Colossus of Akros

Standing tall and proud at the entrance to the polis, the Colossus of Akros is famous worldwide for its sheer size. Visible from nearly a full day's travel through the badlands outside of Akros, the colossus has long been a symbol to weary travelers that safety and civilization are just hours away. The colossus is just as important a fixture for the soldiers of Akros, who only travel out of sight of the stature on rare occasions.   Because of this, while the buildings and people only extend so far past the protection of the polis walls, everything within sight of the statue is considered to be within the city's territory. There are even popular folk tales of merchants or pilgrims who come under attack out in the plains, only to crest a tall hill and glimpse the colossus' bronze helmet, resulting in a full retreat by their aggressors.   Hidden History The colossus that can be seen guarding the gates of Akros is not the first to have presided over the city. Rather, the first colossus was built several hundred years ago, shortly after the overthrow of the Archon Empire and the founding of the polis. This original colossus was actually designed and molded by the archons, whose untimely fall left them without the chance to assemble its piecemeal parts.   The pieces of the colossus went ignored for some time, believed to be little more than spectacular sculptures, until the rediscovery of a hidden archon workshop. Inside sat the blueprints of the colossus, as well as its true origin- a weapon, a guardian, built to overcome the enemies of the empire. After several years of hard work, the Akroans managed to assemble the colossus as it was originally intended, preached high above their city gates, a perpetual reminder of their victory over the archons.   Walking Disaster After the colossus was assembled, decades would pass before it was finally awoken, during the First Akroan-Meletian War. With the soldiers of Meletis at their gates, the Akroans felt the time had come to unveil their trump card, and activated the colossus. As expected, the lumbering construct demolished Meletis' armies, turning the tide of the war in mere minutes...before turning its weapons on the city it was built to protect.   The last time the colossus was seen, it was striding away from the smoldering, crushed ruins of Akros, out into the badlands and beyond the mountain ranges that mark the edge of the known world. The colossus had not been built to protect Akros, but to serve the archons, and so it went in search of its lost masters. After the war and the rebuilding of the polis, the Akroans built themselves a new colossus, designated in the same way as the previous, but enchanted with the help of the clerics of Iroas. This colossus is the same one that now stands off their city gates, and while it has the power to come alive and defend the city, no king of Akros has yet been courageous or desperate enough to awaken it.