Solo Pillar Schmillar

[Ssezzkero]

76th of Winter, 514AV

The Temple had been making its own candles for some time now. Supposedly it was to save money, but as the new and single alter girl, the duty fell on her. Ssezzkero didn’t mind this so much. She had always had an interest in herbs and how to use them, and while meditative candles were not the most prolific way to introduce her to herbalism, she was bound to at least learn some things. Luckily for her, Kal had left her with a simple recipe, and then let her loose in the storage room/kitchen to let her do her thing. She had partially insisted that she could do them herself, so now she was hear.

Standing in the storage room, she could hear the rhythmic thudding of feet two floors above her, and knew that if she really wound up in trouble, she could find one of the acolytes, who had all gone through her duties before, and help.

The Temple had a few pillar candle molds, in many shapes and sized. Not confident in her skills, she selected a small, simple pillar mold, figuring she would work her way up to larger more elaborate molds as she began to get better at candle making. Next to the molds she found a rag about the size of the table, already holding the evidence of hardened wax from previous attempts. She didn’t need a recipe for common sense, and began pulling out all the supplies she thought she might need for this candle making adventure. The snake unfolded the stiff rag, laying it out over the eating table, and then placed the mold and the recipe on top. Returning to the closet, she grabbed the pitcher of hard wax, brazier, a pot large enough to put the pitcher in, a metal spoon that was stored in one of the molds, and had residue of dye and wax on it. Next to the molds she also found a burlap sack full of some things, and pulled that out as well, figuring she would use what she needed from it. That section of shelf was so clearly candle making things; she doubted it could be anything else.

Kal had also given her some oils that he wanted in the candles, so she placed those by the supplies as well. “There.” She told herself, picking up the recipe to read it over again.

1. Cut a length of a candle wick, about one and one half of the candle mold
2. Tie the top end of the wick to a candle bar
3. Thread the wick through the wick-hole at the base of the mold
4. Seal the base
a. Pull the wick taught and cut about 1 inch from the base of the mold then coil into a spiral
b. Mold a small amount of sealing putty into a flat disk and press firmly over the coiled wick
5. Melt the block of wax in a double boiler until just liquid, stir to speed up the process
6. Add dye as needed
7. Remove wax from double boiler, and let cool for a few seconds before adding scented oils
8. Pour wax into mold, leaving an inch or more in the mold. Allow candle to cool slightly and tap gently on the surface to release air bubbles.
9. Let cool overnight
10. Remove the wick sealer from the bottom of the mold. Your candle should now slide out of the mold. If not, dip in cold water. This helps the wax shrink even more to separate it from the mold.
11. The wick bar end of the candle is the bottom of the candle. Use scissors to trim this end of the wick flush with the base of the candle.
12. You might want to level the base of the candle. Put a pan on top of a pot of boiling water. Put the candle on the pan and use the heat to melt away some of the wax until you have a flat base.
13. Trim the top wick to about ¼ inch

[Ssezzkero]

It seemed like a lot of steps, but it seemed relatively simple. The only instruction she didn’t get is how much of the scents to add, although she wasn’t given any dye to add, so she assumed it was a generic recipe. That meant there had to be some improvising. Ssezzkero loved improvising.

Eager to get started, Ssezzkero grabbed the burlap sack, and immediately dumped it upside down. Out small chunks of wax in various colors, that looked to be stubs of old candles. Following those was some few strings that seemed a little too stiff to be string, small pellets that looked to be black but upon closer inspection were very dark colors, a heavy chunk of something that gave slightly under her fingers. She wasn’t entirely sure what each thing was, but she could guess pretty well.

Ssezzkero dropped some tinder into the brazier, and hitting her flint and steel until it lit. Afterwards she grabbed a fairly small log from the kitchen long cabinet, breaking it up before feeding it into the brazier and blowing to give the fire more air. Once it caught on the logs, she closed the brazier. She let it catch a little before pumping some water into the pot and setting it on top of the brazier to heat up while she prepared the rest.

Ssezzkero picked up the pillar mold, and some of the wicks. She examined the wicks, realizing that they weren’t just string, but was actually some sort of wool dipped in wax. She didn’t quite understand why, but she did understand why they were strangely stiff. She unwound some of the wicks, measuring them up to the mold and cutting it at about two length, uncertain how much she needed. She didn’t think she would use all of it, but the left over wick be could used to make a taper candle or added to the tinder pile, so she was not concerned. Following instructions, the snake carefully tied one end of the wick off to the wick bar. The other end she threaded through the bottom of the mold, and immediately realized the necessity of the mold sealer, the wick barely fit the hole, leaving plenty of room for wax to spill out.

