“Only the fools and the desperate would enter the bogs and swamps of the north-east in the winter. While the place was bad enough in summertime, winter turned it into a deathtrap, where thin ice and snow covered a drop into freezing cold water so deep you’d never surface again should you fall in.

Not even the barbarian tribes from our north-east dared to pass those areas in winter, as they too were all too aware of the dangers and hazards of the region during that time of the year. Only those with a death wish would go there during those times, mark my words!” - Leonid Mezgal, pioneer and explorer from the Posuin Kingdom, circa 203 VA.

Since it was already early winter by then, Aideen took the suggestion from the Duchess’ family to take her time to prepare for her planned survey of the untamed, uninhabited lands first, rather than rush headlong to the notoriously hazardous winter in the swamps.

The Duchy of Algenverre was notably far more temperate in climate compared to Dvergarder in the south, which tended to be on the warmer side all year round, with even winters rarely hitting temperatures cold enough for snow to fall. As it was, even in early winter Algenverre already experienced several days of snowfall.

Much like how it was in Dvergarder, Aideen noticed that the citizens of the Duchy were notably better off compared to those of the Central Duchies she passed through. One of the reasons was the insistence of several generations of Dukes and Duchesses to not only make their Duchy self-sufficient, but even capable of exporting excessive food production for extra income.

As such, practically every bit of inhabited land in Algenverr that was not used for houses was cultivated with all sorts of crops, rotated by season. Orchards were also a common sight in the Duchy, and even in the city itself, many fruit-bearing trees and bushes were planted by the roadsides and in the parks, taken care of by the people who lived around them with their yields freely available to those same people.

Even in wintertime quite a few sorts of fruits and vegetables were freely available in the city’s markets, as Aideen noticed when she was brought to have a look around by one of Clarissa’s younger cousins. Fruits both fresh - mostly limited to some hardy local breeds of crunchy apples and pears, as well as sweet and sour berries - and preserved were aplenty, so were winter vegetables like freshly harvested heads of cabbage so fresh some locals simply chopped them to chunks and munched on them raw with some spicy sauce.

Aideen was glad at the sight. She would have regretted helping the Duchess had she turned out to be a horrible ruler of her people, but it seemed that the nobles of the border duchies mostly kept to a practical pragmatism that led to their regions prospering and their rule secure as a result.

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Other than gathering supplies and copies of the few maps of the untamed lands she could get from the Duchies - the Duchess had kindly sent a messenger to get some copied of the maps Jonkver had on her behalf as well - Aideen mostly spent her time that winter in the company of Asclepius, the old healer who was treating the Duchess when she arrived, by day, and that of Rodolfo and Graciela at nights.

The old healer had viewed her with a near-worshipful gaze after he saw how she had dealt with the injuries of the Duke and Duchess, and had been a very eager student when Aideen offered to teach him how to treat such injuries.

While he was of the Life affinity - still by far the most common amongst the healers around - quite a few of the tricks she had learned and used were adaptable to be used by him, and the old man had taken many notes, while he practiced the techniques she taught him on others for free with her keeping watch in case he messed up.

Healers who messed up in their healing had at times caused more long-term harm to their patients than leaving the injury untreated, like causing a bone to set improperly, or an injury that would have healed naturally to leave a lasting effect instead. It was one of the first things Aideen herself learned to be careful about when she was much younger and new to the art.

Asclepius had often also brought some of his many students - he had a bit of fame in the local area as an expert it seemed - to attend one of Aideen’s lectures. Her far more philanthropic approach to dispensing with her gifts seemed to have greatly moved the old man, and she heard that he had taken an oath to devote the rest of his life to use his own gifts of healing for those who needed it, without recompense.

To be honest, she was not exactly against receiving compensation for healing people either. Healers were people who needed to make a living too after all, and unlike her, not everyone had the backing and wealth to go about freely while following their hearts. After all, she had no longer needed to worry about making a living with her condition.

Most of the old man’s students weren’t as moved or enthused with her philanthropic approach, but they were just as eager to learn from her all the same. All she asked from them was simple, namely to not hoard the knowledge to themselves, and instead pass it on further down the line, to their own students should they one day accept some, who should in turn keep passing it down, until the knowledge becomes widespread over time.

In a way, it was one of her more direct actions taken against the practices of the Guild of Unburdened Healers, as should the knowledge become widespread - and Asclepius had already agreed to travel to Jonkver and Dvergarder to further spread it in her stead - then it would destroy the guild’s monopoly on highly skilled healers, and crash the market, so to speak.

She considered it a fruitful winter, mostly spent passing down her knowledge to Asclepius and his students. The Duchess was also informed of her intent to spread that knowledge further, and personally chose to sponsor Asclepius so he had no need to worry about his living while he spread the knowledge for Aideen.

After all, one of the primary suspects they had for the assassination attempt was that very same Guild of Unburdened Healers, and the Duchess was not one to miss out on such an opportunity that would not only bring a good reputation for her family, but also hit her enemies where it hurt at the same time.