A little while later, Iselin shows up with another woman about the same age as herself, maybe a little older, but much much dirtier and leaner. The woman gives a scared and subdued impression, cast quick glances around her, but doesn't dare to look up at people and steps aside if someone comes close. I start to get a bad feeling, because the woman isn't carrying something for Iselin, and she too has a neckring.
This can't be good.
I go down and meet up on the currently almost empty pier. Iselin leaves the woman a few meters away, says something low and walks alone and meets me, and up closer I can see the woman's unkempt filthy brown-gray hair, and her very simple, worn and repaired dress with holes, tears and deeply buried dirt and stains. More like a sack with a little body shape. She looks really skinny and much to lean, and I can see old bruises that are turning yellow and disappearing on her face and arms. Around her wrists. The woman is without a doubt the worst elf I have seen so far in terms of health. Has she been in jail or something? Why is she here? After making sure no one is around, Iselin presents the woman in a low voice:
"Robert, this is Eira, and she is my gift to you. Eira is a slave girl I just bought from Jarl Steinnes for you. I used all the silver you gave me as a gift, to prove how much I want to stay. Eira looks terrible now, but looked so much better just last year. She can be beautiful again and worthy to serve you."
The Jarl has slaves in that condition? Apparently I gave her so much silver, which when I think about it silver you can buy a cow for is, and I did such a show yesterday, that Iselin guessed that with the right argument she could get Jarl Steinnes to sell Eira to me for 2 ounces of silver, which he did with a cruel and pleased smile on his face. I ask her to tell me what she knows about Eira and Iselin explain that Eira was taken as booty by Vikings last autumn and she was part of the booty that went to Jarl Steinnes when they returned home. She looked so much better and was really beautiful with a nice body shape.
Eira has come from Alba across the sea, and speaks a funny language. Eira has been 'troublesome' and has had difficulty adapting to her new life as a slave. She can still barely speak the language and is difficult to understand. Eira has been on the lowest rang and has only been allowed to sleep on the floor without sleeping pelts and most recently only in the stable.
Iselin is a little cautious when she tells me that Eira isn't untouched and a couple of the Jarl's men have used her several times. Just a few days ago Jarl Steinnes threatened Eira that if she didn't shape up quickly, she would be thrown naked on the street and he would prevent everyone else from taking care of her, so she would be forced to live like an animal and compete with pigs and goats for food. So she would really understand how nice it is with clothes, food and a roof to sleep under, away from rain and wind, and she would have to crawl back and kiss his feet and ask to come back as a slave to Jarl Steinnes.
Jarl Steinnes no longer wants to touch her but his guards could use their own slave who serves them. There are chores day and night, and she will be grateful for that.
Fucking swine.
"I tricked Jarl Steinnes that my new Master Sejdmann Arnesson had sent me to find a cheap female slave without family ties, who no one would miss, who he could take with him to 'test sejd on', and the only useless slave that came to mind was Eira. It would give Jarl Steinnes silver for a useless slave and make Sejdmann Arnesson more positive, and I showed the silver to him. It would just be wasted work to make her respectable, considering what she would be used for.
Robert, you are a good man who I doubt would ever do such a thing, but Jarl Steinnes tends to believe that most with power are like him, and he likes power and using it. Jarl Steinnes can give a good impression to the outside world, especially towards others with power, but he loves to humiliate, degrade and feel his power over others, especially behind closed doors and when they are helpless and weak. Nobody wants to end up in his debt. Jarl Steinnes likes to have one or two slaves that he can humiliate and use as a warning for the rest to behave and do good work, and to make them appreciate what they have."
Iselin takes a short break as I begin to hate Jarl Steinnes more and more, and I don't usually use the word hate, just to maintain it's power and meaning. I don't 'hate' things for whimsical reasons. Jarl Steinnes deserves to be hated.
