Alfheimr Renaissance

Sailing to Borgarsandr, day 1

North Arrows

I stand there on the upper aft deck and look back at Hildifjoer (Eidfjord) that slowly disappears into the fog. Looks like it's going to be a really gray day, maybe a little rain, so I ignore the sunscreen. I really have no idea where I'm actually going, only that my final destination is probably on Sweden's westcoast, and seems to be on a large river so I guess it's the Gothenburg area, but honestly it can be almost anywhere nearby, and there are several rivers. Its difficult to calculate distance and travel time when I also don't know the number of stops on the route, where they are located, etc. But according to merchant Danr, it is one or two days sailing between each, and the second stop will be a big city where the ship will try to make it to the combined Ting and market day. I really need to learn the language better.

I've tried to estimate the speed of the boat and I will try to keep track of the route. It's something like 800km to Gothenburg, and with a speed of maybe 6km/h it will be 150 kilometers per day, and 6 days direct sailing, but I don't know if they sail at night or anchor along the coast, but with a stop of 1-2 days in several places on the route it sounds like they are sailing through the night, and the nights will not be really dark. In three weeks I will know. Urgh. Three weeks on a medieval sailing ship with stops along the way. Some may look forward to that, but not me. I will hopefully be able to make some money along the way, start learning the language etc. I need a crash course in Norse.

No matter what's happened in my world - I should probably start to think of it as Midgård - I'm still not missing there. So no matter what happened, no one misses me yet. I wonder if everything is normal or it's complete chaos. I will become crazier by thinking about it because logically, I will never find out. But that knowledge won't stop me from thinking about it from time to time. But time to start trying to be useful, make the best of the journey and plan for the future. Accept reality. Learn. Move on.

It's important to keep the really important or valuable information to myself. I have to secure my future and prosperity, no matter what. Sure, I can probably sell my knife and make good money, but that's it. It's a one time deal, and I can't live on that forever. I don't expect to get that much. I could try to get enough money to buy a farm, buy animals and hire servants to take care of it and live there. I can certainly do that with the things I brought with me if the technological level here isn't high. The knife, multitools, compass, flashlights, binocular etc. There is no ship's compass at the helm and I didn't see anything like that with the captain either. Or charts. I could start to make charts and map the world, but I don't want to travel around.

I don't want to be a farmer - unless I can get rich enough that I don't actually have to handle animals or do farm work - but what I'm good at is to make things, and I should be able to sell them. I don't intend to sell cannons and black powder, but I can manufacture and sell things that improve life and are valuable. The problem is that I will get competition to manufacture and sell it as soon as people begin to understand the idea. A pair of binoculars is quite simple once the concept is understood. Sundials as well. But those things have a limited market as only a few will buy it, and things like Sundials doesn't seem to have a big market. And sundials are stupidly easy. A stick in the ground is a Sundial. Agricultural tools are probably too expensive and too much work making, but may be worth it after I learned what they have and use here.

Among the first things I need to do, is to verify my map information and concept of the world seems to be correct. I can't use my GPS, cell phone or tablet. So I need to draw a map. A5 is small for a map, but I can divide the journey into several map sheets.

So I return to the cabin, because the boat is pretty stable right now, inside a fjord with high mountain sides and with a relatively weak wind. I simply choose the map app on the screen with the right scale, lay paper on top and draw with a weak pencil, and divide it into 6 sheets, but I only draw the first half of the journey. I need to save paper and I hope to buy more here in some town along the way. I fill in with ink when I have the marked papers on the table. I make simple markings for mountain peaks, ridges and valleys, larger lakes and streams. The scale make few such things visible anyway.

Even though I am in a nice cabin, on a boat with people all around, I'm now in a form of survival situation, and everything I have with me can be a resource and really valuable. So even if I don't know what to do or their use, I take the opportunity to discreetly clean all my food packaging and similar waste I have saved to discard back in civilization. Thin durable plastic with aluminium on the inside have few uses, but may be a capacitor or something, and plastic bags or plastic film won't exist here. These are valuable resources until I know for sure they are useless, especially since they don't weigh much or take up much space.

