Alfheimr Renaissance

Borgarsandr, day 8

Microorganisms & fieldcraft

I complete four North Arrows in the morning, so the King can get his three and I have two left. I need to sell them so I get more silver, but I will focus on ship compasses etc in the future. Will make a better handheld compass too. So with the Maps and North Arrows finished, there isn't much to do. Well there is loads but not work. Ciara would probably appreciate having something more to do than the taking care of the food, so why not letting her try to copy one or two maps? I want to keep these original maps for the future, so I mark the originals and will keep them so that all future copies are made of the same originals, instead of copies of copies.

Ciara loves the offer and start to the work as soon as I show her. She gets to practice a bit with a quill on a sheet of paper first by copying some of my sketches and texts, then move on to maps. If she makes an small mistake and is unsure what to do, she should ask me, or just take a new piece of paper and start over if it is a big mistake. But she has to prioritize her other chores first.

Alith's feels normal again and had an okay night even though she feels a little weak. She should eat carefully but well, and it's better with less food at once, and more often, and continue to drink water. It feels like it would be a good idea to teach them a little about hygiene and microorganisms, without scaring them. Why water should be boiled or purified, cooking and heating meat and fish, washing vegetables, the value of water and salts etc for the body should be healthy. I could continue with disinfection, sterilization, sanitation, cleaning of drains, infectious insects, rats, coughs and snot, and why soil in a small wound etc is dangerous.

I say I have important information, which I will write down in one or two books so it spreads properly in the future, but what I say is true and I hope they believe me. It may sound unpleasant, but they and every generation have always lived in this world and this life and situation. But this is a mystery that has been uncovered and they just haven't known about it before. The world is exactly the same as two days ago, they just know more about the world, and they are safer because they know more. I can prove it, especially if I have some time to make some things.

It becomes a several hour long lesson on everything, where we go back and forth a bit through topics and methods, and touch on topics such as healthcare, wound management and why bread rises or things mold etc. If I didn't already have such authority, it would probably have been difficult for them, but even Kari seems to take the information very seriously, and eventually I understands that medicine is seen as sejd, so it's logical for them that I know a lot. Kari asks many questions that definitely prove her intellect, even if everyone has more or less good questions, and questions leads to other important information and topics, including a few I have to avoid, but I manage to steer the conversation away from them.

They also understand why I was fussy, meticulous and gave strange work yesterday. They have a hard time understanding that there are small organisms everywhere, and that some of them can make us sick. Why some remedies hurt more than they heal because they may fix one problem but introduce a worse one, and why some wounds make people sick and die. They definitely see cats as more valuable, and not just for preventing rats or mice from eating food.

Iselin need to return to town and leave the newly signed agreements to the seamstress guild, and hopefully pick up clothes, but we decide that everyone except Bodil will go to town. Bodil stays and guards the house, and my equipment. I need to visit a blacksmith or similar, as well as a glass blower or someone who works with glass for lenses etc.

Iselin points out that we are starting to get quite a lot of equipment, bags, wooden chests, etc, and it can be a good idea to get a horse and wagon, partly to facilitate the future move. We don't know if future will include another long boat journey, but she is absolutely right, so it's a pretty substantial sum that I'll take with me; 30 ounces of silver and 10 ounces of gold. We have a good idea of what the horse will cost, but not of the wagon, and when it comes to forging and glass? We borrow a horse and wagon from the farm and will buy our own last so we don't have two to keep track of in the town.

This is the first time I'm back in town since we came to the farm, six ... no, seven days ago. Once in the town, Kari guide us to the area with finer craftsmen, and as it turns out the seamstress guild is only a couple of streets away, so we go there first. Since Alith can't be split in two, we stay together.

We're well received by the guild and they show us much respect, which increase when they see Kari following behind me and Iselin. They have sewn two pairs of both panties models for every woman in the group and started on the dresses, including for Kari, though they apologize that they didn't know it was for Miss Alfgeirsdotter. Kari might lack property or family, but she obviously has status and is known. Well, it depends on what she counts as 'property' too. Her collection of clothes and jewellery is probably worth more than small farms, and they are still hers after a wedding or divorce. The fine dresses will take longer but will be ready in less than a week, and they will work hard to make Alith's ready by then.

I just inspect the craft a bit while I let Iselin take care of everything. It gives Iselin better status and it's experience for both her and me. Of course, I need to gain experience myself, but it helps to start by looking, listening and learning how it should be done, and I will do it myself elsewhere. It takes about an hour while they also measure Alith for her clothes and they discuss fabric and try on clothes, where Kari gives Alith tips on some material or solution. They all seem so happy about dressing her up, so it's no wonder they took their time and were happy yesterday.

If I understand the matter correctly, they pay about half the normal price, because we're 'honored colleagues' that they of course doesn't want to start going to others, so I guess there's more guilds which Kari discreetly confirms, and since there isn't any middlemen, for 5 ounces of silver Alith gets the equivalent of cloths for 10 ounces. I can only imagine how much Iselin must have enjoyed herself yesterday, and she make a couple of changes to her order since Kari apparently wasn't with them most of yesterday, so I guess she reported on me. Some indication that she is a spy, but a slight failure in her fieldcraft. I too try on some clothes and I need to buy more, so I let the women choose what's appropriate for me, although I veto a couple of things. I completely agree with Edna in 'Incredibles': No Capes!

Alith chooses a real nice high class dress; a nice cloak with a hood; something I would classify more as a beautiful battle dress, plus one identical dress in shape but cheaper which she can use for everyday or work out in; a set of pretty shirt/trousers for 2 ounces and another set of better everyday tunic, under tunic, trousers, apron and a few nick-nacks like pretty gloves and so on. In the end, she has 3 ounces left to buy shoes and bling for, which is a quarterly salary.

After I pay and we leave, I praise Alith for her choice. A nice dress for social events and future weddings, a nice 'work dress' for social events, clothes to practice and normal days, and more like what she already has. Alith looks so proud and very happy, but she has also just ordered clothes for 2/3 of an annual salary. That is something few women can do.

When we walk along the harbour, I recognise Danr's ship, so we make a detour and say hello. With a laugh Danr wonders if we want to travel back up to Skiringsalr or maybe even Hildifjoer, because they will leave in 2 days for a new trip along the coast and will return in 6 weeks. I just chuckle and say no, and that I hope to avoid long sea voyages for the near future. However, a though cross my mind and I wonder if he can leave some letters for me? Four envelopes to leave in Skiringsalr, Kambsnes and two in Hildifjoer respectively? Yes, of course he will, for 1 coin per letter with personal delivery. There's a small chance they want to answer, so if he seeks me out I will pay for it upon delivery, but I don't know where I will be in 6 weeks, hopefully nearby though and it shouldn't be too hard to find out, which he just smiles at and agree. I will deliver the letters to the ship no later than tomorrow evening.

Before we leave, Hagan see us and comes forward to greet. He respectfully greets both me and Kari, and it's obvious he recognise her. So Kari did gather information about me before she came to the farm. Smart, and what a planning spy with an agenda would do, so just further proof that Kari is not an ordinary teacher. We small talk and just reminisce about the trip; we didn't talk much, but it is still nice. I probably should make more male acquaintances.

When we leave we see a woman waving to Kari, and Kari apologises and asks if she can talk with her friend Hillevi, which I of course let her do, and she says that Hillevi will escort her to the glass maker so we can meet there, so we don't have to wait for her.