Even though its geographical location is too far north, right on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Roseburg faces the Baltic Sea after all. The climate here does not become extreme because of the distance, so the short summer still allows for some very cold-resistant chrysanthemum varieties and Dandelions survive.
For couples who get married during the warm period in the tribe, the bride must wear a beautiful garland according to tradition. Chrysanthemums and sage are all good decorations. Unfortunately, as one of the few Verias who mastered the production of medicines, she inherited her predecessors and believed that sage was a medicinal material. As for chrysanthemum, her predecessors did not mention it, and she did not use it as medicine for decades.
Vilia was doubtful of Rurik's words. She didn't ask why, she asked "Odin's wisdom".
Anyway, Rurik is very determined.
"Rurik, are you sure about your decision? Are those two flowers medicinal materials?"
"They are medicinal materials, I'm sure." Rurik said firmly.
"Okay. First we have to cure Rumia, and when summer comes, we will collect it."
"Okay!" Rurik smiled and at the same time He even had some bold ideas in his mind.
There is no doubt that chrysanthemum tea has the effect of treating colds.
Dandelions may be regarded as children’s toys. They are medicinal materials and can also be used as vegetables. The most lacking thing in Roseburg is edible vegetables.
The diet of ordinary residents is full of all kinds of meat, and there are almost no so-called vegetables.
Even close to the seaside, there are seaweeds such as kelp distributed in some sea areas. They won't eat these things and treat floating seaweed as garbage because their bodies lack the corresponding genes to digest seaweed.
The area here is still too remote. No one grows vegetables on a large scale, and there is not enough consumer market. What's worse, everyone must not realize the importance of eating vegetables.
People who lack vitamins will also get sick, but everyone’s physical condition is normal.
For a moment, Rurik suddenly realized that the Ross tribe did not need to deliberately eat vegetables. Those dried fish, seal livers, and the livers of many animals had a strange smell and taste. At least they were food, and they still had to taste strange. Eat it.
In this way, there is no shortage of vitamins needed by the human body.
Chrysanthemum tea is made by soaking chrysanthemums in water. The fresh and slightly bitter taste is better than ordinary water.
For several years, Rurik has disliked the residents’ habit of drinking raw water. There is a small river not far from Roseburg. Residents carry barrels to collect water from the river and basically drink it directly. In winter, the way of river water is more rough. You can drink the melted snow water directly.
They only drink water that has been boiled once when cooking meat or soup, and most of the time they drink raw water.
Drinking raw water is never a good habit, that is, it is very cold here in Roseburg, and the river water comes from melted snow in the mountains. The river is frozen in winter and turbulent in summer, with few freshwater fish in the river.There are few, and parasites are even rarer.
Almost no one gets upset after drinking unboiled water. I’m afraid this is the blessing of the geographical location.
Drinking raw water made Rurik very unhappy. If possible, he paranoidly hoped to boil the water before drinking it.
Taking this opportunity, he felt it was necessary to explain to Villa.
"Grandma, we will collect a lot of chrysanthemums in the future, and we will boil water with chrysanthemums to drink. In this way, the warm water will still have the fragrance of flowers."
"Oh? You like it? Are you talking about chrysanthemums or medicinal herbs?" Villa said curiously.
"Yes! As long as you put the chrysanthemums in the pot and boil them, the water will turn light yellow. Not only will this water taste better, but the most important thing is!" Rurik looked at the sleeping Lumi Ya, "If Rumia drinks chrysanthemum water every day for the past ten days, she will not get sick. If it is boiled with dandelion, the effect of this water will be even better."
"Okay! I believe that will be the case." Vilia reached out and rubbed Rurik's head, "You are thinking about the whole tribe, you will be a good leader."
"Hehe, of course I am."
"Next..." Villa stood up slowly, hunched over and returned to the campfire, muttering: "I also need to cook some wheat porridge for Rumia. Put some salt and herbs in the porridge. Then put in the chopped meat. Rumia will eat this in the future."
Just like Vilia said casually, in the future. , Rumia’s food situation is very good.
The climate is still cold, and the sick girl is placed in the priest's cabin. Rurik will always stay with the priest during the day, accompanying her to take care of her, and continues to learn the language and vocabulary of the deer herders from Vilia. .
He returned to his home to sleep. After waking up, he dressed and hurried back to the priest's cabin.
Both Otto and Nia knew that it was the deer herder girl who made their son so anxious. It seemed that the girl's condition was really getting better day by day.
In the era before powerful antibiotics, patients with fevers and colds caused by wind and cold would take a longer time to recover. Increasing nutritional supplements to the patient during the process can speed up the process.
After drinking herbal soup for two consecutive days, Rumia's condition basically improved. Her body temperature has returned to normal, but she still looks weak.
For two days, she knew that Rurik was always by her side.
She sat curled up, wrapped in a deerskin, facing the bonfire where herbs were boiled.
Rurik is also sitting next to him, really like a biological brother who will never leave him.
There was a gurgling sound coming from the iron pot on the bonfire, and Rurik stepped forward and unloaded the pot full of medicinal soup.
"Rumia, drink the medicine."
"Now, the medicine is very hot." The girl stumbled and said.
"Just leave it for a while."
Rurik said so, and he personally took the medicinePour out the soup and stir quickly, just to cool it faster.
After a while, he came over with a bowl.
Facing his earnest gaze, Rumia's nose felt sour, and two lines of hot tears flowed down her haggard face.
"Rurik, why are you so nice to me? Am I not a servant?"
