They'd found a place to rest for a time and Skælingr immediately started hunting for firewood. Ragna insisted she could use the water from the hot springs for tea but he felt otherwise. Who knew what bugs were living in there! How many animals had sat in that water. He'd take his tea without bear butt hair, thank you very much.

Thankfully, the area around the springs was heavily wooded and he was quickly finding branches here and there to use as kindling, as well as a few larger pieces for fuel wood. He started creating a pile of various branches, keeping an eye out for stones as he went to make something of a fire pit though ultimately he figured he'd need to do some digging.

Ragna slipped out of her travois and flopped down next to the spring for a moment, dipping her paws in and sighing at the heat. Her husband was a stubborn creature so she just left him to his devices with the fire. Some days she wondered if it was his personality or if there was something about men in particular that made them so hard-headed. She got back to her feet and padded over to the travois. While she was waiting she figured she might as well concoct a tisane. She had a couple different dried herbs, coltsfoot and marshmallow, that made the best remedy for coughs in her opinion. Winter was still far off but she didn't care to wait til autumn to get her affairs in order. Of course it would be so much easier with a den to keep things in. They'd been eyeing a few regions now but it was hard to pick.

Being reunited with his nieces and mother had sent his mind spinning and at the same time had reaffirmed his desires and ambitions. He would build them a home one way or another - he just wasn't sure of how to do that just yet. He would have this small piece of his family behind him, but that wasn't enough. He was wise enough to know better than that. The more he considered his options the more he felt like he was spinning on his heels. Finally he decided that the best way to spark some sort of new idea or solution was to walk away from the issue for a while. Leaving his family back in the mangroves with the promise that he would be back shortly, he made his way toward the hot springs. They had always been a place of relaxation for him which sounded like exactly what he needed in that moment. When he slipped through the trees to where the steaming pools of water began and was a bit surprised to find a pair of wolves already here. They seemed to be working on some sort of tasks independently with the female sorting through a few herbs and the male collecting branches, but it was fairly obvious they had come together. As he drew closer to them he offered them both a polite nod and a friendly smile. He was more than willing to make his way over to the other side of the hot springs if they didn't want his company, but he was curious enough about them and it seemed like just the kind of distraction he needed. "Hello there," he greeted before glancing at the work they were each doing. "Do you need help with anything? Maybe I can help gather some more branches?" "Talk"

Skælingr started digging a shallow ring in the ground to mark out his fire ring. When he was satisfied with the outline he started digging deeper and a bit wider. It was worth a shot to see how this did in containing fire. Thankfully there wasn't too much vegetation in the bare spot he was digging in. Satisfied he started laying the large chunks of wood into the middle of the ring when a large man appeared. Skæ tensed at first but he seemed to be friendly. Skæ glanced to his wife at the man's question but she nodded so he looked back. "Sure, if you'd like to share our fire you're welcome to assist. I've got some good fuel logs but we'll need more branches and some kindling. My name is Skælingr, what should we call you?"

Ragna set out a bowl and a scrap of rabbit hide. She first set the dried marshmallow on the hide then started mashing it with her paw. She'd mash both dried herbs separately and then measure theme into a bowl for her tisane. She was experimenting with different percentages and decided she'd do more marshmallow this go around with maybe a third of coltsfoot.

As she worked a stranger appeared. Ragna was glad she was able to travel with her husband. If she'd met this strange man alone she'd have been much more nervous. Though, he did seem nice and amiable. Her husband looked to her and she nodded. Yes, it might be nice to have some extra company. Maybe they could learn more about this place. "My name is Ragna. Do you live around here, sir?"

Ulric could tell his sudden appearance had made the man a bit nervous, but was glad when he was given a task he could help with. Collecting branches was certainly something he could lend a paw with and hopefully in return he could learn how the man was building the fire in the first place. He smiled and nodded in agreement, his ears perking forward to catch the man's name. "I'm Ulric, it's nice to meet you both," he replied, giving the man and the woman that had come over to stand beside the first a small nod, an easy smile lingering on his lips. His attention shifted to Ragna when she introduced herself and asked if he lived near by. "For the most part," he agreed with another confirming nod. "I spend a lot of time in the mangroves that are just south east of here so these hot springs are a place a visit pretty frequently. I grew up in this area so I'm pretty familiar with it. Maybe once we get the fire going I can tell you more about it if you'd like?" He went to the trees that enclosed the hot springs and began to gather the smaller branches that Skælingr had requested, gathering four or five at a time before he returned to where the fire pit was being built and placing them near by so Skælingr could handle the actual building. He also gathered a few mouthfuls of dried leaves and such to use as kindling and placed them beside the pile of branches he had collected. "What are you planning on using the fire for?" he asked curiously once he was done with his task, looking to Skælingr with a curious tip of his head. "Talk"

The man introduced himself as Ulric and he started helping to collect the firewood. Skælingr had to admit he was grateful for the help and he moved to the wooded areas as well, looking mainly for branches that had fallen during the storms. Those that he could he broke into smaller pieces, some he just had to leave. When he returned Ulric had already gathered a fair number of sticks. Skælingr took the sticks and laid them in between the large fuel logs that had been set up to form something of a square but with the logs stacked crosswise. When that was done he set in the kindling. He next took out a few pieces of flint and some of steal from his travois. "Here, if you'd like to try. This is how my companion lights the fires when he's here. You'll want to hold the flint with your paw and the metal in your mouth and try to strike the two together." Skælingr moved to demonstrate. He fixed the flint between his paws and swung his head with the metal between his teeth toward the fire so that when the metal struck the flint it would send sparks toward the fire. He ended up pausing to move the kindling a bit closer, making a short trail of it then trying again.

