We need to take the ship to Borgarsandr to buy more things that my sambos have come up with, not least stuff for the coming wedding that needs to be ordered, and to pick up manufactured things such as glass pipes, furniture and windows. They will also visit a blacksmith who can make the tools I sketched for future ice handling. They also have to order a huge amount of 'Swedish' clogs. They work well enough and are appreciated, and clogs are cheap enough to make that I plan to give every student at the Academy a pair, but that I also plan to give every resident of the island their own. But instead of measuring them all, I will order a pile in different European mm sizes, from larger than my feet, to smaller than Asta, according to a normal distribution curve, and a bunch of child sizes. They will also make a smaller amount of finer clogs, with imprinted decorations on the top, which I can give to future guests and they can take home. I want to spread their use, and if influential and rich people start using it, so will the population, and it is absolutely possible to make their own for those who don't want to or can't buy.
My sambos are right and I will keep the B-mansion. It is simply practical to have a home in all the places we usually visit or want to visit for a longer time, because we can't just drive home in the evening, and it is unnecessary to pay for an inn when I already own a nice and impressive mansion there and we often visits Borgarsandr. Sleeping on the ship is not as comfortable, especially not in the winter when the ship lacks heat, and I also don't want to live in places like 'The Blushing Maiden'. We don't need the silver from selling the mansion, and if I think long term, land and the mansion are far more valuable than one time silver.
But we will renovate the B-mansion so that it has a cold and hot water system, separating dry toilets, and at least partial central heating via a steam boiler. The B-mansion is mostly stone so it will be difficult to make the holes in the walls and between the floors, but the floors and ceilings are mostly wooden beams and planks, with just the basement and a couple of the rooms having stone arches, so slightly easier by making the system as vertically as possible. We've all been pampered with the A-mansions amenities. Hopefully it is possible to improve the kitchen and arrange a bathroom similar to the one we have here. Considering that Filison's mansion in Hildifjoer had a bathroom, I'm a bit annoyed that the B-mansion don't have it. I assume Radgeirrsons father was too focused on impressing people with wealth, instead of comforts.
On the upcoming Borgarsandr trip, they will try to refurnish the B-mansion better and pick up items ordered for the winter carriage. It feels pretty nice that I don't have to go there and Iselin and Kari can take care of everything. Jane has jewellery and a saddle that she designed and will have made. I got a bit worried, but Jane said it has nothing to do with sex, and she explained her improved women's saddle and normal jewellery.
Unfortunately, Kari's mind started to churn about why I even associated a saddle with sex, but Jane came to my rescue and just dismissively says that there are all sorts of fetishes and some are just weird, so I quietly thank her for that. Kari does not need to get ideas in that direction.
----------------------------------------
There is a lot of double standards here. The ideal woman for marriage is young and beautiful with curvy body, wide hips and large breasts. Long hair is important because it is a sign of fertility and health, and light or blonde hair is youthful. Which I assume gives a positive selection for blond or white hair, just like blonde was in Midgård Scandinavia. It is not uncommon here for both women and men to dye their hair to make it lighter. The ideal woman should also be a virgin but it is less strict, only expected of younger women. It is much more important that the woman is childless and has properties that can be inherited, or powerful relatives with influence to bind alliances for defence, voting in Ting etc. The ideal woman is expected to be able to take care of children, look after a farm, clean, cook, take care of animals and be skilled in women's crafts. But exactly what is desirable depends on which social class the couple will belong to. Marriage for a slave, a small farmer, a Storman, a craftsman, a merchant, a Jarl and nobility have completely different priorities to what is important when it comes to the woman. Of course, it is more practical skills needed on a farm or hard work that are important for a slave - as well as the fact that they are actually allowed to marry by their owners - while practical skills are in many cases unimportant at higher social classes. A more 'desirable' woman equals a higher bride price when the man buys her away from her family, and a more attractive woman can attract a more attractive man and a more attractive alliance to her family.
