The flames rose within the Kiln to their apex, licking at the still-wet clay they’d used to secure the stone walls in place. Tiny embers sparked upwards through the open hole at the top and into the air before vanishing.

“Once it starts to set properly, I’ll start closing the top in with more clay,” August offered, looking over the top of the Kiln. “I’ll do it one layer at a time, working inwards as each layer dries—that should help it keep its shape well enough.”

“That does sound like a plan,” Haiko said from beside him. “The clay you’ve been using is not quite the same material I’ve used in the past—there may be significantly more imperfections in anything we make using it.”

“It’s about all we have access to at the moment,” August admitted, “Function over form is probably the best bet for now anyway.”

“We will preserve then,” Haiko hummed, “I don’t suppose you have any idea on how to build a pottery wheel?”

August furrowed his brow—he’d seen them before in movies, motorised plates that spun by way of electricity. The clay was placed in the centre of the wheel, and the spinning motion allowed the user to draw it upwards into any number of shapes.

“I’ve seen the ones that spin on their own,” August admitted, “I would assume we’d need runes to accomplish something like that.”

“I have seen a manual version,” Haiko said, “Two circles of wood, connected by thin pillars and balanced on top of a pole so that it could spin freely—you could rotate it by kicking the bottom section.”

August tried to picture out that would work. One of the circles would be the place where the clay sat on top—the rest of it was harder to figure out. The bottom circle of wood was probably the part that got kicked?

“Could you draw it in the dirt?” August asked, retrieving a stick from his inventory and handing it over. “I’m having trouble visualising what you mean.”

“I can certainly attempt to,” Haiko said, bemused.

Haiko took the stick from him with one of her left hands before crouching down and pressing it against the dirt. August watched as she drew two equally sized circles next to each other and then connected them by two thick lines.

“How does it spin without falling over?” August said, taking in the picture.

Haiko drew the second piece directly beside it—a large base with a single pole sticking up into the air.

“The first part that I have drawn is a floating section that isn’t connected to anything,” Haiko explained, “The second part is a stand that holds the other piece off the ground.”

It reminded him of those circus performers who would spin plates on top of long poles as part of their act. The individual parts didn’t seem impossible to make, but getting them to stick together would be a challenge. Rittan had already cut a handful of logs into sections to make cutting boards, and they would do the job here for the top and bottom.

“It’s going to be a while before this is dry,” August said, stepping back from the Kiln. “I think we have what we need to make a prototype—if you still want to help me?”

“Of course,” Haiko said pleasantly.

August nodded, moving back towards the main camp—the cross-sections that Rittan had made from the log were sitting beside the door, five of them each roughly the same size. August took two of them, paused, and then snagged a third to use as the base. He stepped around the [A-Frame Hut] and spotted Rittan.

“Rittan,” August called, making his presence known.

“Yes?” Rittan said, coming to his feet with a smile. “I see you’ve set the Kiln on fire.”

Kalter looked up from behind him before glancing over his shoulder to where Haiko was standing.

“It’s drying out the walls, so it doesn’t fall over,” August admitted, “We’re moving on to making a pottery wheel—I wanted to use these three plates, do you mind?”

“No, please go ahead,” Rittan said, waving him off. “If you need more, feel free to take what you wish.”

“Thanks, man—these are good,” August said, holding the three pieces up for him to see. “Are you two making another hut?”

“Yes—we weren’t sure what the best use of our time was,” Rittan admitted, “So we decided to use it to accomplish something instead of sitting around fretting.”

“I don’t fret,” Kalter murmured.

“I was thinking about making a larger undercover area, somewhere to sit or work when we’re not inside the huts,” August said, “If there’s time later, we could group up and figure out what that looks like.”

“A good idea,” Rittan agreed, “Then we shall meet as a group once our respective tasks are complete.”

August just nodded before breaking off from them once more. He stopped beside the Kiln and placed the three plates side by side.

“Without nails, screws or adhesive, how do you plan on constructing such a thing?” Haiko asked sometime after he’d returned.

“That’s the difficult part,” August admitted, “Once we get a furnace up and running, we can make some nails, but we’ll have to rely on some other tricks for now—namely making holes and then hammering our braces into place.”

August removed a branch from the Kiln and used the coal to mark a pair of holes on two of the wooden cross-sections. He pushed one of the pieces over to Haiko and kept one for himself.

“First, we make the holes,” August explained, removing his [Flint Chisel] from his inventory and handing it over. “Here—not exactly the best tools to work with, but it’s the best we’ve got for now.”

“Thank you,” Haiko said, studying the tool curiously.

August removed a piece of flint to use for himself and then a striking stone to use as a hammer for each of them. He angled the flint and then struck it with the stone, carving a divet in the wood. Haiko followed his example—seemingly having a much easier time of it due to her much greater strength.

Once he’d made it halfway through both holes, he flipped his piece over and then started working through the other side. Haiko followed his example, finishing both of her holes a few minutes before he managed the same.

“Okay—phase one done,” August said, shaking out his hand to rid himself of the growing pain. “Now we need two more holes, one in the base plate and one in the piece at the bottom?”

“I believe so,” Haiko said, turning her own piece over in her hand. “Where shall I begin on this one?”

August took the branch he’d used before and leaned over towards her—he marked a larger circle in the middle of the two holes she’d already made before pulling the base plate over and making a matching circle.

“The stand pole needs to be bigger in order to hold the entire assembly up?” Haiko said slowly before laughing helplessly. “I think I’m a little bit out of my depth here—I hope this isn’t a waste of time.”

August was getting used to the prototyping stage, though; even a poor version of a pottery wheel should get him close enough.

“It’ll be fine if it doesn’t work out,” August reassured, beginning to chisel away at his own piece. “Trial and error—whatever we end up with will move us closer to our goal.”

“You’re very optimistic, August,” Haiko said.

“I don’t think planning for failure is optimism,” August said, amused. “It’s closer to weaponising pessimism.”

“But you still see certain success ahead of you,” Haiko suggested, making quick progress on her own cross-section, “A short term failure in order to succeed in the long term—it’s a positive outlook.”

Maybe it was, or maybe it was simply stubbornness or perseverance. Knowing you could fail and still gain something significant afterwards was powerful in its own way. Every blueprint was another tool, and while he was blind to them, there had to be thousands already within his reach. Making a poor prototype ended with a perfect blueprint to use the next time, and each failure led to a better outcome than the last. August stared down at his hands for a moment as the realisation set in.

“Thanks, Haiko,” August said dryly. “You just helped me realise that I’ve become the embodiment of failing upwards.”

Haiko covered her mouth with one of her many hands, but it did nothing to conceal the amusement in her eyes. Eventually, he finished the larger hole, but he hadn’t made it out entirely unscathed—he held several scratches, cuts and scrapes on his fingers for his efforts.

The three plates were placed down beside one another, and he spent a moment flipping them around in his mind to make sure they were still on the right track.