Ragna eyed both the coltsfoot and the marshmallow before taking a flat piece of bone in her mouth and using it to dump a small amount of each dried herb into the bowl. She then added more of each until she was satisfied with the ratio. Finally she took a stick in her mouth and mixed them together. Once satisfied she grabbed the edge of the bowl in her teeth and dumped it into a storage tin. There a nice tisane made for later in the year when cold and flu became a problem. She looked up with interest as Ulric stated that he lived in the area. She nodded. "Oh, yes. I should like that very much. We're trying to get a feel for the area."

When he asked about the fire she shrugged a little. "Oh, this and that. I plan to make some tea and I think Skælingr plans to make some pottery?" She looked to her husband who nodded. "We have plenty of clay and an odd variety of supplies if you'd like to make something after getting the fire going."

He offered a smile to Ragna when she agreed that she would like to know more about the area they were in. That was something he was very familiar with so at least he felt like he could contribute something to them in return for what he was learning from them now. "Thank you, I'd love to partake in your crafting." He was vary curious about the things that they planned to craft once the fire was going and was even more curious to see how they planned to start the fire in the first place. It was a talent that he had seen done once or twice in his life, but had never actually attempted himself. Luckily, it seemed like he was going to get the chance to learn today. Ulric watched with curiosity as Skælingr demonstrated how he should attempt to get the fire going with the tools he was given. After watching the way it was supposed to be done a couple of times he went to attempt it himself. He held the flit between his two large front paws and held the steel carefully in his mouth and aimed the best he could to swing and strike the two together. It took a few attempts for him to properly make contact and create the first sparks with the pair of items. Now that he had gotten the feel of the motion he needed and how hard he needed to strike the two together, he was sending small sprays of sparks into the kindling fairly easily and he saw small whips of smoke begin to snake their way up toward the sky. A little grin of victory pulled at the corners of his mouth and he shifted back out of the way so that Skælingr could do what he needed to do in order to build up the fire into something they could use. "Talk"

Skælingr stepped back to give Ulric a fair shot at lighting the fire. He gave a small, encouraging smile and nod as the other man took the flint and steel. It was a thing that took a fair bit of practice but Ulric picked it up quickly, finding his rhythm and successfully igniting sparks in the kindling. Skæ gently added more tinder on top of the spark, careful not to smother it. It quickly spread and soon ignited the kindling, followed by the fuel wood. "Good work, you're a quick learner."

He settled down and pulled out a piece of deer hide wrapped over a chunk of clay. Skælingr took the bundle in his mouth and moved it to a flat rock nearby. Taking one end of the deer hide he lifted up so that the wedge of clay rolled right off onto the stone. He started kneading the clay with his paws as he looked over to Allegro. "So these lands, was there a big fire that happened here? We noticed the large number of burnt trees."

Ragna nodded as her husband mentioned the burnt trees. There were some areas of the earth as well that seemed to have been scarred. She was glad they hadn't been in this land to witness it. Reaching into a skin bundle on her travois she dug around for a small container where she'd stashed some dried chamomile flowers. Carefully unwrapping the flowers she dumped them into a ceramic bowl her husband had made in an earlier crafting session. "Would you like any chamomile tea?" Her husband was particular but she had plenty of bowls if the stranger wanted to partake in some calming tea. Not that one necessarily had to be wound up to enjoy it. Ragna liked a good cup in the evening, especially in the fall.

He chuckled softly and grinned at the compliment that Skælingr gave him, waving it off with a bashful shake of his head. "Well, I had a good teacher," he replied, turning the compliment back onto the cream-hued man. He watched the fire begin to build and he smiled as the warmth of it started to radiate outward. This would be super helpful to know once the cooler months came back around. He could also imagine it would be super helpful for a ton of other crafting applications as well. Of all the accidental meetings he's had in his wanderings this was perhaps one of the most productive and informative. When Skælingr spoke again it pulled Ulric's gaze away from the fire and he turned to see the man now working with clay. He certainly was crafty - that was for certain. He nodded in response to his question, a small frown pulling at his lips. "Yes, the volcano north of here erupted a while ago. It was only shortly before I left Boreas with my mother so I don't know a lot about the aftermath of that, but I do know it was really devastating for anyone that lived near the base of it. I heard that the ash that spread afterward even effected areas that were well outside of the scope of the volcano itself." He certainly wasn't the best authority on the subject, but even he could look at the areas closest to the volcano and know that they had significantly changed from how he remembered them being when he was younger. When Ragna offered him some tea he looked toward her with interest. "I've never had tea before, but I'd certainly like to try!" He stood so he could shift a bit closer, looking at the bowl that now held the flowers she had unpacked from their belongings. They weren't like any he had seen before, but that also wasn't saying a lot. He knew very little about herbs and plants so they all seemed pretty new to him. "Would you mind if I watched to see how you made it? Maybe I can make some for my mother when I get back home." It seemed like the kind of thing his mom would appreciate at the very least. "Talk"

Moving toward the fire Skælingr 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. He hoped the temper would help the structure of the pot and he was also curious if it would affect the color at all depending how much he put in.

