I do not know if I should be doing this. For me and Luy have become quite close in the time I have been here. She is nice and better to me than the rest of the tribe. Curious about my past and my people. I tried to keep her at arm's length and not get too attached. But that has failed due to her insistence on trying to get to know me. This all could be a mistake, since when or if I return home. I planned on leaving the tribe goodbye, but with Luy, I might just take her with me.

I have never felt like this before, and I have no clue what to do. I have been considering talking to some people I know well in the tribe about this, but I decided against it. Figuring that they may not know or understand what I am going through. I can be wrong, of course, and my best bet may just be Yurr. We are good friends now, and even making friends with his family. I feel like I can fit in with them. But for now, I just focus on helping the tribe, the Iu, and learning more about them.

I am fascinated by their myths and religion. I know they are a tribe that worships the spirits of nature. Their shaman, a man named Onn leads this practice, and I only wish I could write this down. Luy has helped me to understand the ways of her people when I started to learn more about their religion and culture. I have elected not to tell them about the religions I know of. I want to keep their religion purely theirs and not add anything that could change that. They do not need to know of God, and I am content to leave the issue alone. It helps that I am not a religious person, and I am more of a spiritual person if anything. So what works for them works for me.

Which, I did managned to help the tribe in one way. When they were approached by another tribe for trade and discovered they had vegetables. I asked how they got them and discovered that they grew and farmed them. So some of the other tribes in this region do grow their own food. Or at least to a limited capacity, and this land seems like a good place to farm. But pastoralism is the preferred life of the people here. But, it was something that, after a long talk with Kun. I managed to convince him to trade for some seeds, and I asked the metal workers to make some farming tools. Mainly gardening hoes.

Though I know the tribe will not just settle down and be sedentary. But I can at least help to add a bit more food options to the table. Ones they do not need to trade for, and I have been helping them learn how to farm to the best of my ability. I am an archaeologist, not a farmer, but I do know the basics. Which the chiefdom, Kun has been watching my progress with the farm and is tolerating my plan for now.

Still, I seem to be becoming more respected in the tribe. Granted most still call me Outlander and Onn, is curious about my eyes. He has asked me about them, and I say it is a natural thing humans can have but he sought a more spiritual answer. He has been asking the spirits of what my eyes mean. I do not know what that answer will be but so far. Living with the Iu has been a good one despite some problems. I just hope that things will continue to go well and my life here can be a positive one. wherever I am.



It has been three winters since I have been with the Iu, so I guess three years. It feels longer, and I still do not have a good idea where I am or how to get home. Only I have realized that wherever I am, the people are like the Iu as I have met more tribes of the region. Thanks to trading, since the other tribes are interested in the saddles the Iu have. Which Kun has been cautious about how to get the saddles since he sees the military value in them.

The Iu are a small tribe, and some of the larger tribes have been eyeing the saddles. I am concerned as well, but I have been busy with other stuff that has been happening with the Iu. For starters, the farm has been doing well. Though temporary, it has been made once again. The tribe and Kun seem to like the extra greens in their meals. So, I am becoming less of an Outlander and more of a member to them. A thing that I like and I have been enjoying feeling like I fit in with the Iu.

Though about Luy, thanks to her persistence. We have become a pair. Not boyfriend or girlfriend yet. But she has been by my side for a while now, and slowly I am getting used to her presence. It is a nice feeling of knowing she is there for me, and my attempts to ward her off have failed. I do not know what to do, but she has not made a move on me yet. Which, oddly enough, the women I tend to like are the ones who ask first. Not me, so either she considers me a close friend or she is waiting for me to accept her as my girlfriend.

Again, I do not know, only a theory, and I may just ask Yurr about it. So, I do the normal routine, and after one day of being bored. I had an idea, and while it may not help the tribe directly. It will help to entertain them, and I still remember how it works. After talking to the wood carvers, I managed to get a chessboard with the correct pieces ready to go. The tribe was curious, and some watched my first game with Luy after I explained the rules. I won since Luy was a newcomer, but she and those watching were interested in the game. It is a far cry from video games, but it is something from home I can still do. Just have to be careful not to lose the board or the pieces.

