It's amazing what ideas your mind can come up with when you are given what amounts to a blank cheque, unfortunately most of the more exciting ones had to be taken off the drawing board because it came with a twenty four hour deadline. The king wanted my golem built and tested within three days, the longest amount of time he could hold the mages before protocol demanded he do something. His guard Capitan pick out a nearby group of bandits as test subjects, my golem was to remove them or he'd throw me to Dalaran's mercy.

"Here's the list of supplies that you requested" a squeaky voice speaks from behind me as I coordinated the servants I've been given to help set up a temporary workshop, housed in a largely unused guest room of the castle normally reserved for visitor important enough to stay at the castle but not so important that they needed to sleep anywhere near the royal families quarters.

"Thank you Kerry" I reply as I take a large pile of paper from the skinny child that is the youngest apprentice of the kings magical advisor.

"My name is Kevin, sir" he has to tone of someone trying to be polite but clearly hasn't gotten good enough at it to hide his annoyance.

"Right, Kevin, sorry" responding half-hearted as I look over the list of resources I've got to work with.

Ok good news quantity isn't a problem, if this is what one kid could find in an hour then I won't have to worry about a supply bottleneck for a few years. The quality however is going to be a problem. Any jewel large enough or metal strong enough to be useful lacked the magical charge required.

In Fate many of the necessary ingredients needed to make Avicebron's golem needed to be incredibly old, luckily on Azeroth this restriction could be overcome by charging them with mana, a far more abundant and easy to manipulate energy then its Fate equivalent, but that takes time I don't have. Between remaking the tools I'll need for the more delicate parts of the forging process and the act of making the golem I just don't have the time.

Only one thing to do then, outsource the problem.

"Kevin how much do you know about mana infusement?" I keep my eyes on the paper, trying to select which jewels will be best to use for this and writing up a list of everything I'll need.

"Not much sir but I know some of the other apprentices can do it" his voice rising with hope as he tries to help

"Excellent, ask your master to send as many of his apprentices with skills in mana infusement as he can spare" I put down my quill, I need make a pen or something soon, and hand him my list. "Then go and retrieve everything on this list, take as many servants as you need too in order for it to all be here within the hour"

With a nod the boy runs off with half of the servants in the room, a little more than I would have taken but I didn't need them all here anymore with most of preparations for the workshop done and the more he takes the faster everything gets here.

I rub my forehead as I go over my checklist. There's still so much to do, I need to send the blueprints for the golems helm down to the blacksmith, set up the more delicate pieces for my workshop, write up exact instructions for the apprentices and the hundreds of small tasks I need to do to get this done.

This will be so much easier once I can build everything I need to automate the process, well then only thing to do is roll up my sleeves and get this done.

Tracking down his absentee apprentices was not how Libold Snowdon liked to start his morning, if they thought they could skip out on work just because he'd told them to go help the elf the king was indulging then they were horrifying wrong, as their punishment would demonstrate.

Normally he would have sent servants to track them down but the king had taken all of the ones he could trust to do the job, without being scared off by a few dancing light and a thinly veiled threat. That meant he had to stomp up and down the castle asking if anyone had a clue were those brats were, a cruel thing to do to a man coming up on seventy.

It seemed like a smart idea at the time. He hadn't needed any help at the time, from servants or his apprentices, having scheduled most of his day to deal with his growing list of "concerns" from the nobles, no I can't stop the snow, no I wont teleport you to one of Lordaeron's beaches for a weekend getaway, no evil wizards are not shrinking your clothes you fat cow.

It was midday by the time he found them. Just standing in the doorway of the room the king was lending to the elf for whatever he was doing.

"There you lot are" he yelled at the group of soon to be miserable students. "What are you all doing here? I've been running up and down this castle trying... too ..." His voice trailed off as he looked were one of his apprentices was pointing.

Standing in the middle of the room was a ten foot stone sculpture in roughly the shape of a headless person, metal protruding from beneath the rock that made up its hands and feet. Nearby, its creator carried a large gem the size of his hand, even form the doorway he could feel the magic packed inside it.

Libold watched in amazement as the elf placed the jewel just below something that might be called a face and with a pulse of magic it sank partly into the stone, two lights began shinning from the now active golems eyes.

"Good everything is working" crafter mumbled to himself, looking his work over with a discerning eye. "Now grab the helmet".

The golem obeyed, moving far more smoothly than any other of its kind that he'd seen, picking up the slab of metal from the corner of the room, revelling were the floor had dinted under the weight, then placing it over its face and jewel. A glow from the elf's hand and, just like the gem, the helmet sank slightly fusing to the golem.

