Part 8 In which teaching is harder than it looks

Players:

Marlot
A witch who realizes that when making a friend you must first teach them to talk

Jinx
A cat with a fondness for a certain golem

Golem
The childlike creature now living in Marlot’s cabin

Golems learn by observation, much like children only much faster. Make sure you talk to your golem, as much as possible, and show them things, explain situations, and answer questions. The more you tell them the more they learn and the more they can do what they were made for. Eventually golems will develop a sense of self and will be able to make decisions on their own without your direction or input.

Golems can even learn while in incubation so be sure to talk to, or at least near your cauldron as much as possible, it will help the golem learn simple words and their meanings if nothing else. Always remember, golems are sentient beings, and are not animals that will have thoughts, feelings, and personalities unique to each one.

Interesting, thought Marlot, so that would explain why he picks up on certain words and seems to know what they mean. She looked over at her golem who was dressed in one of her black flowing robes and actually looked kind of cute with his green hair sticking up in all directions with Jinx in his lap.

“Are you hungry?” she asked, smiling at him.

He looked up, his head cocked to one side, “hungry?”

“Yes, um, does your stomach feel empty?”

He shook his head, “stomach?” he almost looked distressed, like he was trying to understand but just couldn’t.

Marlot stood up and walked over to him, “Yes stomach, it’s inside of you, here.” She put her hand over his stomach. “When you are hungry your stomach will feel empty and may even growl, then you know you need to eat.”

The golem put his hand over her’s and then looked into her eyes. Her breath caught in her throat, his eyes were so deep and thoughtful and his hand was very warm. “Eat?” His head cocked to one side again but one side of his mouth was higher than the other in, what Marlot realized, was his trademark lopsided smile.

“I’ll make lunch.” She said, pulling her hand out from under his and walked into the kitchen.

She used a simple spell to quickly cook up some chicken that Lilly had brought over the day before and some vegetables from her garden. She placed two plates on the table and looked over at her golem. “Eat up.”

He looked so confused, “Eat up?” he asked.

“Yes, um,” she got up and shooed Jinx off his lap and then took his hands to help him stand. He was so thin, probably from the lack of clay she had used to make him, “come here.” She led him over to the table and to a seat next to her’s, “Sit.”

He did as he was told but still looked confused. “You eat like this.” She picked some chicken up off her plate and put it in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. He watched her every move, then reached over to her plate and picked up an identical piece of chicken and ate it. Marlot laughed. “No silly, you eat off your plate.” She reached over took some chicken off his plate and put it into his mouth, she felt his soft lips on her fingers and quickly pulled away. He shrugged and mirrored her movements, by putting chicken into her mouth; she almost choked on it she swallowed so fast. “No golem, you eat off your plate.” He sighed and as she ate off of her plate he ate off of his. Wow he does learn fast, she thought to herself.

As they ate Marlot explained what they were eating, about how the vegetables grew outside, where the chicken came from, and about Lilly. He listened intently and occasionally repeated a word or statement and she explained farther. When the finished eating she showed him how to clean up the dishes and explained why they needed to keep the kitchen clean, and that although bugs were useful in her potions they were not nice to have just wondering around the cabin.

“Potions?”

“You should actually say, ‘what are potions?’”

He smiled at Marlot, apparently thrilled to learn something new. “What are potions Marlot.”

“You know my name?” she asked surprised.

“Lilly says it when she talks.” His voice was sweet and hesitant, as though he had to think about every word before he said it.

“So you were listening while you were in the cauldron.”

He nodded cheerfully. “What are potions Marlot?” He asked again, his lopsided smile back in place.