Still, I miss home and wonder how my family is doing. I do not know when I will see them again, but I hope it will not take too long. Three years is a long time, and while little progress has been made on how to get back home. I suspect it will not be easy at this rate. During the Iu's nomadic travels, I have yet to find someone who knows about the modern world or how I can get back home, and that makes me wonder what has really happened to me. A perplexing question, but at least the Iu still welcomes me.

Regardless, I am safe, well-fed, and now I know how to ride and shoot a bow. Something I did not expect, and the Iu are starting to slowly not calling me an Outlander. I feel like I am going to make it well here, and Onn has deemed it after talking with the spirits. That my eyes mean I am a good omen. Something I feel relieved by since this means the Iu has fewer reasons to get rid of me.

So, still so far so good with the Iu, and I have helped them. There is still more I can do to help the Iu. More so since Kun is getting more cautious about the other tribes. Something I am willing to help him with if he allows it. Though I am an archaeologist, thanks to video games and other sources. I know some tactics and strategies. When dealing with nomads on horseback in an age without iron. I may have some ideas and I can only hope that things will go well with the other tribes if it comes to war. I am nervous, a bit scared, but with Luy by my side. I think I can handle whatever comes. Even if I know that this bravery may be misplaced.

---

TLDR
William teaching the tribe, the Iu on the basis of farming, inventing chess, and planning on helping the Iu defend themselves if need be.

After his ship performed so well the others in the tribe started respecting him more, and his tower-home got a higher priority rating. Additionally they managed to find Iron ore on this island, and on other islands in this archipelago they managed to find coal. His home recently got finished to his specifications and it is nice to have a home of his own. Additionally it appears like this island in the capital. Since the discovery of the coal and the iron ore Olliver has been working hard on upgrading the technology of the island/island chain. Olliver had had to invent a forge capable of melting the iron, so that it could be cast or forged. They now have iron swords and daggers, and also some iron chestplates and such. Olliver is doing his best to refine the iron. Soon he thinks that he might have them sufficiently refined that he can use wrought iron, and make scale or possibly feather mail. The tribesman dont bother him when he is in his forge however, they respect the ideas and quality that emerge from it too much to disturb it and risk ruining the work.

However Olliver is wondering if there might be others who have been brought here, in other corners of the globe, and is thinking about trying to expand the sphere of influence in the area so that they will benifit from other countries innovations instead of being more stagnant. Additionally there have been some ladies in the village who have been dropping hints and trying to catch Ollivers eye. Unfortunately for them, in the past year Olliver has gained an apprentice, a few of them actually, they are all from blacksmithing families, and know their trade fairly well, but they need new training inorder to use iron to its fullest potential, and one of those apprentices is Alemeda, a lady of ~28, who grew up in the forge and learned better than her brothers and is slated to take over the smithy. She has a light olive skin tone, and has relatively short, dark hair (about shoulder length), due to it getting in the way in the smithy before. The most odd thing about her appearence are her eyes, most people here have dark brown eyes, but hers are of the most esquisite green, like unto an emerald. And it is she alone who has caught Ollivers attention.

With the birth of Sigmund and Sif, it felt like Astrid was concerned with more social problems. She gave order to Vilkas's domain and though she tried her hand at individual taxation, she quickly realized she did not have the manpower required to set up such a massive endeavor, neither the people trained in accounting to do so nor the armed guards to protect these accountants from getting murdered by the first farmer they tried to tax. She could not tax people, but she could tax villages and ships. Vilkas was more than happy to help her set this up and make his vassals understand it was in their best interest to collect these taxes, or else.

