The Sixth Elder

Bard and Sen arrived at Elder Crafts forest within two days. It wasn’t very big according to Sen. Bard laughed. They were at the edge of the plains and desert here. The water source came from the mountains and emptied into the ocean to the west. The river is what fed the forest. And it was a major place for herds to come and feed. The trees were often grazed down and would return to vitality later in the year. The weather was getting warmer now and the trees showed little buds after their overgraze. Bard guided Sen in, as the other plants were important, and they didn’t want Kai to trample on them. He instead went to hunt.

Bard stopped in front of a dark wood tree. Its scent was missing due to the yellow flowers not being present, but Bard could remember the smell. He could also remember the tastes. Bitter followed by sweet. His hands itched at remembering all the things he learned here.

The tree shifted briefly, then stopped.

“Hello, Elder Craft,” Bard said softly as he knelt before the old wood.

“Hmm? Oh, Bard. You’ve returned,” her melodic voice hummed along. “Is that a Dryad with you?”

“My name is Sen, Elder Craft,” Sen introduced. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hmm. It is a pleasure. Your kind often skip over this place since it is so small.”

Sen’s shoulders stiffened. Bard figured she was worried about another rebuke from an Elder.

“Now, child. What can I do for you two?” Craft asked. Sen looked up and titled her head in question.

“Uh… oh. I’m pledged to Bard, so I wanted to learn from you and seek a token,” Sen stirred out of her confusion.

“Delightful. But Bard, you have more tokens than I remember. How much more time for this pledge.”

“About half a year,” Bard answered as he raised his head.

“And you are only one third of the way done,” Craft muttered. “I see. Well, depending on how quickly she grasps the challenge, then I will either dismiss you on your way with an approval, or she can earn a full token. Time will tell. Would you like to begin?”

Sen was eager to start.

With Craft’s instruction, Bard had her gather fallen branches and boil them. The water turned brown, and they removed the branches and boiled out the water. Bard had Sen removed the powders from the pot and had her store it. He then had her gather some of the old dead plant material and soak it in the water. Because it was the start of the spring runoff, the water was cold. Sen complained as her hands became red. Bard helped her and showed her how to not have to have her hands in the water so much.

It was during this instruction that he saw her hair changing color once again. The white gave way to a light green.

Once the fibers were soaked for a day, they removed it and hung it to dry. The plants dried fairly well and Bard showed Sen what to look for, and they discarded the molding and decaying parts that had sprung up from the soak. The remaining plants, they took and pounded it against a rock, breaking the exterior shell. The inside was stringlike, and Bard showed Sen how to turn this into a type of rope.

When the rope was spun, he had her take the powder and rehydrate it with some sap. The material was sticky, but the rope soaked it in and became a deep brown. Sen gasped as she looked at Kai. Much of their supply was strapped down with rope like this. Bard had her present it to Elder Craft, who explained what she had done. The powder was very good at dying and combined with the sap waterproofed and strengthened the rope. Sen became eager to learn more.

Bard showed her the little spring plants that would grow into the materials they could use to make better fire and light sticks. He then showed her to some of the trees that had caught fur in their bark, and they gathered it together. The fur was then soaked and padded together. Bard showed her how to lay out the strands to increase the strength of the cloth they were making. A felted material.

Days passed, and he showed her how to extract beneficial saps and materials and when to stop. The trees had some they could give, but some had little to give. Their song changed when it was going to be a strain to give more.

Sen continued to present the things she made to Elder Craft, who praised and thanked her.

As they sat by the fire, Sen hummed in discontent.

“What is it?” Bard asked.

“What am I supposed to do here? I’ve made everything you've shown me, but all I get is praise. And ‘this is what to do next’,” Sen groaned. Bard threw the pot over the fire and boiled some water. While she contemplated, Bard inwardly wished he could tell her, but that was the essence of Elder Craft’s teaching, and it had to be explored and discovered, not explained.

He heard her growl as she placed her chin in her hands. “Why can’t I just make my own things? It’s not that hard, is it?”

Bard stayed silent.

“Would she get mad at me for prioritizing my own thing?” She asked more hesitantly.

“Who knows,” Bard chimed in. He turned the coals around, exposing their bright orange to the pot. While Sen struggled with the idea, Bard smiled. She was on the right track. He only wished he could guide her more.

Sen grabbed a stick and drew on the ground. It was nonsense scribbles to Bard, who continued to boil the water. Eventually he grabbed some bark and set it inside the pot.

“What are you making?” Sen asked.

“Hmm? Oh. Just some medicine.” Bard hummed. “I don’t have the same materials to make those herbal drops, so I’m substituting ingredients.”

