《Road to the Crown》4 - Taste of the medieval beer
Advertisement
"Al, Elemo, gather the servants. We are moving out!"
Bursting into the tavern where my company was staying, I shouted right as soon as I entered the place. With my status of major landed noble - even if I was no one when compared to real magnates - I could come inside, cut half of the guests in half with my trusty sabre and end up jailed for two weeks in the town's stronghold, and came out clean just by paying an honest fine. Even with that in mind, the jovial atmosphere inside this Jewish inn could be felt!
*major disclaimer, In XVI century Poland, most of the taverns were operated by Jews, as they had major tax discounts on serving alcohol and were know to be the major group when it came to services and trade. This is by no means meant to be insulting or abusive, just true to history. Also, referring to Jewish folk per 'jew' was as common as calling all commoners a serf and nobles a Sir/Mister. Only Town's citizens didn't have the natural form of referring to as a group*
"Per order, Sir!" *Sir - when referring to someone higher in the hierarchy, Mister, when referring to fellow noble*
Before I even managed to finish my words, two young, burly men jumped out of the long bench, almost causing the entire table to flip. Only a deep breath I took at the sight of this saved me from lashing out at them right away.
"Take the carriage and bring it to the Kleparz gates. Leave the militia to guard it and look for me inside. We will be bringing some cargo back."
Not daring to risk my composture by watching their reaction to my words, I was about to bolt from the inn as fast as I came inside when a sudden idea forced me to halt my steps.
Advertisement
"Jew, quarter!" (about 1 litre)
Turning to the master of the place, I placed my voice with a tone more curious than haughty. In reality, I couldn't help but marvel at the almost magical atmosphere of this place. There was something else in the taverns passed from father to son through generations, decorated with a delicate, Jewish sense of style - as far as poor commoners like the owners could afford to do. This place oozed with comfiness!
"Yes, sir!"
Taking the tone of my underlings in fear of irking my anger, innkeeper burst towards the backroom himself, only to come back right away with a big mug filled to the brim with a yellowish liquid.
"Sit with me for a moment."
As if asking everyone to enter a contest of gazes with the price being the hand of the most beautiful maiden in the entire Crown, I invited the Jew to the table. Even looking at him made me feel nostalgic about the reality that this country lost with the attack of the homicidal ideology from the west in the times to come.
Visibly battling his own thoughts, torn between insulting the noble by sitting at his table and daring to refuse his direct request, the innkeeper had to turn his mind into calculating the losses that my inevitable wrath would incur as he powerlessly sat his thin bottom at the bench on the other side of the table that I was sitting.
Raising the mug to my lips, I first took a sniff, trying to gauge the ingredients used to create this drink. Regretfully, while my body was that of a typical noble of the age, my senses were still governed by my transmigrated mind! I expected this whiff to throw me off, making the whole idea of tasting obsolete, bur surprisingly enough, the smell alone wasn't that bad!
Advertisement
Taking the first, small sip, I was surprised how weak this drink actually was!
Used to the heavy stouts like Guinesser, this drink tasted more like a fruity wine for kids, with just a hint of true beer taste! But that was something I had to expect. With no knowledge about water treatment, only the alcoholic drinks were considered safe in this time and age. That's why even in ancient Rome, the wine was often cheaper than drinkable water!
"Tell me, do you think this is a good beer?"
After taking a sizeable gulp from the mug, I finally placed the container on the table and turned my head to the terrifying jew. Maybe because of how energetic and jovial most of the nobles were, the calm manner in which I asked this question must have made this poor guy reconsider his choice of following in his father's footsteps when he picked up the family business after him!
"Sir… That's the best beer that our inn has… I'm sure we can't compare to royal booze or western wines, but even nobles claim its one of the best ale's they have tasted in the entire area!"
At first, the Jew's voice was breaking, but the more he spoke about the product he was serving, the more his composture improved as if praising the drink was the duty of all innkeepers, no matter what would be the price for doing so!
With how light the drink was, I took a deep breath before angling the mug once again and chugging all its content right to my stomach in one go! While my mind might be used to the more alcohol heavy drinks, the same logic didn't apply to my body… But what kind of Polish noble was going to do business sober?
Reaching to the pouch strapped to my belt, I picked a single, silver grosz from it and dropped it on the table as I stood up.
"Keep the change."
After giving this middle-aged man a scare, I decided I could at least be a bit generous. A quarter of beer would be worth a bit less than a single grosz fifty years later, when both silver and gold gained a lot of value, meaning that right now, I overpaid several times. But on the other side, while I didn't lose enough to grieve over it, this poor man gained a nice profit just like that!
"Sir, the horses and the carriage are ready!"
Forced to get to this place on foot, I couldn't help but get a little excited at the thought of riding a true, polish horse of the old breed. One could write several books about the love that my nation, especially at this age, directed to this particular animal, and this topic still wouldn't be exhausted!
Sadly, after the fall of the medieval type of cavalry and the growing usage of modernised firearms, along with the partition of Poland, the true breed of Polish horses disappeared into the history, just like many other beautiful aspects of the true national spirit.
Even if I didn't know how the heck did I traversed such a vast distance on the road of time, in the opposite direction that I would normally be supposed to at that - but I was sure about one thing. With my knowledge, modern way of thinking and most and foremost, the system, I would do my very best to change the course of history!