Money thus flowed into the treasury with a very important side benefit: Money actually began to flow, period. Astrid insisted that all taxes be paid in coins, coins that she also happened to mint! That way the economy was slowly becoming more liquid, less based on barter which in turn would make more taxation efforts easier and also gave her and Vilkas significantly more control over the economic activities of Sardinia.

A lot of that money went back into Vilkas's military ambitions of course, he couldn't get enough of imported Cretan iron weapons that were so much better than bronze, but there was still a lot left for what would be Astrid's most ambitious project thus far.



Great projects often come with great challenges to overcome. Oh she had already overcome plenty of those, but the main problem were the unforeseen problems that kept arising from that project of Astrid's.

But what was that project?

Phase 1 was a watermill. The village had the perfect stream going through it, she went a bit up the river to find a passage narrow enough with a water speed high enough to install a wheel, then another, then a third. Those waterwheels alone were massive tools for human productivity and allowed grain to be milled at lightning speed in comparison to the archaic muscle powered ways of before, but this was not what this was meant for, not by a long shot.

Phase 2 was the crusher. A weight would be raised by a bucket of water, that would spill over and empty when it came at a certain level, causing the weight to fall down and crush rocks, rinse and repeat. But not just any rock: Copper oxide ore, the kind with a copper concentration so low huge piles of it as mining refuse just laid around the local mine.

Phase 3 was the acid bath. Sulfur, or brimstone as some called it, was actually decently abundant and did not have many use at this time, though Astrid being a chemist knew it as one of the building blocks of modern industry. It was imported for cheap from Sicily and mixed with water made a noxious smelling acid that dissolved the copper oxide in the ore. There she had met her first problem, acid bathes made of... of what? Copper that gets dissolved? Bronze that was also made of copper? No one knew how to work iron so she had to order bowls made of extremely heavy stone to soak the ore to leech the copper out of it and move the sludge to another bowl to extract impurities and finally be left with a copper concentrate of sort.

Phase 4 was the main roadblock. Normally she'd use Electrowinning to strip the copper ions from the sludge with an electric current... but that was not going to happen. So she had to use more crude methods. Centrifugal force with the water wheels, boiling the sludge, steps after steps to remove impurities.

In the end, she turned what was seen as a waste product into a source of high quality copper, producing more than the entire island would ever know what to do with!

But this was not the only thing she produced. Astrid pretty much created the first toxic wastes in human history and as the chemicals ran off her mill and into the river that went through the town down bellow, people started to get sick, as did the workers of the mills who gained strange new afflictions from breathing the fumes of Astrid's chemicals. She knew those things, she knew how to prevent them too, but it was such a complex affair to make others understand. The water smelled bad, but to climb up the hill to get water before it entered the mill? It was such a bother! And likewise Astrid had to get Vilkas to go as far as to threaten to whip the workers of the mill for them to finally wear the leather protections and follow a strict rotation in and out of the building to prevent the fumes from dizzying them.

As Astrid was doing her best to design some kind of aqueduct to bring clean water to the town so people stopped drinking from the river she was now poisoning, Astrid was seeing the limits of what she could do alone. She needed iron. Cast iron buckets what could handle hellish levels of heat, that despite their weight would still be more mobile than stone.

Luckily, she had heard of a master smith who knew how to forge iron living east, in Crete.

@TruckKun

Hail to you, master smith.

Tales of your work have traveled far and wide, reaching my home of Sardinia. I am in need of a smith that knows how to work iron better than anyone in the world. I will pay handsomely to have your services and am willing to build you a forge the likes of which have never been seen before if you would agree to spend five years teaching your skills in Sardinia.

Attached are some designs I hope you might be able to make.

The very corporate terms of the letter would make someone suspicious of its modern overtone, but what comes with it is what makes it a dead giveaway that someone from modern times wrote it. The drawings are rough, but definitely made in the style of a blueprint, with front and side images and measurements in centimeters and meters, with a wooden ruler sent for reference. The images themselves show buckets, screws and other industrial implements.

