Svala settled down near the fire as the festival continued. A cool breeze was blowing in from the sea and she found herself looking to continue building up her stores. She had some fresh lavender to dry and some dried to make into a nice cup of tea. that would help her to relax and just enjoy being at the festival even if she wasn't in amongst the crowds. Svala set down her bundle of fresh lavender, sorting the beautiful fronds into two piles at first before realizing she hadn't gathered that much. She might as well just dry it all in one bundle.

In the mean time though she was ready to get her tea started. Svala dug around in her scrap of hide, pulling out her one bowl and some dried lavender wrapped in part of a rabbit hide. She broke the dried lavender and put it in the bowl, reaching her paw in to mash it into smaller pieces.

Ooc: Thought it would be fun to get some healers together to craft, share knowledge, gathering surrounding herbs, whatever you'd like to do!

Deadline: August 17, 5:00 pm central time US

Ragna had found some elderberry bushes in the dancefloor and she couldn't resist gathering some fresh elderberry leaves to make ointment. With her travois secure she set off with her gathering, looking for a good place to settle down and craft. As she moved she saw smoke from a nearby fire and decided to see if the owner would share. "Hello there, is it alright if I join you and share the fire?" The woman didn't seem to mind so Ragna settled down with her pile of leaves. Some she'd make into ointment and the others she would dry for different uses. Elderberry was such a wonderful herb she was sure she could think of something. Ragna set aside the leaves she would dry in a pile though she wasn't quite sure the best way to dry them. At least it wasn't windy.

Ragna started getting out the items she'd need for the ointment. She had some deer fat wrapped in comfrey leaves and also a bowl which she set the other portion of her fresh elder leaves into. She reached in with her claws to mash and break the leaves, seeking to make it easier for the properties to seep into the fat when she was ready to add it in.

Káti stuck to the outskirts of the festival. He'd never really been one for crowds and quickly tired after just a bit of interaction. He needed to get out a bit and followed one of the fires to where a pair of healers were working. He shyly said his hellos as he settled down with his own project. It was nothing fancy, just some dandelion for tea as well as an attempt at drying. He wasn't sure how well dandelion would dry with that milky substance running through it but there was only one way to find out. He reached down and set aside some of the dandelion to dry before taking the rest in his jaws.

Káti carefully chewed off the dandelion tops and then decided what the heck, he may as well use the leaves and root as well. He chewed and shredded the plant into smaller pieces. Before he added the root though he went to a nearby stream and rinsed it off. Once that was done he added it to the bowl and continued mashing it. He quietly hoped the other wolves would strike up a conversation. He was awful at making small talk.

The smell of herbs caught Halla's attention. She knew there were many healers here and while she wasn't the most social of wolves she was looking for a spot to settle down and craft. With fresh angelica held between her teeth she set off to join them. She found a small gathering around a fire and dipped her head in greeting before selecting her own spot. She set the Angelica down and began pulling off the leaves from the stem. She planned to dry most of them for later use. Angelica was useful against coughs and colds and she be needing it for the fall and winter to come. With some of the leaves set aside for drying she focused on the rest.

Halla carefully worked her canines down the stem, snipping off the leaves as she went. She was going to make a poultice out of the rest for an older festival attendee to see if it helped with his allergies. She had never tried this poultice for that but if the vapors of angelica could help with a cold she saw no reason it wouldn't help with his congestion. Halla set aside the leaves for the poultice in a small ceramic bowl.

As the sentinel, her first duty was to the safety of the pack, and Justice had been taking that duty very seriously as she patrolled through and around the festival with only brief glances at the different trade goods set out for barter. She herself wasn't much of a crafter, or any crafter at all really, though she did look rather longingly at some sturdy pieces of armor out for trade. It seemed like more and more wolves showed up to fights wearing something to protect themselves, and she felt like she was falling further and further behind the curve because of it. It was hard to compete when you couldn't bite your opponent because they were wearing a leather breastplate, but they could shred you with impunity because you were bare-ass naked.

