Creating something new, day 45

2 days later

The River

The ship lay anchored in the village of Laxlanda which we reached last night. There river above here in Laxlanda has rapids, so it isn't possible to sail further upstream. I guess its about 30km left to the shore of Storsjön, about a 6 hours trip.

Laxlanda isn't a large village but has a substantial harbor with many piers. There are quite a lot of people here, and there are many ships anchored or pulled up on the shore. But they have explained to me, that wagon man is a common job here. A wagon mans job is to transport things, and here that means between Laxlanda and Elfrhamr which is located where the river starts up by the huge lake. The sections of rapids between make it impossible to travel by ship, so the goods are transported by wagon, horse or by foot.

The shipping of goods across Storsjön down to the river mouth at Elfrhamr is almost exclusively done by Jarl Naeswulf ships, and according to Kari this is the problem. He of course charges a shipping cost, and there can be regrettable 'delays' for some traders or goods, and everyone else who has tried to compete has either had accidents, fires or just happened to disappear out on Storsjön. Theres no evidence, but everyone understands that Jarl Naeswulf and others from his clan does not shy away from arranging such things, and they're skilled enough to do so covertly and without evidence. Storsjön and the trade over it belongs to the Naeswulf clan. Others who transport goods do so on a small scale from their own farm or unimportant area in order to sell or buy stuff, and often these people give 'gifts' to Jarl Naeswulf as well, and the trade often takes place in Elfrhamr which Jarl Naeswulf control, which means a tax. There is a freight tax on every trip a wagon man makes, which also goes to Jarl Naeswulf.

The early breakfast is over, so I stand there by the railing and watch as the horses are harnessed up to the carriage. We need more guards, and I would have preferred to have a couple of male guards as well, but that won't happen until they are guards for the Academy - not for me personally. Gunhild stayed on the farm with Jane, and Alith and Hillevi will ride, while Bodil drive the carriage, and the reserve horse is tied up behind the carriage.

I made some rough maps of the inland region, both where we are going to travel here to Elfrhamr and down south, and it is a pain in the butt to try to get it right when there is a living river here, while locks and dams have been built in modern times. But the map scale is large, so it doesn't have to be perfect, and updating the map will give me something to do on the trip besides reading, and I will try to use hills, compass directions and the like to make positions and draw how the road goes and where villages are located and how they're named.

The waterfalls that in Midgard are knows as Trollhättan falls are visible from the road and they're impressive to see. No power plants here, so the flow is free and unregulated, which makes it a different experience than when I've been here before, but I recognise the hilltop knows as 'Kopparhatten' in Midgard, which means 'copper hat'. There is no copper there in Midgard, and it isn't the only hill or viewpoint so named, so I figure there is some old meaning from way back in time. My company is impressed by the view, and it's so cute to see how much Iselin enjoys traveling around like a lady, and 'seeing the world'. I really should take them on a sailing trip to the south in a couple of years, and show them a desert or a rainforest.

There isn't any locks or boat traffic here, and the circumstances isn't right to try to build it either. Considering their low iron production and industrial level, and how long it will probably be until railroads can be constructed, at least a partial Göta Canal from Långsjön should do a lot for the future of the country, especially if it is possible to build locks and make the river navigable from the sea up to Elfrhamr. They could use the British principle with narrowboat canals pulled by horse, because that is a heck of a lot more efficient than wagons, and less work to make. But considering the culture, it would probably be best to be able to use their Knarr's and Longships all the way to Långsjön. But the Naeswulf clan is likely to be problematic, and the canal with locks is a huge investment and will take many years to complete. But a canal system should be enormously important for several hundred years, due to how early in history the canal is made, especially if the canal is made wide and deep enough for a Cog, but a canal for a Knarr or Longship is much less work and they already have the ships. Instead of digging down 3.5m, 1.5m is enough, and with oars, the ships are much more manoeuvrable and easier to handle than a Cog.

Who knows? It might be a project to start in 5-10 years, because it requires a lot of work before. I don't want to have to manage that project myself, nor would I be able to, so I need to train surveyors, engineers etc, to do the work, and develop techniques and solutions. And try with something smaller than the Trollhättan falls as the first lock project. Connecting Långsjön with Storsjön would probably be best, but it is also a huge project with many locks.

Someone has ridden ahead and given notice, because when our carriage rolls up and into Fortress Naeswulf, we are received with horns blowing a fanfare. It is a really large fortress with stone walls, with another log palisade further down. This fortress won't be easy to take by force. Something I knew but havn't thought about, is how a place can be associated with power. Jarl Naeswulfs actual name is Kvigr Ubbsson, but as the one who sits on the throne here at Fortress Naeswulf, he is Jarl Naeswulf and rules the region. His real personal name is unnecessary, it is the position that is important. Technically, people may refer to me as Furste Ackerek or Furste Academy, and future title holders may do so.

According to Kari, Jarl Naeswulf is about 38 years old, whose gray hair he started to get already at the age of 25, which makes him look 15 years older, but at the same time very strong and healthy for his age. He wears a lot of jewels, has long hair braids with jewels braided in, and a small thin mustache. Obvious expensive and over decorated clothes, including a fur coat with decorations. The same goes for his two wives, his two sons, one of whom is married and has his wife beside him, and Naeswulfs three daughters. But the woman I guess is his concubine atleast doesn't wear a fur coat. It's way too hot for fur of that much cloths. It's probably 20 degrees celcius even if it's a bit cloudy, and I would have preferred shorts today, but I know that my sambos would have vetoed that with disappointed looks, and I need to make a good first impression, although I personally go for understatement. The for me weird thing is that on my sambos wish, I havn't shaved in a week, so my cheeks and chin have a lot of hair. Our hosts definitely didn't expect our carriage, or that it would move when we step out of it.