When it comes to the man, appearance and body are almost unimportant, and it is far more important with property, wealth, status, family, masculinity and honor - so that the man has the resources to create and feed a family, and is considered able to protect his family. Appearance, age, etc, are secondary compared to property, silver and power, because the woman is 'bought off' and moves to the man. With marriage, the woman becomes the man's property. I don't like that attitude, especially not that daughters and the wife are considered to be property of their husband or father, but that still applies a whole lot in Midgård, and has mostly changed in the last 50 years.
What the man or woman thinks of each other are of less important when the relatives make the decisions, so appearance doesn't matter if you have high status, especially as a man. Sex between married couples is almost insignificant as long as they have children. If the marriage is happy, it is good, but happiness isn't a requirement. Which is also a reason why divorces can easily happen for many reasons so that there are no blood feuds, and why extramarital affairs or partners are more or less accepted, as long as it doesn't threaten the marriage's alliance and status. Marriage here is not for love, and it is ironically almost only lower status couples who have the opportunity to marry for love.
There is pressure on young women not to have children, more than not to have sex and be virgins, as only the mother's identity will be known for certain when it comes to the child. Even an illegitimate child that the father recognizes as his, must be taken care of by the woman's family, where the man bears 2/3 of the cost, if the man doesn't voluntarily take the child into his family. An illegitimate child without a father forces the woman's family to bear the full cost if they don't get rid of the child - which is not unusual - because it is difficult for a young woman with an illegitimate toddler to get someone to marry her. Then it's also the issue that giving birth is one of the most dangerous things many women do here.
There arn't many options for contraceptives, and even though animal intestine condoms are known to some, it's not something most people carry or use. Intoxication also does not help people make wise decisions, especially if they are horny as hell. I have to admit that I have fallen for that myself a few times. Lust. Not alcohol. So the IUDs I have created are very valuable as they're always there, and I understand why some Elves focus on sex that reduces any chance for pregnancy. Because, regardless if it lessen the pleasure for the woman and the man, it is oh so important to penetrate due to the culture, and condoms are looked down upon as they reduce the pleasure for the man and are bothersome. I agree that they are bad because they are not elastic and need to be tied on, but it's better than nothing. But again, intoxication and lust does not help.
Not unexpectedly, women are almost always accused of having illegitimate children, more than the man is accused of having made a woman with children, but individual status determines blame, and the one with lower status is most blamed, especially if it is a lower status man, and it becomes a big problem when one or both have high social status. Add that a man who makes a woman with child has proven himself manly and have penetrated etc, while a woman who becomes pregnant have been careless and lustful. Etc. Etc. Plenty of double standards. An important difference is if everyone knows who the man is - or just assumes they know - and if he is considered to have seduced the woman.
It's tragic that Jane has more rights here than in many cultures on Midgård, and we've talked about that. It made her appreciate she was actually here in Scandinavia instead of elsewhere as we guess it's pretty bad, at least according to what Kari and Ciara have said. Ciara's account of what it is like in this worlds Scotland (Alba) and England (Avalune and other regions) only made Jane depressed and sadly pleased that she isn't there. It made her feel like a bit of a traitor, but she took it like an Englishman and blamed the French for it.
----------------------------------------
At least they let me plan the pavilion and other constructions. We hope it will be milder weather so we can use the pavilion for the feast, but it will be winter so to make it more likely, I plan to get the craftsmen to make loose walls sections that can be temporarily attached, and some sections with smaller windows for light and that can also be opened for ventilation. It is possible to hang the wall sections on the beam at the top and tie it to the railing, and with a fireplace at each end and a lot of people, it should be warm enough if we block wind from other openings. A few oil lamps will be more light and heat. There will just be 6 hours of daylight. Both the meeting room and the great hall are enough if the weather seems to be too damn cold, but it will be nice to be able to dance etc without moving the tables, and I prefer to keep most of the feast and participants away from the main building. And my rooms. It will be noisy and with musicians.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Traditionally a sauna should be used before the wedding, and we already have one, but I plan to get two small bathhouses with saunas built. A smaller one a little south of the harbor that will become more public that the staff and ships crew can use whenever they want, and a larger private one for the mansion about three hundred meters further south with its own small jetty, where the nearest sea has acceptable depth and better bottom. Straight south in the bay it is too shallow and deep muddy bottom, and further south it is a kilometer back to the mansion. When someone else gets married on the island, they can use the public sauna instead of building a temporary tent one. The private one will be more luxurious and more multi purpose for enjoying bath time, or just having a barbecue.
