D1C10 - Travel
I never actually noticed how well we had it with cars. However, like they say, you never actually
really notice how much something matters until it’s gone.
Air-conditioning.
Suspension.
Self-propelling.
All of these things a car had and a carriage not. But I can deal with it. Is what I say to myself every couple of minutes I am in this rattling deathtrap. Ok, so maybe it wasn’t as bad as I am describing it but the stuffiness of the carriage made my brain go woozy. Not only woozy but dizzy as well. I also threw up a few times. I don’t normally get carsick but this… It felt like I was back in college smoking weed.
The world span and span. I honestly could not tell whether the world revolved around the sun or whether it revolved around me. And this was only day one. I had to suffer for gods know how long. Every once in a while, the wheel would roll over some stone and the carriage would get jolted up and down. It was comparable to a massage chair that you could not turn off. My mother had put me in a weird medieval version of a baby seat; a basket with blankets and some rope securing me in the basket. It was then tied to the carriage seat, praised be for the invention of soft blanket, if not for them, my bruises would have hurt like hell.
Luckily my injuries were only bruises now. My mom had cleaned the scrapes by rinsing them with water, then she went to dad took some kind of bottle from him. Opening it, I could smell the alcohol it contained. She then proceeded to pour the stuff over my scrapes. It burnt like hell and sent me crying again. After I calmed down, I felt somewhat surprised at the fact that she knew about the theory of disinfectant. I thought about it some more then realised I was expecting too much. Most likely she did it because “wounds heal better if I do it” and not because they knew about germ theory. After cleaning she wrapped my knees and elbows in some some linen bandages.
During the second meal of the day, my mom took out a corked vial that had a weird reddish liquid in it. She took off my linen bandages. Then she poured the liquid out in a cup and diluted it with some water before feeding half of it to me, then she poured the remaining half of the diluted liquid onto my scrapes. This was where I was internally screaming with excitement.
It was a freaking HEAL potion. Holy pigs that can fly, I was seeing a true to god healing potion. This stuff was probably as common as dirt considering the fact that I have previously seen the same corked vials on the belts of the bird-mounted knights and footmen. Still, it was my first time seeing a real healing potion so I could not help but be excited. Internally, I marked down the method of using a heal potion. Drink half and pour other half onto required area.
The average person would have simply gone “Oh! That’s nice, convenient too!” then forgot all about it. However, as for me, being a doctor, I know there is no valid scientific method of speeding up natural regeneration to the point where cuts can be healed within seconds. But lo and behold, my scrapes were healed within the span of 5 minutes. It would have probably taken less time if I drank the concentrated, undiluted version of the potion. But my mother HAD diluted it, which probably meant it wasn’t good for baby’s to drink it concentrated. Somewhere in my mind, I wondered if this meant that stitching was no longer required, since all you had to do was drink and pour it onto the cut. How convenient!
Watching my scrapes magically knit themselves together was really fascinating, it was like watching a sped up footage of a wound healing. There was some slight differences, the scabs did not fall off and instead they magically disintegrated. I would have expected some new pink skin in place of the scrapes however that didn’t appear. Instead , my skin looked as if nothing had happened to it in the first place. Truly a woman’s best friend!
The miracles of modern, er I mean, magical medicine!
I spent a few moments praising whatever god had decided to give life to magic in this world. I was pretty sure that a healing potion contained some form of magic and that it wasn’t some kind of panacea.
Still, the fascination with the magical knitting of flesh and god praising only lasted for a short while. While the potion may have healed my scrapes, it sure as hell didn’t heal my headache nor my car sickness! When I am old enough, I am definitely going to invent a better suspension system. Nobody should have to undergo such torture!
The only relief I got was during sunset, when everyone began setting up camp in preparations for nightfall and supper. It was only then that I was finally able to get me my fresh air. When I was finally brought out of the carriage, several large campfires had already been set up. I was some what disappointed at not being able to see how they started the fires.
The reason for this was because even something as insignificant as the way to start a fire could hold a tremendous amount of information. For example, if the fire had been started by friction or flint and stone, it would’ve told me that magic was rare enough in this world that they weren’t used for simple tasks like lighting a fire. On the other hand, if they did light the fire through magical means then it would tell me that there was a mage capable of using fire in our group. I would then be able to observe the mage and learn more about how magic works in this world. Conversely, if the fire had been started by a magical item, it would tell me that things like flaming swords and bows that shot rays of lights or other magical items could possibly exist.
