[✗] Steam Golem & Steam Heart

[Z3r05t4r 854]

Steam Golem & Steam Heart

Background

Silus II. Iullius Horen began the development of the Steam Golem on the principle of developing weapons against the threat of the harbingers and Setherien back in Anthos. Seeing as a pure magical branch might have been too difficult to achieve back then for the only minorly skilled Silus at that point, he considered replacing the classical magical power driving the golems with something more mundane and attainable. Steam.

 

The concept of a steam golem was not new, and Silus who studied various “classic” golems he encountered in his travels learned fast enough that there were flaws in them, which he might be able to circumvent, or at least replace with weaknesses which had less of an impact of the functionality of the golem as a whole.

 

Before Silus could go ahead and begin constructing an entire golem body as a whole, he required to develop something for it’s driving power. Inspired by the dwarves’ steamships, he was intent to develop one of the most efficient and complex steam engines at the time, which would be possible to be properly embedded into the body of the steam golem, giving it its driving force. Conveniently enough, as he realized that the raw power for movement would not come from the normal golem core which gives the golem personality, speech and control, he named this second required “core”, the “Steam Heart”.

 

 

The concept of Dualism

 

It was clear that a golem required a golem core to be a golem and not a pile of parts, be it metal or stone. The golem core gives the golem what makes out the golem, his personality, the ability to recognize his Impera, etc. These were known facts to Silus, and that the golem core had a lot of workload on him. In order to be able to field a body of metallic parts, a constructed body which is by times heavier than the body of a normal golem of stone (or wood), the workload of actual movement should be left over to a pure mechanical core, which as before-mentioned would be the Steam heart. Then again, the matter of controlling the limbs was a topic which arose soon enough in Silus’ schematics, which he genuinely circumvented by allowing the golem core to control the flow of steam from the Steam heart throughout its body, therefore indirectly controlling its movement. This falls under the “Concept of Dualism”, the requirement of having two cores sharing the workload inside the constructed metal body to function.

 

The concept of Power

 

As the golem is in need of drawing its power from the steam, steam has to be produced first, that inside the Steam heart. As Silus was aware of the steam engines he had encountered previously, they heated up water until it evaporates and builds up pressure which allowed them to let this highly powered water vapor flow through mechanical parts to promote movement, using water as a medium to convert fuel such as coal into direct physical power. Though it has to be said that in order to retain such a powerflow, fresh water and especially fuel has to be brought into the system on a regular basis in order to maintain the power output on a steady level. The result of this was, that Silus gave the steam golem a very “living” aspect. The requirement to eat (fuel) and drink (water) on a regular basis to keep running. This falls under the “Concept of Power.”

 

The concept of Adaptability

 

Aside from the very complicated work of assembling a body of stone in the first place, which may not be very feasible for aspiring golem constructors repairing a “classic” golem is tedious work and something which Silus considered the biggest weakness for them. The classic golem bodies are not flexible enough and lack “tools”. Silus always being very considerate in terms of tools and solutions available for various problems, decided that a constructed body of metal would alleviate a wide range of problems for a golem already.

 

First and foremost, the possibility to replace broken parts. Concepted as such, a steam golem can technically be entirely replaced, every part can be repaired and fixed, aside from fine engineering and interior pressure parts and mechanism, any blacksmith can construct the integral structure and armor plating for the golem, thus allowing easy and quick repairs of damages which are only on the outer parts of the golem.

 

Secondly, the adaptability in construction allows to have arms, hands and parts of different function, so Silus concepted to have Steam golems with steam-powered drills or saws to do raw work, mining, woodcutting and of the sort.

 

Thirdly, since the golem is constructed, it is possible to transfer the golem core into a whole new body if required.

 

All of these points fall under the “Concept of Adaptability”.

 

 

Steam Heart - Specifications

 

 

The Steam Heart is a very complex and finicky piece of metal, but perhaps one of the most sophisticated constructs there are. Located in the upper body of the golem, where normal beings have their lungs and hearts, the engine has five primary pipes which connect it to the outside world. Two towards the head and the mouth for incoming fuel, such as coal, and water. These two pipes lead to two different sections inside the heart, one to the water tank which feeds the pressure chamber, the other to the heating section, which, obviously heats the pressure chamber from beneath.

 

Two pipes are outgoing and go towards the upper back, lower neck area. One being, with several safety vents, directly connected to the pressure chamber to release any excess steam, should need arise, the other connecting the the heating section to let out fumes. The third pipe is for exhaustion of ashes and remnants of the heating process, leading towards the back of the left or right hip, where sometimes the ashes will fall out. Air for the burning will be sucked in with a pump from the outside of the heart (interior of the golem body, as the golem body is not sealed airtight (nigh impossible)) and blown into the heating chamber.