"Ha-ha excellent it's all done" his voice was jubilant, like a child on its birthday. He turned to the nervous looking guards standing in the corner of the room. "If one of you take me to the king so I can inform him that my work is done then the sooner we can test it out"

Snapping out of his daze Libold moved toward the elf. "Quite the impressive creation you have here" making a show of examining the golem.

"I should hope so it's the culmination of my entire life's work" the fondness in his voice was like that of a proud parent. "But where are my manners, Avis Soulsun" he held out his hand.

"Libold Snowdon, current magical advisors to King Aiden Perenolde"

"A pleasure to meet you but I'm have to get going, the king wanted to be informed as soon as I was finished and my deadline is getting dangerously close" he gestured to one of the guards and began walking out the door.

As the elf turned out of sight, Libold turned back to the golem. "Well if he's just going to leave it here" a simple scanning spell should do, it would leave no lasting trace on the golem and give valuable insight into how he could build his own.

A flick of the wrist and a quick incantation and the spells used to create the golem came to him ... and kept coming and coming and coming andcomingandcoming it won't stop when does it end!?

He barely registered that he'd collapsed, barely heard the yells of his panicked students. His last thought before the darkness overtook his vision was about what kind of monster he'd just met.

Carriages are a much better way to travel than horseback, cushioned seats, nice backrest and something between me and the ground in case of a crash. I could do without awkward silence from the pair of guards sharing the ride with me but beggars can't be choosers.

Once I'd told the king that my golem was ready he'd ordered us to move out immediately. While his men had busied themselves with readying everything for the trip it was my job to get the golem to the convoy. A task made far more difficult by the fact that they didn't want it going out the main entrance and instead wanted it snuck out the rear servant's entrance, probably so the king would have plausible deniability if this went wrong.

My patience had lasted ten minutes of trying to play Tetris with my golem and the door, some of the guards laughing on the other side, before just had the golem run through the wall, leaving a cartoonish out line of itself. I don't think the king will mind too much once he hears what it can do.

A knocking on the window gets the guard's attention, the rhythm of taps makes it clear that it's a code of some kind. They nod at each other than stand.

"We're coming up to the bandit camp" his voice hard and devoid of humour. "You best be ready."

"Don't worry I'll be good to go the moment your Capitan gives the order", I'm looking forward to seeing just how strong my golem is compared to average humans.

Less the ten minutes later the carriage stops and I step out to get a look at what I'm up against.

It's clear why Alterac hasn't wiped out these bandits yet, this place is closer to a small fort then a bandit camp. The camp was on a high plateau, with only one narrow ramp up to the gate. Unsatisfied with merely having the superior position they'd also built a wall along the edge of cliff, it looked well crated and maintained despite only being made of wood, giving them time to mow down anyone trying to climb up. Knowing that the only way to get in will be the gatehouse they had made it out of stone with heavy wooden doors and metal reinforcements. Topping it off was the guard towers that flanked the gate, currently housing at least a half dozen very alert watchers.

All in all an excellent place to hide away, and that wasn't even including the fact that it was all built around the ruins of an old barracks. The bandits are smart I'll give them that.

"An impressive setup they have here" I say to no-one in particular.

"Ture and it's the only reasons the thieves still draw breath" the Capitan grumbles from behind me. A fairly average man but judging from the shape of his face it took him a little too long to learn the importance of protecting his head when he was younger. "Any plan we come up with to get rid of them would cost too many soldiers to justify what is more or less just killing a bunch of highway men."

"And I assume you've tried to starve them out." I rub my chin trying see if I can think of a better plan then just yelling charge.

"Of course but they must have escape tunnels because they just never seem to run out of supplies."

"Numbers?"

"Between fifteen and twenty-five, hard to get an accurate count when we can't see over the walls"

"Anything besides bandits in there? Hostages or mages perhaps?"

"No but the few times we've caught them outside their camp they've worked together far better than average bandits, so we assume their leader is probably a former knight." the Capitan's face scrunches in disgust. "Probably from Lordaeron, we get a lot of their runaways up here thinking they can make fools of us"

I decline to mention that this one did as I walk over to the carriage holding my golem. A quick flick of the wrist and it tears the cloth covering it off and moves to the tree I'm pointing to. There aren't many trees around here, no were enough to hide our approach, but the few that are here are healthy and strong.