So she pulled the wick taut, finding there to be plenty more than she needed to coil it, so she trimmed it down a little further, leaving enough that she could coil it around the hole. Luckily the wick was coated in wax so she could smush it together well enough to stay, thinking it would plug the hole appropriately as per the instructions. Making tapered candles was so much easier.

[Ssezzkero]

By the time she had finished preparing the mold, she glanced back over at the pot, and saw that the water had not moved. No small bubbles had even formed on the walls. Huffing she cleaned up the remaining supplies, and then pulled a chair over to look at the scents. They were carefully labelled in Tukant, and she frowned. Of course they were labelled in Tukant.

Glancing at the brazier, who kept the fire fairly contained, Ssezzkero tucked the small bottles in her left hand and scurried down the stairs. They had a Tukant to common pocket dictionary, since most of the Makutsi Acolytes didn’t come from Riverfall, they did not speak Tukant.

Crouching in the corner, Ssezzkero found herself flipping through the dictionary until she found the words, Lavender, Geranium…

“Howsit going?” Kal’s voice interrupted her concentration. She refrained from sighing.

“I wasss jusst trying to figure out what thessse meant, so I know what mixxture to do.”

“You could have just asked.” He laughed, picking up the bottle, and squinting at the letters. She stood, and snatched it back.

“I can do it.” She muttered, not trying to be rude, but flipping through the book for the other letters. Rose.

“I’m sure you can, I just thought I would help. How are the candles coming along? The meditation acolyte was complaining about a shortage. He doesn’t like the make them, but he does like to use them.” Kal chuckled, carefully plucking the last scent from her, opening his mouth to read it.

“Bergamot.” Ssezzkero held out her hand for it back and smiled. “Thank you.” She smiled sweetly, and whizzed past him.

“Do you know how much to use of each?”

“If you didn’t tell me the firsst time, I imagine you would like me to figure it out.” She turned, walking backwards, and then with memorized distance, turned back around just before the stairs to hop up. She heard him mutter in assent as she skirted up the stairs. With an almost excitement, she walked into the room, setting the scents down and immediately walking over to the pot to see if it was boiling yet. Small bubbles had formed on the walls, which made Ssezzkero cross her arms and huff.

She tapped her foot. She switched the dictionary from her left hand to her right. She adjusted her hair. Ssezzkero glanced at the frost on the window. Then back at the pot. Nothing had changed.

She fiddled with the mold, and then decided to plop the pitcher with the solid wax at the moment inside the pot, even though it hadn’t boiled. The wax could heat up when the water did. Then Ssezzkero sighed again, and glanced at the book in her hand. She glanced at her recipe and picked it up and reread it.

[Ssezzkero]

Within a few minutes, she could hear the water boiling, which pulled her out of her studious reading of the Tukant to Common dictionary in alphabetical order, by Tukant. She bounced up, picked up the wooden spoon, and poked at the wax, which wobbled under her pressure, but didn’t move much.

Ssezzkero flipped down the side of the brazier and checked the wood, which was fairly ash by now. Flipping it closed she grabbed another smaller piece, broke it up, and stuffed it inside, more confident that it would catch. Settling back into her chair, she absentmindedly stabbed at the wax block as it melted, and read through the dictionary again. This was perhaps the most boring day at work. She liked tapered candles better; at least she could do something constantly.

“Thisss isss sssssssssoooo borrrinngggg.” She groaned to no one, jabbing at the wax block. She felt it move a little more, and hopped up to look at it. It finally seemed to be melting a little faster, and she gave it a swirl with the spoon, tapping the center as if she could crack it.

After a few more minutes of swirling with the spoon and tending to the fire. By the time the was finally all liquid, Ssezzkero was unbearably impatient. Stirring it a little more, she then pulled the wax pitcher out of the boiling water, and set it on the counter. Steadying the mold next to the pitcher, she dropped a couple of each essential oil into the wax, and then stirred a little more. Setting the oils back down, she picked up the pitcher and carefully poured it into the mold, trying to avoid the wick bar.

[Ssezzkero]

She was very proud of her accuracy, and set the pitcher down on the counter, letting the last of the wax chill in the pitcher where it was supposed to. Instead of the strong smell of beeswax, the room now filled with the flowery aroma of the candles, and Ssezzkero smiled at herself, proud, and looked down at the candle. Within seconds, she noticed a growing puddle underneath the mold.

