Skælingr didn't know where the morning had gone. He'd meant to get up early and get so much done and yet, by the time he'd gotten his things together, the sun was well on its way toward its apex. The late morning sunlight beamed down on him as he scouted along the river and finally found a good place to settle down and do some crafting. There was a large, flat stone near a few scraggly trees and a nice flat area to get a fire going. He slipped out of his travois and got a fire going first before he turned his attention to the task at hand. He needed to make a few more ceramic bowls for his wife's healing crafts. Digging in his supplies he pulled out a piece of deer hide wrapped over a wedge of clay. He chuckled to himself. Here he was near a river and could get fresh, wet clay if he wanted but this was for an experiment. Skælingr had bad luck with pots cracking and this time he wanted to control the temper in his clay. Thus the painstaking sifting and re-hydrating of this particular wedge. Skælingr took the bundle in his mouth and moved it to the rock. Taking one end of the deer hide he lifted up so that the wedge of clay rolled right off onto the stone. Perfect. "Speech"

Armando was never one to pass up that chance to be nosy. There was simply too much to be gained by sticking your nose where it didn't belong. A bit of risk too but he was all the richer for it. This time he was watching a wolf pick its way along the riverbank with a bundle hanging from its jaws. While it wasn't unusual to see a wolf carry something that didn't stop Armando's curiosity from being piqued. What could he say, he was easily intrigued.

His intrigue was only deepened when the canine unwrapped the hide to reveal a lump of clay. How curious! What on earth could a clumsy pawed dog be doing with clay? A better question might be, what could one of them do besides finger paint? Welp, now he had to investigate.

The little panda sprung up from his hiding place and took off bounding over the uneven rocks with his tail held in a high question mark. He felt quite speedy but by the time he actually got within speaking distance of the canine, the beast had already dumped the clay onto the stone and appeared to be getting ready to work on it.

Stopping a safe distance away Armando lifted a paw and held it in a curled position just below his chest. The gesture might look hesitant to any outside observer - as it should because that was what he was going for - but it actually served to bring his paw close to a sheathed knife he had on his person that was hidden from the wolf's view. You could never be too careful when approaching predators. "Greetings strangers! Forgive me for intruding but I couldn't help but notice what you have there and I must say," he said with an affable chuckle, "My curiosity is piqued. What are you working on? If I may ask?"

Skælingr turned at the little voice that spoke, the piece of deer hide swinging from his jaws. He took a few steps back as he gazed down at the strange little creature that had spoken. What the hell was that? It looked like a red raccoon. Well, he seemed a polite little fellow and Skælingr, having his own companions who had yet to catch up with him, knew that many species could learn and speak the common tongue. Skælingr set the deer hide down so he could speak properly. "Hello, I'm working on making a few ceramic pots for my wife. If I may ask, what manner of being are you? I can't say I've seen your kind before." Skælingr didn't mind a bit of chit chat while he worked. He placed his paw in the middle of the clay to crudely separate it into two pieces. He had experiments to do after all. The one he started rolling with his paws into a rough circular shape. The other he planned to add extra temper to. Moving toward the fire he took a stick in his mouth with a slightly flattened end from the way it had been broken. He used it to poke at the fire, scooting a little bit of ash onto the stick. Swinging his head delicately back around he dumped the ask onto the second half of clay. Setting the stick down he began to massage the clay with his paws, working the ask in. In hindsight he wondered if it would be better to add the ash to the dry clay before he made the wedge. Ah well, there was only one way to learn. "My name is Skælingr, do you happen to live here?" "Speech"

The wolf seemed to know what it was doing. Interesting. He didn't know canines could work clay. But, he supposed, that shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise to him. As he was learning, wolves were a very resourceful species. Those pup stealing bastards who'd held Motif captive had had quite the assortment of things in lands. The thought of the Ashen Armada made his nose twitch in worry and he delicately sniffed in the wolf's direction to make sure he wasn't one of those no good bastards.

He was relieved to find he could detect no trace of the scent on Skaelingr's person. Good.

Ah, so the dog had never seen a red panda before. That certainly wasn't the first time he'd heard that. The bulk of his species were disappointingly content to do nothing all of their lives. They never got out much. Armando placed a paw on his chest and said grandly, "I am a red panda. And my name is Armando." As for whether or not he lived here, Armando shook his head. "I'm just passing through."

