Gather round, kiddies, and let me tell you a terrifying tale of clay, excitement, and despair!

One day Henrik bought a few hundred pounds of a deep brown clay that felt like silk in his hands.  He knew that he should do a test fire before making Tiki Mugs with this new clay - but the deep color was so compelling, the clay’s surface was so smooth and captivating, that Henrik couldn’t help himself.  He sculpted five intricate mugs without a test fire!  Well, news of this folly reached the ears of the Kiln Gods.  “How dare he not test this new clay?” they said, “We demand a sacrifice!”

When Henrik unloaded the kiln the next day, he saw that the Kiln Gods had indeed taken their sacrifice.  Every mug sculpted in the new brown clay was cracked and would never hold rum!