 

Development

 

The development of the Steam Heart was a tedious process which had to follow through multiple steps, of which the first was to actually construct a steam engine, different in approach as the usual ones, with the ability to vent steam through various pipes into differently operating mechanical systems, driving them so to say, causing the movement by transferring the steampower over transmission parts.

 

Since the first step was planned out on how it should be, the construction of the first "steam heart" resulted in a prototype very bulky and weighing a good couple of tons, sitting a specially constructed reinforced basin in a pool of water in order to avoid any explosions cause damages to the rest of the workshop and to keep it at a somewhat cool level, reducing the risk of overheating. A monstrosity, very noisy, but in the end functional, it had its functionality and was sufficient enough as a base for the next step.

 

The downsizing aspect was one of the most difficult ones to encounter, as it should try to retain its power, which also meant that the thickness of its chambers would be lower, some parts becoming quite small and even more difficult to construct. The pressure being the primary issue for such a system the first tries at the steam heart failed horribly, all three of them showing up ruptures and depressurization after short times of operating. Nontheless, by steady effort in development, adjustments and modifications to the original concept of the big prototype, after three not functional variants (named Steam Heart Variant I, II and III), the first Steam Heart which operates properly was finished. Reinforced especially where the Steam Heart would be target of aforementioned ruptures, the construct was made primarily of steel, which brought up two new issues.

 

A lot of the power for the heart itself would theoretically lost to the weight of itself, due to the need of having additional plates and reinforcements around the heart, and the second aspect being oxizdation, rust. Rust alone would with given time require the replacement of parts of the heart or the entire heart itself as it weakens the structural integrity of it and forces to operate on even lower levels, which may result in a long term problem.

 

In a cooperation effort with one of Oren's best engineers at the time, Silus and Lark Steelwall developed a metal which cancelled out the aspect of rust and minimized the pressure problem (which still remains, of course). Conveniently it was named dragon iron as a type of stainless steel, but it should be noted despite fielding excellent mechanical properties, the brittleness towards sudden impacts on small points of it made it unsuitable for weaponization, which would then again prevent the construction of a golem entirely made of the new metal.

 

The introduction of dragon iron to the Steam Heart itself brought up a more efficient variant, respectively named Variant V, which had less weight, and was viable enough for long term operation inside a golem's body. It should be noted that after a last sprint of development, Silus settled on a final and probably perfected Variant of the Steam Heart, which is today's final product and available (in schematics) in public libraries throughout the land.

 

Steam Heart Variant VI.

 

 

Steam Golem Body - Specifications

 

 

The body of the Steam Golem is very human-like in appearance, the height of the first three golems constructed by Silus range from roughly six and a half feet (Archon and Diadoch) to seven feet (Triarch). Remarkable for the golems themselves is the very big round armor plate, ranging in thickness from four to six centimeters, held into place by four specialized metal clamps, twisted into the rest of the armor body, centered around where the solar plexus normally is. This armor plate, once removed, gives insight into the golem’s body, with the Steam Heart being well integrated into the skeletal structure of the body at the top and underneath, embedded into a protective metal basin, the golem core itself. From the heart, pressure pipes run back and forth into the limbs, in which, with the steam flowing over transmission parts (which in turn power mechanical parts with rotation and pressing motions) and constructs to convert the energy within the steam into mechanical force. It should be noted that this process is still quite noisy, one of the traits inherited by the big prototype heart, which was impossible to cancel out.

 

The rest of the body is well covered in armor plates, the body itself hollow obviously. Sealing the body airtight is impossible, due to the fact that the sealing tissue would wear out where the golem has joints and other flexible parts.

 

Environmental Effects

 

It should be noted that despite the fact that a Steam Golem has various advantages over the classic golem in terms of the possibility of being repaired and having its body partially or entirely replaced, he suffers (but also profits) under various environmental effects much more than a normal golem.

 

As a steam golem operates on his heat, cold will increase his fuel consumption substantially and hinder his mobility. Operating in snow, ice and other cold northern regions is not recommended. On the other hand, regions with higher temperatures, such as deserts and jungles, lower the fuel consumption and allow the golem operate more smoothly.

 

The effect of moisture can be disregarded generally, as rust plays only a minor role in terms of operability. On the other hand, the golem should not be submerged into water above hip level, as the intruding water (see above mentioned airtight sealing) would cool out the heart and douse the flame inside it, immobilizing it for good.

