Notes for Pages 240-249.
< 230-239 | Notes Index | 250 – 259 >
240. And thus begins the onslaught of new characters. Keeping everybody’s designs and silhouettes unique, when they’re all dressed in a very simple, rustic style (or are, you know, wolves…) was an engaging challenge. Costume elements also have symbolic and plot significance, which makes for a lot of things to keep track of. I made myself some kick-line graphics to keep track of it all. You can see them full-size by clicking them!
241. We have seen Milena before. Milena is a Slavic name, as is Agata. The characters with Slavic names are not necessarily ethnically Czech/Slavic, though (or at least not totally). The Germanic tribes were in this region first, and these women are about as local as it gets.
Salt pork, by Simon Tunbridge via Flickr
Salt pork is pork that’s been cured with salt, instead of being smoked like bacon. You take a very fatty cut and pack it in salt (generally in a barrel – whence the term “pork barrel spending“), then turn it every so often over the course of a few months. The salt sucks out all the moisture and acts as a preservative. So long as you keep it packed, salt pork will remain stable and reasonably edible for months on end.
To prepare it, you just soak it in a few freshwater baths to de-salinate, and then toss it in the soup pot. It was commonly used in rations for ships at sea, armies on the march, and groups making long overland migrations. It was ubiquitous enough as a traveller’s food that it even became popular as a general-use foodstuff in the days before refrigeration. Nowadays bacon reigns supreme, but maybe salt pork is due for a revival!
244. “Oma” is German for “grandma.”
Calendula, related to marigolds, has been a folk remedy since at least the Middle Ages. It’s an anti-inflammatory with anti-viral/anti-bacterial properties; it used to be used for internal cramps or discomfort, but it’s mostly used topically these days on mild skin abrasions. (Neosporin is a lot more effective.)
Clove oil is a mild anesthetic, effective mostly for topical dental purposes, although there are plenty of other claims both ancient and modern that have either been debunked or not yet scientifically confirmed.  Sticking a clove or a bit of clove oil on the site of a toothache (the agony of millions before modern dentistry) would offer a little temporary relief. Cloves were a part of the lucrative spice trade from Asia and East Africa and were a fairly expensive commodity.
Elizabeth Blackwell’s notes on cloves.
Linen, the real kind woven from flaxseed, has been used for bandages since, uh, Ancient Egypt, at least, where it was used for mummification. It’s absorbent and it breathes well, which makes it great for wound dressing. (And therefore great for wrapping around a mummy, whose preservation process no doubt benefited from the same properties!)
From this shopping list, you can guess that Edita is the group’s physician. Or was.
245. Lot of backstory hints here, and more to come in the following pages. Don’t worry about catching it all on the first go; as always, the important stuff will wheel back around and explain itself, and the rest is just spare parts world-building.
247. Aaaaaah. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! AAAH!
248. Ariana’s horse is having NONE of this nonsense. Predators! Blood! Moms!
249. Stay tuned for more on the history (and pre-history) of Familienwald.