Three days after learning about the clay, a new dwarf arrived. This dwarf did not have a beard and wore a simple brown pants and shirt. The dwarf approached and bowed to Kaitlyn and said, “My mistress told me you are looking to learn to shape clay. I am one such. I have brought some practice clay with me and I can teach you.”

“Oh,” Kaitlyn was surprised. There were only two elves staying at the moment and she glanced at them before turning back to the dwarf, “I actually… ummm I was going to probably trade that clay.”

The dwarf shook her head firmly and said, “The craft is supposed to be an excellent tool for magical users, it is why my people have been bringing this to you as payment. I do not know the entire reason, but I can teach you the clay.”

Kaitlyn considered this. She would need to ask Master Garthis on his next visit about this, but in the meantime it at least would give her something to do with the clay gathering in the barrel in her cellar. She finally nodded.

The dwarf brought out a tool that looked like a large wagon wheel balanced on a stand, but the hub of the wheel had a flat space.

Wetting the clay, the dwarf put it on the round space on the hub. She used a long stick and began moving the wheel around until it had a good spin. Shaping the clay as it spun on the table, the dwarf formed a delicate cup in just a few moments. Holding it up the dwarf said, “Working clay requires focus. People think it looks easy, but to do it well you will need focus.”

Kaitlyn was surprised as the lesson continued how many of the things which this dwarf said were similar to the things Master Garthis said. Learning to focus on the task and how small errors early in the process turned into bigger problems later. When the dwarf finally had Kaitlyn sit down and start, she immediately felt her respect for the dwarf crafter rise. It looked easy in the hands of the master, but the actual task of “throwing” the clay was challenging.

Following her teacher’s instructions, Kaitlyn set the clay firmly on the hub of the wheel. She began it spinning and gasped when her clay slid off. The dwarf nodded and said, “Try again, wet the clay and set it. Then set the wheel spinning.”

It took several times to learn how to even use her new pottery wheel. Once she did, she began to try to apply they pressure as she was instructed to begin forming a shape. The ease with which the dwarf worked the clay showed a mastery Kaitlyn began to admire more and more as she attempted to recreate even a rough cup shape.

The dwarf made Kaitlyn stop after an hour and said, “This is an old wheel, your brownie can use it for a week as a model, but I will return to get it at that time. I will give you more lessons if you want them, but you will need to pay like an apprentice would.”

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Kaitlyn leaned back and nodded, “Thank you for this lesson.”

“My mistress paid for this lesson,” the dwarf said, “I’m just following her orders. She seems to think you will prove useful.”

Before Kaitlyn could ask for that to be explained, the dwarf turned and left her clearing. Kaitlyn blinked as they left and then called out Cilvic. He quickly examined the wheel and determined what he would need to recreate something similar. He left muttering and disappeared for the rest of the day, but when he returned the similar wheel he had created turned smoothly and longer than the original.

Kaitlyn used her mirror to contact Master Garthis, asking whether the dwarf had told the truth. When he arrived several days later, much earlier than he had told her to expect him, he was carrying several books in his arms and cried, “It explains it!”

“What master?” she asked, hurrying forward to catch the books before he threw them in his excitement.

“I wish I had thought about it before, but it makes this make much more sense,” Master Garthis said picking up a book and then tossing it on the table to get to the book underneath.

“Master, I am confused,” Kaitlyn said.

“The house!” he cried, “It’s an enchanted object.”

Kaitlyn gave her master a look rather than saying anything about how obvious his statement was. He looked at her and said, “The clay girl! The clay can help you learn more about item enchantment. It’s all in the same type of magic.”

“I am going to go get my bread out of the oven,” Kaitlyn said. “Would you like some tea?”

“Yes,” he said as he began to open his books and lay them out.

Kaitlyn went inside and took three fresh loaves of bread and lay them on the work table to cool. She then prepared her master’s tea and returned to him outside. He was tapping the table in excitement and said, “I think learning the clay will be valuable for you, it is apparently a common way for young mages to study object enchantment.”

“Like my house?” Kaitlyn said.

“Yes!” he said, “the clay research actually pointed me to these books which have some great things about object enchantment which I think you will need to help unravel the spells on this house.”

He pointed to the cup and said, “We’ve talked about a cleaning spell on a cup. Apparently objects like this use something similar to a curse. There is a trigger before the action. So instead of the cleaning spell being just a constant, you do something like turn the cup upside down and that triggers the spell to activate. I did warn you that object enchantment was not something I specialized in, I never even thought of it.”

He pushed one of the books towards her, open to a page describing working the spell into the clay while working it. In the example, a beautiful sculpture was spelled to change shape when it was dark and light up. Master Garthis was continuing to speak while Kaitlyn looked at the mage’s explaination in the book.

“Your house is an enchanted object. If you study the masters of enchanted objects, and learn to enchant your clay, then you may be better prepared to begin to understand the enchantments on your house,” the mage said.

Kaitlyn nodded absently at her master’s words, engrossed in the words on the page which described how spells were embedded by shape, words carved into the clay, and magical spells laid over them. For the first time in months she felt like she held answers, a path forward.