 

 

---

 

My first Lore post. Hope this falls right. Comments are welcome, any open questions I can answer :)

 

[Porko 397]

-snip-

 

Nice work, Steam Golems are an intriguing idea. Definitely interesting how there could be modifications or possibly even new models of the Golem.

[Z3r05t4r 854]

((Change the text color, I can't read it with black on brown.

 

((Fixed that, sorry, it was copy-paste from google doc.

[_Deutschland_ 44]

A bit overpowered, but a decent and detailed first lore.

[ThumperJack 923]

((Very nice. These would be played by people, yes? If so, I'd love to play one, unless they are deemed ET only.

[Z3r05t4r 854]

((Very nice. These would be played by people, yes? If so, I'd love to play one, unless they are deemed ET only.

 

 

((I would plan on having them be played by people yes.

[ThumperJack 923]

((I would plan on having them be played by people yes.

((Then PM me if this is accepted, I'm serious when I say I'd like to play one.

[Dyrr 137]

+1, I really like the idea.

[Alakabam 582]

Steam doesn't make something move let alone a whole body. I also see some other major flaws within this concept. The steam heart for example. Aswell as that just observing steam engines wouldn't be enough. I could stare at a bridge for hours with no further knowledge on the topic and at end still not know how the bridge would hold up. Nicely written lore but awfully flawed. -1

[SodaiKamikaze 651]

((zerostar, I remember when you first opened that box containing the steam heart back in the Fringe. Glad to see your stuff finally making it to the forums.))

[gandalfo 1414]

Steam doesn't make something move let alone a whole body. I also see some other major flaws within this concept. The steam heart for example. Aswell as that just observing steam engines wouldn't be enough. I could stare at a bridge for hours with no further knowledge on the topic and at end still not know how the bridge would hold up. Nicely written lore but awfully flawed. -1

Have to agree, -1

[Z3r05t4r 854]

Steam doesn't make something move let alone a whole body. I also see some other major flaws within this concept. The steam heart for example. Aswell as that just observing steam engines wouldn't be enough. I could stare at a bridge for hours with no further knowledge on the topic and at end still not know how the bridge would hold up. Nicely written lore but awfully flawed. -1

 

Hm, going for your concern it is understandable, upon going through what I have written, I have been a bit too unclear about the specifications of the body itself perhaps.

 

For your first point, steam can indeed make a body move, in the same way it causes rotation of impellers and likely constructed driving parts of steamships. It is about the transmission of the power within the steam onto mechanical parts. Not directly mentioned perhaps, but the Steam Golem, so proposed, fields, aside from a kind of skeletal structure and respective armor plating, a circulation system in which the steam required to move the respective limbs, fingers, etc., flows.

 

Second thing, the Steam Heart may sound like a heart, but it's a multichamber steam engine. It was developed RPly and the first prototypes Silus constructed were massive multiple meters in diameter, in a reinforced basin of stone, in a pool of water to prevent overheating and keeping things in control. The most challenging aspect of the whole ordeal was the downsizing whilst retaining its power. In a combination effort with Lark Steelwall at the time, who developed a pressure resistant and non-oxidizing type of metal (not suited for weaponry as explicitly stated by the approving moderator/LM) called dragon iron, it made the whole ordeal easier.

 

The Steam Heart ran through multiple prototypes during developement, the big one was well enough suited for comparison and the concept, but the downsizing did not work on the first attempt. Before dragon iron was respectively contributed by Lark Steelwall, pressure ruptures were quite common on the first three variants Silus constructed. This means, steam hearts of the variants I, II, III are all not functional. Only variant IV at that time, which was still made of regular steel and metal, was capable enough of containing the accumulating pressure and sustaining it within a closed enviroment, which is in the end the circulatory system of the golem itself.

 

It should be noted that the construction schematics for the steam heart is publicly accessible knowledge, as stated in the last will of Silus back then.

 

I hope this answers your points respectively. I will make edits accordingly to clear up these issues.

[Backup Lago 319]

Steam doesn't make something move

 

[Alakabam 582]

Steam doesn't make anything move in the way that a body of a Golem has to. How would you regulate that many veins as you call it. A train in it's basic form does a few movements but it can't rotate or move from the tracks. Basically how would it move as if being alive through the use of steam.

[Backup Lago 319]

Basically how would it move as if being alive through the use of steam.

 

It doesn't move like a human. It moves like a golem.