"Pots, you said? Do you mind if I watch you work? I can't say I've ever seen someone without these," he held up his paws to show off his thumbs. "Work clay before." He pulled a coil of grass fibers out of his bag. One end was braided neatly but the other - the working end - was loose. To show what he would be doing Armando did a few twists of the fibers to bind them together. "I've got a little project of my own I can work on so I won't be any trouble."

Skælingr continued to work the clay until he was satisfied with the distribution of ash. This would either be an excellent trick or this pot was going to be full of holes and cracks and basically useless. Why was pottery so touchy? He moved over to the ball of clay without the ash. Aiming his paw he pushed it into the middle of the circle to make a vaguely bowl-shaped object. From there the delicate work began. He bent in low, using his paw pads to press and shape the clay. It was delicate work and his claws tended to get in the way. As these were for his wife and not for sale he didn't fuss to much at the little claw marks here and there. Ragna wanted something to make tisanes and ointments in so a smooth bottom wasn't necessary. The little creature introduced himself as Armando, a red panda. Skælingr had never heard of a panda before but he took to note Armando's form and assumed that they must come in other colors as well. Skæ looked up as the red panda showed off his paws with noticeable thumbs and he felt a pang of jealously, though he chuckled in response. "Consider me jealous. It is delicate work without thumbs. I have to reply entirely on placing pressure and making sure my claws don't get in the way. Hence my bowls tend to be more shallow with specific sizes to the walls. You're certainly more than welcome to watch." He worked on the non-ash bowl fairly quickly. Using the pressure of his paws to shape it and smooth out the words places. He ran the ball of his paw along the top to smooth out the lip of the bowl. It was still rough and not perfect but such things rarely were. He moved over to the flatter slab that had the ash worked into it. Carefully he pushed his paws against two of the sides, to lift them up and then to the other two sides. This bowl was a bit more squarish but that didn't bother Skælingr. He used his nose to the smooth the clay at the corners while using the side of his paws to hold it up. Satisfied he stepped back to examine the over all shape of the bowls, sparing a glance to see what Armando was doing. "That is quite something. I have an awful time with rope without my companions assistance." "Speech"

To say Armando was fascinated was an understatement. He watched in amazement as the wolf nimbly worked the clay. How fascinating! What skill! He was impressed. It was no easy task for someone like him to make pots, but to do it without thumbs? That took an awful lot of determination, creativity and skill. Armando's interest showed plainly on his face as he watched Skaelingr work. His expression was childlike as he leaned forward to get a better view. "You are quite the master of it, I must say! There are those with paws like these who would be downright envious of your skill."

Armando had nearly forgotten the rope he was working on. He glanced down at it as Skaelingr mentioned it. His paws had gone still as he watched the wolf work but now that it had been brought to his attention again, Armando began to twist the fibers together again. "It's something you can never have too much of in my opinion! Whenever I find grass blades like these I make a point to cut some and work with it. It's nice to have rope on hand at all times." Using his thumbs Armando could work the grass in on itself and cause it to bind together. The blades were damp and somewhat stretchy now but when they dried they'd be tough as nails. If he finished with these single strands and made two more strand braids, he could braid those finished ones together and get an even bigger rope.

As he worked, he asked, "So tell me, Skaelingr, what got you interested in pottery? I mean no offense but it seems an odd craft for a wolf to get into, you know?"

Skælingr chuckled. "You flatter me." He did appreciate Armando's compliments though. As he listened to the other's explanation of what he was doing he continued his work. The fire was getting to where he needed it to be and time was off the essence. Especially as Skælingr could not pick up the pots. He had a few flat stones set up near the fire, forming almost a small little patio-like space a foot or so wide and several feet long. He took the scrap of deer hide and placed it next to one of the pots. Then carefully, he set his paw near the base of the pot and walked it onto the scrap of hide. Taking one corner and gently flipping it over the pot, he then took the other corner to meet it. Taking the hide in his jaws, careful not to catch clay, he gingerly walked over to the fire. He set the pot down on the furthest stones and left it on the hide for now. He would need the hide to rotate the pot to ensure even drying and at this further distance it was doubtful that the hide would risk catching fire or something else unpleasant. He moved back to the second pot and with another scrap of deer hide he repeated the process until he had the pots sitting next to each other. "I agree, rope is terribly useful though its in rather short supply for me. There's only so much I can do though I hope to get some more made soon. My travois is getting a few loose rungs." Really, he ought to make a new one at some point. The one he currently had was getting quite old. "It's true, I certainly never imagined I'd be doing this sort of work. However, a lot changes when one gets married." He laughed. "I married a healer and she uses ceramic bowls for all sorts of things. I dare say dedicating my time to learning pottery certainly helped with my courtship and as they say, happy wife, happy life." After some of their worst fights, when he'd finally cooled down, he would make a new ceramic for Ragna and find some flowers to add to it. He'd leave it where he knew she would see it and it always seemed to help. He took a moment to rotate the pots while scooting them closer to the fire. "Speech"