"No. We are friends, you are my sister. Don't cry, After taking the medicine, I will have to eat wheat porridge for a while. "
To be honest, even if my family is still alive, I have never had such hospitality. As a deer herder girl, Rumia felt that she was born to do a lot of work.
All men, women, and all children must work, otherwise they will be frozen to death by nature.
Now she truly realizes that a person can actually live a life with nothing to eat. It seems that this happy life comes from the charity of the master.
Rumia was very touched, and she subconsciously wanted to repay her.
She took the wooden bowl herself, drank the bitter medicinal soup, and then said: "When I get better, I will study the wooden boards in that room. I will learn your language."< /p>
"Of course." Rurik stretched out his hand and pinched her cheek. "This is the task I give you. You must understand the writing on the wooden boards. The priest told me that your illness is actually caused by This is the final test given to you by our God. You will be cured soon. When you can resume your daily work, it will prove that you have passed the test. Although you will still not get many rights, there will be no benefits. Any act that hurts you will be a crime."
Rumia was doubtful, and she murmured: "So I will become one of your tribe?"
"Yes, that's right. My mother will treat you as a daughter. I think her attitude towards you will be much better. And my father will also take the initiative to protect you."
Those people are the enemies of my father. He is a person with deep hatred. If I were officially accepted by them, would I still need to retaliate against my hatred?
Rumia didn’t think much about it at all. She naturally put her hand on Rick’s shoulder to show her intimacy.
With Rumia holding her shoulders and grabbing her arms, Rurik actually felt very comfortable.
A seed of repayment has been planted in her heart. The next step is to give her some tasks or help her do something.
Is there anything I can do?
Of course!
Because the weather turned cold, Rurik witnessed the entire process of the priests boiling seal oil.
Seals are creatures with a body fat rate of up to 60%. Their extremely rich fat brings an excellent delicacy and is also turned into lamp oil, lighting up cold nights one after another.
The seal's fat pieces are thrown directly into a special iron pot. The whole pot is covered with carbon black, and its interior remains greasy.
A variety of tallowsThe fat is thrown here to be roasted and refined, and the best ingredient is undoubtedly seal.
After the sea froze, a group of brave men in the tribe became masters of seal fishing.
The population of Baltic seals was very prosperous during this era, and large fin whales were often seen in this area.
Whaling is a very challenging job that requires fishermen to row long boats and perform very hard work on the sea. Moreover, the so-called labor is often difficult to achieve victory. The spearheads of those thrown spears certainly penetrated the whale's skin, but the whale seemed to have no reaction. It struggled and dived quickly, causing the fishermen to lose several spears and regretfully failed.
Seal fishing is different. You only need to use an ax to dig some holes in the ice, and the rest is to wait and see. A hole often attracts more than a dozen seals to come up to breathe. They are poked by spears, and then poked by the protrusions from the lower edge of the Nordic forest ax, pulling them up like hooks.
Lamp oil is an indispensable daily necessity. Seal skin is very soft and is also a good material for leather clothing.
Most of the seal's fat is actually eaten by people, because the seal meat with the fat is roasted and sprinkled with salt, and the taste is really addictive.
Rurik understands the history of another plane.
In the era of great industrial development, in order to combat the wear of steel parts, the traditional anti-wear agent animal fat continues to play a role.
Whale oil is a very good industrial lubricant, and seal oil is also used.
The huge demand in this area forced people to pursue profits frantically, and the populations of seals and various whales quickly suffered a catastrophic blow.
Fortunately, the original intention of ordinary residents to capture such marine animals is very simple - to eat meat and skin them.
There seems to be no more requirements beyond that.
However, in winter, this priest's longhouse is in a sense a large oil boiling workshop.
Due to the need for sacrifices, priests will light many oil lamps for a long time, and the oil consumption is much higher than that of ordinary households.
Even in the summer when there is almost no night, the oil lamp here of the priest is still bright.
"Grease is readily available now, and they throw away the ashes of charcoal at will. There is no shortage of salt in the tribe, and there are even other ore stabilizers. All the materials are available, and it is very easy to make earthen soap. Is it difficult? It’s not difficult. First, I have to wait for Rumia to recover.”
That’s what Rurik thought. Soon, Rumia will fulfill her duties as a servant.
It has been five days since Lumia was rescued, and the weather outside has become cloudy and sunny again.
She is recovering well and has gained a lot of weight.
Of course!
Before being captured, Rumia was like a wolf on the ice sheet, eating almost purely on meat and living a rough life of hungry meals.
The difficult journey after being captured was even worse. Only in this priest's cabin did bread arrive late for the first time.
Later on, food became something I could only sayEven better, as a result, due to the huge amount of consumption in a day, the whole person loses several kilograms, and diseases follow.
While recuperating, she felt that life was like heaven. Two meals a day were made of thick, salty soup made of wheat and meat.
The wheat has been cooked into a paste and served with fresh meat, which is an excellent tonic.
Rumia has gained weight, her face is very rosy, her whole body is full of strength, and she is in good spirits.
Now, both Rurik and Priest Vilia can say that she has recovered.
On the sixth day, Rumia had to start her work as usual, especially since it was no longer snowing outside and it was time to drive the reindeer out and continue grazing.
That is her job. She is also helped by the priestess while shepherding, which is also the purpose of surveillance.
Rurik also needs her help in making earthen soap.
But before that, he still had to inform the priests of his plan, because Rurik had to obtain a large amount of refined oil from the priests in a reasonable manner.