Day 2: Evening
The return of the foraging teams at sundown was a chaotic, exhausted affair. The carts were heavy with the dark, soil-caked Goat's Foot Tubers, but the laborers were near collapse, their bodies protesting the first full day of organized, forced labor on minimum rations. Their hunger was paramount, and they descended on the preparation area, eager for the payment they had earned.
Kael found Steward Elms overseeing the Dependent population—the elderly, infirm, and children—who were engaged in their lighter, but vital, task: cleaning and processing the harvest.
The scene was one of inefficiency and potential disaster. Mara's sanitation rule of boiling water was fighting the logistical reality of Ashfall. Several small, smoky fires burned, each struggling to keep a small iron pot of water at a continuous boil. The tubers were being scraped and cut with dull knives, resulting in inconsistent sizes, which would be disastrous for uniform cooking.
Elms wrung his hands. "My Lord Baron, we have hundreds of these roots! It is taking three hours to boil a single pot! We will consume our entire stock of firewood before we feed half the population. And the men are already demanding their rations—they will not wait."
Kael immediately recognized the failure. The system was designed for efficiency, but the cooking infrastructure was medieval and single-purpose. The raw tuber, if improperly boiled, was not only bitter but could still cause severe digestive distress, compromising Mara's health protocol. The caloric survival of the entire population hinged on rapid, mass-scale food preparation.
"Stop the fires," Kael commanded, his voice sharp.
The workers, startled, ceased their scraping. Kael turned to Elms. "How many men did we assign to the Infrastructure Core today?"
"Seventy-five, my lord, including Rylen's men," Elms replied.
"And the blacksmith?"
"He is working on your new shovels, my lord. They are slow going."
"Pull him immediately. His primary mission is now cooking." Kael pointed to a large, collapsed portion of the old stone manor wall, a huge pile of quarried stone and dirt that had fallen years ago. "We will use that stone for our new infrastructure."
Kael began rapid instruction, sketching a technical diagram on a piece of scrap wood—a blueprint for a Mass-Scale Continuous Boiling System—an adaptation of a Roman-style hypocaust or a modern batch oven, designed for maximum thermal efficiency.
"We need three long, narrow pits dug into the earth, lined with stone and clay," Kael instructed. "The blacksmith will take the largest, thinnest sheets of metal we possess—old shields, scrap armor, whatever—and form them into three flat metal plates. These plates will cover the pits, creating three long, continuous surfaces for heat transfer."
Kael explained the necessity to the bewildered Elms. "This is a continuous furnace. The fire is built in the pit, and the metal plate distributes the heat evenly along its entire length. We can place five large pots or cauldrons on this single fire pit, using a fraction of the wood required for five separate cooking fires. We conserve fuel, and we conserve time."
The speed of the operation was critical. Kael assigned twenty laborers from the Core group to start digging the pits and gathering the clay and stone for the lining, working through the twilight. The blacksmith was tasked with welding or riveting the scrap metal plates.
While the engineering team began its urgent construction, Kael addressed the processing problem. He gathered the scrapers from the Dependent group.
"The tuber size is inconsistent. This means some will be raw, and some will be burnt. Both mean waste," Kael stated, holding up a small tuber and a massive, thick one. "We must have a uniform size for boiling. Every tuber must be cut into cubes, no larger than the size of your thumb."
He demonstrated the rhythmic, simple technique of cubing the tuber. This was a critical control measure: uniformity equals efficiency. The simple, non-skilled task was perfectly suited for the Dependent group, giving them a vital, non-physically demanding role in the system.
Finally, Kael addressed the crucial health factor. Mara had been observing the design with a mixture of terror and fascination.
"Mara, your team will oversee the final stage," Kael ordered. "Once the metal plates are hot, we will use the largest cauldrons available. You must enforce the minimum boiling time—sixty breaths—and ensure the water is replaced after every third batch. The water removes the toxins. We cannot risk residual poison."
Kael then made the ultimate logistical sacrifice, one that would increase the suffering of the workers but guarantee the success of the process.
"We will not distribute the rations until the entire initial harvest is boiled, cooled, and ready for consumption," he announced to the workers still waiting anxiously. "This will be late tonight. No one eats until the first furnace is operational and the food is safe."
The murmuring began again, louder and more desperate this time. They were starving, and the food was right there, but Kael was delaying gratification for the sake of survival logic.
Kael did not wait for the protest. He simply rejoined the construction crew, seizing a shovel and beginning to line the first fire pit with clay. His presence was the enforcement: The Baron works. The Baron demands efficiency. No one eats until the process is correct.
The long, arduous construction process continued well into the dark night, the meager light of the stars hidden by the ever-present ash cloud. They were building not merely an oven, but the very mechanism of their immediate survival.