I present my own company, all by name, and Jarl Naeswulf knows Kari, both in appearance and name, but he already knew that she was given to be my concubine.

We will of course spend the night here, so we're shown to our guestroom. We get our own part of a side building with a common room, as well as a bedroom. Both nicely decorated, and there is also a maid assigned to us, a free woman, so we can unfortunately not complain about the hospitality. We thank and act politely, and quickly wash and clean up after the trip. According to discreet whispers from both Iselin and Kari, there is something with Jarl Naeswulfs choice of words in the presentation and how the eldest daughter is dressed, which indicates that Jarl Naeswulf hope that I might marry her. She isn't ugly, but nope. Even if I didn't have any woman, the Naeswulf baggage would make her undesirable. Considering her age and what Kari have told me, they probably have been to full of themselfs and have had too high demands on a marriage agreement, which will bite them in the ass in a couple of years unless they change their tune. Which their pride won't like.

We leave Bodil to guard our things while we meet up our host to install the sundials. I doubt that Bodil need to guard, but its stupid to not have someone do it. To always be prepared is also why Alith will discreetly take photos where she can, of the Fortress, its overview and defences, doors, locks and so on. On occasion she will try to step out distances and so on too. She will also discreetly take a photos of our hosts and other guests. Praeparatus supervivet.

The first installation of a sundial takes place on the courtyard, and the place works perfectly well for it, and everyone comming will see it too. They have removed a couple of stones from the courtyard and prepared a hole, and theres two workers with a stone plinth and masonry, and a horse drawn cart. They have followed the instructions I gave the messenger to the letter. There is a large group gathered to attend the installation. My company. Our hosts who is sixteen with guards. The local Völvan who greets me, and finally the other invited guests and their guards or company. I shouldn't be surprised that a large proportion of the guests apparently are from Naeswulf's clan, although its hard to know without saying so in the introductions, since they take their names after their parents, or like Jarl Naeswulf after a place they rule or own. There are something like forty-fifty people watching.

I enjoy it more than I should that the 'ugly' side is directed towards the entrance of the keep, because the sundial must be lined up correctly to work. I let Iselin do the installations here, partly because she is most used to it, but it also makes a point that I personaly have only installed the Kings, Borgarsandrs, and Jarl Skiringe's sundial. The rest has always been Iselin, and so too in this case, even if I attend. We talked about it before and she has her own north arrow for it. Kari liked it, and she reckons that such a small detail might reach King Asbjörn, who might also understand. Kari expects Queen Haera to understand, which say something about Queen Haeras reputation for cunningness. I have also gone through exactly how the sundial works with everyone, so that they can give a more knowledgeable impression if someone asks. Iselin has definitely done this before, and the installation goes fast.

Many are surprised that its Iselin giving the directions, including Jarl Naeswulf. It sends a small message that my women is not just for bragging or my satisfaction, and that they are knowledgeable. It might also give people a higher impression of Iselin, since I presented her as my fiancée, and before my concubines. I've also made sure that Iselin has a monocular in her belt, even if she doesn't show it. Fiancée is an unknown social position, so it is important to show that she is important to me, and we try to use it to cement the understanding its a position of love and might lead to a future marriage.

The second installation will be where the main street reaches the harbor down in Elfrhamr, and its an even larger procession going there, and residents are already waiting there. I guess the occasion have been announced. It is also a prepared place, and will be acceptable in terms of sunlight even if it will work poorly before 8 o'clock in the summer. Then again, the sundial only shows 06 to 18, and for a lot of the year the sun isn't up that long before. An advantage of another sundial design, is that it might work for more than 12 hours, which means many more hours in the middle of the summer.

Of course Jarl Naeswulf gives a bragging speech where he doesn't fail to point out that he has paid to have two sundials installed in this town, and everyone can use the public one here. He asks me to explain what the purpose, so I tell my usual brief summary of what time is, what an hour is, and that sundial is an instruments to show it. One thing I've learned is that most people think it is very logical when I can show how fast a second is by slowly counting up, and 60 becomes a minute, and 60 minutes is an hour. They already use fingersegments to count to 12, a dozen, on one hand, and signal it in a crowd or during auctions and trade, and two times 12 is 24. It would have been just as logical with just a little different pace to get some other division, but that's just my opinion, and as long as its accepted without fuss, its just practical for science. I also take the opportunity to briefly inform about my Academy which is being built, and that the King and the kingdom support that construction.

We stand there and mingle for an hour while the Jarl and people talk, so the sundial can be admired, and all the rich people can brag and show off to eachother, and so on. Quite a few talk to me, both men and women, and my chin, cheek and hairy arms definitly draws looks. I try to avoid showing any reaction when I hear a female voice in the background ask her partner what the Time Equation is, and Ciara helpfully but shortly and on broken Norse explain it to them. It's entertaining to see how many people listen to Ciara's calm and factual explanation, and I'm proud that she remembered correctly. Not just my beautiful concubine.