Making Kal-da: Kal-da is a searing brew of mid-grade ka-la-na wine, fruit juices, and mulling spices, simmered over the coals. Served to men only.

 

 

• Make Charcoal for the smelters , Pottery Kilns and Smiths

 

Historically, production of wood charcoal in districts where there is an abundance of wood dates back to a very ancient period, and generally consists of piling billets of wood on their ends so as to form a conical pile, openings being left at the bottom to admit air, with a central shaft to serve as a flue. The whole pile is covered with turf or moistened clay. The firing is begun at the bottom of the flue, and gradually spreads outwards and upwards. The success of the operation depends upon the rate of the combustion. Under average conditions, 100 parts of wood yield about 60 parts by volume, or 25 parts by weight, of charcoal; small-scale production on the spot often yields only about 50%, large-scale was efficient to about 90% even by the seventeenth century. The operation is so delicate that it was generally left to colliers (professional charcoal burners). They often lived alone in small huts in order to tend their wood piles. For example, in the Harz Mountains of Germany, charcoal burners lived in conical huts called Köten which are still much in evidence today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Charcoal2.jpg

The making of charcoal, literally the distillation of wood to its carbon content, was an important process during the first half of the nineteenth century. Because it burned hotter and cleaner, charcoal was considered superior to wood. It provided fuel for both the furnaces which produced the iron and the forges of the blacksmiths who shaped it.  The first person to discover the seemingly magical properties of charcoal has long since been lost to human memory. What is known is that it may have been used in Europe as early as 5,500 years ago and was the "smelting fuel of the bronze and iron ages." Across many centuries charcoal was used in the smelting and shaping of metals, the production of glass, as a purifier of food and water, and in gunpowder; its by-products included a liquid used in the Egyptian embalming process.

The chief customers of the American collier were the ironmaster and the blacksmith. Prior to 1840 the great majority of iron produced in America came from bloomeries and forges fueled by charcoal. Charcoal-produced pig iron possessed qualities important to the rural economy of colonial America and the new nation of the United States. It was malleable hot and cold and made an excellent metal for the blacksmith who had to fulfil many needs for his customers.

Tending animals

• Bosk

The bosk is a huge, shambling animal, with a thick, humped neck and long, shaggy hair. It has a wide head and tiny red eyes, a bad temper, and two long, wicked, curved and pointed horns. The horns, from tip to tip may measure two spears in length. It is for good reason the bosk is called 'The Mother of the Wagon Peoples'. It's flesh and milk furnish food and drink, shelter is made from it's hides, and clothing from it's tanned and sewn skins. Weapons are made from the leather of it's hump and many tools and implements from it's bone and horns.

Its primary food would come from grazing and from hay and similar grasses fed to them in troughs and bales during the colder months. Its water trough will need refilling, unless it drinks from a watering hole. If you are really unlucky you may be asked to clean and polish its horns and hooves. Be careful, this can be dangerous work. You may also need to groom and clean a matted coat and cut away tangles that inhibits the animal from moving freely. On Earth commonly many bovines favour a salt lick (a lump of a salty substance they can lick in order to get important minerals that may be hard to find in their natural food supply. If this is case with your owner's bosk then you may need to check the salt lick too.

Obviously the stable (if it is stabled) will need to a good mucking out now and then. If the animals are kept in the open then you may be tasked with manually removing the dung patties from the pasture. Do not expect a shovel will be made available. When the dung is dried it can be used for fuel. So, make sure to keep it if you are in a setting where fire wood or coal is not readily available.

 

• Vulo

Vulo are tawny-coloured birds similar to Terran pigeons, domesticated and kept for meat and eggs.

• Clean coops:

The slated coops are wooden structures, built onto the back of the stables. Some coops also have a fine wire net-enclosure that allow the vulo outside access. Inside are both poles for roosting and boxes for egg laying. Use trowels, buckets, hot water and a brush with stiff bristles to muck it out. Replace hay, and wash and refill water pans. Perhaps place a damp rep cloth over your nose and mouth while cleaning the bedding the dust from the vulo droppings is fine and that will stop you from breathing it in.