Still, although her primary focus had been security, she found herself gravitating towards a companionable sort of group settled around a fire. Healers. They were crafting healing related things, and from across the festival the sight had caught her eye and she'd found herself making her way there. The scents of the dried herbs steeping in the hot water, lavender, brought back bittersweet memories of sitting with her mother and showing her the herb though she wouldn't see it, telling her about it though she wouldn't hear, in the hopes of rousing her from her catatonia. Justice breathed deeply the warm steamy scent, eyes half closing, as she meandered up to the fire, before opening them again and glancing around. Each of the healers was working on something new and different, and it stirred Justice's interest. "Does anyone need a hand with anything?" she asked hopefully. "I don't know much about healing but I have an extra set of paws and I'm willing to do whatever you need me to help with." And she'd learn by doing it.

Svala pulled out her water skin and carefully added some water to the bowl for her tea. Satisfied she sealed the water skin and gave the tea a quick stir with a stick before scooting the bowl near the fire so it could start to heat up and extract the medicinal properties from the herbs. At that moment another wolf, close to Svala's age, joined the little group and offered to help. Svala smiled. "Would you like to help me with drying this lavender? I have enough for two bundles and I'd be happy to give you one. If there's anything you'd like a lesson on just let me know, I'm happy to share knowledge."

Svala picked up one of the bundles and set it closer to the stranger while taking another bundle and moving it toward herself. She had some thin strips of leather which she set in the middle. She carefully selected one strip and laid it out horizontally, she then set the bundle of fresh lavender in the center of the strip of leather so the stems would be the part that was tied. "You'll have to forgive my sloppy knots. This part is so hard without a companion. My name is Svala by the way." She took one end of the leather strip and tossed it over the stems. She then took the left side and lifted it up, holding down the tossed right side while she used her mouth and free paw to wiggle the left side under the right. She then pulled to form the beginning of a square knot. She reworked the process until she had a square knot.

Deadline: September 2, 5:00 pm central time US

Ragna dipped her head in greeting as another wolf joined them. "Ragna, its a pleasure." She turned her attention back on the ointment. Carefully, she used one of her paws to scrape the fat and suet into the bowl. She got as much as she could and then proceeded to lick the rest off her paws and the scrap of hide. Waste not, want not! With the fat added she took a stick and started to mash the fat and the leaves together, looking to get everything well incorporated. She gave the mixture a quick sniff and nodded lightly to herself. Yes, this looked and smelled right. She scooted the bowl onto a piece of raw hide and dragged it over to the fire so the long end of the rawhide was facing away. Hopefully this would make it easier to pull away from the fire when the mixture had melted.

"Hi!" Káti chirped to the new comer. He felt awkward and wasn't quite sure what to say so he started to busy himself with his dandelion tea. Satisfied with the mashed up mess of a plant in his bowl he took the bowl in his teeth to the stream and very carefully scooped up some water to add to the bowl. He set the bowl down near the fire with the other odds and ends of concoction. Taking a small stick in his mouth he gave his tea a gentle stir before settling down near the fire to watch it. He wanted it to get hot enough to start pulling the medicinal properties from the plant but he wasn't interested in boiling this particular tea. Come to think of it how was he going to get his tea away from the fire when it was done?

Halla dipped her head in greeting to Justice but said nothing. Being the more reserved type she just focused on the task at hand, not wanting to get too distracted by small talk or lessons. It seemed Svala needed some assistance any way and she had a lot on her plate. Turning her attention back to the bundles of fresh angelica she she set down a piece of sinew and went about the delicate task of tying the stems together. It took her some work and she wished she'd had more leather cordage that was easier for her clumsy mouth and paws to maneuver. However, with persistence she got both bundles tied.

Taking a moment to give her mouth and her mind a break from knot tying she moved back over to the ceramic bowl with dried herbs. In order to prep the herbs for a poultice she'd need to soak them in water. Halla picked up the bowl in her jaws and trotted over to the stream, scooping up just enough water to get things moist before moving back to her spot. She set the bowl near the fire to help speed up the process but she kept it further away than the other bowls. She wanted the water to warm so it would be easier to form a paste. She did not want the mixture to get so hot it hurt to touch and work with.