Armando listened intently as he worked. He'd been making rope for so long that by now he could do it without any active thought directed towards the activity.  It was slow work best measured in inches rather than minutes lest the time sink be disheartening. But it kept his paws busy and was the sort of thing he needed once in awhile, especially when focusing the mental aspect of his attention on something or someone else. Like now. He'd have felt silly just sitting there watching Skaelingr work and, if the wolf was anything like him, he probably would have found the hyper focused attention a tad uncomfortable.

Ah, so the wolf had a sense of humor. Armando chortled and said, "So I've heard. It's interesting; the unexpected paths we take. If you had asked me as a cub where I thought I'd be at this time in my life - what I'd have done to get here - never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined this." He motioned around them. The significance of the gesture would likely be lost on Skaelingr as he knew nothing of Armando's species. So few aspired to venture beyond the bamboo forests. Even fewer would have ridden a moose into battle or conned wolves out of resources.

Skælingr kept an eye on the pots, occasionally moving over to the fire and rotating them. It was critical to make sure they dried mostly evenly or else all his work would go to waste. As the fire burned down Skælingr moved the pots closer to the fire. Taking a stick he poked at the fire and noticing it was mostly coals he was ready to move onto the next step. First though he needed to check the pots. They were mostly dry and he touched them gently. Excellent. Taking the stick he hooked the pots and carefully set them down on the hot coals. Once that was done he started making a teepee out of sticks over the pots and the hot coals. He did this very carefully, trying to leave some room between the pots and sticks. After adding more tinder he used another stick to poke at the coals, prompting the tinder to light and then the sticks. He wasn't quite sure what Armando was alluding to when he gestured to the land around him. Perhaps he'd come from a long way? "I take it you've traveled a long way to be here?" "Speech"

Armando continued to weave and to watch. The rope was coming together nicely. Any time he reached the end of a blade he simply twisted another one onto the end of it and quickly twisted the splice into the forming rope. And so it went inch after inch; the rope slowly growing and coiling at his paws. Mostly Armando's attention was fixed on Skaelingr and his work. It was, in Armando's opinion, the more fascinating thing. He would have to keep the process in mind should it some day interest him to do the same. As for Skaelingr's question, Armando answered truthfully, "A long way, yes. You're not likely to see many of my kind in Boreas. My people eat mostly bamboo and so are confined to places that grows plentiful. There are places like that here, but they are too few and far in between for most to travel comfortably." Armando just happened to be a little more bold and a little less picky than most. Which, truth be told, was why he was kinda fat.

Skælingr watched the fire and continued to let it burn. He enjoyed watching the flames and the beautiful colors they created. As he watched he could occasionally see the pots as some of the sticks burned down. He'd have to let the fire burn itself down. His ears perked up as Armando explained his kinds dietary habits and thus rarity in Boreas. That made sense, that also explained why he'd never seen such a creature in his life before. He and his wife had lived in fairly temperate parts of the world with four seasons and no bamboo. Once the fire had burned the sticks down into coals Skælingr picked up the stick he'd been using to move aside some of the coals so that he could get a better view of the pots. To his delight he could see a beautiful terra cotta color as well as some darker fire clouds spreading across the pottery. So far he could see no cracks so that was a good sign. He set down his stick and settled down to wait. He'd need to let the pots cool completely on their own time to avoid temperature shock. "Speech"

Armando twisted and watched, twisted and watched, both his project and the wolf's coming together nicely. He learned a lot from watching Skaelingr work and in the end had a nice little bundle of wet rope and a budding interest in pottery to show for his efforts. All in all he was pleased with the day's events. He could go back to his nook and ponder what he'd learned. Maybe some day he'd try it himself. It was an intriguing skill and if a wolf with no thumbs could do it, so could he, right? It was worth trying. But now it was time to go. He'd seen enough and he had places to be. "Well," he said as he got to his paws. "Thankd for the lesson, Skaelinger but I must be going." He then wrapped the rope around his shoulder and went bounding off into the grass.

-exit-