Advertisement
- In Serial46 Chapters
No Second Chances: The Beginning Of The End
Greed is a powerful feeling that has changed the world over thousands of years. Science, religion, and magic have built a new era and there are some who want to end it all, for the sake of a dying world. It is only up to certain beings to awaken the world and cleanse the lurking evil within the desires of the current rulers, or to wipe out those who can't contribute any good to a new rising world.
8 308 - In Serial40 Chapters
Tales of the Terrace Republic
Six centuries into the future and light-years into outer space, the only thing that has not changed is the struggles of the human condition. The desires for power, love and survival persist in Tales of the Terrace Republic, a military space thriller that forges one flawed everyman into a hero. Phillip Murphy is a veteran from a war that ended a decade ago. He hasn’t had a promotion in a long time, and the shrinking armed forces have not been friendly. The Terrace Navy puts him at the helm of a meager torpedo boat – a career-ending assignment. But a routine space patrol finds his ship nearly ambushed by fighters, and when he tails them back to their base, Phillip discovers an anomaly – the investigation of which will change the course of his life forever. Cover Art By Christian Buck
8 260 - In Serial19 Chapters
How to Kill an Isekai Protagonist
Yovan is an arcane hunter, a specialist that deals with magic users and magical creatures. Yet, in a world ruled by mages from an outside world called Earth with godlike powers, he is only looking not to draw attention to himself and enjoy life as much as possible. Unfortunately, an unlucky string of events will make him cross paths with one of the mages, leading to brutal experiments performed on him. With nothing left, Yovan will take upon himself to defeat the mages and get rid of the evil from another world. The story will be updated once a week. A big thank you to Nosam Strebor for his help with the magic system.
8 196 - In Serial27 Chapters
The Fake Demon Lord
Lapis Lazuli Fardom, the current Demon Lord, is betrayed by her council when they establish a treaty with the Humans behind her back. Having framed many evil deeds against her, both the Humans and Demons set up an ambush to kill Lapis off. Moments before she is killed, a loyal vassal sacrifices her life to tear open a rift in space sending not only Lapis, but also the current Heroes summoned into the rift. When they are finally released, they realize they are suddenly in an entirely new world with races they'd never seen before at war. In this new world, what role will Lapis chose to take up and how will the release of an old Demon Lord into the new world affect the current balance of war?
8 256 - In Serial44 Chapters
Shaman
*** Let's get this clear now: the MC is a trans woman. This is not a gender-bender. It's set in a fantasy world but the exploration of identity and gender is reality-based. Not a joke, not a kinky turn-on. If this is a problem for you, please just act like an adult and look elsewhere for something to read. *** Rating breakdown, since that should be public info: 2 x 5*, 1 x 4.5*, 1 x 3*, no reasons offered. A human shaman and healer returns from several years with the mysterious shyani, accompanied by her shapeshifting puma best friend. A valued friend, from her previous identity as a male student physician, has acquired an old shyani book, and extremists will not tolerate its presence in human hands. But back in human lands, the question arises: which world does she belong in? Generations ago, human explorers found a continent inhabited by an utterly alien culture of shapeshifting weyres and the shyani, humanoids who prefer dusk and dawn. A truce of sorts was eventually reached: humans claimed the rich lowlands, and the shyani and weyres retain the highlands. Along the border, practicality often rules, but on either side, old grudges linger in some hearts. As a student physician, Corin tried to take his own life, unable to bear the countless tiny wounds inflicted over twenty-one years of lying to himself in order to be, or pretend to be, socially acceptable. At the last improbable instant, intervention came, in the form of a spirit fox, who led him away from the existence he’d known in the lowlands and into the highlands. There, a puma weyre rescued him, and a shyani shaman helped him find his true self and offered a rebirth, a life with no more lies, and an important role to fill. Now a shaman and healer in her own right, Vixen who was once Corin learns that the one human who mattered to her in her previous life, then a fellow University student, has come into possession of an old shyani book, and the more fanatical shyani and weyres will stop at nothing to reclaim it and punish Jared. Even though it means going back into the lowlands and facing Jared as a woman, she can’t bear to just look the other way. This should be a short visit, just long enough to see the book into the proper hands and make sure Jared will not be killed for having it, and then she can return to the shyani community that has accepted her as their shaman. And, of course, her feline best friend Dayr insists on coming with her. But Jared is now a Lord, with considerable wealth and power, and his response to her presence isn’t one she expected. After years living with the shyani, she sees everything around her from a new perspective, and that makes it difficult to keep to the plan of making as few waves as possible. As an honoured guest in a highborn house, with only Jared aware that she has ever been anyone else, Vixen finds herself questioning where she belongs: with Dayr and the shyani, who accept her gender without question but have to make allowances for her differences, or with humans, in the culture she grew up in even though her past would mean a major scandal? *** Trigger warning: there are scenes of Vixen's previous life, which include some difficult moments and culminate in an (obviously unsuccessful) attempt at suicide before she finds her true self and a better life. Please be careful! This is the ONLY reason for the "Traumatising Content" tag.*** Complete stand-alone novel, 96K words. Also available on Scribble Hub and as a free ebook.
8 120 - In Serial14 Chapters
Crimson Emperor
Keira lives in a sleepy town with a few close friends and a few close rivals. Everyday was the same. Until, that is, when everything went black and she woke up somewhere else. With no idea where she was or how to get out, she made a deal with a mysterious entity to help her leave and investigate the situation surrounding her disappearance. However, her reappearance sparked interest in people who probably wouldn't approve of the new company she keeps. New company which she always keeps. And she comes to the realisation that her benefactor isn't the only supernatural being out there, and not only the supernatural are a threat.
8 89