----------------------------------------
After a lot of work, the carpenters have finished the attic. They have made a nice ceiling with extra insulation against the existing roof, fixed a nice floor that has been oiled just like the stairs and new rooms, and the security door out from the guards' room is quite well hidden as the joints are hidden by vertical planks to the ceiling, but we have added similar in a couple of other places to hide joints so they blend in. The staff is quick to carry up a sofa, as well as a smaller table and four chairs. It is very useful that all furnitures are in pieces that can be assembled on the spot.
Everything is prepared, so I shut down the steam boiler system and release the steam pressure so I can open the steam system and install seven radiators up there. Three on the north long side of the new large family room, one each in the three rooms on the south side, and the last radiator is in the extra attic room above my bedroom. It is already an acceptable temperature up there, and even if we were to split the large room, there will be heat in every important attic space that someone is supposed to sleep or spend time in. It remains to be seen if more radiators are needed in the future if it becomes a really cold winter. The fireplace is still in the long main room.
Iselin, Ciara and Kari, have persuaded me to move Caecilia up to one of the new attic rooms. She's my personal maid and everyone thinks that she is too far from me, and I do not want her in my bedroom. There are two almost identical mirrored rooms on the south side, and one is above my study, the other above Kari's room. My hopefully two wives will need a personal maid, and it is fitting that theirs live above Kari, while Caecilia live on my side.
These rooms are cozy and just each 6.5m². Small, but it is a separate room with south facing windows, and the view is really impressive. The sloping roof and the location of the door make it impossible to get a bunk bed in, so each room is for one person. So in front of my sambos, I offer Caecilia to move in there. Caecilia is literally bouncing with happiness, and I quickly understand that the most important thing for her is that the room is with us in the main building, which is a huge thing for her, not least her status in the eyes of others, because it shows that she really is my personal maid/courtesan. Room size doesn't matter. Location and that it will just be hers do. Caecilia loves her new view, and I think she feels more important because she too now have a room with south facing windows in the main building, just like Iselin, Kari and Jane. Caecilia actually has the nicest view of all due to the height.
Caecilia thinks the room is so luxurious, and she will have better light in here. The room has space for a bed, a small table and chair, shelves, as well as a wardrobe and finally chests under the bed for stuff. Considering that the room has a more luxurious wider 120cm bed, she is extra happy, and I am of course welcome to it whenever I want.
----------------------------------------
Over all it has been a really good day, and only a little time is spent on globes and the steam engine, and more is spent building monoculars and oil lamps before the sale in a little more than a week. We kind of forgot about it. But Digraldi's craftsmanship is good and there are no problems, just work that take time. Iselin helps with everything, and files and clean cast parts so parts fit together, compare lenses to find good combinations or if they should be polish a little more, and solder brass parts. There's nothing she doesn't want to do, and she accompanies it by giving me kisses and hugs.
Ciara is happy to just sit and sew a long uniform wick that we can cut into shorter pieces. She have finished copying the math books and it turns out she has started making another copy without saying anything. And I did say I would need more in the future. But Ciara just sits there, and happily hums a little song while she sews back and forth. In her own way, Ciara seems really happy for both of us.