“Oh no.” Her heart fluttered, as the hot wax melted under the mold, slowly but surely draining out. She wrung her hands unsure of what to do, and then panicking, picked the metal mold up, immediately hissing and dropping it from the head. It splashed, and more wax leaked out the bottom. “No no no no noo!” She fretted looking around, and grabbing the dish towel and gripping the mold again. Not sure how on earth she was going to stop the melting wax, Ssezzkero simply poured the mold back into the pitcher. Ssezzkero frowned as she did it, dreading the failure. As she realized that she poured scented wax back into the plain beeswax, her eyes started to swell.

This had all been for nothing. She failed.

Something stuck in her throat, and she couldn’t help but begin to cry. Crumbling to the floor, she let her head fall into her hands and just bawled. She hated this. She was terrible at this, and she let the whole temple down. She felt like a child.

[Ssezzkero]

“Hey Ker.” She heard Kal coming up the stairs after a few minutes of ugly sobbing, and sniffled, trying to stifle her sobs and wipe away her tears. “Ker?” Kal’s legs appeared before her, and she hung her head.

“I messssed up.” She admitted. He sighed, and walked around her to reach on the table, examining her mistake.

“You just forgot to seal the bottom. It was in the instructions… or what is left of them.” So she had gotten wax on the parchment. She hiccupped out one more sob. “Hey Ker, don’t worry about it.” Kal leaned down, crouching beside the small snake.

“Oh? It took me half a bell to make ONE candle, and I couldn’t even do it?”

“Do you know why?”He asked, and Ssezzkero paused. When Kal asked a question it was never rhetoric.

“Becaussse I didn’t ssseal it?”She asked and he nodded, waiting for her to go on. “Because I didn’t read the instructions? Oh.” Finally it sunk into her. “Becaussse I wassn’t being patient.” She drew out the word, obviously not taking it seriously.

“Look, I didn’t assign you this menial task because you were the best at it. I did so because you are impatient. I get it, you’re the alter girl one in this temple, but it doesn’t make you useless.”

“Um, I’m the lowesst ranking worsshhipper here?”

“Do you think that is how it works?” He asked, and she realized he was actually being a little rude.She glanced at her left calf which stuck out of her skirt, glimmering with the gnosis, and then looked at both of his arms, glimmering with his own marks.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Do you remember when you met our mother?” He asked, and Ssezzkero got caught in the memory, of her beloved Goddess. She didn’t say anything. “Well then do you remember what Makutsi taught you when she chose you?”

“I definitely do not recall a converssation on patiencce, I was a child. Sshhe told me about my hisstory, which I told you, and then sshhe dancced with me. We didn’t talk much. I just felt… a connection? I still do, we all do. That is why she chossse usss, because we devote oursselvesss to her and to the care of her realmsss.” Ssezzkero explained simply.

“Yes, and as a result, how many hours do you spend praying and dancing and spreading the word of our mother?” Ssezzkero merely snorted in response. “And you do it because you have to?”

“I do it becaussse I want to.” She corrected, knowing that he did not intend his words. Or at least hoping so.

“Correct. So if you can give that much patience and love to the work you do for Makutsi, can you not extend that to your own life? This is why you are nearly one hundred and ten, and are unhappy with your life’s work.”

“I’m not unhappy.” She grumbled, upset that he was laying out the truth, as Kal was known to do.

[Ssezzkero]

“So, don’t fret about this one candle. Work on your mistake, and try again. You’ve always held an interest in herbalism, medicine, and philtering. These are skills that we need in this temple, and you can use in your life. But you have to put the work in to learn them. Candles are excellent fonts for philtering, but if you only know how to make tapered candles, you limit your options.” Ssezzkero sighed, recognizing the truth in his words. She flopped her hands by her sides and then grudgingly crouched forward to stand up, offering a hand to Kal. He took it, and engulfed her in a hug once he was standing.

“Oof. Thanks Kal.” She muttered, patting his back, which was usually his sign to let her go. He chuckled at the snake and released her.

“Ssezzkero, you need to think about yourself more. You have to think about your actions and why you do them, and you will improve.” Ssezzkero nodded silently, not entirely sure what that meant. “It isn’t selfish, hun.” He tapped his nose and turned out. Just before stepping down the stairs, he turned around. “We really do need those candles though, maybe try some tapered ones and work back up to it.”

Ssezzkero sighed, glancing at the mess she had created, and the hardening hot wax in the pitcher. Everything in her told her to put the project away and do it tomorrow. But she knew that would just be giving up. “Damn you and your ssself-awarenessss Kal.” She hissed to herself, pulling the parchment out from under the wax before it could harden too much and pushing it into the brazier now that it was useless.