Year XXXX February 28

Thanks to Sven's little surprise I am learning things I never would have learned before. Endermen most certainly do have culture and a language we aren't able to hear or speak well if you are my age. I have done my best to say some simple words but one of the other kids, a girl Sven calls Inka, giggles so often I know I'm not saying tree and it makes me wonder what I AM saying. It cannot be too bad because the adults only look at me tolerantly and Sven has me try it again. According to him, I can more or less say hello and friend and a few other simple things, this will take a lot of practice because I bite my tongue when making their hissing sounds.

Sven's' growing mastery of the human language English has unintended benefits, I have begun to learn them meanings of Enderchild games and some small things about Endermen culture. Sven doesn't know it yet but learning all this stuff about their culture is far more valuable to me than he simply learning to talk is and I do not plan to disabuse him of the notion. He's just happy to have a new unusual friend to share and to teach who lets him try strange foods like dried pumpkin seeds seasoned with salt from dried pork.

I am still technically in the lower middle of clan rankings but with Sven around, I think my status is unknown. I am neither mated nor privileged but I'm seen constantly around Effars' son. Sometimes I feel like a sitter because I'm left with up to three of the kids at a time and sometimes I believe I am watched as well as the kids when an adult Endermen is around. I can't blame them; Tiny's already taller than I am while Sven comes up to my nose with the other kids being shorter still and full of energy. Once they teleport freely I won't be able to do anything about the young Enders because I'm just a man with a wolf and not nearly fast enough to run after them for long before they are out of sight.

The kids play variations of games I played as a boy such as Marco Polo and Tag but with an Enderman twist. In most cases the games are highly recognizable but in the case of Miners and Creepers there are nuances that evaded me when I first witnessed it being played. I can see how they might help with the growth and development of the kids in most cases and I'm thrilled to understand what makes these traits fun for them. I have even tried playing the games and I expect to fail at them but the kids love seeing me attempt to play their way.

Among the first games, I noticed and failed to understand was Miners and Creepers, a complicated seeming game that involves imitating various monsters. I now know that it teaches young Endermen how to interact with other Mobs to eliminate the most dangerous creature of all, Man. A group of children divvies up the roles they have to play with one kid taking the role of the Miner. The miner wins the game if they make a house without being killed and the others win only if they kill the Human. Joint wins are allowed if two separate kids "kill" the miner, For Example if the Miner looks at an Enderman and a Creeper gets close both the Enderman and the Creeper win.

One of my favorite games to watch but not participate in is the Endermen equivalent of Marco polo. The only difference is that it is not in water at all and it's in 'Marco's' best interest to teleport to catch another kid. Since I cannot do that, I get caught easily and hardly catch anyone. After the first few days, the kids use me to make sure the Polo's don't teleport to avoid Marco. The key is to either move silently to avoid being caught or to teleport as soon as you can to catch others. They also play other teleportation games like Tag and Hide and Seek where the first to teleport when they're not supposed to becomes 'it'.

While the kids play, the teleportation games I have come to see something, a creature about the size of a Silverfish sometimes appears but I've never gotten close enough to look at one, well alive that is. The closest adults run to where the beast is and stomp it to death so that all that is left is gray skin and purple insides smeared into the dirt, podzel, or sand. These things do not always appear when Endermen teleport but I can't help but wonder what they are. Are they parasites of some kind or are they some new kind of life that is created whenever an Enderman teleports? Where does the creature come from, is it at all possible to study them? I will have to see if I can catch one of these things and hide it in my knapsack in the future.

The third game I feel must be shared is what Sven calls Bobstones, even adults play this game and it's very simple. Using countless bits each player takes out some of the items they've collected and rattles them in their hands before casting their pieces onto a cleared space, they keep their pieces covered however. After the cast, each player call s out what they think will be turned over like how many dark things, round things, sticks, or gems. Once called everyone uncovers their cast and the items are counted, the one who guessed closest to the true amount without going over wins their call and those that go over obviously lose. They do wager on this game and Sven says he doesn't understand why they bet so what exactly is being wagered is still a mystery.

Bobstones is the only game of theirs I am pretty good at because my hands are so much fleshier than theirs are so I don't have to worry about one of the other Enders spotting something I'm holding. Sven translates for me so I understand what is being called and some of the adults who have been wary of me seem more comfortable now, maybe because I am doing 'normal' things with them now instead of being strange like other humans they've seen. I can't say that they accept me completely but I do think the beginnings of comrade are showing with some of the older ones actually inviting me into the game. If I can learn how to speak and understand the language, I will not be limited to playing when Sven is too tired to play and interested enough to talk.

All in all, I have learned more in a few weeks that I could have in another few years without the fortune of a translator. Endermen are not brutes out to kill us, they honor their dead, they can learn to speak English, and they gamble, play children's games and love trying new foods. Just like us, they care for their young and while I haven't noticed tool making or writing there is every indication of education so it may be that they have oral traditions and if all knowledge is passed orally then their language is obviously as refined as ours to pass along complicated concepts and meanings.

Henri Lemark