The Wizards Tower was peaceful in the light of the late evening Sun. The massive Tower stretched high into the sky, towering over the surrounding forest. The square Tower was built of massive stone blocks, each one bigger than an average human man, and individually etched with protection runes that were still going strong.
It was surrounded by a small strip of land on three sides with a larger piece of land in front of it, which made up the courtyard. There were no walls to keep out the forest, and yet, there seemed to be a clear line that separated the paved stone of the courtyard from the lush greenery of the surrounding forest.
The Sun shone down upon the lone tree that stood proudly in the centre of the courtyard. The leaves shivered gently in the cool, evening breeze, with the setting sun highlighting their deep, dark green colour. A little, blue bird sung a sweet goodbye as the last rays of the sun slipped over the horizon.
*Snap*
Stray feathers slipped out from the wooden beak, the wooden golem munching thoughtfully as it processed the sensations of the warm, feathery bird struggling frantically within its mouth. As it opened its beak once more, a little head poked out for a heartbeat, before the beak snapped shut once again, this time crushing the little birds skull and ending its wild struggles. Annoyed at the loss of the sensation he was enjoying, the golem, who called himself Plank, tilted his head back, allowing the bird to slide down his smooth throat and into his belly, where it would help fuel his mana furnace.
Plank was a rather interesting looking golem. Where most of his fellow golems that inhabited the abandoned Wizards tower he called home were fashioned into facsimiles of some sort of humanoid creature, he was instead fashioned into what looked to be type of alligator.
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His head looked more like a turtles, with a beak instead of jaws, that curved slightly downwards. His body was a simple, wooden cylinder, around a metre long, not much different to the other golems roaming his home, though his seemed to have a faint etching of silvery script that the others didn’t. Long limbs protruded from inside the cylinder, made up of tiny interlocking pieces that somewhat looked like scales. This led to the limbs being unbroken by any sort of hinges or elbows, yet still allowing Plank unrestricted movement. His limbs ended in a leather glove, from which five sharp claws emerged, looking almost like a hand and allowing him to easily grip the trunk of any tree he was climbing.
And then there was his tail. It was undoubtedly a shining masterpiece. Crafted out of the finest black steel, the three metre long tail was a beautiful piece of magecraft. Crafted out of numerous cylinders that were all just a little smaller than the last, his tail was undoubtedly Plank’s favourite limb. It could be wrapped securely around a branch to hold him in place or even used as a weapon, the heavy weight allowing tremendous crushing forces to be applied to whoever he was annoyed at. There used to be a sharp spike at the end of it, but he had long forgotten what happened to it. Now, it ended in a smooth cut, looking like it had been melted off.
Ugh, burny stuff. He hated burny stuff. He shot a hateful glare at the rapidly descending Sun on the far horizon. He had made many attempts to damage the hated burny ball in the sky, but had recently realised its futility and accepted its presence. As long as it stayed far away from his territory, he would let it be. It’s daily routine was very predictable, he thought, not like a proper predator like himself. Only prey had routines that went to the same watering spot every day. He snapped his beak in anticipation. He wanted a rabbit today. He could just barely fit a small one whole into his mouth and the rapid thrumming of its heart as it panicked was a delight that he could rarely experience.
As the Sun set, he made his way down from his resting spot and into the forest, easily crossing the invisible line that seemed to keep the rest of the golems out. They mostly stayed inside the Tower, anyway, only coming out if there were intruders, though it had been a long time since the last time.
He, however, had long since got bored of the tower and made it a regular habit to clean up the surrounding areas of those who intruded on his territory.