TL;DR
-Astrid begins basic taxation of villages and shipping to and from the island.
-Astrid builds a watermill and experiments with Hydro-chemical metallurgy, but also creates the first toxic wastes in history that poison the local river.
-To further her goals, she sends a letter inviting a legendary master of iron smiting to her island.

Philip slowly drifted into consciousness. He was cold and not at all alert, but sensed that someone was watching him. More alarming, he was not lying in his warm bed next to his wife in their home in Massachusetts, but in a pine forest. The sun was on the horizon, and the cool morning air let him know he was not wearing any clothing.

“Did I have a whiskey before bed?” He muttered to himself. “No, I did not drink anything other than a cup of tea before bed.” Philip shot up quickly to a seated position. Upon recognizing the fact that he was lying naked in a forest near a lake somewhere in the world, his reaction was one of confusion. He spat out, “What the Hell!?”

The sensation that someone was watching him slowly morphed into three young men standing before him. They could have been in their late teens or early twenties. All three had black hair and brown eyes, as he did. They wore an outfit that resembled the clothing worn by Native Americans in the documentary he watched before going to sleep last night. A breechcloth that wove through a cord around their waist and between their legs. It draped down about two feet in front and behind. Two wore animal skins wrapped around their legs, and a light slipper or moccasin adorned their feet. Neither of the three wore a shirt, and two had eagle feathers attached to strands in their hair. The third wore a hat constructed of wood and decorated with several feathers, giving it a distinctive flair.

“Who are you?” the young man with the hat asked.

“Philip Beulieu,” he responded, “Where am I?”

“That is an unusual name, my lost friend. You are in a forest alongside a lake we call Ganeasos or Berry Place.” The man stated matter-of-factly. “I am called Koyengquahtah (Young King). These are Donehogawa and Otetiani, my brothers. Our village is just north of here. Come with us, we can find clothing for you. Philip Bowlier.”

Philip stood up. The youngest of the three bent over and picked up a pile of leaves that happened to be stuck together by pine sap. He handed them to Philip and giggled audibly. “You may want to cover your wiggly worm. The women in the village will be watching.” The other two laughed heartily at Otetiani’s comment.

The four men approached the village near the north end of the lake. Philip took in the scenery, commenting on how beautiful the valley was.

“Genesee Valley,” Koyengquahtah stated. “Genesee is an old word meaning beautiful. You are correct, Philip Bowlier.”

As they neared the village, Philip recognized the long houses covered in wood bark. He recognized the house and spoke its name, “Wetu!”

“That is correct,” Koyengquahtah responded. “That is what we call our homes. You can stay at mine for now.”

Donehogawa asked, “Where are you from?”

“Massachusetts,” Philip answered.

“I’ve heard of them from a Mohawk man. They live far to the east near the large pond.” The three native men were very curious about Philip. “How did you get here?” A tribe known as the Masschuseuk lived in an area of the Baystate around Boston and in the Blue Hills south of the city.

“Honestly, I do not know. I was asleep in my bed at home last night and woke up here. Are you guys re-enactors?” Philip asked.

“What is this word?” one of the three asked him.

“About twenty years ago, I participated in World War Two re-enacting. I portrayed a soldier in the 101st Airborne Division.” Philip had not considered he actually traveled back in time. He still believed it was 2026. “Your costumes are amazing by the way. Who makes these for you?”

“We make these. These are made from the best quality deer hides, and they are not called costumes; they are simply clothes.” Donehogawa answered this question. There were more questions he wanted to ask. The interloper used words he’d never heard of. He is a very curious fellow to the natives of the Great Hill People.

“Leave the man alone, brother. He came here by Magic!” Otetiani exclaimed with a grin. “The spirits have set this to happen. We should ask the seer to find out why.”

“But why?” Koyengquahtah asked. “We must ask Sagoyewatha, the great seer, for knowledge. What purpose is Philip to our people here in the Long Lakes?”

