Chapter 18 - The Birth of the Ivory Throne! §(*￣▽￣*)§
Chapter 18
Yang Yi’s appearance brought way too many surprises for the Sparks Tribe, but when everyone learned that he could make pottery, they were even more excited.
However, the Chieftain of their previous tribe did not value such workmanship and felt that nothing was more efficient than plundering.
The Blackrock Tribe had many powerful weapons and vast human strength, thereby allowing them to forcibly gain whatever they wanted in ease.
That mindset solely belonged to the chieftain and his supporting militants. Though many among them didn’t actually like killing, they couldn’t help but play along in order to survive.
They were the so-called “weak people” who were abandoned and looted. They were the victims in their previous environment at the old tribe. Naturally, they didn’t want to live their lives by plundering the weak. They grew tired of that lifestyle.
Moreover, they didn’t have the ability now.
Although the Oracle had brought powerful weapons, their people were too few in number. Plunder was likely to bring forth death and injury they couldn’t afford.
They wanted to rely more on themselves, just like what the Blackrock Tribe did in the days before their chieftain turned for the worse.
The things Yang Yi brought were too strange and exquisite. Everyone agreed that they were gifts from God and couldn’t be replicated, but pottery was different.
At the start, they had owned pottery. This meant that pottery could be made by humans. They could make them with their own hand.
Oracle had said that what God had gifted them, God would take back one day.
Most of them were injured, and it was inconvenient for such people to do heavy work. However, they couldn’t help but surround Yang Yi as he burned the clay at the kiln and made sure to fuel the fire with straw and thatch from time to time, anxious to speed up the process.
To be honest, Yang Yi felt a bit of pressure. It was his first time making pottery after all.
He knew the theory, but couldn’t guarantee whether it could succeed in practice.
Yang Yi carefully recalled the videos and tutorials he had watched before. He already made a plan in his mind before he started.
The yellow clay excavated the last time they dug a well still remained, and the viscosity was also very good.
Even after a day had passed, the mud hadn’t dried. They only needed to add a little water to the clay to make it workable again.
“Oracle, can I try?” Looking at Yang Yi mixing mud, Mao’s interest was piqued.
Jiao’s face went dark with seriousness. “This isn’t a game!”
“It doesn’t matter. Let him follow me to learn, the efficiency will be higher.” Yang Yi wanted to let them master the technique as soon as possible.
Hearing Yang Yi’s words, all of them squatted by the mud pile and began to get busy with the clay.
Yang Yi planned to first build a kiln using the clay. The kiln he currently used was not big since he built it as a prototype to be tested. Its height was shorter than his leg.
Since everyone lent a hand, the kiln was completed quickly.
There was no time to make a potter’s wheel, so they could only shape the pots using hands.
“First, roll the clay into a ball, and slowly squeeze it into a concave shape.”
Yang Yi used their language to actively express himself. His current fluency was still very bad. He would require more talking and practice to perfect his current state.
“After making a shallow concave base, make some strips with the clay. Paste the strips along the edge of the circular base. Gradually pile the strips on top of each other, layer by layer, and we’ll get a rough clay bowl!”
On understanding how to make it, they were no longer restricted to only make the bowls, but also made jars and other wares.
After kneading the clay wares, they left them out in the sun to dry, and then put them in the kiln.
Everyone was enthusiastic and made a lot of clay wares. Soon, one kiln was not enough, so they quickly built another one.
With their previous experience, they remodelled the new kiln to have a wider base so it could contain a dozen bowls and jars of various sizes at a time. They also made improvements for the firewood to burn and emit heat more efficiently.
It took a while to burn the pottery and cool them down. During this period, no one remained idle, They continued to use the rest of the clay to make more kilns and utensils, and paid no heed for lost effort or resources.
Yang Yi did not stop them. Although there would be better ways in the future, he still did not want these people to skip learning the original process
Only by understanding step by step could they grasp the principles and truly master the techniques. Anyhow, it wouldn’t waste too much time or materials.
They didn’t stop until all the clay was used up.
Yang Yi didn’t monitor them all the time. After he told Jiao the precautions clearly, he went to check the progress of building the thatched houses.
The rate of the progress was quite fast, and many houses’ frame work had been built. People were covering the roof with thatch grass.
Today’s time was tight and the materials were not enough, so not too many thatched houses were constructed yet.
Moreover, they were only making the roof. The walls wouldn’t be patched till tomorrow.
Not many houses had been constructed yet. However, if everyone crowded together, they could still sleep with a roof over their heads and not worry about the cold.
Seeing that the progress was pretty good, Yang Yi called over two people to follow him.
“Kun, Teng, follow me with the tri-fold shovels.”
Their eyes lit up as soon as they heard Yang Yi calling for them, and everyone else glanced in envy as they hurried to follow him.
“Oracle, do you have anything for us to do?”
Kun asked excitedly. After all, he was the one who was remembered by the oracle by name and personally assigned a mission to him!
Teng quickly followed Kun’s example. “Oracle, we are all strong. We can do anything.”
“What you’re about to do is very important,” Yang Yi stated seriously.
What is the most important thing to do after settling down?
That’s right! Proper sanitation! An ivory throne!
These people urinated and pooped anywhere they found convenient. The temporary camp from before didn’t stink that much since they had only been there for a few days and barely ate, which meant there wasn’t that much excrement surrounding the area.
But since their food conditions got better these past couple of days, the situation changed.
Fortunately, the people understood that the stink was unbearable as well, so they went farther from the camp to answer their nature calls.
Then again, they couldn’t stray too far since it’s dangerous to do their business alone in the wild.
One of the key reasons why Yang Yi wanted the tribe to hurry up and build a stable encampment was because relieving himself had become a dangerous task. As soon as he got the slightest bit distracted, he may be bitten in the butt by poisonous insects.
Though he wouldn’t run too far from the camp for propriety, he still knew to bury his excrement with soil and make a mark at that place to make sure he wouldn’t accidentally step on it next time. Else, he might lose the mood to cook delicious food.
Moreover, human excrement could be used as precious manure and couldn’t be let go to waste!
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MamaGoose: Forgive me, la~ Ivory throne is an ivory throne, though the chapter majorly involves the process of making pottery (Like, the actual steps involved – Would’ve been doomed if not for the 5th grade school field trip to the Ceramic Museum (￣y▽,￣)╭ )
Next week would be a detailed explanation on primitive – (E’N: Ahem – No spoilers, MamaGoose!!) w(ﾟДﾟ)w
*clears throat* ‘
*deep inhales*
*hooooon-*
“LEAVES BANZAI, NO TP!!”
‘Baby Kurisu, thanks for the edits, love ya!’╰(￣ω￣╰) gets drop kicked by Kuri
(E’N: Hmph!)
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