"In that case I'm ready to show them the error of their ways" the golem effortlessly tears the pine tree from the ground as I turn back to the shocked looking Capitan. "If you would give the order."

A nod of his head is all I need to unleash my work upon the bandits.

It doesn't take long for the golem to reach the ramp, it can keep up with a horse so long as it doesn't need to turn sharply, the arrows that come from the guard towers bouncing off it like rain. Once it was at the base of the ramp it paused just long enough to throw its tree at the guard tower as if it were a javelin. Three bandits died in an explosion of wood and gore as the tree hit the top of the right guard tower and the golem continued up the ramp.

It's a testament to the craftsmanship of the gate that it doesn't break as the golem shoulder charges it or the next two hits, but the third one sends it flying back off its hinges. It wastes no time disappearing beyond the now open gate and out of view, defaulting to the 'kill everyone' order I gave it. If I had the means for remote viewing I would be able to give it more relevant orders for however the bandits had set up on the other side but that was something for the future.

As I watch the remaining guard tower topple over and the bandits fall to their deaths I walk past the Capitan as I start making my way to what has to be a slaughter at this point. "Come captain we should inspect the work of my golem."

The walk to the gate is a quite one, only the booms of my golem destroying something can be heard over the sound of marching boots and even that stopped by the time we are half there.

I see what I expect to see as we walk past the broken gate, a bloodbath. The bandits clearly hadn't expected the gate to come off its hinges judging by the limbs of at least four different people sticking out from underneath it. Another ten bandits appear to have been crushed or completely exploded by the golem's attacks. Some of them had run for it resulting in a trail of blood and body parts as a chase ensued.

It's a horrific scene to look at, the smell of blood is so thick in the air i can taste it, but to be honest with myself the only thing i feel as I look at all this is ... satisfaction.

Sure killing these people might be a mortally questionable act, they were bandits so it wasn't unquestionable evil, but I see this as sacrificing them to the greater good. Doing this will allow me to use Alterac's money to build an army with which I can shape the world for the better, and once I show the king what my homunculi can do I'll have my loyal followers.

"By the light" a dangerously green looking guard to my right mutters in a whisper, unsurprising that he's not taking this well, he's not a knight so the most dead bodies he'd see in one place is at most two or three and they would all be in better shape than the ones here.

I wave my hands in the air as I call my golem back, mostly an act to make the magically uneducated guards think the magic I use to control it put a strain on me.

We hear it coming as it runs around the crumbling barracks looking like something out of a horror show. As is too be expected it's covered in blood, the arm completely red up to the elbow, a little surprising is the pair swords sticking out of its side. Swords aren't normally able to cut stone, chip, crack or break maybe, but to slice into stone cleanly enough to get stuck is odd. I move to examine them as the golem stops in front of me, I need to know how much damage the average person can do to one of the creations I'm gambling on. Both swords were swung instead of stabbed causing the side of the blade to get stuck about half way.

That isn't too bad even outnumbered against a far stronger formation then what the bandits had destroying my golems would still be a task to take down. Looking over the rest of stone body and see a few dints and chips, probably caused by the spears and hammers currently soaking in there former wielders blood.

The high magic environment of Azeroth must have a positive effect on the strength of both the people living here and the metal that they forge. I will have to take that into account moving forward.

"Is everything okay Master Soulsun?" The Capitan asks me, his voice far more respectful after seeing the destruction I could unleash.

"Yes just making plans for the future" I turn away from the golem to look at him. "Do you think the King will be pleased with the results of this test?"

There's a pause as the Capitan takes in carnage around him one more time, paying close attention to the fallen gate. "Yes I think he will be" his tone one of dumbfounded acceptance.

"Excellent, then if there is nothing else to do here we should get back and inform his majesty" with that I span towards the gate and start walking towards the carriages, followed by a murderous pile of stone covered in the blood of at least a dozen bandit. I admit the smile on my face is probable a bit unnerving.

The ride back to the castle was even quieter then the ride to the camp, mostly because I was the only one in the carriage. Apparently after seeing what my golem could do I was no longer the terrified mage hoping for the king's favour, now I am the man in control of the most horrifying weapon they had ever seen. I was thankful for the silence at any rate.

As soon as we arrive I'm sent to what I assume is the king's private meeting room, followed by the Capitan, to give our report. The door is flanked by two guards in some truly stunning Armor, almost definitely royal guards. We find the king inside sitting at a small table with what appears to be cigarettes, it doesn't smell like tobacco and the insides look red. The room itself is nothing special, just decorated a fair bit fancier then other more public rooms, probably to make a good impression with trying to look like it.