Jane shows up at the workshop, take a chair and gives us praise for the craft. I can see from her movements that she is a little sore with wet hair, so I assume she came from training sessions with the guards. Seeing 'Atomic Blonde' has made Jane want to 'kick some ass viking style', and she has volunteer trainers and students. It surprised me that Jane had already taken lessons in Krav Maga for several years with a little Muay Thai, but stopped when she moved to New York.
It's an interesting story as Jane had apparently been to a self-defence seminar, but an Army friend of her father told her how stupid it in many cases might be, because what is generally taught builds false self-confidence, because the best thing to do in many situations is to run like hell, and especially before it's too late. What is taught is generally not so helpful in a real emergency, because just the shock of actually having to defend oneself means that most people freeze, even trained men, and that training against another skinny girl won't help much against a drunk big and strong man. It can contribute to a stronger shock and feeling of helplessness when what you have learned and put your trust in doesn't work, and a counterattack can lead to a worse attack. Such a seminar is more a foot in the door that self-defence can be fun and interesting. The mental part is extremely important in a real situation.
That clicked for Jane, so she trained Krav Maga because there was a place close by where she lived, and the nice skilled Israeli woman who was the coach made her continue and she eventually trained 'real' battles with protective equipment. The only thing she found close in New York with a trainer she liked, was MMA and Muay Thai, but she didn't like that and she was afraid of actually getting permanent injuries, especially brain injuries. It was simply a different training culture than she was used to, and it was difficult to get there, didn't fit in with her work, no friend to join, etc... so he stopped going.
Above all, Jane's training taught her that someone who really knows what they are doing can be bloody dangerous without really showing it, and that fighting is dangerous and best avoided. If you have the option; running like hell is the safer bet. She also learned to be careful and how many things can become nice improvised weapons, while others should be avoided, because if you actually have to fight? There are no dirty tricks. Just ways to be the winner. Jane is rusty, but she have received much more respect from the guards since they realised that Jane knows a lot they didn't know, and in unarmed combat or against a knife or club? Jane might kick the shit out of them, which came as an unpleasant surprise. So, Jane have started training them in Krav Maga, and they have started training her in the weapons here. It seems to have done a lot to Jane's self-confidence, and she will try to create protective equipment for safer training, and they will try to buy large reed mats.
It was Hillevi who gave her a lesson in using an axe and shield, but they are milder towards her than they have been towards me, which I think is typical. I suspect that Jane will be in better shape than anyone if she continues to train and jog, as she has started jogging around the island and will do so every other day, and it is between 5 and 8 kilometers up and down the mountains. I will join her tomorrow, as it is easier with a friend and I need to get in better shape too, but I will settle for running twice a week.
Jane had a nasty smile when she realised that it also forces the guards to jog along, because they refuse to let me jog without them, so they will jog too, with weapons and lighter armour. Alith with either Bodil or Hillevi needs to come along, because Gunhild drew seniority, but she have also started training, only calmer. But the guards think that it's the first real hard work part of their service so far, so they just have to do it, and that's good for their combat performance. Alith is extra happy for her new improved sport bras. After Jane improved bras, everyone got new ones. Alith hate running, but that she wouldn't come along doesn't exist as a possibility.
----------------------------------------
In the glow of two double oil lamps, we have a small inauguration of the attic with drinks and cakes after supper. There are several who liked to sit up here and just look at the view from the windows. They are already talking about playing a game or sewing there tomorrow and it will be calmer up here, because the attic is secluded and quieter as few have a reason to go there, unlike the balcony or the mezzanine in the great hall.
Caecilia have been bouncing on clouds since she got her new room. Undoubtedly she would have liked to celebrate with sex. Caecilia so far have always wanted to have sex if I even hinted it would be nice - or there is the possibility and she wants it, which is more common. Yep, it's a useless measure for my sexbunny, but she's very happy. Iselin is happy for Caecilia's sake and that new bedroom is easier to reach from the second floor. Caecilia may be officially my maid and courtesan, but both Iselin and Caecilia seem to think that Caecilia is partly Iselin's concubine too. It's a better solution than Iselin would like to have her own.