SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT 3.5

This is an Armagada enhancement

Golan (AKA The Old Ones) (possibly now extinct)

The Golan were a small humanoid elf-like race that retained residual insect-like wings.
The lifespan of Golan is uncertain, but is believed by most to have been in excess of that of elves. It is unclear if the ability to hibernate was related to longevity.

Magic: No magic use by any Golan has ever been recorded. It is thought unlikely they were able to perform magic of any kind.

Short-Hibernation (Ex) (1/week): Golan, with a great deal of time and preparation, can enter into a hibernation state that they can maintain for hundreds of years. However, without much preparation they can replicate the effect for a few days.
A Golan can short-hibernate safely for up to four days, after which he must succeed on a fortitude save (DC 15) for every day that he remains short-hibernating, or suffer 1d3 points of permanent constitution damage and 3d6 points of damage.
Whilst short hibernating, he needs no food, and any poison or disease he may be suffering the effects of does not affect him. In addition, every day that he spends in short-hibernation, he regenerates 5 hp.

Height: Under 4 feet tall. (2’11”+1D12” male, 2’9”+1D12” female)

Alignment: usually Neutral Good.

Religion: unknown.

Automatic Languages: Golan, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: Any

HD: D4

NPC Class: Expert

Favoured PC Class: rogue

Nimble fingers: A Golan rogue is entitled to the nimble fingers feat as a bonus feat at first level and gains a +2 bonus on any attempt to disable mechanical devices or open mechanical locks.

Weapons: A Golan rogue is most at home with a small or hand crossbow, but proficient with any small sized simple weapons.

COMBAT

Golan will usually avoid a fight if at all possible. When other means fail they prefer to fight from a distance using small or hand crossbows. They will avoid melee combat whenever possible.

Golan Traits (Ex): Golan possess the following racial traits.

• +2 Intelligence +2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution, -2 Strength. Although intelligent and wise to the maximum, the frail constitution of Golan bodies is weaker than a human's by far.
• Small size. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, –4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits 3/4 those of Medium characters.
• A golan base land speed is 20 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: A golan can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Weapon Familiarity: Golan rogues are proficient with all small size simple weapons.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants).
• +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks that are related to stone or metal items.
  +6 racial bonus on all Craft checks.
• +2 Racial bonus to jump checks.
• +4 Racial bonus on balance checks. The wings of the Golan give them balancing skills beyond a human's.
• Automatic Languages: Golan, Sylvan. Bonus Languages: All.
• Favored Class: Rogue.

The golan rogue presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 8.

Brief History:

Golan have not been seen or heard from in seven hundred years. Shortly after the devastation changed their world for ever they simply boarded their ships and left. They leave behind them only one known structure, the Sky Bridge, constructed shortly after the devastation to link the newly formed island of skybridge to the mainland.

This is seen by scholars as an attempt to re-establish the former city of the old ones that is believed to have stood on the site before the eruption. The Sky Bridge seems to have failed in this goal despite its obvious success as a working structure. The Island has been used by Darfellans as a refuge from attacks by Sahuagin, and as a place of community between the races of Elf, Darfellan and the newcomer, man. Other than the images carved in various places on the Sky Bridge, no record, writing or statue by a Golan is known to exist.

The civilisation of the Golan was almost totally lost in the devastation. This is the term used to describe the massive volcanic eruption that blew apart the area where the Golan lived. Thousands died in the eruption itself and the remaining population found the new conditions too harsh for their delicate constitutions. After making some ineffective attempts to re-establish their city, they simply packed everything into their ships and left.

Dwarves have attempted to duplicate the metal workings of the Golan and have so far failed. Golan even built boats out of metal. Small copper hulled sailing boats were their traditional fishing craft, but they also built huge ships out of the same metal they made the Sky Bridge from. It was in these bright shining silver coloured metal ships that they left about 700 years ago.

Golan Technology:
Both Steels and Bronzes were produced by Golan craftsmen with alloys tailored to suit the end purpose. Adding Nickel and Chrome to iron and using tin or zinc with copper and even adding phosphorus. There is usually some reason why the various elements are added that has not always got an entirely scientific purpose. For instance phosphorus was first added to bronze in order to get some of the properties of the element into the metal. It had been noted that phosphorus when removed from water into air would turn to fire. So making a boat with this element in it should give special properties as the boat would be at the juncture of air and water. The fire remaining in the metal was thought to keep shipworms, barnacles and other undesirable infestations from their boats. (Actually it was the copper.)

Stonewood.
A method was found to change finished wood objects made using simple soft woods into hard stone-like objects. The walking surface of Sky Bridge is the best known example of this material. Each of the thousands of planks used to make the structure has been first fashioned in wood then “petrified”. The Stonewood of Sky Bridge has been studied by experts and is thought to have been a pine or fir wood that was turned to stone by Golan craftsmen. Close examination has shown saw marks and chisel marks in the material.

Several other examples of Stonewood articles are known to exist, a famous one being the fabled Staff of the Eagle that some Elves were said to worship.

Other Metals.
Metals they call Rock-Iron, Bright-Iron, and Slave-Iron. The three metals look similar, but are not at all the same thing.

Rock-Iron is actually a cupro-nickel (contains Copper, nickel, chromium, magnesium).
Bright-Iron is effectively stainless steel.
Both are very good weapon-making metals.
Slave-Iron, is Magnesium, that is not strong and very light, but does help to stop Bright-Iron from being eaten by the sea and the wind if you use it right.(Sacrificial Anode).

Slave-Iron fools the sea and the wind. It eats the Slave-iron, and it becomes weak and cannot eat the Bright or Rock-Iron. This is of course due to it being made from fire, which is why the sea attacks it so fiercely when it is near Bright or Rock-Iron. Slave-Iron has another property that she knows is sometimes very useful. If small scrapings are taken from it, they catch fire very easily, and it makes a wonderful fire lighter. (Again evidence of it being made from fire.)

Rock-Iron needs no protection from the sea, as there is some Slave-Iron held captive within it. Rock-Iron covers itself with some of the green from the sea and the sea cannot understand what is happening, so it leaves the Rock-Iron alone. The colour soon turns black if the sea is taken from it, but the metal then remembers its proper colour if loved.

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