“But why?” Sen asked.

“Because I don’t want you to get sick,” Bard answered. He stirred the bark, noting the lack of bubbles due to how cold the bark was. This might take some time.

Sen paused and watched before her eyes glowed, and she went off towards the river. Had she figured it out? Bard hoped his actions weren’t contrary to Craft’s principles. He did try to give her a hint without saying anything.

She returned with some mud and began to gather more and more of it. Her hands were red and cold, but she avoided the fire. Eventually she seemed to gather enough and went to gather plant fibers. She then proceeded to mix the two until the mud held its shape with ease. She then made some shapes and placed them near the fire.

Bard kept his own task going, removing the bark and fibers from the water once it boiled again. This time he poured in some cold water, nearly filling it to over flowing. While he worked, Sen shifted the pots around. Some form of pottery?

“If you want dry pots, then you’ll need to fire it in a kiln of sorts.” Bard said, and she stopped and looked at him confused.

“Kiln?”

Bard stabilized his tasks and then drew on the ground.

He explained what a kiln was, and she hastily went to get more mud. Bard continued with his task while she worked. Eventually, she had the basics of the shape made, but the sun was dipping below the horizon. Bard was nearly done with the boiling, and he added the herbs to simmer overnight. He came over to her and saw how weak her hands had become due to chill, and he had her clean herself up. He then put her near the coals and began to work on the kiln. It was missing the airways, so he dug it out before it dried. He then took some of the mud she had and shaped a few grates to go inside. He placed rocks in the walls to hold up the grates where they would be needed. Once done, he built a fire inside the base and slowly began to dry it out.

Surely, this wouldn’t be against Elder Craft’s teachings.

Sen was asleep in Kai’s fur when he retired. He let her sleep instead of encouraging her to eat.

The next morning, she woke him, asking for help in cooking a meal. He stirred and helped, sluggish though he was. She then looked over the kiln and noticed the grates. He helped her place them inside since they had dried nicely, and the two placed her somewhat dry pots inside. He then showed her how to heat them and then told her it would take a few days to dry all the way. She was fine with it.

Bard sighed. Crafting tools for projects took a lot of time. But once they were crafted, it was much easier to get more done.

They did their next task with Elder Craft, and it was making pouches out of the ropes and fabrics they had made. Since they had limited resources, Sen was very careful at following the instructions of Bard and Elder Craft. Bard showed her how to waterproof them with the saps and bark, but said that because they didn’t have some resources here, it would make them firm, so it was important to shape them how they wanted them to stay. Despite his warnings, she had hers collapse, and it was unable to hold much of anything.

Sen was a bit upset, but she became very questioning about the kiln and her own project she had started.

Bard explained the best he could, but he referred her to Elder Craft more and more as the questions began to border on the endless, ‘Why? Why? Why?’ sort of banter.

Sen became very watchful of her pots and when they were done, she carefully removed them and then tested to see if they could hold water. A few did, the others did not. Sen used those to move dry materials while she collected wet materials in the other pots. Saps, waters, boiled liquids, buds, roots, fibers, branches.

When she was done, she made a few more things in her kiln. They looked like plates, with little grooves. This made Bard curious, but she refused to share her thoughts on the craft.

As the fifth day ended, she combined the materials in different quantities and poured them into her trays, creating portioned herbal compounds.

He then watched her collect oils and combine herbs that he used in the fires sticks, just they missed the missing plants.

When she was done, they were a bit messy, but she had many bundles of herbs.

“What is this, Sen?” he asked.

“Herb packs,” she answered giddily.

“What is their purpose?”

“It’s easier to pack them like this, as they won’t mold with those casings and preservatives. Elder healer taught it to me. But the nice thing, is that when we are making the light sticks or other medicines, most of the herbs are pre-measured and ready to use. Isn’t that nice? We won’t have to stop as much to prepare the ingredients.”

Bard had to agree that it was a nice concept. Though, he wondered if it would work in application.

“Why don’t you show it to Elder Craft,” he suggested as he picked up the nicest looking pack.

“Me?” she said as she took the pack into her hands. Bard nodded and she slipped over. Bard however sighed and began to clean up the mess.

Sen had gotten into the crafting spirit, making something of her own to solve an inconvenience. She had problem solved, and found a solution. Even if it didn’t work, it still was a good start, and that’s what Elder Craft looked for. She wanted people to be instilled with the essence of solving problems. Because that was what made all crafts a reality.

Sen returned while he cleaned up the pots and kiln. She held a full token in her hand, and Bard sighed in relief.

They had been there for eight days, meaning they were still on track to get through all the elders.