I return up to the aft deck and take a compass reading and Danr looks wondering at what I do, so I explain that it is a kind of magic thing where the little red end always points north, and I show that it does so as I rotate around, and I show my small maps with their small north reference drawn on them. Danr looks at it in fascination and ask about the map I showed them in the great hall - can he buy it from me? Without a doubt, I fetch it and give it to him as a 'thank you' for the journey. I need Danr to be positive towards me, and the map may be worth money, but right now I want his goodwill more. I have already been promised the journey and food, but goodwill is goodwill. He looks really moved when he carefully accept the small paper map and go to his cabin.

I continue taking compass readings and follow along on the map as we sail, and generally we stay close to the fjords wall. The fog makes the sailors seem a little worried, and of course it's a little hard to see, but we are in a huge fjord - there should be no shallow ground to sail into, and quite easy to keep direction. But I understand an hour later when the ship has been forced to keep really closer to a fjord wall just to see it, and I really understand how unpleasant real thick fog over water can be, and that it is no something to joke about.

Wait... Are there monsters in the depth?!

Maybe those sea monsters in myths actually exist here. That is not a nice thought when you happen to end up in a world of elves, and know there have been dinosaurs long ago, and you're on a small ship slowly making its way through thick fog. Maybe I should try to build a cannon or two in the future...

What's that 'Split Second' quote? 'We need to get bigger guns. Big fucking guns!'

I like that movie.

I continue to keep track of our progress along the way, and later we're completely surrounded by white as the ship have to leave the fjords side. A sailor on the raised fore castle has an axe he strikes against a metal plate and they seem to listen for the echo against the fjord walls. He strikes with the back of the axe, it rings loudly, then he quickly dampens the plate against the body and listens. Seems to work quite well, as even I can faintly hear the echo, and I count the distance in my head.

Navigator Toke seems to rely on feeling the weak winds direction and seeing it's effect on a small pennant to keep the ship's direction while the sailors produced some long oars and they start to row with two on each side - inefficient, but better than the wind. The problem with moving faster than the wind is that it makes keeping direction harder. Toke glances at my compass, so I let him see the needle all the time, which seems to make him feel safer. I can imagine it feels better to trust a magical thing, even if it's new. I would be the opposite, but here sejd and other mysterious things are real. This is a folklore world. I however, refuse on principle and science, to believe that there may be actual Gods here.

Towards the afternoon, the fog clears and everyone seems to sigh in relief. It wasn't more than a few hours of thick fog, but those were unpleasant hours. I stand and just look at the fjord's mountain sides and enjoy that the mountains can be seen again. Rowing and sailing is so damn slow. This long journey could have been done by car on the road in a single day, and in a much shorter time than three weeks with a modern sailboat, or motorboat. But I need to learn to accept this reality, because it will probably be my reality for the rest of my life.

I stand there on the aft deck and look out over the fjord when Danr comes over and stands next to me, with both hands on the railing, and in a serious tone say;

"That north arrow... the compass... is mighty sejd. I've never seen anything like it. Never even heard of it. A small red and white stick enclosed in strange glass, which always points north regardless of weather, wind or sunlight. If I hadn't see it, I wouldn't believe it."

"Yes, it's powerful and useful sejd. It made it easy to keep a direction up in the mountains, and a better map makes path selection and knowing where you are even easier."

"I understand that. With a good map and a north arrow... who would get lost?"

We're just stand there and look at the water and the light that reflects high on the fjord walls. It feels nice to see more sun again.

"Can I buy your compass? It would be great to have on my ship. 30 ounces of gold."

I hear navigator Toke having a cough attack behind us and look at him, but he just stares at Danr, and quickly turns back and looks ahead where he stands with the rudder lever. That reaction makes me assume it's a hell of a lot of money. I just don't know how much it is. Certainly worth it, but I don't want to sell my own compass, even though I have others. But I have already thought about how I can make a compass, and I couldn't have ask for a better opportunity to demonstrate it's usefulness. I had thought a compass would help in bad weather and rain when the sun isn't visible, or at night. I never considered fog.