"So Jarl Steinnes took me out to the pigsty where Eira was feeding them. In front of the others, he kicked her to the ground and said she was a completely hopeless case - this was her last day here. Eira begged to him while crawling in the mud, promised to improve and to work faster and not to be thrown naked on the street. It was with a cruel smile he replied: 'Your wish is fulfilled. You won't be, something much worse awaits you as I'm selling you to Sejdmann so he can try sejd on you, but before you're sold, you need to wash away the worst.' Then he peed on her one last time in the face, mouth and hair. With piss running down her face where it mixed with her tears, he told her to wash off in the trough and follow me to her new owner. Then he accepted the silver from me, and left for the Ting."
Holy shit.
Jarl Steinnes is a fucking asshole and a swine that the world would be better off without, but of course he rules a region, has power and many warriors - but I guess psychopaths finds it easy to gain power, and in Midgård he would probably have been a successful company leader. Jarl Steinnes deserves that someone make sure that he himself becomes a slave, and then lets him experience what he has exposed others to. But there's nothing I can do in the near future.
"On the way here, I've told Eira that her new Master isn't at all what Jarl Steinnes thinks and I fooled him. You are a much, much better man, and that she can get a chance at a better life if she makes the effort. I hope I can be forgiven, and that Robert accepts my gift, but Robert is such a good man with such obvious disgust at how some slave women are treated, and hopefully you can take Eira into your service and let her grow into her role in a better way, without humiliation and abuse. Eira can once again become beautiful and a slave worthy of serving Robert, if she only gets a chance."
How has Iselin's life been so far? Has she been subjected to this? Or has she tried to stay in the middle and avoid attracting attention? Do I want to know more than I already do?
"Iselin, you have gone a little too far beyond the bounds of what I asked you to do, but I don't want to be angry with you. It was very smart, creative and for a good cause, and I accept your gift. I appreciate your compassion, to sacrifice so much silver on someone else who has it worse than you, and your quick intelligence, but I hope that in the future you can be honest and come to me directly about things like this, even though I don't want to keep saving slaves from a difficult life. I want to be able to trust you and give you responsibility; don't make me regret it. If I've lost confidence and no longer trust you... it will hurt within, and it will be very difficult or impossible for you to gain it again. Most likely we're going to go separate ways no matter what you want. Because we don't know each other and you don't know how I look at things, I will in this case forgive you, and consider that done is done, and that's another lesson to remember in the future."
Relief wash over Iselin and she's so happy that I accept her gift.
"Eira will get a chance to show that she can improve, and even though she ended up in a terrible situation against her will, she must try to make the best of it. You bought Eira, so I expect you to take responsibility and help her become a better maid, and to learn the language better. Both you and she need to be honest with me. Even when there are things I don't like to hear, I will do my utmost to control so that it doesn't affect you or her. I am not a violent or harsh man. It takes a lot for me to get angry, and I have never beaten a woman. Try to teach her something useful so she can manage on her own in the future. You're right that I won't force myself on her, nor do I want her to voluntarily try to use her hands, mouth or visit my bed, or that she should feel compelled to do so, or for any reason wish to do so. It won't happen. It's not because other men raped her. It the same reason as with you, because I think that she, as my slave, can't really say no. So I will say no for her. It's important to me that a woman I have sex with really wants it, without coercion or pressure. It's not feelings of love that are important, but the free will between two people. "
I give Iselin another hug and feel how she seems to relax, and it just feels so nice standing there with her and feel her body and head against my shoulder. But, I can't continue, so I draw a deep breath, and then take Iselin with me and walk over to Eira.
Eira stands with her hands clenched in front of her stomach and with her head slightly bowed and looks at the ground in front of her. From a couple of meters away she's a really miserable sight. She smells like hell too. Hopefully it's mostly the 'clothes' and that she didn't get a chance to wash herself properly. How could Jarl Steinnes sell her in that condition, without even trying to fix her up, or even wash her? Is he so obsessed with power over others and the impression on the other slaves that he doesn't realise it's idiotic? No matter what Iselin said to him, he should have tried to make her look a bit better.
Why didn't Iselin try to make Eira look better since Eira's her gift to me? She have a soap, etc. Is she deliberately trying to make me dislike Jarl Steinnes? That feels pretty likely. Iselin probably hates her former master if he really is as she says, and as a bonus she may be trying to protect me from being fooled by him. I choose to see it that way.
