John looked at his sleeping Goblins. It was early morning, yet they didn't look like they were going to awake anytime soon. The only other Goblin awake was the Cheif. The young man turned Goblin shrugged his shoulders and began to awaken his followers. "Get up. We need to have an early start." He said, shoving the Goblins rather forcefully. His ability said they were all full health again. Monsters healed insanely fast.
The Goblins rose without complaint. Mainly because they couldn't talk, partly because they were terrified of him after yesterday's show. John didn't care, he just wanted them up and moving. "We need to get water. We only have three bladders, so we are going to have to construct some vases to hold the water."
The Goblins stared at him with their blank eyes. The mage couldn't wait until they evolved, even if it meant he would probably have to fight them to retain his dominance. At least then they would be able to talk and understand basic concepts like a pot to hold water. It wasn't their fault they were stupid, they were both children and Goblins. A horrid combination for understanding more than food goes in mouth.
After gathering their food, the Goblins set out to the river. It wasn't too long of a trek, but enough to work up quite the thirst after not having any water yesterday. The young Goblins dropped their food and weapons and instantly jumped in the water, drinking and playing without a care in the world. John had to yell at them to get out and pick up their weapons encase a wolf came and killed them all. With downcast eyes, they did as he said. While the five Goblins acted as his eyes, John went looking for clay deposits. It took half an hour of walking along the river before he found what he was looking for. River clay. It honestly looked a lot like mud, and anyone that didn't know what they were looking for would just assume it was dried mud.
John knew that he needed to purify it, but with a lack of tools, he couldn't. He didn't have a sieve to get the rocks and twigs out of it, so he would just have to do it by hand and hope for the best. Gathering his Goblins around, he got them to wet the clay at the edge of the river and showed them how to shape it into a large pot shape. They all nodded along like they understood it, but when he got them to try it, three of them failed. Only one made something that even looked like what John had done. The last Goblin was just on watch.
"Useless." John tisked while eyeing their work. He ordered the thee that failed to go watch and tried to get the fifth to give it a shot. He was just as bad as the others. So, instead, John got them to just gather clay, while he instructed the one that seemed to have a mediocre amount of talent. After a few tries, the Goblin seemed to suddenly understand. Its hands suddenly started moving more deftly, and its pots improved drastically.
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"Good. I'll name you Clay then since you seem to actually be useful at something." John said to his first named Goblin. This seemed to make the Goblin happy, and it began with renewed vigor. John meanwhile began to fry the pots. He used Burning Touch to harden the pots, allowing them to hold their shape. It was a long process, taking the whole day, but eventually, they had six functioning pots. They even had lids, even if they didn't fit perfectly. The pots were very simple round pots. One could probably be used to make a stew large enough to feed the entire Clan, but none more. The Clan ate their food, filled their pots, and headed back towards the village.
Along the way, they picked a few berries. There wasn't a lot, as it was summer not spring. But the Forrest always had a fruit growing in some amount, no matter the season. Goblins were omnivores, even if they had a large preference for meat. So the fruit was a welcome snack on the way home. The sweet berries were already giving John ideas about Half-Blood Rabbit, or perhaps fish, cooked in a clay container covered in sweet berry juices. A quick identity showed that they were Blackberries.
John smiled at the thought. He would win the loyalty of his clan with food. Then when they evolve, he needn't fight them to show he was still the strongest. It was a good idea, but John knew it would take too much time. It was likely he would have to fight every member of his current Clan as they evolved. Chances where they are already close to evolution. He just hoped that they wouldn't all evolve the same day. That was basically asking for his death.
Upon returning, no one payed any attention to the small Clan. They didn't have food, mearly clay pots. So no-one cared. The Clan retreated back to their lean-to, putting the pots on the far side, away from the eyes of the Tribe. John ordered them all to drink from one of the pots until it was empty. It was a fair few liters, so it ended up being passed around the entire clan twice before it was empty.
"Go and fill this up with those berries that we ate before. You two go out and collect more sticks for the fire tonight." John ordered. His words were full of authority, and the Goblins quickly went about to do as they where ordered. The stick boys where back first, so John sent them back out again to gather a stockpile. After the third trip back, John let them stop. Soon after, the berry boys were back. Origonally, John was planning to make jam, but realised he didn't have all the ingrediants, or sealable jars to store it. So instead, he just kept the berries as an easy snack for the Clan during the night.