The three brothers and the lost interloper wander into the village. As people see the men arrive, they gather around their homes watching in curiosity. The naked man with pale skin and hairy face carrying leaves in front of his genitals catches the eye of everyone. The young men take him to the Great Seer's house, where Koyengquahtah confers with the elder man in privacy before inviting Philip to enter his house.

“Grandfather, where does this man come from?” Otetiani asks.

“That is what we aim to find out, my son.” Sagoyewatha stands about 5’ 6” tall, with a head of grey hair. His skin has become wrinkled, and his eyes appear as liquid pools of wisdom. A great robe from a black bear was draped across his shoulders. Beads, bear claws, and feathers adorn his clothing. He invites Philip inside to have a conversation. Philip is seated on the ground by a fire pit. Sagoyewatha retrieves a stick and places one end in the fire. Soon, it catches fire, emitting a pungent but sweet smelling odor. Sagoyewatha begins walking around the inside of his lodge, waving the burning incense in the air. He chants unintelligible words and dances in an irregular pattern. Once he feels the smell has permeated the air sufficiently, he sits opposite the pale-skinned man.

“Who are you?” was his first question. “The people are very curious.”

“My name is Philip Beaulieu.” He responded to the seer. “My first name comes from an ancient language meaning Lover of horses. My last name comes from the French meaning beautiful place, which I believe is reflective of this land you call home.”

“Genesee is our word for your name. I do not know what a horse is.”

“A beautiful four-legged beast used for transportation or carrying heavy loads over long distances.” Philip was starting to realize something bizarre had happened. These people are not acting. They are truly who they say they are. He is the one out of place. He came to accept he was the oddity in their village. Then he thought of Pam and the kids. How would he ever get back to them? Who would take over his classes on Monday?

Sagoyewatha and Philip had a conversation that lasted for several hours. Both men learned much about each other. With each revelation, it only seemed to unearth several more questions. Sagoyewatha was quite fascinated by the Massachusett man and Philip learned much from the elder leader of their village.

Four winters, so four years, and things have changed. For starters, I have finally caved to Luy's persistence, and we are now a couple. It is a strange thing that wherever I am, I now have someone I care for with me. I am not sure if I should be doing this, but it is too late now. Luy is a beautiful woman, and I am lucky to have her. She is also getting better at chess, she even beat me once. Along with the interested members of the tribe.

The rest of the tribe seems to be okay with this development, and I am glad it did not upset anyone. That is the last thing I wanted after spending this long with the tribe. But that fear was misplaced, and the tribe is content. A very good thing, and I am not marrying Luy yet and I am taking it nice and easy. I am not one to rush into things.

Though there have been other developments that Kun has been worried about, other tribes. Mainly the bigger ones, and while there have not been clashes yet. Kun has been asking me about what knowledge I have that could help the tribe. I thought long and hard, and while I can think of ideas for weapons to make. I do not know how to make them, like a crossbow, for example. Though I wonder how a mounted crossbow handles with nomadic people who have never used it. Still, I told him some ideas and even suggested an alliance with another tribe. Which he has been thinking about, and has ideas. Either the Lokon or the Toran tribes, or both, I suggested. I have to admit that I am not much one for politics, especially nomadic ones, but I will aid Kun to the best of my ability.

Kun decided to try to ally with the Lokon tribe and sent a messenger to arrange a meeting. I hope it goes well, and for now. I am figuring out what I can do to help the tribe if conflict does happen. I have many ideas, but focusing on the ones that are viable for nomads. I know some about nomads from history and kinda their tactics. I am not an expert on nomads, my focus was on Greeks and Romans.

Still, I have to do something and not just lie around. I care about this tribe and its people. So I will think and strategize with the more militant members of the tribe. I wonder how the tribe will take to metal armor and if the horses can handle that. Just some ideas, and with Luy at my side. I will try, maybe war may not happen, but it does not hurt to be prepared.

