บท 30: Chapter 30 - Clay

Thinking back to the research I had done before coming back to the game I start to search along the river bank for clay-like soil. Further down the river, I notice the soil color changing from a red to a greyish hue. The following instruction on the internet I bend down and touch the soil and notice it had a different texture to the dirt and soil I had previously been walking on. It was glossy and smooth with an almost plastic-like texture. I further test out the clay by going towards the river and cupping water in my hands and then spreading it over the clay wetting it and then digging into it grabbing a handful. I knead the clay into a ball and notice that the ball tends to resist breaking as well as feeling sticky. I simile to myself since I had just discovered natural clay.

The next step is to transport and store the clay which will become a problem. There is no way to store the clay without the use of an air-tight container, the next best thing would be to dig up the clay when needed.

"Well no big deal, let's make a small stone kiln here and see if I can make a clay pot."

Remembering the tutorials on the internet, I start gathering large stones and place them in a rectangular formation make sure to leave space in the middle for wood. I mixed some mud to secure the rocks on top of one another and continued to pile them around until they were knee height. I made a small hole at the bottom on one side so I could feed it with more wood when needed and another closer to the top where I have placed some flat stones between the sides to make a stone bridge. It looked like a two-story house with two holes one at the bottom and one near the top. The roof of the kiln was made using thin flat stones as well by covering the sides with mud I eliminated the small gaps.

I after making the kiln I went back up to HavenFall and gathered some tinder and wood. I lit one of the branches I found on fire and carried it back down to the kiln where I tossed the tinder at the bottom and lit them up with the branch. I slowly fed it with more small sticks slowly increasing the temperature.

Now it is time to make the clay pot. I found another flat stone to use as a table and gathered some of the clay making sure to wet the surface of the stone before placing the clay on top. I kneaded the clay together into a ball and started to wedge the clay. Wedging is the method to push air out of the clay and it is similar to kneading bread dough. Placing the clay on the stone and pushing down and forwards before picking it up turning it on its side and repeating the steps. I constantly added a little bit of water each time when I felt like the clay was becoming dry and slowly wedged the clay. The less air in the clay the better.

Since it was my first time and I had only seen videos online on the process I did not know when to stop wedging. I kept doing it until I felt satisfied with the job before tearing a piece and flattening it into a circle. This circle is the base for HavenFall's first clay pot. I score the edges with a stick and precede to tear off another piece from the clay ball and roll it out into a long sausage shape. I add more clay in places and make sure to keep it wet before scoring it again on one side. I place the clay coil on top of the base and squeezed the ends together to form the full circle. I repeat until I used up all the clay and I was able to create a pot 7 coils high which I end up placing to the side in order for it to dry.

For the rest of day, I kept making different-sized pots and cups while maintaining the kiln's temperature by adding wood every so often. I had made 11 small cups, 2 small bowls,3 large bowls and 1 small pot using this method. To help with the drying process I placed it near the kiln in direct sunlight until sunset. It was time to fire the clay pots. I place the clay cups and bowls on the flat rock which I had suspending in the middle of the kiln carefully making sure they do not touch each other and then put in more wood. I went to wash off all the dirt and clay and then went back up to the main fireplace. I could smell the fish cooking and the vegetable broth and after such a hard day's work, I was famished.

I talk to Lucina and Robin about the farm and they informed me that they have tilled one section and planted different sized cuts from the potato-like vegetable. They will continue on the second field tomorrow when they wake up. Luke and Oscar had brought old man Hus the material for the wooden pottery wheel with only needing to create the holes and smoothing down the wheel left to do. Howard had got to work by digging the dirt and transporting it to the far side of the cliff edge where David had started to make the mudbricks. Gobi had named the other goblin Gomi and they both were having fun digging the trench with Howard and interacting with the other residents.

Everyone was doing their part in making HavenFall a better place and it made me feel warm inside. Before sleeping I made sure to add more wood into the kiln and all that was left was to wait until tomorrow to see the result.

Tomorrow came faster than normal and the first thing I did was rush to the kiln. I could still feel the heat from the ashes radiating out of the holes and carefully with a long stick, I nudged out the clay pots. I could see from the top hole that some pots had burst into small pieces but there were 5 surviving pots. 2 small cups, a small bowl, a large bowl and the small pot had survived the kiln. The moment I held the clay pot the familiar blue screen greeted me.

[ Pottery Technology Completed.]

There was no reward but the message itself was rewarding. With this, we can create more pots and hopefully create large kilns to fire larger clay structures. Once old man Hus has finished with making the pottery wheel there will be no need to create a clay pot from using coils the production will be faster as well. Training a goblin to be a potter may even be better since they have smaller hands and longer fingers. New ideas ran through my head but first I needed to wash off the pots. I went to the river and carefully rubbed off the ash on the pot and once it was completed I see my grayish brown clay cup. It was rough to touch and did not look pretty but this is the first step towards civilization.

I bring up my creation to show old man Hus since he will be creating something similar to this using the pottery wheel.

"Incredible lad. It is very different front the wooden cups I had made. The texture is rougher but it feels more solid. With a little fine-tuning in the design process, you can make any shape for the cup. This is fascinating and you say with this pottery wheel you want me to make I can do something like this?"

"Old man Hus, with the pottery wheel you can make something even better. You can make it smaller, thinner, taller, wider. You can make it a different shape. There is an endless amount of designs."

"Well, well, well what are we waiting for? LUKE, OSCAR hurry up and start digging a hole and quickly sand off the bark of the log. Smooth it as quickly as possible I want to get to work as soon as I can!"

I laugh at the scene. Old man Hus seemed to be acting like a child with a new toy.

"Old man Hus while the boys do that why don't I show you where to get the clay and how to fire it in the kiln."

"Lead the way lad!"

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