"Your Highness, Captain Padford reporting" he bellows and bows, at least I have a name for him now. I follow suit, trying my best to follow a royal procedure I know nothing about.

"Well?" The king's voice is both impatient and hopeful, like a child on Christmas looking at the presents under the tree waiting for their parents to give them the go ahead to let loose.

"The mage's golem performed far better then you hoped it would" he steps forward while raising back to full height. "The bandit camp lasted less than ten minutes once its assault started"

"Wonderful" he yells as he puts out the burnt out butt in the ash tray. "You will have to tell me the full story, but for now Soulsun and I have much to discuss about his new position as ... golem master? Master golem smith? I'll think of a proper title later" he reaches to the pile cigarettes and a litter. "Join the other guards outside the door, I'll have one of you escort him to his new room when were done."

"My king are you sure that's a good idea?" I didn't miss the sideways glance he shot me as he spoke.

"You don't need to worry Capitan Padford I have no reason to harm his majesty" I step next to him joining the conversation proper. "Now that he has agreed to make use of my service it's now necessary to my best interests that he be kept, not only unharmed but also to improve the power of his kingdom." My nose feels pretty brown right now but it's all for the greater good.

The Capitan shoots me an irritated look before looking back to the King, who gives him a nod and sends him off with a shooing motion as he lights his cigarette. One salute later he's gone.

"Take a seat Soulsun" I do as I'm asked. "Let's be blunt, how long until you can make me my army" his tone makes it very clear that I'm dealing with business king now.

"Assuming you have everything I need to build a proper workshop and the supplies to keep up with the manufacturing process, I can start production in three months"

"Three months?" He frowns clearly not liking the answer "why such a delay? You told me that that you could make them quickly enough that I would never be left wanting for troops."

"Yes, but before that can happen I need to set up a proper workshop, well I say workshop but factory is a better description" I know just dropping this on him won't win me any favours but it will give me my workshop and if I'm lucky my homunculi. "I need three months just to build everything that I will need to create the golems with any sort of haste, and that's not even taking into account the training of assistants"

"Assistants? You said you could do this yourself" I hadn't but I wasn't about to correct the increasingly angry royal. He takes a deep breath to compose himself. "How long will this take?"

"Between the times I would need spend working to create golems and maintaining the workshop, about ten years unit-."

"Ten years!?" He yells cutting me off, his face is red and he looks about ready to kill. "I will not be made a fool of by some-"

"However" I speak over him and whatever hate filled remark he was about to make. "I have a solution that will be as useful to you as my golems." That stops the King cold.

"What could you have that's as valuable as the golems?" He's calmed down somewhat but is clearly still on guard about this whole situation. I've burned a lot of good will by explaining just how much setup this is going to need.

"Homunculi, or to simplify a long explanation artificial humans"

"What?" He seems completely baffled by what I just said

"Homunculi are artificial lifeforms, in this case humans, rapidly grown to adulthood and imprinted with a set of skills so that they may perform tasks that can't be reliably left to any form of automation. They are also incredibly obedient to their creators, or in this case their creator's king."

"And you will be able to teach them to make golems?"

"More that I will be able to teach to operate and maintain the devices in my workshop. The unfortunate trade-off is that the more skills and knowledge you put into them the shorter they last. I fully expect I'll need to replace the first batch within a decade." Aiden looks deep in thought so I think I'm making progress "they are also far cheaper to create then golems and can be, to an extent, recycled."

There's a long pause as he considers everything I've said. It can't be an easy decision to make, to put even more resources, and trust into an almost complete unknown. I need to make this too good to pass up even considering the risks.

"And with them doing most of the grunt work it will free me up to continue my research it make better and more versatile golem."

"What do you mean 'versatile'? What more do you expect them to do?

"Well, while my current golems may give you control of the land there is still the sea and sky to consider." I can see the same greedy shine in his eyes that I saw back in the dungeon come back in full force.

"Fine. You'll get what you'll need but if you haven't started making golems for me with three months not even the Light itself will save you"

"I will not disappoint you my king. I will have a list of everything I will need for both my golem workshop and homunculus laboratory by tomorrow morning" I stand and bow. "If I may be excused I will start as soon as I am shown to my new room."

He sends me off the same way he did Capitan Padford while I start making a mental list of supplies I'll need.

Okay then time to get to work.

AN: sorry for the wait. i blame FE:3H, MH:IB and BL3.