"The first Rune Guardians were built millennia ago, when the first Dwarf strongholds began to fall to Goblin forces. Realising they would be forced to leave the tombs of their honoured ancestors unguarded, the greatest Runesmiths of the time collaborated with the Engineers Guild to create tireless sentries that could be left behind. That at one time they could create such marvels is a source of both great pride and great sorrow for the Dwarfs. It would seem that the knowledge of the Master Rune of Waking is lost to the Runesmiths of today, and the schematics needed to construct one are nowhere to be found. Were someone to rediscover the secrets of the Rune Guardians, he would be richly rewarded. Unfortunately, I fear the first step in such an endeavour would be the recovery of a nearly intact Rune Guardian, surely an impossible (and probably suicidal) task."
- —Professor Eliot Denheim, adventuring scholar.[1a]
A Rune Guardian
A Rune Guardian is a golem that looks somewhat like a heavily armoured, Ogre-sized Dwarf. It’s covered in a heavy metal skin, beneath which lies a complex system of cogs, levers, and pulleys that would baffle the greatest engineers of the Empire. Each arm ends in an axe-like blade, which it uses to cut down any foe that tries to get past. Completely mindless, a Rune Guardian can only follow the instructions given to it the moment the Master Rune of Waking was inscribed upon its forehead. Rune Guardians sometimes have other Runes inscribed on their weapons or armour but can only have three Runes in total, and they can have no other Master Runes.[1b]