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Swallowing my disappointment, I continued my observation of our guards as my mother and I slowly weaved our way through the campfire to a tent that had been set up for us. Most of our guards were sitting around the campfires will sleeping rolls laid out, the mounted knights had taken off their armor and they were now only wearing the leather clothes that they wore beneath the metal armor. Their mounts laid next the sleeping rolls and I could see many of them laughing with their comrades and eating stew that was cooked in the large pot that was present on most campfires. The footmen lay at some distance away from our camp so I was unable to observe them as well. Although I suppose it made sense, only the most elite would be guarding us. Once again, my suspicions that my family was of wealth was confirmed.
In the distance, I could spot several guards standing watch. I was also able to see a bunch of them in leather clothes return from the forest next to the road we were on, carrying their short bows and quivers along with a large boar-like creature. So the bows and arrows were for hunting rations on the go. I was wondering why heavy metal-plated knights needed bows, they could hardly draw them. But now that was made clear and I heard the men laugh and pat the team of hunters on their backs for securing more meat. That was the last I saw as my mother brought me into our tent.
The tent flap was open, allowing the campfires to illuminate the inside of the tent. She sat down on her bedroll and fed me my last meal of the the day. As she sang a lullaby, I began falling asleep. Just before I dozed off to unconsciousness, I heard the footsteps of my dad approaching. He entered our tent and whispered quietly with my mom. Drowsy, my last thought was ‘Please don’t have your nightly fun in the same tent as me…’.
I was shaken awake the next morning as my mom moved around. Opening my eyes, I could see that we were no longer in the tent. My mother was walking next to my dad as the two of them chatted about something. Every once in a while, he would turn and chat with some soldier. Huh, the basics of leadership, I could see from the eyes of the guards that they really liked and respected my dad. Well, that was one surefire way of buying loyalty.
By now, everything had long since been packed, the fires had been doused, the sleeping rolls and pots were now back on the birds. Our guards had also long since donned their full plate armors and most of them had began mounting their birds. In no time at all, they had resumed their formations in front and in the back respectively. Our footmen had also resumed their own formations. Without further ado, the caravan started moving once more.
Once again the car sickness started up. I really couldn’t take it anymore.
You have activated the skill [Fors Fortis], your wish is to have “No more carriage sickness”. Confirm? Y / N
Ding! You are rolling for benefits. Processing. Complete.
You have rolled a 5.
Congratulations! You gain the following effects.
- Effects of carriage sickness reduced by 80% for 8 days.
Ding! You are rolling for detriments. Processing. Complete.
You have rolled a 6.
Congratulations! You gain the following effects.
- Effects of concussion simulated for 60 Minutes.
Ding! You have completed both rolls. [1] Stack will be used.
Remaining stacks - [8]
- Effects of carriage sickness reduced by 80% for 8 days.
- Effects of concussion simulated for 60 Minutes.
(AN: I will not be keeping count of stacks gained every month, that would just be too complicated. Instead, just assume that our mc uses stacks for silly things like rolling for chances to get more applesauce or melted cheese during the time we are not reading about her.)
Right away, I felt as if someone had viciously whacked me on the back of my head. I was seeing stars and feeling light-headed, my eyes must’ve been rolling here and there. Like this, I suffered for a full hour. Oh well, it was still in the end, way better than throwing my guts up.
To be rid of most of my carriage sickness for 8 days was a pretty good deal in my opinion, after the full hour passed, I felt a lot more clear-headed. At times, my mom would bring me to the front of the carriage next to the coachmans seat where she chatted with the coachman and my dad who occasionally rode up to us on his bird to check up on us. Because there were huge birds in front of us, I could not see over them.
However, the carriage was higher than the average height of the footmen and so I was able to enjoy the scenery, Not that there was any scenery to enjoy though. It was just like the woodlands back on earth, trees and green shrubbery with more trees and shrubbery. In the far off distance, several green covered mountains were visible and that was it.