The Makings of a Student!

Ignita nodded as she watched her students work and some struggle. She would pass by each one and add an additional precut stick or two to their bundles, to ensure they all had enough in their kiln for it to work properly.

She would pause next to each student and help with hammering the nails or cutting a branch with the tools. Her own paws had been stretched and used since she was little and sported several calluses in different spots between her pads.

She also made sure to casually grab enough materials for the smoky fae in the back that had trouble moving around. She smelled a lot like Ollie's Clinic.

"Okay! Well done!" She said as she saw how the others were waiting for the next step, "Let's fill our pails with the cut branches, they all need to fit inside and be short enough for the lid to fit securely on. We'll place the lid on tightly and then we'll be placing our kilns right into the fire! Next to the coals!"

She helped anyone who needed to get their lids on tightly, and even asked Wylan to use his strength on one or two, then led the others to place their kilns into the hot coals of the fire.

"This is the important part. If the wood inside had a lot of moisture, steam may start coming out of the holes, if it starts coming out too forcefully, the pressure inside may be building too quickly. We can pull the kiln out of the fire, make the holes bigger, add another hole, or set it in a cooler spot of the fire. If the steam suddenly stops, something would be blocking the hole and the pressure could start building again. As long as steam is coming out no air can get in, which means the charcoal is cooking perfectly!"

She used a long stick to help her students place their kilns in the fire.

"It'll be cooking for at least an hour depending on how hot the fire gets and how close it is to it. What you want to be looking for is when the steam turns into flames like a candle! That's when it's getting close. When the candle flames are gone from the holes carefully remove the kiln from the fire, using a pole or stick to grab the handle. Once the kiln is removed quickly plug the holes with the nails or screws! We don't want air to get in! Otherwise, it'll make all the sticks turn into crumbly ash." She picked up a kiln she had worked a day before that she had set aside earlier.

"So when your kiln is cool to the touch after it has been through the firing process, you can pry open the lid! Our lovely charcoal sticks will be ready to use! Store them in sturdy containers, otherwise they'll turn to dust if they're rattling around soft satchel with other items."

She used a large branch and shoved it under the lid then leveraged the lid open of the pre-fired kiln.

"You're welcome to grab a few of these already-made sticks, and some paper over here to experiment on how to use the charcoal and how it feels while we wait for the kilns to burn!" She grabbed a few for Vesper and walked away from the front while the others grabbed their own, and set them before her wordlessly.