Golem Knights

The Golem Knights of Old Haven were powerful constructs, built and maintained by noble families during the time of the Dragonvale Republic, between 16.57 and 20.16. During this time, they were the most elite infantry forces of the nation.
=== Origin ===
Haven has always been able to boast their magical superiority, with highly trained mages. However, mages alone do not win a battle, and Haven's ground infantry was less well trained or equipped than the forces of their neighbours, such as the powerful knights of Whytehold, or the elite mercenaries of Erradan. Their soldiers would break easily, leaving the mages vulnerable.
Fortunately, the mages of Haven knew how to create powerful golems, who were difficult to kill, and would never surrender. However, these were expensive to create and maintain, more expensive than the archmages could justify as military spending, so this task was outsourced to the noble families of Haven. The families would pay for the ritual components, and the creation of the artificial body, and the archmages would provide a golemancer to animate it.
=== Aristocratic Champions ===
During times of peace, the Golem Knights were useful to noble families as servants, bodyguards, or champions. This meant that the golems were not a waste of resources during peacetime. During war, the golems would be levied from the families and sent into war.
The Golem Knights became somewhat of a status symbol among the aristocracy of Old Haven. When created, they would often be given flair, and unique aesthetic choices dependent on the family. They would usually bear the family crest on their armour. When a Golem Knight did particularly well in a battle, it won glory for that family. The most prominent families would have many Golem Knights in their service, which served to assert dominance on their rivals, and served the nation well in war. Since the Golems lasted almost forever, if properly maintained, they were usually passed down through the family. Some such Golem Knights became legendary, serving the nation time and time again in battle through the centuries.
However, the Golems were made to be loyal first to the Archmage's council, and secondly to the noble family they served, which helped to keep the ambitious aristocrats in line.
=== Conflict with Human Knights ===
With such incredible, almost invincible, warriors championing the nation, human knights became less impressive, and less important. Noble families no longer had to train their offspring in physical combat, allowing them to instead focus on study and magic. Long-standing knightly orders in the nation became resentful of the Golem Knights, especially the Dragon Knights of Dunblaine. This resulted in many knightly orders being disbanded, and caused the Archmages to become more politically powerful, since they controlled the secret of creating and controlling the Golems.
=== Fall of the Knights ===
Many of the Golem Knights were destroyed by the Black Legionnaires during the Undead Invasions of Haven in 20.16. A few nobles managed to flee with their knights, and so a few remain. In 20.36, Grand Magus Thaddeus Pureborn initiated the Golem Knight Recall decree, demanding that all still active Golem Knights should be recovered. Many were being hoarded by families at the edge of the Dominion, and others were dormant in the ruins of Old Haven, and various other manor houses across the old territories of Haven.