Philip slept in the same long house that was home to the three brothers, including their mother, Dehhewämis and father, Chogan. The parents appeared to be about the same age as him. Philip learned that the Great Hill People employed a matriarchical society which rested much responsibility upon the women in the tribe. The voice of the women in the village decided many societal outcomes and who would be the tribe’s chief or who they called Hoyenah (chief). It was the values and mores of the mothers who made decisions to affect the direction the village took. Dehhewämis was considered a high ranking member of their culture, their society. She carried the vocal majority in electing Sagoyewatha to this position in their village. Sagoyewatha’s oratorical skills and understanding of people; human behavior set him above the rest.

A young man ran into the camp yelling, “Bears along the lake! Bears along the lake!” the men of the village began scrambling out of their houses, fully dressed gathering their bows and a collection of arrows. Two days ago, Koyengquahtah showed Philip how to craft his own bow and a collection of arrows. He had been warned that a hunt was expected soon. The word that bears were present in the area was enough to get the men of the tribe moving south towards their location.

He learned that every morning, young men of the tribe wake up early and search the migratory paths of the animals they hunt for food or use in some manner. It was on such a morning that he was found near Ganeasos or Berry Place. It was these same berries he woke up amongst a week ago that attracted the bears to the area. It was a place so often members of the tribe will reconnoiter to look for game to hunt. With word that bears were in the area, a hunting party was hastily formed to bring back food. Philip saw this as an opportunity to assist the people by participating in the hunt. He had acquired a penchant for the bow in his past life, but this new crudely made bow was nothing compared to the compound bow he used back home. He appreciated the elegance of this recurve bow just the same.

The hunting party scrambled through the undergrowth hunched over ready to shoot. Philip hung back behind the brothers watching how they moved. They were fluid, moving with grace. All three were right handed and kept their bows in their left, offhand along with one to three arrows. They kept their right hand empty in case they needed to use it for something else.

In what may have been twenty minutes, the party of eighteen men froze in their tracks. Philip imitated their behavior. He was reminded of his time spent in the army, only the uniform and equipment were much different. This group of natives functioned similar to a squad or platoon of US Army Rangers in a tactical setting.

The group stopped and stared straight ahead. At roughly two hundred meters a group of three black bears could be seen mauling over berry bushes. Everyone nocked one arrow and slowly moved forward. The group spread out in a staggered line with roughly ten meters between each individual. There may have been shooters in the group that could hit the bear at this distance, but everyone knew it would have significantly greater impact if they got in closer. They also knew the bear could sustain more punishment than one arrow. It was imperative that the bear be hit by multiple arrows to bring it down.

The mother bear stood on her hind legs at just under six feet. She was an impressive beast. She smelled something in the air but could not perceive a threat. Her offspring were about half her size and continued eating the berries. The Great Hill People knew to take only the mother and let the younger bears grow larger. The mother would provide meat for at least a week for the entire village. Her fur would be used as a cloak, blanket or rug by someone. Her bones would be used for various tools the tribe used in their daily life. There was no part of the great animal that would go to waste.

As the three brothers and Philip neared the bear, the group got within fifty yards. The men furthest from the bear continued to advance forming a semi-circle with everyone facing in towards their target. Once the group was in place, Koyengquahtah pulled back on the nocked arrow to his cheek. Philip did the same. When he felt he had a good hold on the arrow, he tightened his shoulder blade muscles and released the string. He watched sadly as the shaft flew about twenty feet in front of him and landed in the soil. Fortunately for the rest of the group who were far more experienced with such a weapon, no fewer than ten arrows struck the bear on the first volley. She screeched and charged towards one of the warriors. The rest of the group notched a second arrow and took shots. At least three volleys went out before she fell to the ground sliding into the feet of a young man who could have been in his late twenties. The bear had taken twenty five arrows to its body before she fell.

