Even though its geographical location is too far north, right on the edge of the Arctic Circle, Rossberg faces the Baltic Sea after all. The climate here does not become extreme because of the distance, so the short summer still allows some very cold-resistant chrysanthemum varieties and dandelions to 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 Vilia who masters potion making, she inherited from her predecessors.
She believed that sage was a medicinal material. As for chrysanthemum, no one had mentioned it before, and she had not used it as medicine for decades.
Vilia was doubtful about Rurik's words. She didn't ask why, she just 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 go collect it."
"Okay!" Rurik smiled, and at the same time he had a bold idea in his heart.
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 filled with all kinds of meat, and there are almost no so-called vegetables.
Even close to the sea, there are seaweeds such as kelp distributed in some sea areas. They will not eat these things and regard 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 can 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 be eaten if they tasted strange.
In this way, there will be 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 always disliked the habit of residents drinking raw water. There is a small river not far from Roseburg, and residents carry wooden buckets to collect water from the river directly, and basically drink it directly. In winter, the way of drinking water from the river is
More ruggedly, 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 definitely not 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 the water flow is fast in summer. There are few freshwater fish in the river, and there are even fewer parasites.
Almost no one gets upset after drinking unboiled water. I’m afraid this is a blessing brought by the geographical location.
Rurik felt very unhappy about drinking raw water. 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 from now on, and we will boil water with chrysanthemums to drink. In this way, the warm water will still have the fragrance of flowers."
"Oh? Do you like it? Are you talking about chrysanthemums or medicinal herbs?" Vilia 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!" Rurik looked at the sleeping Rumia, "If Rumia
If she drinks chrysanthemum water every day for the past ten days, she will not get sick. If she boils it with dandelions, 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 entire tribe, and 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 in the porridge, and...
There are herbs. Then add chopped meat. Rumia will eat this for a while."
Just as Vilia thought, Rumia's food situation was very good in the following time.
The climate was still cold, and the sick girl was placed in the priest's cabin. Rurik would always stay with the priest during the day, taking care of her with her, and continued to learn the language and vocabulary of the deer herders from Vilia.
He went back to his house to sleep, and when he woke 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, and it seemed that the girl's condition was really getting better day by day.
In the era without strong antibiotics, patients with fevers and colds caused by wind and cold would take a longer time to recover. Increasing nutritional supplements to the patients during the process could speed up the process.
After drinking herbal soup for two 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 was also sitting next to him, really like a biological brother who would never leave him.
There was a gurgling sound coming from the iron pot placed on the bonfire, and Rurik walked over and unloaded the pot full of medicinal soup.
"Lumia, take the medicine."
"Now, the medicine is very hot." The girl said stumblingly.
"Just leave it for a while."
Rurik said so. He poured out the medicinal soup himself and stirred it quickly, just to make it cool faster.
After a while, he came over with a bowl.
Facing his earnest gaze, Rumia's nose felt sore, 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, and you are my sister. Stop crying, drink the medicine, and you will have to eat wheat porridge later."
To be honest, even if her family is still alive, she has never received such hospitality. As a girl who raises deer, Rumia feels that she was born to do a lot of work.
All men, women, and children must work or else they will freeze to death.
Now she truly realizes that a person can actually live a life of having food to eat without doing anything. It seems that this kind of 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."
"Of course." Rurik reached out and pinched her cheek. "This is the task I gave you. You must understand the writing on the wooden board. The priest told me that your illness was actually given to you by our god.
The final test. You will recover soon. When you can resume your daily work, it will prove that you have passed the test. In that case, you will be our tribe. Although you will still not get many rights, any behavior that harms you will be
A sin."
Rumia was doubtful and she murmured: "So I will become one of your tribe?"
"Yes, this way my mother will treat you as a daughter. I think her attitude towards you will be much better. And my father, he will definitely take the initiative to protect you."
Those people are the people who killed their father and have deep hatred. If I were formally accepted by them, would I still need revenge for 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, and the next step is to give her some tasks or help her do something.
Is there anything I can do?
Of course!
Because when the weather got colder, 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.
All kinds of animal fats are thrown here to be roasted and refined, and the best material among them is undoubtedly seal.
After the sea froze, a group of brave men from the tribe became masters of seal fishing.
During this era, the population of Baltic seals was very prosperous, and large fin whales were often seen in this area.
Whaling is a very challenging job, requiring fishermen to row long boats and perform very hard work on the sea. Moreover, the so-called work is often difficult to achieve victory. The spearheads of the spears thrown in the past have certainly penetrated the whales.
The whale seemed unresponsive and dived quickly after struggling, causing the fishermen to lose several spears and unfortunately failed.
Seal fishing is different. You only need to use an ax to dig some holes in the ice, and the rest is to sit back and wait. A hole often attracts more than a dozen seals to come up to breathe. They are poked by spears, and then poked by the protruding thorns from the lower edge of the Nordic forest axe.
in, pulling it up like a hook.
Lamp oil is an essential daily necessities. 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 their 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-making 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 lamps in the priest's place are 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, is it difficult to make a soil soap? Not difficult. First of all.
I want to wait until Rumia recovers."
That's what Rurik thought. Soon, Rumia will have to fulfill the duties of a servant.
It has been five days since Lumia was rescued, and the weather outside has become cloudy and uncertain 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, living almost exclusively on meat and living a rough life of hungry meals.
The difficult journey after being captured was even worse, and bread was late for the first time in the priest's cabin.
Later, the food became only a little better. As a result, due to the huge consumption in a day, the whole person collapsed several kilograms, and diseases followed.
During the period of recuperation, she felt that life was like paradise. She had two meals a day, each consisting of thick, salty soup made of wheat and meat.
The wheat has been boiled into 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 the priest Vilia can say that she has recovered.
On the sixth day, it was time for Rumia to start working again 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. While shepherding, she is also assisted by the priestess, which is also the purpose of surveillance.
Rurik also needs her help in making earthen soap.
But before that, he still needed 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.