But back to the compass. Okay, I'm going to try making one, but I can't ask for that much for a much simpler thing. I also need to pretend and be a little mysterious. Heh. I feel the smile spread on my face. Focus. Act cool. I look up at the sky, the moon, and pretend to think.

"I can't sell this compass to you, but the time is right, so if I can check some of your merchandise, then I might be able to do something similar for you. After you try it and if you are happy with the north arrow, the price is two-thirds; 20 ounces of gold."

Danr was a little disappointed at first, but now he looks at me more and more wide-eyed and just nods when I get to the end. He guides me down in to the hold to wooden chests and sacks and all his other goods. I ask him for a few things. The idea is to make a simple compass needle out of nails or similar, and hang it from a thread so it can easily turn. I'm going to magnetize it by wrapping some copper around it and running current through the coil. Presto! A magnet that can rotate with a method they can't copy.

In the end I find small nails and take eight of those I guess are ordinary iron and magnetic, and a couple of small rolls with unexpectedly fine copper wire. It's probably only 1mm in diameter. A hammer and a file, plus a few thin and medium thick pieces of darker leather in a couple of shades. Then a couple of meters of thin leather strap, and a piece of linen. I don't need everything for this, but I might need it for something else, including making a leather pouch or two, and taking more stuff also makes it harder to figure out what I did or needed it for. It's not worth much so Danr just nods and has no problem I take it for my craft.

I ask for a bit of seclusion on a beach a little later in the evening when the sun starts to set, and after a meal we anchor at the side of the fjord. There are no houses, a dock or anything like this here, but a small boat is lowered into the water, while I fill a small packing bag from the backpack with needed stuff and two sailor rows me to the shore. They stop and guard the boat while I walk about 50m away and a few meters in from the shoreline in some cover where there are a few bigger rocks.

I make a couple of compass needles by flattening parts of the nails - especially the head - against a stone with the hammer, and use the file to continue shaping it. But I switch to the file on my Wave multitool which is nicer to shape the nail more arrow-like. I find it's balancing point with strong black polyester thread from my sewing kit, and make a small V notch there so the arrow doesn't slide on the thread. It balances nicely and the thread is cut off and gets a finger loop so the arrow hangs about 8-10cm below. I wrap a couple of thin layers of linen around the nail and then use the copper wire to wrap many turns around a reasonably thick tree branch without the wire touching between the turns or and use linen to insulate between the layers. I insert the shaped nail into the coil and then take out one of my rechargeable AA batteries and after quickly thinking about the thumb-finger rule for magnetic fields, I press the battery against the copper thread ends and feel it get a little warm. After I have removed the nail, I try to hang the small north arrow in my finger. It spins slowly, sways a little but stabilizes and points straight north. I can move my hand and it holds the direction, exactly the same direction as my compass.

Woho! That felt good! Real good!

I take the opportunity to make two other north arrows. Who knows when I will get the opportunity next time? And it's important to use every opportunity, especially as I got it right to magnetize them in the right direction. Selling three North Arrows feels like it's pretty good for my finances, and good marketing. I need to build up my reputation. Time for the last part of my plan. I take out the compact camera, discreetly take a couple of pictures on my handiwork, the boat and the sailors without turning to face them, and then I put the camera in flash mode.

The ship and the sailors are on my right so I put an unmodified nail on the stone, take out the hammer and make sure the camera is charged for flash while I discreetly aim the camera towards the ship. In a louder voice, and coldly assuming they won't fully understand me anyway, I call out;

"Great Thor, please don't take any offense when I make these technological arrows function!"

Then I hit the nail with the hammer while I press the shutter button down with my left hand. The camera flash and a metallic sound is heard.

I can hear exclamations and shocked sounds from the ship and the sailors. I actually feel bad about what I just did. But I pretend it's like nothing when I wrap the north arrows one by one in pieces of cloth, calmly pack everything away, clean up the site and myself and go back to the small boat. The big-eyed sailors look at me with respect and a bit of fear, and on the boat everyone seems equally shocked. It's hard to keep a straight face.

