Borgarsandr, day 8

Microorganisms & fieldcraft

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

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, she should ask me, or just take a new piece of paper if its a bigger mistake. But she has to do her other chores first.

Alith's normal again today even though she feels a little weak. She should eat carefully but well, and better with less food at once, and more often, and continue to drink water. 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. Continue with disinfection, sterilization, sanitation, cleaning of drains, infectious insects, rats, coughs and snot, 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 hope they believe me. It may sound unpleasant, but they and every generation have always lived in this world and the situation. But this is a mystery that has been uncovered and they havn't just known about it before. The world is exactly the same as two days ago, they just know more about the world. 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 I understands that medicine is seen as sejd, so its logical for them that I know it. Kari asks many questions that definitely prove her intellect, even if everyone has more or less good questions, and it leads to other important information and topics, including a few I have to avoid, but I manage to steer away from them.

They also understand why I was fussy, meticulous and awkward 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 the problem but introduce a worse one, and why some wounds make people sick and die. They definitly 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 contract 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 glassblower 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 carriage, partly to facilitate the future move to the next accommodation in a week. She's absolutely right, so it's a pretty substantial sum that I'll take with me; 30 ounces of silver and 10 ounces of gold. I have an idea of what the horse will cost, but not of the carriage, and when it comes to forging and glass? We borrow a horse and carriage on the farm and will buy our own last so we don't have two to keep track of in the city.

First time I'm back in town since we came to the farm, six ... no, seven days ago. Once there, Kari can guide us to the area with finer craftsmen, and turns out the seamstress guild is only a couple of streets away, so we go there first. Since Alith can't 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 party and started on the dresses, including for Kari, though they apologize that they didn't know it was for Miss Alfgeirsdotter. She 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 Aliths ready by then.

Just inspect the craft a bit while I let Iselin take care of everything. It gives Iselin better status and experience for both her and me. Of course, I need to gain experience myself, but it helps to look, listen and learn 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 cloths, where Kari tips Alith on some material or solution. They all seem so happy about dressing her up, and its 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 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 Iselin must have enjoyed herself yesterday, and she seem to 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 vindication that she a spy, but a slight failure in her fieldcraft. Even I try on some cloths and I need to buy more, so I let the women chose whats appropriate for me, although I veto a couple of things. I completely agree with Edna in 'Incredibles': No Capes!

Alith chooses a real nice highclass dress, a nice cloak, something I would classify more as a beautiful battle dress, 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, undertunic, 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.

When we walk along the harbor, I recognize Danr's boat, so we make a detour and say hello. Danr wonders with a little laugh if we want to travel back up to Hildifjoer or Skiringsalr, 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 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 and leave them in Skiringsalr, Kambsnes and Hildifjoer respectively? Yes, of course he will, 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 shouldn't be hard to find out, which he just smiles at. I will give him the letters no later than tomorrow evening.

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

When we leave we see a woman waving to Kari, and she apologizes and asks if she can talk with her friend Hillevi who wave to her, 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.