Quartes gestured behind her, “One’s walking away with your pack.”

Keto spun and saw the creature. Somehow it had found its way under one of the straps of her backpack and, the strap now looped around it, was taking its plodding steps away from the pair. Her harp sat in its usual pouch on the back. “Give me that!” she shouted after it. The Bard rushed forward a few steps and snatched up the pack, slinging the strap over her shoulder. The creature tumbled a few steps, giving a small rumble as it turned about to face her. A trio of eyes, each like a topaz gem, stared up at her. After a moment it began a slow plod towards her.

“Quartes,” she called back as she stared down at the creature. It was like a rock, half the size of her backpack. Smaller stones connected to and rested under, somehow moving as the creature made slow deliberate steps towards her. When she realized the Landian hadn’t responded, Keto turned to face him. Quartes raised his eyebrows as she asked “What is this thing?”

“I was taught to call them golems,” he gestured at the two others that had gotten up and walked away from their campfire. “They’re a Fey.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, who would believe a rock could…Ow!” Keto spun lifting her aching foot just as the golem rocked back and attempted to slam itself into her ankle again. She made to push the mischievous Fey away, but it dug in resisting her. Keto put her weight into it and pushed it back, all the while a rumble echoed from the creature.

“I don’t think it likes you.” She glared back at the Landian, turning back as she stepped away from the golem she had pushed back.

“Are you enjoying this?” Catching his slight smile, she gestured down at her foot, “I have been assaulted, where is the idealistic adventurer to protect the safety of his bard?” His smile grew as hers appeared and the Landian stepped forward.

“They can be a bit stubborn.” Reaching into his pouch Keto saw the red glint of a copper coin. Quartes placed the coin on top of the golem’s head. She watched as the trio of gem eyes tried to roll up to see the coin.

After a moment it turned about and seemed to nearly hop from stone foot to stone foot, albeit slowly, as it made its way out of the clearing. Keto turned and realized the other rocks, golems, were now staring at Quartes. One had quartz for its eyes and the Bard nearly laughed at that. After a moment the Landian followed her gaze and sighed.

“Right,” he murmured and fished again into his pouch. Each of the golems got a coin and jauntily made their small hops away. Quartes looked back up at Keto and shook his head, smirking. “Hopefully there’s not a bigger one about that gets wind that I’m giving away gifts.” He returned to their campfire and sat down, Keto still staring at him mouth agape.

“You’re not serious.”

“I knew an Aenesi who rode one, sat atop it as it plodded a long.”

Keto joined him at the campfire, raising her hand to its flickering warmth. “How did he control it.”

Quartes held out his hand as if cupping a large orb, “Had a big gem on the end of some rope hanging from a stick. Would hold it out in front and guide it that way.”

“I would accuse you of kidding if I didn’t know better.”

Quartes shrugged, reached into his own backpack and produced his pot and filled it from a waterskin.

“So, what makes a golem come to be?” Keto asked after a moment. In the silence she had unpacked her harp and absently plucked as its strings.

Quartes put the pot down, waiting for the fire to die down to some embers, and looked at Keto from across the flames. “I imagine saying same as any Fey isn’t the answer you’re looking for.” Keto looked up from her harp and gave him a look. Quartes gave a single nod and shifted his gaze to the fire. Keto looked up as he thought, took note of the fire playing across his pale gaze as he dug into that weird memory of his.

After a moment he looked back towards her. “A golem is when a Fey makes something that wouldn’t normally be animate so. I’ve often encountered stone golems in towns near mountain passes or such. Stories of rocks tumbling down the mountainside on their own has some people believe that there must be some life to the rocks. Otherwise how else could they have moved?”

Keto tumbled down the notes of her harp before looking back to the Landian, “Explaining something they couldn’t otherwise explain.” Quartes nodded and after a moment of thought Keto continued, “The carry on effects are there too.” Quartes had started pushing out a pile of embers for the pot but stopped to look at her. “They move slow, because unless it’s rolling down a hill a rock can’t move fast. You said its stubborn because of course a rock would be stubborn.”

“Of course,” Quartes echoed as he placed the pot on the embers.

“So, you said that golems could be other objects?” Quartes nodded to her question. “What else have you seen?”

“A tree, a pack of tumbleweeds once…”

“Really?”

Quartes nodded, “Would roll into its prey, people sometimes, and take a bit out of them.” Keto wasn’t sure if she found that comical or terrifying.

“But you wouldn’t call the River Fey we’ve seen a golem?”

“Rivers are moving,” the water had begun to steam and Quartes tossed tea leaves into it. Keto scoffed.

“Seems arbitrary.”

Quartes shrugged as he gave the tea a stir. “Landians were consistent, rivers move and thus aren’t golems.”

“Trees can sway, tumbleweeds are literally defined by moving.”

“A tree flexes, so can steel but you wouldn’t call it moving. Tumbleweeds are moved by the wind, water carves its own path.” Keto rolled her eyes and went back to her harp.

After a moment she looked back to the Landian, “Could something like a city become a golem?”

Quartes had reached back into his pack during the lull, producing a wooden board and an onion. He paused as Keto finished and after a moment. “What do you think the Dragon of Kol Tailen was?”