"Eira, please look at me", which she cautiously do and I glimpse a pair of purple-blue eyes through her disgusting hair. I speak slowly hoping it will help. "Be honest, I speak the language badly; do you understand what I say well enough?"
Eira nods and a broken 'Yes, Master' is heard. I wonder if she is actually truthful about it.
"You have a new chance at a better life without violence, humiliation, piss, or rape and coercion. You have had a difficult life and I know you have darkness in your heart and mind. You probably need to cry or speak out about what happened to you, to help lighten the darkness, so do it; either to Iselin, to the Gods or to someone you think is suitable. Even to me if you want it. If you hide it inside your soul it's difficult to have a bright future, but it's your choice. I'm not the right person to help you work through your feelings and anxiety, it's bad enough that I'm a man, because men have treated you so badly. So I will just say: Be honest with me. Do what I ask of you in a good way, and your life will be greatly improved. Listen to Iselin and she will help you. Iselin, help her understand what I said to her and to you."
Iselin eagerly nods and looks both happy and serious.
"Now I have even more to think about, but Eira's terribly dirty and stinks, and she really needs to be thoroughly washed, and she need proper clothes. She needs to bathe somewhere, where everyone can't look at her when she washes herself - she is shy enough as it is - and she need hot water and soap. Iselin, you pointed out that there is some kind of bathhouse for the public here?"
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Iselin nods again, and confirms with a "Yes, Robert."
"The extra dress we bought for you earlier today; I know it's yours, but can Eira borrow it? Or get it, and I'll buy you a new one afterwards."
Iselin nods as she says the dress is Eira's and after I fetch a change of cloths for myself, she shows the way. Saying this day have been interesting is quite an understatement.
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Iselin shows the way to the bathhouse, a larger building with timber walls. It opens up to an open courtyard with grass and some shrubs and paved walkways around the middle with rooms on the outside - some with doors, most with curtains. There are some people here but less than expected. Some sit half-naked on benches and talk with only a towel over their hips, while male and female servants walk around with barrels of water, towels, folded clothes, and so on. Reminds me a bit of how I remember public baths should have been in the Roman Empire, and nothing I expected to see here, but this isn't classic Scandinavian Viking Age, and the Vikings traveled around Midgård and brought customs back home. I assume similar has happened here.
Iselin helps me choose what I want from a price list with simple text and symbols on the wall, and I pay for two private rooms with door and service. One room for Iselin and Eira, one for myself. No washing of clothes, and definitely not any kind of sex with slaves which is an option on the price list. They really have a value on handjobs, oral sex or penetration of a slave girl. And it's cheap. Damn world.
It's three days since I washed myself, and the memory of Lova gets a quick little smile playing on my lips. The woman who receives customers and handle the payment seems to control and probably owns the facility, and she looks questioningly when two slaves get a private room with service, which is understandable considering how Eira looks and smells, but she's happy to accept payment, and calls a couple of maids which leads us away to a bench outside two adjoining rooms. We see more maids and servants come carrying barrels of hot water into each room and after a few rounds we are shown into each room.
It's very reminiscent of the bathroom at the lawman in Hildifjoer. I see the wooden device that works as a back and headrest, and the bathtub which is full of hot water. The maid, who lacks a neckring and is probably a free woman, tries to help me get rid of my clothes but I thank her and do it myself. She seems to react to my ears, but is quickly and nowadays not unexpectedly. She gets more distracted when she sees my hairy body and starts to stare. She turns around when I ask her. Why did I pay for service?
I sink into the hot water and just enjoy the feeling. A bit too hot. The maid starts helping and soap me in and rinses my hair etc with a small bowl she fills from the bathtub. She lets me wash the groin, and asks if I want to be left alone to just sit and enjoy the warm water for a while, which I would like.
Yeepp, some parts of this world isn't so bad. Damn if I ended up in something like medieval England or out in the Russian countryside in completely uninhabited nature. I wonder if there are more humans who have come here from the Earth, but they've had the misfortune to be in a place where there are no elves and have been completely exposed to nature. I don't know how or when I traveled to this world. If it had happened when someone drives a car at high speed on a road and ends up in the middle of a forest at maybe 80km/h - how bad wouldn't it be? 25m/s straight out into a forest. No rescue. No ambulance. No civilization nearby when injured or dying without basic necessities.