• Feeding vulo:

The birds need grain and water - maybe scraps of leftover fruits, bread and crushed sorp shells if available.

• Collecting eggs:

Vulo eggs are small - estimate 2-3 vulo eggs pr 1 Terran chicken egg when cooking. By holding the egg up towards the sun and looking through it, one might be able to see a dark shadow inside, indicating a fertilized egg holding a chick. Beware that eggs may be anywhere, not just in the boxes, so be careful when moving around and bring a handful or two of grain when collecting eggs and cleaning to keep the vulo preoccupied elsewhere.

• Verr

The verr are small long-haired spiral horned domesticated goats from the Voltai mountain. Can be ill-tempered, so be careful around them. The wild verr of the Voltai are bigger than the domesticated ones. They are kept for their meat, wool and milk, the latter which is used to make butter and cheese as well.

 

• Clean stables/pen of verr (and bosk):

Remove all straw and hay from the floor, sweep/shovel muck away from the floor and clean the lower parts of the walls with a brush or broom - if necessary, use buckets of water and a brush to rinse off muck that cannot be swept away. Spread new straw on the floor, and check the fencing for damage. Clean and refill the water trough. Placing a verr, collared on the grooming stand now and then and letting it feed from treats there will accustom it to the stand, making sheering easier when that time comes.

 

• Feeding:

Verr need grain, fresh hay and water but they also relish leftover fruit and vegetables. While a kid/kids are still nursing the verr should not be milked.

 

• Shearing: (based on shearing Terran mohair goats)

This is a chore that doesn't need done all that often, but it is important. Warm clothing is made from verr wool. Shearing in the spring will keep the verr cool over the hotter summer months, and if shorn again in early fall they will have time to regrow wool to keep warm over the cooler winter months.

Before shearing make sure to comb through the wool with fingers or brushes to remove vegetation, cloths of dirt etc. Don't bother attempting to wash the verr. It won't like it and the wool can far more easily be washed after shearing.

To shear, place the verr on the grooming stand, collar it securely to the posts, and using shearing scissors start on the belly making long sweeps from the brisket (bottom of the chest) to the udder.

Once the belly is neatly sheared, remove the hair from the flanks. Shear vertically from the belly to the backbone. Start at the verr's hind leg and move towards its front leg.

Next shear the wool from the hind leg. Start at the point of the leg where the wool starts, and end the stroke at the goat's spine.

Shear the bottom of the throat in smooth strokes that run from the jaw all the way to the brisket. The neck is shorn the same way as the sides; the strokes should end at the spine. Finally remove the wool from the animal's back. Do this with one or two long strokes that run from the crown of the head to the tail.

The wool is gathered in a wooden tub or old grain sack to be washed, carded, dyed, spun and woven. Bucks have longer but coarser wool than does and the older the verr the coarser the wool, so choose by preference as for what the wool is to be used for, and avoid mixing different qualities to retain a better end result.

 

• Cleaning the wool:

After shearing the shorn wool should be washed thoroughly (at least twice) in very hot water with soap in order to remove the lanolin (a natural kind of wax that water proofs the hairs). Lanolin is has valuable properties for protecting wool and skin against the elements make it a sought after product for ointments, salves and lotions and can be extracted from the shorn wool by running it through rolling presses. Lanolin can also be used to water-proof woolen garments, like cloaks, sate and nurture leather and protect metal components in danger of corrosion or rusting.

 

• Leave the wool to soak for a while before washing. Adding vinegar to the wash will bring out the natural luster of the fibres. Dry the wool in towels (take care to do it in a place that does not suffer too much of a breeze, yet at the same time allow for natural drying so that the wool will not grow stale.

 

• Card, dye, spin & weave verr wool "carding" is the process of pulling wool straight, using wire bristled brushes. Wool can be dyed to many colors using natural dyes, and spun by using an implement rather like a top, dropping it and rolling the wool between fingers to produce fine yarn. Weaving is done on looms, either small hand-held ones or larger weighted looms.

 

• Milking (verr and bosk)

Both the bosk and the verr need milking. Both types of milk are used to churn butter and make cheese, as well as drinking. Milking is done daily and unless proper cold storage is available it is not advisable to keep any leftovers for more than a day or two at the most.

