Chapter 39: Time Marches On
The overall conversation with Girts was not that long. It was still well before midday by the time I was done with out discussion. As there was no other task I needed to do here, leaving was the only option to do.
On my journey towards my parent's dwelling, I might as well look for a place that I could call my own. What are my needs for a location for me to be a potter? Well, fresh water is the one of the main things. Pottery does need to use a fair amount of water. Also, clay deposits are more commonly seen around flowing water.
I should also be near a wooded area. While I can heat up a kiln, using my power, but I will still need some wood to keep the temperature up when baking pottery. I also need some wood to build a temporary dwelling.
As for the terrain, I have no idea. I have never built a house or set-up an industry. Should I have a flat area, as there is limited terrain manipulation needed. Or would some terrain with some undulation be fine. Oh yeah, I do need to have a garden. So a flatter area would be better.
One more thing, I should be above the water, at least to some extent. If I am going to be living near a decently flowing stream of water, long term safety matters. But I can not set up my place too high from the water, as drawing water would become a massive chore.
I think that is all that I need to worry about. Other than fitting those few needs, any place should work as well as any other. Now to find my future home.
* * *
It took me most of a week to find a place that I could call home, and that I was able to call my own. I guess there are a lot of people that want similar enough of locations as I do. It is not because I am overly picky.
This was only supposed to be a temporary house that I build for myself, so I did not build it to any high level of quality. After the first day with any real wind, the house collapsed in on itself. Luckily I had not finished building it yet, so I was not there when it fell down. Second house, though, I did spend some more time on it. First thing that I needed to do, was done.
Second, I need to start securing some food for the winter. While my parents did say that they would help me out, I do not want to rely on them, overly much. They prepared for a slight surplus for the family of four. Adding a fifth member, would cut into any wiggle room that might be needed.
Yes, I could hunt for a fair portion of my food, but meat alone will not help me survive. I need some type of food that can survive throughout the winter, without going bad. As it is already heading towards the end of summer, there are not very many food sources that I can rely on, without putting in any more effort than letting them grow naturally. I am gracious, at least for this, that I am an Unleashed.
Several weeks are what I spent one these two endeavors. Next up, what should it be? Should I start on getting my trade going, or should I start building towards a more permanent house?
What I need for either of them, are bricks. Either I need bricks to make a sturdy kiln, or I want them for my house. So making some bricks is my next goal.
I do not want to admit it, but I used my relationship with my father, to help me make some brick molds. I do not have any money, so I can not afford to buy the tools that I would need to build something as simple as the molds. I need the accuracy that properly made tools allow. I think I remember a saying about measure twice, then measure one more time, before cutting.
Along with some bricks, I made some crude pots, for carrying water. Out of the forty bricks I baked, half of them did not get properly fired. And as for the pots, I made 3 of them. I was rushing too much, and did not let them dry properly. None survived.
Alright, I admit that I was not prepared for this type of work. I am not an idiot, in the slightest. However, I am favored with entirely too much ignorance. And I am not happy about that.
Slowing down, this second time, and not trying to do more than I should, the second batch of bricks all bake properly. Only two or three of them cracked, when cooling them down. I can still use them for some other parts. Or I can just use them for an additive for when I start to do proper pottery.
As for the pots, they survived the firing, but, they are ugly. I used the same clay that I used for the bricks, which have a good amount of organic matter in them. They work, but my laziness strikes again.
* * *
I did end up deciding to build a kiln before I started working on my house. Doing pit fired bricks is not the most efficient use of fuel. I can fire the same amount of bricks in a kiln, as I did in the pit, and use at least half the amount of fuel. There is also less needing to babysit the fire as much, since it is enclosed.
As for my house, I used the excuse of needing clay, to dig a cellar. I made it deep enough that I would be able to stretch out my arms completely, when I had a ceiling on it. As it is getting close to winter, I should use the cellar that is nearing completion, as my new temporary home. I do not need to worry about the wind cutting through any gaps from the thatch walls.
I took me over a month and a half to fire the amount of bricks I needed for the cellar walls and floor. If I am going to make a home for myself, I am going to make it something I am wanting to spend the rest of my life in. Maybe I should have made a larger kiln than I did. I was only able to fire about one hundred bricks at a time. It was not the best kiln that I could have made, so tearing it down, to make a better one, will be better in the long run.
Winter might be rough to survive in this house, as it currently is. There is still some time left before cold weather becomes a true worry. I should have enough time to make my basement a little more weather-proof.
Food will be a little tight, from the way I am seeing things right now. If the weather is nasty, too often, I will have to ration my food, to a strict amount. If I have any luck, which I have not seemed to have had, in this life, I should be able to spend enough time hunting and fishing, to bolster my food situation. I will have to see.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
ApollyonDais
ApollyonDais Life is always harder than you think, especially when you think you know more than what you do.
Thanks for reading
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