Runic Golems

When in the most ancient ruins of the world, one may stumble upon these great and magnificent machines, they are constructions of stone, clay, and magic.
The technology of how to make these golems has long since been lost to history, but those that had been made in the past still survive to this day.

Origins

These golems were once a cornerstone of corporeal magic. They were created with a large variety of purposes in mind, but the ones that survived were mostly created as guardians, warriors, and deterrents. It is believed that the oldest golems go back far before the first settlements, which leads scholars to believe they once had a much more intricate purpose than simply protecting or guarding.

Construction

Golems have four main components, each serving a different purpose in bringing them to life.

Runes

Golems are created with runes, which are written on their outer shell. These runes carry meaning, they relay instructions, and purpose. Without these runes, the golems would be useless. It is these symbols that truly give golems their power, their tasks, and their longevity. They are also the reason why the secret to their creation has since been lost to time.

Mana

These runes, when written, then need to be infused with magical energy, this is what turns the golems on, and what allows the runes to do their work. This step might seem straightforward, but it is nontheless important.

Flasks

The golems are embedded with little orbs, the creation of which is a mystery, that are believed to store the magical energy used to create them, allowing them to remain active for long periods of time. The main issue with modern golems isn't just the runes, but also the lack of these orbs, which is why modern golems rarely last a long time.

Material

Golems can be created out of various materials, each has different benefits and drawbacks.

Stone
All the oldest golems were carved from stone, this material is strong and holds it shape well over long periods. The difficulty is in detail and mobility. Stone golems are rarely precise in their movements. Still, they are the most common of the golems that have been left over. Almost all that have been found have some kind of defensive purpose.
They are often found guarding ancient ruins, usually hidden underground.
They are found as much fifty meters.

Clay
Clay provides the creator with a much greater level of control and precision over their creation. They can also be made to be very durable, especially fired clay golems. It is believed that many of these golems were decorated with paint at the time, making them look like porcelain artworks rather than brown beasts. This paint has all long since degraded, though.
These golems were used for a large variety of things, and many clay golems are thought to have been simple serving golems, as well as farming aids, and animal herders, watching over their flock. There is one specific example of a clay golem that eternally followed the same pack of wild goats around, a sign of its lingering runic programming, despite its owners and original flock having died.
These golems are also much more limited in size, the largest only being around two meters tall.

Wood
Wood is a cheap, common, and easily workable material. The issue with this material is that it degrades much faster than the above-mentioned materials. The only wooden golems that have been discovered were either mostly decomposed and no longer functioning, or hidden underground and protected from all moisture.
Runes were often carved into them, but due to the small sample size, not much is known about them.

Metal
All historical golems were made before the discovery of iron, and are almost always made from bronze. These are the most versatile of golems, but also the heaviest and the most expensive. Ordering a large bronze golem would never have been cheap, and getting one forged, cast, sculped, and then decorated with runes and activated would have been quite difficult. This is why bronze golems are quite rare. They have all preserved very well, though.
Most of the bronze golems were small, no more than fifty centimeters in size, but some were quite large, whole statues. The largest discovered was five meters tall.

Other metals are possible, as proven by modern golem makers, but the modern lack of rune knowledge greatly limits their functionality.

Modern Golems

In modern times, mage academies still teach runes. They try to revive and preserve what knowledge remains. Still, the best golems can do no more than the most basic of motions. They do not show the capacity of complex instructions, and they do not last more than a few days or weeks. This has prevented golems from being anything other than a curiosity, not really useful.
Still, as more and more ancient knowledge is discovered, every now and then, a new rune is found that proves to have an effect on golems. Mages, especially golem enthusiasts, believe that one day, there will be golems again, true golems, like those of the olden days.