Deadly Dungeons 10: The Fleeing Golem

The players encounter an archway, and beyond it a long hallway with many doors. The hall extends beyond the furthest edges of their light source–no matter how far that light extends. About 60ft from the archway is a very strange statue. It appears to be carved in the rough shape of a man’s torso and legs, with no arms or head. The construction is very bulky, with flat surfaces and sharp corners. The body is turned away from the hallway entrance, but a large face has been carved on the statue’s back. Its eyes are deep cavities which appear black and dark. The mouth is large, and open. Upon the strange face’s tongue is a marvelous treasure, to be determined by the GM.

If the players pass through the archway, the statue will eerily come to life. The face and the expression on it will remain still, but the legs will walk further down the hallway, away from the players. Within this hallway, the statue will always match the lead player’s movement, step for step. No matter how fast the characters run the statue will match their pace, even moving at speeds which might seem impossible for a stiff creature made of stone. This strange golem is also able to detect magical travel, and has been equipped with the ability to use dimensional door at will. If the players attempt to get close to the creature using spells such as teleport, ethereal jaunt, or even dimensional door, the golem will sense their magic use, and activate its own dimensional door nearly simultaneously, keeping itself well out of reach.

In truth, this hallway is not very long at all. A few feet before the end of the hall, a powerful illusion makes it appear as though the hallway extends beyond sight. This illusion is nearly perfect. The hallway it displays will react correctly to any light sources the players may bring, or to any objects they may throw into it. Only inches in front of this illusion is a one-way teleportation portal, which warps anything that moves through it back towards the start of the hallway, near the arches. Like the illusion, this portal was crafted by a true master of the magical arts. It is completely invisible, without any light or sound to give away its position. Furthermore, those who pass through the portal do not feel any of the physical sensations which normally accompany magical travel.

The portal does not function in the opposite direction, however. Nor is there any illusion near the hallway’s entrance. If the characters look behind them, they will be able to accurately see their current distance from the archway, and they can easily leave at any time.

It’s important to note that the golem’s movements are always in reaction to whoever appears to be closest to it, but the golem can only detect creatures with the eyes of its face. As such, if one player remains still while another player pursues the golem, the teleportation will eventually cause the character who is remaining still to be behind the golem, where they cannot be seen. Additionally, the golem is not intelligent. It has only a very simple set of instructions which it will follow strictly. As such, it will not use dimensional door to escape unless it detects magical travel being used. And despite its fearsome appearance, the stone creature has no means with which to defend itself from an attack.

Once the treasure is removed from the golem’s mouth, all spells in the hallway are broken. The golem turns into a simple statue, the illusion disappears and the teleportation effect ends. Replacing the treasure within the golem’s mouth will not restore these effects. The treasure is not necessarily magical, but it served as the switch which kept the magical circuit active. Once the switch is removed, it would take a wizard of untold skill to reactivate it.