Colossi are massive ancient constructs built by the elven nation of Eita prior to its collapse. In many ways akin to oversized golems, for thousands of years these intelligent constructs were considered invincible, yet today they largely sit alone and abandoned.
History
The first colossi were built by the Eitan elves as they expanded their domains away from the Cradle and into the lands surrounding the Gulf of Aserdus. Intended to protect even the most remote and isolated settlements without the need for local garrisons, the colossi served this role excellently for millennia.
As the consequences of bringing the aeroliths to Kishar became more clear, ever-larger colossi were designed and built to combat the groundshakers, though only with mixed success.
When Eita began to collapse and lose control of its outlying territories, most colossi were left behind by the retreating elves. Left directionless and aimless, some wandered Brightmarch endlessly, or even walked through the Gulf of Aserdus to reach the Cradle alone, while others continued to follow their last commands as best they could or even went insane, cutting swathes of destruction through the region. Eventually nearly all who survived decided to settle down and await further instruction.
In the modern day almost all surviving colossi can be found in Brightmarch, where many still lie where they chose to rest. Nearly everyone chooses to avoid the colossi, out of fears they may one day reactivate, but some, most notably the Idrimi, go to great efforts to communicate with and recruit the massive constructs. Elsewhere in the world colossi are far less common yet not completely unknown.
Appearance
Though all are humanoid, colossi vary greatly in their appearances. Many are made of metal, or at least have metal shells, while others are entirely stone. They range in height from 30 feet tall at the smallest to upwards of 60 feet tall.
Precepts
Upon their creation, each colossus underwent a ritual to bind it to its precepts, a set of general instructions that it would then fall back upon when not given more specific orders. These almost always took the form of a simple metal tablet upon which was written a preamble in Elven - "as is decreed to" followed by the colossus' name - along with four to six directives.
It was not unusual for some elven settlements, and the aeroliths in particular, to store the experiences of their colossi on memory shards for safekeeping.