He listened with interest as Ulric spoke of a volcano that had erupted. He shook his head somberly. "That is terrible. I'm glad I've never had to endure a volcanic eruption. There were a few in my homeland but they've been dormant for decades. Hopefully, it will remain that way."

"Certainly, feel free to watch. It's pretty straight forward. I often use tea for healing but it can be a nice, warming drink with some of the gentler herbs. Chamomile is supposed to be relaxing. You can use fresh or dried herbs. When I use dried I mash them up a bit so the water has an easier time absorbing the properties of the plans."

Ragna grinned as Ulric stated he'd be interested in some tea. She pulled out another clay bowl and
used her paws to scoot the bowl of dried chamomile over to herself. It was full mostly of large chunks of flowers so she reached her paw in and began mashing it with the front of her toes to get it into a more tea-like consistency. Once that was done she picked up the first bowl in her mouth and sprinkled a little of the tea into the second bowl so that they both had an even amount. Taking her water skin she added water to each bowl and then scooted them near the fire on some pieces of hide.

Ulric listened with interest as he got a lesson on how Ragna made her tea. He wasn't sure what herbs would be good for a tea, but he thought that would be something Azariah would probably know. He watched his new acquaintance as she went to work mashing up the herbs she had selected and then divided up the leaves between the two bowls. He supposed getting the best herbs would be the hard part. This much of the process seemed pretty straight forward and easy to follow. Of course, he thought he might have a harder time crushing up the dried herbs with his oversized paws, but perhaps he could use a stick or rock of some kind to do it. He might have better luck getting something like that into a bowl than his big, clumsy paws. Once the bowls of water were situated beside the fire he watched them curiously for a moment. "How long does it need to stay there? How do you know when it's ready?" Looking at it now, it just kind of looked like water with bits of leaves floating around in it and he wondered how she knew when it went from that to being "tea" or what the difference really was. It was all pretty confusing to someone like him that hadn't the slightest clue about healing properties and techniques, but he was curious and would like to learn. "Talk"

Skælingr continued to work and knead the clay until he was satisfied with the distribution of ash. He worked to roll the clay back up into a ball. Then, aiming his paw, he pushed it into the middle of the circle to make a vaguely bowl-shaped object. From there the more delicate work began. He bent in close, using his paw pad to press and shape the clay. It was delicate work and his claws tended to get in the way. Though perhaps he ought to try using his claws to make some patterns on this clay pot. Her carefully dragged his claws down to create shallow vertical stripes. Once he was finished he looked the pot over then set it aside to let it dry. He might fire it later after it finished drying but for now he was inclined to relax for a bit while Ragna finished her tea.

Ragna delicately picked up a stick in her mouth and stirred the tea. She set the stick down so she could better answer Ulric's question. "I find 5 to 10 minutes usually works the best but a lot depends on the heat of the fire and how close you place the bowl. The easiest way to tell is when the water has changed color. You also want to get it so its steaming but not boiling." A few more moments went by and the tea was ready to pull away from the fire. Using the sticks she carefully nudged the bowls of the tea away from the fire. "I like to let it cool for a few minutes before drinking. Enjoy!" She gently blew on her tea and then when she felt it was cool enough she lapped at the tea, savoring the drink.

Ulric nodded in understanding when Ragna explained the timing that she liked to use for tea. He was going to laugh if he absorbed all this knowledge only to get home and have Azariah tell him she already knew how to make tea. That would be just his luck. Ah well, it was an interesting thing that he may have never learned how to do otherwise so he didn't mind. It seemed like a pretty calming activity on its own - just putting together some leaves, putting in the water, and just watching it brew until it was ready. It had a certain sense of just waiting and letting nature take its course that he wasn't entirely used to or comfortable with. He dipped his head greatly when she nudged the bowls away from the fire and told him to enjoy. "Thank you," he rumbled with a smile before looking down at the tea in front of him. He did as she suggested and let the tea cool for a bit, also blowing across the surface to help the process along. He tentatively took a couple small laps at the drink at first, testing out the flavor on his tongue. It wasn't like anything he had ever tried before, but it certainly wasn't unpleasant. He hummed thoughtfully and took a few more drinks though much less tentatively this time. He'd definitely have to try making this for his mother and Azariah when he got back... he wasn't sure if he could get his nieces on board, but maybe the girls would surprise him. "This is quite good, thank you for showing me," he said as he looked up to Ragna again. "Talk"