact may yet prompt someone to invade.

The Frame of the Colossus

The frame of the Colossus is designed from the shell of a scout warstrider; however, it now has very little soak, and its power is slightly less than it once was. The frame is powered entirely by the artifact's internal Essence batteries, and does not require a hearthstone or other power source. When the frame is active, it consumes 10 motes of Essence per hour that it is active.

The frame has the following base statistics: Strength 10, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Appearance 3. It applies a -1 Mobility penalty to all of the creature's tasks, suffers a -1 external penalty to attack rolls against small targets. It soaks damage with its full Stamina, and has normal automaton immunities. The frame has the following health levels: OK x2, -1 x3, -2 x3, -4 x2, Inc x8, Destroyed. It multiples its Move and Dash rates by 10. The frame cannot be piloted, and relies entirely on the internal matrix to function.

The Matrix of the Colossus

The matrix at the centre of the Colossus is an extremely complicated system, one which is borderline sentient and is capable of operating without supervision. The matrix does not require Essence from the batteries to operate, and is capable of operating and communicating while the frame itself is offline. The matrix considers itself to be the Colossus, and is strongly protective of the kingdom of Sarna. It also considers itself quite the wit, and is prone to cracking jokes at inoppurtune times.

Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 4
Athletics 4 (Strength Feats +3), Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Integrity 5 (Defending The Kingdom +3), Investigation 2, Lore 1, Martial Arts 4 (Against Armies +1), Occult 1, Presence 2, Resistance 5, Socialize 1, War 4 (As a Solo Unit +1)
Reception 3, Transmission 4, Stability 2, Power 4
Willpower 9, Essence 2, No active Essence pool

The Armor of the Colossus

The Colossus is sheathed from head to toe in gleaming armor of yellow jade-alloyed steel. Assembling the armor required months of effort and several careful purchases, as well as the melting down of more than one small mortal-oriented armor. The armor coats the frame perfectly, keeping it from serious problems.

The armor provides the Colossus with an addition 10B/10L soak and 8 hardness. It increases its Mobility penalties by 1, but does not cause fatigue, and does not require artifact attunement.

The Colossus's Sword

The Colossus wields a massive hooked sword in battle, one forged from black jade to match the hints of framework under the automaton's powerful armor. Originally, the sword was attuned through a hearthstone, but it now draws energy directly from the Essence battery at the heart of the Colossus. The sword has the following statistics:

Speed 5, Accuracy +2, Damage +15L/4, Defense +3, Rate 2, Attunement 8 motes, Tags 2 R P O

The Colossus's Flight Engine

The flight system of the Colossus was based on a standard warstrider flight system, but had to be powered down in order to accomodate the lack of power that the frame originally had. Now, it draws its power directly from the Essence battery and is nearly at full capability, requiring ten motes per hour of operation. The flight system increases the Colossus's Dodge DV by 2, adds two dice to all Dexterity-based rolls, and doubles the movement speed of the Colossus.

The Essence Battery

The Essence Battery of the automaton is located in the heart of the Colossus. When at full capacity, it holds 40 motes; artifacts that are attuned to it reduce its mote pool as though it were a normal being. This means that the current system holds 32 active motes, enough for three hours of operation, less with the flight system active.

However, the battery has an additional advantage - a hearthstone socket. Any hearthstone may be hooked up to the battery, and it will provide its full benefits if done so, adding double its rating in motes to the battery's reserves every hour until the battery is full. Hearthstones thus connected will also provide any normal benefits to the frame if the matrix is capable of activating it. Currently, the battery is hooked up to a Level 2 Hearthstone, the proprietary hearthstone of the royal family.

The Complete Colossus

Fully constructed, the Colossus has the following stats:

Strength 10, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance 3, Perception 3, Intelligence 2, Wits 4

Athletics 4 (Strength Feats +3), Awareness 3, Dodge 3, Integrity 5 (Defending The Kingdom +3), Investigation 2,
Lore 1, Martial Arts 4 (Against Armies +1), Occult 1, Presence 2, Resistance 5,
Socialize 1, War 4 (As a Solo Unit +1)

Reception 3, Transmission 4, Stability 2, Power 4
Willpower 9, Essence 2, Essence Pool 32 (8 committed) [+4 motes per hour]

Attacks:
Hook Sword: Speed 5, Accuracy 10, Damage 25L/4, Defense 11, Rate 2, Tags 2 R P O
Fist: Speed 5, Accuracy 9, Damage 10L, Defense 10, Rate 3, Tags N
Note: -1 external penalty to attacks against small creatures

PDV: 6, DDV: 3 or 5, Soak: 18B/18L [Hardness 8], Mobility -2 (included in DV)
Health Levels: OK, OK, -1, -1, -1, -2, -2, -2, -4, -4, Inc x8, Destroyed

Move 40 (Fly 80), Dash 110 (Fly 220), MPDV: 2, MDDV: 9