Now came the task to move the bear back to the village. The bear’s children ran off to the south heading away from the site where their mother had passed. When Philip arrived at the bear, he noticed she was still breathing. Koyengquahtah knelt at her, pressed a hand on her chest and muttered a prayer. Then he took his blade made from a thin firm rock and thrust it into her chest piercing the dying animal’s heart. He waited several seconds or a minute for the animal to go limp.

The group was good about assigning tasks. One group lashed branches together to make a litter to be dragged across the ground. Another group scattered around to gather berries from the bushes. The brothers cut into the bear’s hide at the genitals and tore the flesh up to the chest. One of the brothers had a satchel made from deer hide. They gathered all the intestines from inside the bear collecting them inside the satchel. The liver, heart, kidneys and intestines would all be used by the people. It was a bloody mess, but Philip knew it needed to be done.

“Philip, you will drag the litter,” Koyengquahtah looked at the Massachuset man and spoke seriously. Philip saw this as something more than a request.

“Yes sir!” Philip snapped out in reflex, unplanned. With the bear lashed down upon the sticks, he put the ends of the branches upon his shoulders and began to drag the corpse out of the woods. It was heavy, well over a hundred pounds, closer to two hundred. He knew this would be a chore.

As they moved through the brush, the youngest brother, Otetiani sidled up next to Philip and whispered, “Nice shot,” with a wry smile. Otetiani grew comfortable with giving barbs to Philip whenever he could. He did so in a playful way. It was his way of accepting the stranger into the group.

“Thanks,” Philip responded in a muttered exhausted voice.

“I hope we are not working the King too hard?” Donehogawa asked sardonically revealing an undertone of resentment for his presence. He slapped the Massachuset man in the back of the head, “Work harder!”

Philip chose not to respond, to show no reaction to the young man’s words and slap. He knew anyone of them would do this task without complaint and felt he had to do the same. It was a rite of passage he would need to perform to be accepted. He felt slightly humiliated by the hit but felt he needed to take it. Now was not the time to challenge the man. Besides, as he looked at the rest of the hunting party, he realized he was the oldest among them. Everyone that came out to hunt appeared to be between fifteen and thirty years of age.

@Wernher




A ship arrived recently, it contained a letter, requesting that I move to Sardenia for 5 years to teach my skills. I have decided to accept the request, and go to Sardenia, the people here are concerned for my safety, especially during the journey. However their nerves have been eased when a compromise was reached, because initially they refused to let me go. The compromise was that I and my new family, would travel on our ship, The Nimitz. The name of the ship serving a purpose, besides the fact that it is the name of a character in a book Olliver likes, it should also be a giveaway that he is not from this time, an oblique reference to the 'USS Nimitz'. He felt that he didn't have much of a choice to go, he felt a responsibility, that if others were time-shifted, he had to meet up with them.

In the past 21 and a 1/2 months though several important things had happened, Olliver had gotten married to Almeda, and it was a joyous union, they had had a child already, a beautiful young girl named Albareth. She was a year old already, and was rapidly learning to crawl. Additionally in the wider scope, after the ship started coming back with ill after long voyages, Olliver immediately stopped the lesson on some of the more advanced weapon crafting techniques and shifted to teaching his apprentices to learning to make steel barrels . They were confused and disappointed at first, but when they learned that storing the water and such in the metal barrels would stop the water going bad, which was the cause of the illness on the ships, they went to the work and learning with joyful hearts.

The man who arrived with the letter to their land, was surprised when Olliver asked him for a map, and were going to take their personal boat their, instead of one of the fast public boats that Crete had been building. For he knew not that Olliver had drawn the plans for the boats himself. When Olliver showed him the clipper that Olliver had had the people start building after the galleys were completed, the man was in awe. Olliver explained that the ship was completed ahead of schedule due to the fact that many people had come to help build it on their time off as a way to thank him. "This ship has a more limited cargo capacity than the galleys that we normally use, but it makes up for that in pure speed." Soon after the arrival of the messenger, everything was packed and they headed off to go meet with the person who had sent the letter