Chapter 1300 Scaly Caretakers
Bertie silently called over the rest of the orphanage workers, including the Matron Blackclaw from the Orphanage at the Drodh Guild House. She wouldn't be leaving, as her charges were going to be productive citizens of Drodh once they grew up. However, that didn't mean that she would accept being left out of the loop when there were big things happening to her fellow Clerics.
"Well, that was quick. Do we have everyone gathered? I see dragons from at least half the aspects here." Karl began.
"We have all the important ones for an isolated Orphanage and Dragon Temple here. Red, blue, white, silver, bronze, green." Matron Blackclaw agreed, speaking as the ranking Priestess present.
An orphanage counted the same as a temple, library or academy. The one who led it had the highest position in the hierarchy of dragon clerics.
"Well now, that is surprising. But it should work out well for us, as we've got dragons of every sort waiting to hatch. Have you all been briefed on how they came to be where they are?" Karl asked.
Matron Blackclaw nodded. "Everyone has the details, and it has been accepted that these eggs are all orphaned, even if their actual parents might be alive on another world, or roaming wild on another continent.
They were abandoned and not handed over to the church in a proper manner, so we will raise them all equally, without any intentions of giving them back to their parents at adulthood."
Dana smirked, and the red dragon winked at her.
"Go ahead and ask. The one known as Lotus has been begging us to allow her to raise one as a new best friend for weeks." The matron informed her.
"That was actually what I was thinking. I overheard Lotus and Button plotting ways to get a baby dragon to play with." Dana laughed.
The Matron sighed. "Right, I almost forgot about the Forest Dragon. While she's not technically an orphan, and she's being raised by the Nature Clerics, she will be among the first that enter the educational system. The blue dragon adherents will lose their minds to see her running wild without any form of educational plan."
It would take some devoted efforts to find her and keep her in one spot all day. But Dana assumed that they had a plan for that, which would be suitable for a forest dragon who already knew the basics about plants and who had a 'job' to do.
If you could count gathering chicken eggs while resisting the urge to stop and eat them as a job.
Not that Button would do any such thing. The chickens would attack her if she did.
"Since everyone already knows what is going on, I thought that I could introduce you to the Tiny World today. It will take some stress off poor Davis here, and it will give you all time to get situated before the hatchlings arrive." Karl began.
Immediate excitement spread through the crowd. This was what they had been waiting for, their new assignment. Or, for many of them, their first assignment.
The Church had decided to send only a few senior dragons to the Tiny World, as they knew that the mana, there would be incredibly dense, and that would benefit young dragons who were still growing into maturity much more than it would the older ones.
The primary goal was to help the young ones grow into proper adults, but helping the young adults grow into powerful elders of the church was also an important goal.
Their only major concern was that the red and blue dragons who worked in school and orphanage duties were overwhelmingly the women, while the men mostly volunteered for either combat duties or library research positions.
So, they had tried to balance them out with a few men from the silver and bronze dragons, but ultimately, they had only found four men in total out of the twenty who were going to raise the dragons.
"Is it just me, or are there a lot more dragons than I was expecting?" Dana asked, doing a quick head count.
"Twenty in total. Hatchling dragons are a terror, far worse than you might have experienced before. Especially when they're from mixed species and all want to show off and argue about whose innate powers are best." Matron Blackclaw insisted.
Hawk, who had chosen to circle overhead, chirped a laugh, and the dragon looked up at him.
{Fire. It's obviously fire.} He insisted.
The red dragon laughed. "See, that is exactly what I'm talking about."
Then she tossed a chunk of dried meat up to him, and Hawk cheered as he retreated to a rafter to enjoy his snack.
"You know, the Beast Master class might actually be very suitable as an option for red dragons. You're a natural." Karl commended her.
"I've had over a century of experience. If I couldn't guess what keeps young ones under control, who could?" She retorted.
"But as I was saying, the Church has chosen these twenty for your brood. These two fine young men are Rashid and Oban, the assigned arbiters from the Bronze Dragon god. That is Raist, he will be representing the Silver Dragon of magic, and then we have Axel, the Patron of the Orphanage, who will be working with his wife Aliah." Matron Blackclaw explained.
Karl didn't miss that the Matron didn't introduce all the ladies to him, though many of them were standing closer than the bronze dragons, who had chosen to watch from the back.
Whether that was because she didn't trust him getting too friendly with them, or out of consideration for his status as a married man, he didn't know.
It could be both.
"Well, if the kids are off at work already, you can accompany us to the tiny world for a tour." Karl offered.
Matron Blackclaw shook her head. "No, let the new Matron and her partner lead this group from the start. They don't need me looking over their shoulder."