The Colossus

> "*The Mountain splits, rupturing almost like a volcano. But amidst the bilious dust and falling rocks, no lava spews forth. Instead a gigantic metal figure unfurls, titanic hands crashing upon the mountainside, leveling trees and hoisting its body free. Finally it steps forth, a million gears and pistons churning at once. As the foot impacts the ground the earth shakes, nearly knocking The Party off their feet. For a moment the Colossus pauses, straightening as a fresh mountain all its own, to look up at the sky, eyes shimmering blood red.*"
> ― A Heart of Sorrowful Power
>
>

**The Colossus**, sometimes specified as **The Dvergr Colossus**, **The Colossus of Dir Simafl**, or **The Great Colossus**, was a massive mechanical automaton built by the ancient Dvergr Empire during the War of Relias' Bane. After going berserk it was de-powered and locked beneath Mount Flastoven. The Colossus was briefly re-activated by the Dark Lord Rob Boss as part of his plan to conquer the world yet was destroyed by the efforts of The Party.

## History

The Colossus was designed by Klanussus the Metalweaver at the behest of High King Dolon III to help conclusively win the War of Relias' Bane. Boasting the size of a mountain and countless weapon systems, The Colossus was considered to be an invincible war machine. Yet the dvergr had substantial difficulty finding any power source of long-term viability for their titanic creation. However, after the death of his sons, a grief-stricken Dolon III had his own heart pulled out to serve as a battery, channeling the divine blood within and allowing the Colossus to extract the revenge he so sought.

This processes created the Heart of Dolon, which served as The Colossus's both physical and meta-physical 'heart'. Thus powered by the Heart, The Colossus came to life. Unfortunately the same blood that powered it was also suffused with Dolon's dying madness and rage, which caused The Colossus to go berserk the moment it was activated. It tore it's way out from Dir Simafl, where it had been constructed, killing its creators and dealing substantial damage to the city's core before emerging out from The Ruptured Mountain.

The Colossus marched forth, truly as unstoppable of the dvergr had hoped, now to their detriment. It destroyed both the dvergr city of Hamdorn and nearly the entire Eladrin army that had been besieging it, including the eladrin king Rasgalarath. Realizing the peril that The Colossus posed to nearly everyone, the new dvergr high king Hirnnim and eladrin heir-apparent Relias decided to make a truce and join their forces to stop The Colossus. Although it would take considerable effort and further damage to both of their empires, the united dvergr-eladrin forces eventually found a way to fight into The Colossus itself and extract the Heart of Dolon. This rendered The Colossus inert and it was buried in Dir Simafl when the city was abandoned.

## A Heart of Sorrowful Power

Reactivating The Colossus to achieve their own aims is a central objective for numerous antagonists in A Heart of Sorrowful Power. Ultimately the final encounters of the campaign are against The Colossus under the control of Rob Boss.

The Party learns of The Colossus and the Heart of Dolon simultaneously from the records within The Heart of Dolon book. It is unveiled to be the objective of Rob Boss (and later both Kopu Keiku and Scurrio the Mouse Prince) to acquire the Heart of Dolon so they can re-activate The Colossus. While Rob Boss and Scurrio wanted use it to personally take control over the world, Kopu Keiku believed he could use the cataclysmic reawaking of The Colossus as a force to unify against, destroying the old order and ushering a new age much like fighting The Colossus had done for the dvergr and eladrin.

From the information contained in the book, The Colossus's location in Dir Simafl was uncovered. However, once Rob Boss acquired the Heart of Dolon he (and subsequently The Party), realized that the city had been sealed by the Deep Gate, preventing access until an alternative route was discovered by Joseph Runebrok.

In the end Rob Boss was able to pry this information from Joseph and make his way to The Colossus by possessing Archibald Mk.II (who had the Heart of Dolon inside him, with Archibald's soul tethered to it). Rob Boss had by this point infected the Heart with his vestige. So as it was placed back into The Colossus and the titan awoke, Rob Boss was able to overpower the spirit of Dolon III to gain complete control over it.

As the Rob Boss-controlled Colossus began to make its way towards the woefully unprepared Hammerfast, The Party is able to infiltrate its body with the help of Gillbob the Tinkerer's people-catapult. With the knowledge of how The Colossus was defeated the first time, The Party fought their way through The Colossus's interior defenses to the Heart of Dolon. However Rob Boss was also aware of this weakness, having irreprovably melded the Heart into The Colossus's body.

Eventually The Party learned that Archibald's spirit was still within the Heart alongside Rob Boss and that of Dolon III. Manipulating events to give Archibald predominance, he was able to gain control over The Colossus. Under Archibald's control The Colossus tore itself apart, crashing back down through The Ruptured Mountain, where its wreckage has remained ever since. It now serves as a tomb in which the Heart of Dolon (and those spirits trapped within) lays eternally condemned.