 

• Replenishing food and drink supplies

Butter and cheese:

The cream from the bosk milk can be churned into sweet yellow butter, using the hand-churns. Add little whey from cheese making and/or salt and herbs (like garlic or parsley - similar) to spice the butter.

Cheese

Cheese is created by adding a bit of rennet to warm milk, simmering until it solidifies into curds and whey (watery extract).

-Rennet is a mix of enzymes found in the 4th stomach of unweaned calves only. In order to extract this, add a small piece of a calf stomach bound securely in a clean rep cloth and lower it into to the pot while heating the milk. An alternative to rennet could be vinegar or acidic juice... like tospit (lemon on Earth).

-The whey is poured off and saved (it can be used both to make softer cheeses, and be added to dough when making fresh bread, as well as being used for animal feed. It can also be added when churning butter for a tangier more salty flavour). Whey may also be used medicinally to treat sunburn and skin irritation where it has a soothing, nurturing effect and works against the skin's natural reaction to blister, dry and crack.

-The curds - the texture is like very loose mozzarella - are collected and pressed into a wooden hoop, resting on a piece of wood, a second lid piece that fits inside the hoop is nestled on top of the curds to enclose it completely. Settle a rock on top to weigh it down, and the remaining whey is pressed out over time (make sure to place it somewhere where the liquid can run off without soiling or staining anything). Wrap the cheese in a clean rep, and settle into a cool undisturbed place of even temperature to age (a well shielded subterranean store room or a natural cave are ideal). It is a good idea to save some of the curds, as they may be requested as a food item.

 

• Restocking fruit and vegetable bins/baskets

Check the fruit bins, dispose of overripe fruit (give it to the verr and vulo or use in baking or similar). Clean fruit bins and baskets - make sure they are completely dry before restocking them (leave outside to air out and dry under the sun if necessary). Request new deliveries if stock is low or special items are needed.

 

• Making juices

Wash the fruits and if necessary remove stems and pits. In some cases, the skin should also be removed and the fruit diced into smaller bits that are easier to work with. Fill into a bowl and using a wooden tool (think potato masher), mash the fruits into a pulp (and the juices start to flow). If using several different kinds of fruit, do each seperately to ensure the differing textures do not cause some to be mashed completely while others remain mostly intact.

The mashed watery pulp will now need either straining (lay a clean finely woven cloth over a bowl, scoop the pulp onto it and close the cloth, tying its ends around a small bar. Then hang over a larger bowl and slowly twist the bundle to tighten the cloth, thereby wringing the mashed fruit inside it to drain the juice from it) or pour the mix into a large pot and bring it to a light simmer while stirred, now and then mashing the pulp a little more. Sugar can be added here if necessary. Also this is a good time to mix the various juices if using different types of fruit. Finally, pour the warmed juice and pulp through a strainer over a bowl, using a ladle or similar to mash the pulp to get as much of the fruit and juice into the bowl as possible. Then leave to cool.

Beware that even after straining, sediments (pulp) will always form at the bottom of the pitcher/container, and if stirred too much they will mix with the juice. Some may like this, some may not. Be sure to learn the preferences of your owner.

Heating is good for juices made of fruits that require a little sweetening, but be careful flavours tend to change when heated.

When serving fruit juice, decorate the goblet with a slice of (one of) the fruit used to make the juice.

NOTE: When mashing grapes, take care not to mash too hard. If the seeds are crushed it will impart bitterness to the juice. The seeds will be sifted away while straining so don't worry about removing them beforehand.

• Cooking and baking

• Meats:

There should always be some kind of meat on the fires. Sa-tarna bread should also always be found, freshly baked every day. Use book-recipies or make up new ones with the available ingredients. The most common types of meats found in the Gorean cuisine are bosk, verr, tarsk, vulo and tabuk. Keep in mind though that your location influences what types of meat may be available. If you choose to serve seafood or shell fish make sure you can explain how you came to have it. It does not make much sense to have Cosian wingfish livers 3000 pasangs from Thassa. Transporting perishables that far even by tarn would take a hand. Consider where you are and choose the local meats and traditions to guide you.