At the same time, it is very specific with elves etc, from stories and fairy tales in northern Europe, and the Aesir religion. There really isn't the same in most other religions even if some have. Apart from the unknown, it's possible that travel here requires the Northern lights, which should mean that cultures and the rest of Alfheimr who arn't in the polar region have no visitors - have had no contact with Midgård Earth - so there is no cultural or technology transfer. It would be Russia, Canada, Alaska or Antarctica that are most likely for arriving humans according to that theory, but the problem with those regions are that they are probably very unpopulated or really sparsely populated here. The climate is harsh and living there requires technology to live well, and the polar regions have few people even in modern Midgård. If you go back 200 years it was much less. It will be interesting to explore the cultures south, and what they're like here in Alfheimr, but it can be too great a risk to travel there. I need information before that journey.
But even if few humans not arrive here in a crashing car, how many humans wouldn't panic if they suddenly find themselves out in the wilderness and unprepared. People have died because they got lost and couldn't manage even a day in the forest, and it usually doesn't happen completely out in the wilderness, as people there are more prepared, and it is with my world's road network and people almost everywhere. What would it be like here? Add that if visible northern lights are required, it's usually in the winter. Survival - unprepared - in the Scandinavian northern wilderness during the winter and maybe -10C to -40C with deep snow. Humans might not even have propper clothes or shoes adapted for it, because they expected to be in a hot car all the way to their destination.
If you can't create a fire and find or make shelter quickly, you will die. It's a matter of hours. And everything will be covered with meter-thick snow and ice. How do you get food? How do you even get around in the snow if you can't improvise snow shoes or have skis with you? What's the best direction to even have a chance to get to civilization, and how do you keep the direction?
I know from experience that many people are useless at even using a compass and map when they have one, and most people probably can't even take a compass direction from the sun. Or use the sun and a watch to keep the right direction during the day. Or find the northern star at night. How many even understand that trying to follow water downstream increase their chances of finding communities and people? Even in the summer, there isn't much to eat in nordic nature straight off, and large parts of the land become bogs and swamps that are difficult to get through in the summer. Ironically, when the land is frozen and with lots of snow, is the easier time to cross bogs, rivers and lakes. You just ski over it. Or more commonly today; use a snowmobile.
There is probably very likely that when humans come here to Alfheimr, most won't survive more than a few days. The question is whether their bodies are ever found except by animals. I probably belong to the top 2% of those who do best, and honestly I was lucky on Hardangervidda with hiking equipment, even though my car is much more prepared and accessorized than the average.
Best arrival here for me had been just before a hike or trip like this, while I slept in the car because the weather sucked and I got the car with everything with me. But I'm happy that I what I have and sometimes it's an advantage to be careful and strive to always have a backup plan, and have tools available. Most western people in Midgård usually only have a cell phone with a debit card and driver's license or so, as well as a small keyring in their pockets.
How many come even close to having all the useful things I normally have in my pockets, and then add the little Gerber Zip blade with the Nitecore Tube flashlight attached to the chest pocket zipper on my outdoor-hiking jacket. I have the Swedish military's survival manual on my cell phone, among other much less useful things, even if a lack of batteries would quickly become a problem. A problem that might be overcome.
I often use everything in everyday life, and that doesn't include use at home or at work where there are better tools. The work pants have a carpet knife, flashlight, many options in pencils, an A6 pad and measuring tape. There is a reason why my hiking backpack isn't the lightest, but I have always considered it worth it, because it has always been more important to be prepared and be able to adapt, than panic or be forced to give up when things don't go as planned.
Like that time when I was sitting on an island, under a small raincover in heavy rain and with two multi-tools, modified an M4 screw to be able to replace an outboard propeller sprint that sheared off after hitting a rock, and then I could continue with only an hours delay, instead of rowing in to the nearest land, abort and need help.
