I was not exactly comfortable standing as I was, with an arm held outstretched. So far, my attempts to make the Golem release me had failed. While that might have given me cause to worry, every now and then the Golem's fragile awareness reached out, giving me hope that this was not an impasse. There would be a flash of color or a scent, along with sporadic impressions I could not interpret. These might be attempts at communication for all I knew, but if so they were beyond me to interpret.

I started wondering what it was like for the Golem, having its existence begin in such a manner. Was it overwhelming? Was the Golem trying to cope with the reality it was brought into? Were my attempts to communicate washed away in a cacophony of impressions?

The Sentience Trait made me suspect that the Golem was rather limited intellectually, to the point that it might not be capable of anything I would even recognize as thoughts. That in turn at least hinted at the cause of its complete lack of Willpower. I could not help thinking of the Golem as a strange and rather stupid child.

I sighed in frustration and flexed the arm the Golem held while rolling my shoulder. I did my best to ward off the encroaching stiffness my strange posture caused. It was with some frustration that I wondered if I would have to try to harm the Golem to make it release me. Though with its Strength that did not strike me as the most brilliant of ideas.

As if intentionally seeking to confound my understanding further, the Golem released its grip on me. My mind started racing, searching for clues as to what had prompted the Golem's action. Had it been my implied willingness to do it harm? But I had quickly discarded that idea, and even if the Golem could read my mind I had a hard time believing it could understand what it might perceive. So what had happened?

Perhaps the idea of me being uncomfortable prompted the Golem to release me, perhaps my thoughts about the stiffness of my shoulder conveyed an idea it could comprehend; that did not seem likely though, why would the Golem have any ability to relate to such a concept, which seemed so foreign to its nature?

I stared into its expressionless face, confused and frustrated. It could have been either of those or something completely different. Was it purely an instinctual creature? Could it make decisions as I thought of them?

With a frown I took in the Golem's Racial Trait once more.

Sentience, rank 1

The first step of awareness.

Effect: The ability to grasp basic concepts. Limited memory and idea of self.

The ability to grasp a basic concept did in no way guarantee it would do so, it only offered a possibility. Further, it raised the question: just what was a basic concept? Did the limited memory mean that the Golem would forget things or that it simply could not hold on to too many ideas? The latter would match better with what little I knew of other Golems, but that did not necessarily mean it was the case here.

It either had a limited instructions set, or a limited time frame for a set of instructions. Either was something I could work with. That was all moot though, if I could not solve the issue of communication.

One worry that had cropped up was that as the Status of the Golem had put an age to it, might I even have to contend with the fact that it needed to mature? While that idea seemed ludicrous, it would not be the first time my expectations were derailed by the strangeness of reality.

The Golem had not shown any inclination toward vocal or somatic expression. So far all I had been able to discern from it had been mind to mind. There was no reason to believe I could make the Golem understand words, or even grasp the concept of sound being communication. The mental connection was the most likely path to success it seemed.

**

I glared at the immobile Golem, while doing my best to express all my frustrations, to no apparent avail. As far as I could tell, with the exception of grabbing me and then letting me go, it had not moved at all.

With a groan I slumped to the floor. I ended up laying there, staring at the smooth stone ceiling as I tried to think of anything I had not already tried.

I stayed as such for several minutes, feeling sluggish and spent. With a groan I made an aborted attempt to sit up, sinking back to the floor halfway through with a sigh. I had not come up with any new ideas, so I might as well stay where I was.

A sound from the Golem had me sitting up abruptly, to see it bend over slightly. With a perhaps unwarranted sense of excitement I got to my feet, as I tried to recall everything I had done or thought just before the Golem moved.

**

After many failed experiments and a few successes I had finally understood that I could not communicate with the Golem the way I had first believed. What I could do though, was to focus on something akin to the sensation of a motion and string those together into a set of actions.

While I had by no means perfected this, my most recent and successful attempt had been when I thought about sitting down, in steps. Focusing on each preface to motion, just before they slipped over into an action, and conveying those to the Golem. It was very difficult and not something I had ever thought of before; the intent to move and actually moving were separate parts, it was further complicated by the fact that if done too quickly the Golem remained unresponsive.

I stretched and yawned, while I was hungry and thirsty, I was also more than a bit elated by the progress I had made, despite it being slow going. As I had been doing on a regular basis, I turned to look over my shoulder at Charles where he lay, noting that he was still out but clearly breathing.

So far I had worked on having the Golem sit, stand, and walk. None of which was complicated, per se, but it was mentally taxing. A question that bothered me though, was how to make the Golem advance beyond this infantile stage. How could it gain levels? Would it need to fight? If so, how?

I knew how to throw a punch without hurting myself too badly, but I was not sure I would be able to communicate fighting to the Golem in the steps required while keeping myself safe at the same time. Perhaps there was a way to set up instructions ahead of time, so I did not need to do so while fighting. The question was how though, if it was even possible.