• Breads:

Though only the round 6-8 wedged sa-tarna bread and the black bread served to galley slaves are mentioned in the books there are literally hundreds of different types of breads that you can plausibly make with the ingredients found on Gor. Anything from pancakes to tortilla wraps, flatbreads, rolls, focaccias, pitas and loaves are completely plausible as distinctive "local cooking traditions". Learn about your location and what is available there, learn about which Earth based cultures your location is based on and do some research to find inspiration you might draw on.

• Black wine:

Blackwine is the Gorean equivalent of coffee...made from the same plant but estimated to be 10 times stronger than Earthen brew. It is made by simply pouring the crushed beans into a kettle, covering with cold water, and allowed to brew slowly over the fire. (Which means, when serving to be careful not to disturb the grounds - or make sure to use a strainer to carefully remove the grounds). Also, beware that black wine is quite expensive and exclusive to Thentis only as for production. So, it would not be common for normal households to have black wine lying around to serve at random.

Remember, Thentis watches their export of black wine very carefully. They would never allow fresh beans out of the city, so IF your city does trade for black wine it is only plausible that you will receive the beans after they have been roasted. They may even be ground too.

Alternative method of brewing black wine: Make a doubled rep cloth and add a suitable amount of black wine beans to the center of the cloth. Pull up the corners and tie off with a rence cord tightly. With a heavy wooden mallet smash the beans several times till crushed but not powdered. Then place the bundle - still tied! - in a clean kettle and add water, setting it over low flames as to not boil. If this method is used beware that the crushing of beans and following soak while brewing will stain the cloth beyond good use afterwards - the colour will bleed like a dye. (perhaps keep a small basket of cloths used only for this, so that not all the cloths are suddenly stained dark.

Discarded black wine grounds can be used both for scrubbing (great for removing smells from hands, as well as a good natural scrub to exfoliate skin - do not use on face - and be sure that black wine grounds work the same way Terran coffee grounds do!). Discarded crushed beans is used for composting. Do NOT attempt to crush after they have been soaked. NOT suitable as feed for animals due to the potency of the beans.

 

Other uses for the grounds:

- Cleaning cast-iron skillets, pots and pans. The grounds are abrasive, the oils keep the skillet cured, and the mild natural acids in the grounds help cleaning.

- Mixed with hot water can be used to dye cloth.

- Great for compost and fertilizing plants

• Make kal-da:

Kal-da is a searing brew of mid-grade ka-la-na wine, fruit juices, and mulling spices, simmered over the coals. Served to men only.

• Cleaning and tending to furniture, rugs and garments

• laundry, sewing & mending clothes:

 

Normal attire worn by the Free would be made to suit their tastes and caste work as well as their culture. A metal worker would not wear fine robes to work, he may have a finer tunic for official business though. Make sure your tools match what you are mending. Most clothing of slaves and lower castes or those doing manual labour is made of coarser fabrics like rep, wool or leather, so get out the leather awls and rawhide strings too if needed. Laundry may be taken to the stream to wash, or use a washboard and basins of heated water, then hang on a line to dry in the fresh air. Leather of course is not washed, but brushed or wiped clean, as are furs.

• Tending to furs:

The sleeping furs in the wagons, as well as the furs the Free rest on around the fires or on small wooden pallets, and so they need regular treatment. Pull them outside - remember some of them are quite big and heavy. Shake them out, hang them over a branch, a rack or a rope tied between trees - then have fun beating the heck out of them with a stick. (This is a great stress reliever for "bad kajira days")

 

• Weaving baskets:

Baskets are needed for a large variety of things, and because they are used so much they are often in need of repair or replacement. So unless your owner is rich and can afford to buy new ones all the time, you will need to learn how to weave and repair them yourself. Don't fret though, it is a good way to spend time talking to the other slaves, as well.

Thin tem wood branches or long coarse grasses be an option. Rence can also be used. Be careful of your hands. Most materials used for baskets have a tendency to leave cuts on the hands that ply them. Also, remembering to soak your materials before you start helps the basket to keep its shape once it dries.

