They made their way out of the dungeon, and found Colonel Valerie, along with a large number of researchers, waiting for them.
“How did the run go?” She demanded, notepad at the ready.
“The twenty-four-hour cooldown is confirmed, it notified me as we finished. So the timer starts after the last boss dies. Mostly we got armour and some accessories that we all have better versions of, but we also got one skill book. I will make a copy of it later.” Karl explained.
“You used the book right away instead of passing it to the Inscriptionists?” A portly researcher asked in horror.
“I have a skill for making copies of the skills I already know. It’s a bit odd, but I have already given the skill to Bob and Ophelia, and that used up my creation attempts for the day.” Karl explained.
Colonel Valerie smirked, as she knew that was an outright lie. He could make more than just two books a day, she had the reports from his interview with the Archmage.
“Alright, we will let you get to the birthday celebration that your team is preparing. There will be a large team arriving this evening to build the structure over the dungeon entrance, and we will be holding a small social event to welcome them.” She explained.
Bob chuckled. “That sounds an awful lot like more important people are coming, and we need to keep them entertained while the news cameras hound you and the other team leaders for information.” “I am not going to say that you’re wrong. But what I will say is that attendance is compulsory, so put on your very best outfit, and maybe trim your beard.”
Bob scratched at his stubble and shrugged. “I will see what I can do. You’re welcome to come over for lunch. Dana wanted turkey and dumplings, so the other half of the team has been working on it all morning while we were in the dungeon.”
“So that is why you’re with them and not Lotus. They needed someone else who could cook. Alright, they’ve been over to steal enough ingredients from us this morning, I will have to come visit to see how it turned out.” That startled Karl. He had brought everything that they requested for the birthday meal that was planned, so if they were looking for more, they must have added more to the menu that the two Nature Clerics couldn’t create on their own.
When they entered the fort, it looked like someone had been prepping for a church bake sale.
There were four large pizza ovens lined up along one wall, three long griddles with pressure cookers, or possibly steam pots, on top set along the other, with two massive mixers in the middle next to dozens of tubs full of baked goods.
Doug waved as Karl entered the tent. “You’re just in time. Help unload the small cakes from the steam pots, and get them out on the cooling racks. We’ve got another batch ready to go. Happy birthday, Miss Dana. Here, have a cookie.”
Doug gestured to what looked like a three gallon bucket full of gingersnap cookies, and Dana laughed, pulling one still warm cookie from the top of the pile.
“Oh, these are amazing, but how did you even get so many of them made, we were only gone an hour or so.” Dana asked.
“Magic.” Doug deadpanned.
Lotus nodded, and loaded fresh cupcakes into the steam pots that Karl was emptying. They had three layers of racks and a bit of water in the bottom, so the contents steamed to perfection, which was a bit different from a baked cupcake, but they looked delicious.
Then she cast a spell over the pot as she put it on the grill and went to load the next.
With that as a reminder, Karl noticed that the cookies in the ovens were flattening suspiciously quickly, and realized that the clerics must know some spell for rapid baking.
Doug gestured to one of the ovens. “We need more hands. Everyone but the birthday girl, hop to it, keep the line moving, and we will have sweets for weeks.
Dana, enjoy your cookies. Lunch will be ready in a half hour.”
The procession of baked goods in and out of the ovens and steam pots was a smooth process for the next hour, until Doug decided that they had enough now to feed a small army, as well as provide snacks for the arriving guests and construction workers.
Then the item they had all been waiting for, the turkey and dumplings, was ready to be served.
“There are cornbread mini loaves in one of those bins. Grab some to go with the stew. We have far too much for just us here, so we can eat it all day.” Doug announced.
Lotus scooped up a large bowl for Dana and then decorated it with onion greens and placed a small loaf of cornbread, shaped like a bread loaf instead of a biscuit, which was a bit odd to Karl, next to it with a pat of honey butter.
“Perfection. Happy Birthday!” The little High Priestess announced.
The ladies moved out of the tent, where the tables to eat at had been relocated, and Karl went to Doug to get some answers about Lotus’ strange behaviour lately.
“Did you manage to find out what is up with Lotus?” He whispered.
Doug smiled and nodded. “It’s part of becoming a High Priestess. We all develop a closer bond with the Dragons, normally with one in particular, or with the Goddess herself.
Lotus just happened to bond with a newborn Green Dragon who hasn’t seen anything before, so its voice is constantly in her head, demanding to see new things and experience new settings.
We’ve been working on toning down her voice, so Lotus doesn’t get as distracted. I got a more normal connection with the Goddess Directly. She is less chatty unless there is something that she needs to happen.
It might take a while, but eventually, she will return to as normal as Lotus gets.”
Karl laughed. “Well, that’s good news. I thought that there might be a major issue, but she just gained a newborn Lotus Dragon. So, it’s a bit like getting a kitten, you just need to let them explore until they learn everything they’re interested in.”
Doug laughed and shook his head. “The Green Dragons might be upset to be compared to curious kittens, but I can see where you would get the impression. Newborns of all species are similarly inquisitive.”
They both grabbed lunch and headed outside as the ovens were still hot and the interior of the fort was a bit stifling with so little ventilation, even with the door open.
Dana went for seconds, then thirds, until she was leaned up against Karl’s side in a food coma. None of them were in any hurry to do anything, they were just relaxing in the sunshine until the sound of helicopters alerted them to new arrivals.
Ten of the double bladed transport helicopters, and two that carried a large metal container beneath them, were coming into sight, presumably with the construction crew and materials.
[I can see why helicopters are afraid of Hill Giants. I could take those out from here.] Rae noted idly as she lounged in the bell tower of the fort.
The first helicopter landed, and a whole crew of workers piled out and began to spread around the site, setting stakes and lights for the other helicopters to land at for unloading.
“I think it’s safer that we just wait here until they’re all done with the unloading. They don’t look like they’re going to have time for cookies until later.” Lotus noted.
“Much later. They’re very energetic about the prep work, aren’t they?” Karl agreed.
Even more workers came out of the following helicopters, and Karl began to wonder just how many people it actually took to build the structure over the dungeon portal.
Some of them would likely be the long-term caretakers of the location, but there had to be fifty new people here, and the area they had staked out for the building was not much larger than an average house.
If that was as large as the building was going to be, they had far too many workers. Did they plan to just give everyone one piece to assemble? That would be the most unique strategy Karl had ever heard of for a construction team, so they had to have something else in mind.