The Golem did not behave as if it had much of an actual self, perhaps it needed more time? Or was I too optimistic about what a limited idea of self might entail? When I managed to communicated my will, the Golem did as I instructed, promptly and without hesitation. Only the brief times when its mind had reached out earlier gave any hint that there might be more to it.

Deciding that I should get back to my original plan of getting the Golem covered, I spent some minutes getting it into my coat, concealing a rather disconcerting nakedness. It made a rather strange picture: a green version of me wearing only a buttoned up coat.

Having finished, I started on the somewhat tedious task of walking into the safe room while making the Golem follow.

During all of my experimenting over the past few hours I had not felt anything new from the mind of the Golem. As I thought about that I took note that I had in fact not sensed anything akin to emotions from it at any point. Which made me wonder: what would a creature be like, without any physical imperatives? No need to eat or sleep, thus nothing forcing action. No need to respond to the environment. What would a mind born to such an existence be like? How much of behavior was biological in nature, never mind the need to seek sustenance and shelter? It was a strange thing to consider.

Having made the Golem sit down in the safe room, I went over to check on Charles, finding him much as before. As there was nothing I could do to help him, I sat down myself, resting my forehead on my arms which were folded over my knees. The wait for Charles to wake was uncomfortable and I promised myself never to leave home again without rations of some kind. I took a deep breath and looked up at the Golem, only to see it sitting in the same pose as I, with its head still resting on its arms.

With a growing sense of uncertainty I had to mentally double check myself, but I was certain I had not communicated anything beyond the initial sitting down. Which had been more of a sprawl to be honest, and nothing like how the Golem currently sat. Had it copied what I had done, perhaps visually? Or was it picking up actions even when I did not work on sending anything particular?

The Golem changing how it sat did not fit into what I had experienced from it over the past few hours, which I found confusing but quite interesting.

Charles' groan interrupted my musings. While muttering things under his breath I could not make out, he got up on hands and knees before sitting down in a kneeling position and stretching his back out. By his grumbling and the cracking noises his back made, he did not seem all that hale.

I decided not to mention the jade, as a veritable cloud of dust drifted off him as he moved and several of the larger pieces fell to the floor.

The Golem turned its head towards Charles' antics and I held my breath, waiting to see what would happen. As Charles let his arms drop with a groan, the Golem lifted both its arms and leaned backwards, slamming its head against the wall with a crack loud enough to make both me and Charles jump. Unperturbed, the Golem ground its head against the wall, making me wince at the sound, before it let its arms drop, returning to its earlier posture.

By this point both me and Charles were staring at it.

"Ewynne? What... what happened to you?" Charles asked, sounding quite alarmed.

"That is my Golem," I clarified, drawing his attention to me.

Charles' head turned toward me so fast it almost blurred. With a grimace he put a hand to his head while steadying himself against the floor.

"How long was I out?" He croaked.

"A few hours at most." I replied, as I took in his pallid color and not quite focused eyes. It seemed he was worse off than I had thought, which made me feel somewhat bad about not having done anything for him. My ability to heal would hardly have made a dent in any injury that could affect him so greatly though, which was frustrating in other ways.

At my answer Charles frowned and looked back at the Golem.

"That was quicker and less of a hassle than I expected. I guess we can leave then," he half panted out. Having said so, Charles got to his feet, wobbling slightly before catching his balance.

He then stumbled into the floor guardian's room, returning quickly with a small ornate box carried under one arm. With a final stretch and a sigh, he started up the stairs out of the dungeon. His abrupt manners had me worried about him and I frowned after his retreating back.

To my surprise, the Golem rose in a smooth motion which I doubted I could have managed and glided after him, without so much as a glance at me.

It had taken several steps up the stairs as I felt something akin to discomfort from it, the closest to an emotion I had perceived so far. It came to an abrupt halt as it spun around to face me. The Golem stood there for several moments, seemingly staring at me, before it whirled around once more and followed after Charles. I dearly wanted to know what was going on in that creatures head.

I started up the stairs after them, curious about what the outside of the Dungeon would look like.

Quest!

Defeat the first four floors of the Deep, assisted only by your Golem!

Reward: Two levels.

I rubbed my forehead as I walked. The reward was enticing but I found something else far more intriguing: why did it seem as if the Order wanted me to stay here?

I had never believed that the Order was benevolent. While I did not think the Order wanted me harmed in particular, I seriously doubted there was any altruism involved on its part. Just as the Trait Acolyte of the Order implied, it was an exchange of services.

So what was happening here? I was being offered a reward for something that seemed to only benefit me. Was there something happening on the first few floors the Order wanted me to be here for? Or was there something happening in Logate the Order did not want me there for?

I walked up the stairs, deep in thought, as I grappled with the fact that I did not really know what was going on.