• Clean fireplaces and pits:

Fire places and pits need to be cleaned out and excess ash removed. It is always good to leave a layer of ash about a hort thick or so - this will make for a better fire - but the rest should be removed. Ashes can be used to fertilize soil. Ashes from hard wood types can be used to extract alkali, which can be used to make soap and cure foods like fish and olives.

BEWARE: Lye dissolves when exposed to air, and will form to a watery liquid, which is very caustic. This can cause bad skin burns and will act as a corrosive on other materials as well (like glass).

 

• Clean dishes, pots, pans etc from the kitchen:

Dishes can be washed in basins or directly in a stream, depending on where you are. Most often you will do better to take the time to heat water and clean them properly with small brushes, sponges and/or soaps, drying with a rep cloth and ensuring everything goes in it's place in the kitchen.

 

• Make useful items

 

• Gather herbs and flowers for cooking, medicine and essential oils:

Depending on your location you may seek either the cultivated gardens, yards or wild vegetation to find the many plants needed in the kitchens and clinics of Gorean Physicians and perfume makers, cosmeticians and dyers. Study up on Gorean flora and get out to enjoy the sun on your back and the soil between your toes for a while.

 

• Making soap from ashes, animal fats and essential oils:

Pour ashes into a rep cloth, hold over a bowl, and trickle water slowly through, squeezing out the bag thoroughly. Add this lye solution to melted bosk fat in a kettle, stirring with care over a period of time. Essential oils of choice are added to scent the soap, then pour the thickened mixture into wooden molds to solidify. Dyes can be added for colour.

 

• Making quills:

Due to the texture of paper (especially rence and/or similarly fiberous paper qualities the tips of writing quills will wear down quickly, and may need to be replaced often. Therefore, make sure to always have a sizeable supply of new quills ready, just in case.

Quills are idealy made from only the primary flight feathers of large birds. Generally left-wing feathers are favoured by right-handed users, and vice versa, due to the slight curve of the barrel of the feather. It can, however, be hard to gather enough suitable feathers for quill making to fully honour this preference. But keep it in mind for special gifts or quills used for very important matters.

The very finest quills are made from the first and largest flight feather of the bird's wing. The bird will need to have a reasonable size (weight) or even the large flight feathers will be too delicate and small to work well as quills. Usually, birds of prey like herlit, gort, fleer (eagle/hawk), gim (owl) and yellow-legged wader (pelican?) would be preferable, but gull feathers might also be used, especially since they are easily obtained and plentiful around the Vosk delta.

How to make:

Strip the barbs (tufts of feather) from the barrel (stem) - Terran history would know this to be done, so that the underside of the barrel is almost completely bared. The feathery quill is a romantizied version, derived from stories far more than actual historical fact. Removing the barbs would make the quill easier to handle, less likely to be stained and transfer ink to garments, furniture and papers if laid down, and given the notion that an unbarbed quill is neither very pretty, nor very pliant in offering entertainment to the Free (who may enjoy using the feather to incite sensations in Their slaves), it would perhaps be preferable to simply unbarb the underside of the barrel from the tip of the quill and halfway up the stem.

To harden the quill and make it more durable and suitable for writing, it is stood in hot sand for a period of time. This strengthens the barrel of the feather and makes it more flexible and less brittle. After it has slowly cooled the nib can be constructed. Alternatively, it may be set into hot ashes, stirring it slowly till it is soft; then take it out, press it almost flat upon your knees with the back of a knife.

Using the small sharp knife make a sloping cut to remove the point of the quill. Insert the tip of the knife into the hollow of the quill and make a slit was carefully. This is one of the trickier manoeuvres. On the opposite side to the slit, a scoop is sliced from the barrel of the quill.

The end of the quill now has a sloping aspect with a slit in the end, and is starting to look a bit like a pen. The nib is then shaped by cutting away the corners on either side of the slit. Carefully, using the tip of the knife blade, scrape the inside of the nib to make it neat and flat, and sharpen the outside by shaving it into an angle. Then the quill is ready for use. The hollow shaft of the feather (barrel) acts as an ink reservoir and ink flows to the tip by capillary action.

As it wears and breaks, the quill can be resharpened multiple times.

 

Compiled by CaraClaire/FaithAddysone/DahliaSeeriah/imperfectlieh.