Susan and Jerry had taken to the goblins amazing well. Susan had taken charge of the mess all and several of the shaman goblins seemed to be staff in it. She had taken it upon herself to make a list for the basic set up, she told Kurt it was going to be expensive but the shamans had assured her that many other warrior and scout goblins would mine for it, as long as meals were to be provided. And the Pile to sell had grown much faster.
The mess hall seemed to always have goblins, it wasn't finished, there were long tables, but it was just a hallway with the rooms busted apart to make a great hall. The gnomes were busy at work. But it was shaping up, they could at least make big pots of food with some fire pits and makeshift ventilation.Susan had introduced pasta to the goblins, which meant the pots went much further. And was readily available on earth. The kitchen had to be more built though, it was just enough, not anything special.
Carl had provided pickaxes, shovels and carts to the goblin who seemed to know exactly what war to do. So there was a pile of all the ores coming in. Kurt would normally be worried about the amount but the numbers about moving the gate were said, so it should be fine. So an expensive mess hall was well within the budget. The point was there was now a Mitch, big enough to feed everyone. Even if everything wasn't done yet.
Kurt had found a few barrels of alcohol, which was a big hit for all the goblins. Kurt was worried it would make them too violent, but it seemed their reactions were a bit mixed like humans, some seemed to get more aggressive and others more lethargic. In other words goblins got drunk just in the same way as humans did.
The days seemed to fly by. The list of necessities seemed to grow as well. But Kurt wasn't worried about it, the arrangement they had already made sure of. Just the first few hauls would have a smaller profit. When Kurt brought up the more lucrative idea of moving the gate. Layla seemed receptive to a seasonal arrangement, and decided to attend the next meeting with Carl to see what was necessary for her to do.
Kurt had gotten himself a small little lab in one of the rooms, and was moving along nicely with some of the potions he was creating. There was a breakthrough with a healing paste, humans and goblins had very similar methods. Joe had explained that the posion he was given was specifically something that was just poisonous, there was no need for an enchantment.
Goblin magic was strange, it seemed to not make much sense, an odd assortment of runes, chants and powders. It seemed more like it was already a patchwork of magical techniques to Kurt. Joe explained that several spells simply work better with these materials and others.
But there was a gel, or paste that both humans seem to use and goblins, the humans version require a lot more work to get the main component, while the goblin's version seem to be more about apply the chant to the material, and didn't need the same amount of processing, so the real breakthrough was taking the more refined and pure human way and then casting the goblin magic on it. They had also slightly modified the recipe, mixing some of the ingredients, eliminating redundant effects, the main ingredients stayed the same; the goblins had much more knowledge of the plant life here.
It took a few days for everything to process, mostly because they needed to set up a workshop with stills, mortars and pestles, and various burners. And after a few versions, with some trial and error the correct ratios, one version seemed to give a much more stable glow to Kurt's eyes, others had erratic behaviors, seemed to be burning out, or had no glow at all, so a stable glow was what they were looking for. So for now, this was the most promising version.
"But there is only one way to test it," said Joe, taking out a small knife and cutting his arm.
"What are you doing?"
"Testing," he took the paste and applied it to the cut, "that feels good actually," and as he continued rubbing the gel in Kurt could see the cut healing itself, to the point that it wasn't there.
"That seems very effective."
"Yes, this is far better than what our version would do. Quite miraculous actually," said Joe.
"The question is, does it last? And for how long."
"Yes, I would think we simply have to wait and see, maybe do a test once a day. See if there are noticeable decreases in the effectiveness. I have just casted the spell."
"Cut ourselves once a day."
"Is there a problem?"
"I can sort of see it, you know."
Kurt felt finally he was somewhat contributing to the effort, something like this would sell. And he could create a lot of it with a bit more tinkering with the process. It would mean bigger stills to bring out the amounts properly. But there was a very notable success, as long as it had a decent shelf life, it would most likely simply return to being a modified human version after the spell effects wore off anyway, and would still help, in theory. The reality was there was a lot Kurt could think of to do, and test. Not many people had access to a gate, and not many had eyes that could potentially see effectiveness. And no one had access to the goblin's wealth of knowledge.
They decided to keep three separate containers of product. One was going to be held in the normal goblin fashion, this meant in a leather bag tied with a string and the other would be under a mason jar, and air tight. and another simply corked off. It was unknown if the effect of magic would care about its container, but there was no actual research on the subject Kurt could find. If the ingredients went bad wouldn't the spell after all? Maybe not for everything, but since this was more of a paste, or salve, it seemed like it was worth checking out.
Their little settlement was starting to seem more like a home, a little different type of home, but Kurt was enjoying himself. His potion hobby was giving him a much more rewarding experience than he thought it would. Sara seemed to be content as well, though she was often at Mary's well setting up her own place. Susan had set up a breakfast and dinner schedule for the mess hall, and figured people would have to figure out lunch for themselves. Which made everyone happy. It was more of a buffet type service than anything, large amounts and bowls for everyone to grab what they wished. There was a limit to one bowl at a time, but you could always go back up.