The healers all greeted her in a friendly fashion, and Justice - who was typically more used to and gravitated towards the more rough and tumble fighter types - couldn't help but respond to the friendliness, a crooked smile creasing her badly scarred face. Really, she didn't even know where to begin to look, everyone was doing something so different and so interesting. But one wolf offered her a job, and miraculously it was actually something she knew how to do. Well, except for the knot. Justice settled next to the woman. "I'm Justice," she offered her name in return to the healers' greetings, then turned her attention to setting out the lavender bundle so it was all facing one way. Watching the stranger - Svala - she followed suit as the woman put the leather thong under the stems, then tied a knot. Justice watched, and made a grimace of playful dread. Put one end over the stems, stab it down against the ground with one claw. Awkwardly shove the other end underneath that one, then bite it carefully and tug against the pinned end until it was tight, then repeat. It made an ok little knot, but while Svala might have said that her companion's were better, Svala's knot was still infinitely better than Justice's. "So... this is so that you can hang them up, right? Does that help them dry better than just spreading them out?" Well, that would make sense. With it up in the air, the only place really not drying out quite as well would be the place where the leather strap was, and that was just the stem so it wasn't a big deal anyway.

Now that she had the herbs secured with cord it was time to make a way to dry them. She had attempted to dry them in trees before by stretching up the branches and tying the corder around lower branches. However, that was difficult and there weren't any trees available to readily use. Svala turned her attention to the loose ends and taking one of the strands in her mouth and using her paws she tied another square not to complete a loop. Once the loop was finished she picked it up and looped the cord over one of the branches of a stick she'd stuck in the ground to enable the herbs to dry. She adjusted the knot to make sure they hung with the stalks up and the flowers down.

She nodded at Justice's words. "Yes, I hang them up like this. My companion can help tie them around branches and such but I find that kind of hard by myself. Either way works, but I find hanging to be the best way to dry lavender. It helps the blooms keep their shape and to preserve the essential oils. If you dry them in a darker space away from sunlight they'll keep the color better." Svala wasn't quite concerned about the color though, she wanted the healing properties. Though… there might be some useful properties in the color, she wasn't for sure though.

Ragna relaxed for the most part, just taking in the day and activity around her. Every so often she picked up a stick and stirred the ointment mixture as the fire started to melt the fats that would form her ointment. She occasionally picked up the deer hide and scooted it one way or another to keep the mixture hot but not let it boil. When she finally saw the green from the leaves coloring the whole mixture she knew it wax ready. Ragna tugged at the deer hide and pulled the ointment away from the fire to cool and solidify. She folded part of the deer hide over the bowl to keep flies out. In the mean time she decided she'd go ahead and take a nap while waiting for the ointment to solidify. She didn't want to be carrying hot fat in her travois.

-exit via nap-

Káti padded over to the fire to check his tea. The water was starting to get colored from the herbs to the point that he thought the tea was pretty much done. Káti picked up a stick in his mouth and carefully used it to scoot the bowl of tea away from the fire. It wasn't perfect and he slopped a bit as he moved it. He saw what someone else was doing with a piece of hide and made note of that. He'd also herd of using antlers to scoot things away from the heat. Once it was away from the fire Káti left the tea alone to let it cool. Once it did though he settled down to enjoy his drink. He kept to himself, not really interested in starting a conversation. Well, that wasn't quite true. He might be open to it but his anxiety started ticking up and he hoped to enjoy his tea and take off without anyone noticing him.

Halla took a stick and stirred the soaked leaves, carefully breaking a few before she decided it was ready to be made into a poultice paste. Using her claws she pulled the bowl away from the fire as she hadn't set it to close so it was warm rather than hot. Halla used her paw to mash the herbs into a paste. There, this would work. She set it aside to let a bit more of the water evaporate and then she'd take it over to the elderly wolf and apply it. She settled in to wait then as soon as it was the right temp she bundled it up and headed out to see the elderly wolf. It was just as well, she'd only come to the crafting circle to get away from the main hustle and bustle of the festival, she didn't really care to socialize, at least not right now.