When we are back onboard, I show the compass needle to Danr and present it as a North Arrow. I show how to use it; let it dangle from a finger and let it stabilize. Then I give him some warnings to not drop the North Arrow as it might stop working, or start working badly. Store it in a wooden box or leather or cloth bag. Do not allow it to come in contact with metal. Not even jewellery. It's possible to replace the thin black string with something else in the future, but the North Arrow must be able to rotate freely.

Danr tests it and everyone sees it works exactly as I promised. Danr walks around with the needle hanging and moves about, but the needle shows the same direction all the time. After he shakes it, it takes some time before the arrow stops oscillating, but after a couple of minutes it points stubbornly to the north and the sailors stare wide-eyed at the small North Arrow.

Danr asks me to follow him into his cabin where he has a couple of scales and apparently have prepared the payment. He asks me to inspect the weight measurements, and I have no idea if the weights are correct but I approve. It seems to be couple of hundred grams? Danr pulls out 8 bags of silver, each corresponding to one of the large weights, and then a bag of gold. It's a hell of a lot of weight and volume. Probably 300 grams of gold and a couple of kilograms of silver, and this is two-thirds. Holy shit! Considering I would get twenty gold, gold is apparently worth 8 times more than silver. Danr places the weighed leather bags in a small wooden chest with a simple lock. We end the deal with a arm grip and Danr looks very happy and pleased, and I feel the same.

I remember that I really need some clothes to blend in, and ask if it's possible to buy a nicer set of everyday clothes from him. Danr just smiles and guides me down to the hold. On the way past my cabin, I leave the wooden chest with my backpack. I don't think anyone would steals from me here, but I will check when I return. Wealth makes people do stupid things.

Danr opens a pair of big wooden chests and takes out a few different cloths, and I select a really nice dark red linen shirt with some embroidery on the collar and arms, a pair of gray trousers, a dark gray cape with a silver buckle to hold the coat together on the shoulder, and I take a pair of wide nice bracelets in dark leather that I've seen a few wears, which completes the set. I ask about the price, and Danr just smile and shakes his head and say it has already been paid. I thank him again with a arm grab and return to my cabin, happy that my first business deal is over. I guess I'm quite rich, but no matter how rich, I now have a bit of money and have gained experience in business and how it is done. It almost feel like a level up.

It's dark outside, but the summer night is bright and I notice they start sailing again. It's really dark inside the cabin. So I've taken out one of my headlamps and I'm sitting happy in my bed with my wooden chest open and looking at the gold and silver. I guess I'm very rich right now. Obviously not merchant rich, but rich compared to most, and most likely I belong in the top 20%. I might be able to live the rest of my life on this amount if I invest in land, animals, etc, and live a simple life. I just don't have any real experience in how to manage a farm, fields or animals, especially in this era, so I need to hire people for it. That will cost.

Watching documentaries doesn't help much with practical experience, and details always matter a lot, but I'm glad that I've seen the entire BBC farming series and much more. But the gold and silver in front of me takes a weight off my chest, because I can sell the other two North Arrows, and probably for similar sums, and that will secure my future a bit more. I can also make and sell more North arrows, even if it feels so very wrong to charge so much for something so damn simple. They could make them in a simple campfire if they knew how. Talk about proof that knowledge is valuable. I really need to figure out or find out what things cost here. I will try to ask Danr little by little when we talk and the subject comes up.

I prepare for the night and brush my teeth, put my new clothes on the other bed and crawl down in bed. It's again an okay bed but lacks a proper spring mattress. In the future I will definitely have to prove that I am a magician - Sejdmann - with short notice, so I have to be prepared for this and play the role at certain events or occasions even if I have no idea what they expect of me. Trying to be a magician with hand movements and words feels wrong and will be harder to act, so I will try the direct approach and just do things. Make it more abrupt and surprising. Something they don't expect and can't prepare for. There are a few things I can do with the leather bracelets, which was why I wanted them. I feel a smile on my face when I wonder if elves know how important it is to check a magician's hands and shirt arms.