Ultimus
Ultimus was created in the Golemworks section of Magnimar and purchased by an adventurer named Wymon Shadowglove. Wymon had amassed a fortune before marrying the love of his life, Mia, and retiring from his adventuring life. After a year of married life, Wymon found himself still looking for the rush of combat, but without risking his own life. He became a fan of golem fights and decided to have his golem commissioned.
Calling his fighter Ultimus, he sank much of his fortune into the construct and a mystical helm built into the creature’s head. The helm had been one of the many items he'd discovered during his adventuring days. He had never worn it, but a mage friend told him it had great power. His friend did not tell Wymon that the helm had sentience and that sentience manifested in Ultimus. Wymon found himself constantly fighting for control. Ultimus would not listen during battles, and Wymon found himself bleeding money from betting on his golem and trying to keep his noble life afloat. Mia was concerned that Wymon was spiralling out of control, but Wymon assured her he had a plan to turn things around. He came to Riddleport with Ultimus as his bodyguard and started looking for fights for his construct.
While in Riddleport, Wymon's poor luck continued. He lost the remainder of his fortune through gambling and drinking, mainly at the Golden Scale gaming house (due to its dragon motif). Mia was fed up with his behaviour and left him. At the end of his rope, Wymon bet - and lost - Ultimus during a card game in the Golden Scale. He was then approached by the owner of the Golden Scale, Clegg Zincher. Clegg fronted Wymon in a tiny room in the Leeward District and let Wymon maintain control of Ultimus. In return, Wymon would rent out Ultimus as hired muscle. Those profits would go to Clegg until the debt was repaid. Unfortunately, Wymon was a degenerate gambler and kept getting credit at the Golden Scale. His debt continued to deepen. Eventually, the only way he could remain alive was to surrender Ultimus to Clegg.
Clegg used the golem medallion to command Ultimus during the first few battles inside the arena. But he, too, felt as if he was fighting something for control. He turned everything over to his nephew Russel Zincher to see if he could crack the mystery. Russel was an alchemist and an academic. He began conducting tests and research and even tracked down Wymon for answers. Wymon, now a degenerate drunk, confessed that one of the items used in the forging of Ultimus was a cursed item - a sentient item known as the Helm of Shadows. A mad marilith demon lord named Dreg'drokar lived within the helm. He was the one that kept fighting for control.
Russel conducted a ritual and was able to speak to Dreg'drokar. They came to an understanding. They would work together, and Dreg'drokar could feed on the souls of everyone he killed. A grudging arrangement was struck and worked well for over a year.
One evening, Clegg told Russel that he had placed an arena bet against a team sponsored by Elias Tammerhawk. This team, known as the Saviors of Sandpoint, would do battle against a group of mercenaries called the Bloodsworn. However, the Bloodsworn was down a few members. Clegg called in a favour and brought in retired arena champion Tiberius Dragonhammer. He told Russel to keep Ultimus nearby, just in case.
During the battle between the two groups, Russel fought against Dreg'drokar for control. Ultimus wasn't involved in the combat, so Russel was confused about what was happening. Doran, a member of the Bloodsworn, was struck down. Kilgor, a barbarian from the Sandpoint team, grabbed a gem that was embedded in Doran's forehead and ripped it out. The gem floated into the air and disappeared into the halls of the arena.
Russel was suddenly wracked with intense pain before the golem medallion exploded in his hand. Dreg'drokar had been ejected from the construct and somehow took over Doran's corpse on the arena pitch, twisting it into the demon lord's proper form. While the demon fought the Saviors of Sandpoint, Ultimus emerged from the arena with the missing gem now embedded in his forehead. Something in that gem had set Dreg'drokar free and taken over Ultimus. But when the construct stepped into the arena, he looked around momentarily and flew away.
As Russel recovered, he found himself having nightmares about Ultimus. Images of dragons, a nation burned to ash, and death plagued his dreams for weeks. He told Clegg about his nightmares and decided not to spend much time searching for "his property." As long as Ultimus wasn't in Riddleport, the construct was free to do as it pleased.