Or the fact that I havn't had a TV since I moved from my parents, but have seen a lot of documentaries online and read a lot, and only a few TV series. The amount of knowledge I accumulated in the most scattered areas, just because it was 'interesting'? Of course, knowing how an atomic bomb works and how the purification of uranium etc can be done isn't really useful, but that was never the reason to read it. The knowledge that Opportunity and Spirit gathered on Mars doesn't have much use either. Okay, knowing, among other things, the Haber-Bosch process for producing better fertilizers could have been useful, but this world isn't advanced enough to even think about trying that. Knowing the basic process doesn't help if I can't produce the parts and substances. Knowing that you can cool down the atmosphere to extract nitrogen doesn't help when it's necessary to cool it down to low degrees Kelvin. How much of my knowledge is really useful here? How much of the knowledge on my tablet and cell phone is actually useful?
How much knowledge won't most modern people have, and knowing it's really useful, but be completely lost in all the small steps that lead there? Most people might try to make black powder, but how do you really do it practically? How many people know the relationship between saltpeter, carbon and sulfur? Why sulfur isn't really needed but facilitates lower ignition temperature, and how was the production of these substances done in the past? Where does the saltpeter come from? How do you recognize it and what can it be called here? Sulfur is yellow, distinct and easy. Charcoal even easier. But saltpeter?
Chances are high that I will try to manufacture a rifle, just because, as well as the bang from blackpowder can be useful, but I don't intend to equip an army. Honestly, the classic musket isn't really better than a trained archer - the difference is how easy it is to train someone to use a musket compared to a bow. But mass-producing of black powder through saltpeter farms...
Argh.
No need to make it easier for people to kill each other, they're good enough at it already. Make a batch for myself: Yes. Mass produce: No. Better think of things that make life easier, improve health and increase prosperity for all. As an explosive for mining, however, black powder can be useful...
An internal combustion engine is useful, but how is it built? How do you build the machines to make it, or even the tools to make the machines? How do you produce the fuel, oil and gaskets needed and what does it require? What's the value of knowledge to build a simple computer if there is no need for it? No electricity? No electric parts at all? A 'simple' mechanical radio such as Grimeton's Alexanderson transmitter requires a hell of a lot of technology, but a simple radio receiver can be built, but it is useless without strong transmitters. Vacuum tube technology might be possible to manufactured in a decade or two, and transmitters and receivers would be useful. If I scrounge semiconductors and parts from my dual band radio, I should be able to make something, and it would definitely affect the world if radio communication can take place over a short distance.
Ha! Longships with radios!
But is it worth it? And will it be completed before I probably die of old age? Can I even build something that have a really useful range? How long do I have left to live in this world, and will I stay healthy?
The maid comes back and wakes me up from my thoughts. I have no idea how long it's been, and they have no watches here and I don't wear my wristwatch on my wrist, but the water is quite cool. What is it about taking a nice warm bath that's just so relaxing and makes the mind wander? I am in a really good mood, because I have just really realised how lucky I am, and how much better conditions I have than most others. Partly to survive the world change and partly to adapt to this world and become successful. I already have a kilo of gold that's enormously valuable, and I can certainly earn more, and I have two maids who can help me adapt and give me some status.
I dry, trim down the beard on my cheeks the best I can manage with the Swisscard scissors, and get dressed. I give the maid a couple of coins as a tip simply because I'm in such a good mood, and then with new energy, I go out to make this world... more pleasant.
Iselin and Eira are waiting for me outside. They stand up from the bench where Eira's old 'dress' is folded next to them, and both look better, although Eira's the biggest difference. Geez what a difference in appearance. Apparently she also has red hair, but a darker and more copper-colored shade than Iselin's. Maybe I shouldn't have said that I loved Iselin's red hair color this morning and that it appeals to me more than Disa's blonde hair. Although red hair isn't uncommon here.
Eira's whole face - and her decolletage - is full of freckles, which where hidden under all that filth, and her purple-blue eyes almost shine. But she's also different in attitude and manner, and she's slightly more straight-backed and gives a less cowered impression. I guess she's starting to gain some hope for the future. Hope is important. I look at Eira's old 'dress', and it gives me a shiver even though they obviously tried to wash it. Urgh! I turn to the maid, points and say;
"Burn that."
Then we leave.