Sadness and poverty reigned in the village of the gnomes; the gnomes, once rich and with beer bellies, were thin with drooping eyes. The children were malnourished, the mothers were sad. Old women and old people ate very little, once every two days.
The peasant villages were forced to divert their views from their people. They couldn't feed them. The mine dried up a long time ago, there was nothing to sell, food reserves in the mountains were dwindling.
With a shudder they thought what would happen in winter? They have not drunk beer or strong alcohol for a very long time, in 20 years, the smithy stopped working as it did 5 years ago.
They could not go to other lands, elves and people still hunted them. The gnomes could not find their relatives, there was no one to ask for help ?!
They practically died out. Some only old people knew the secrets of smelting steel and magic mithril, forging. The younger generation was not taught.
They were afraid that they would not stand the test of need and would sell this knowledge for food to their enemies! Degradation, wilting!
Women and old women tried to persuade the old people to relent and sell their knowledge to people in order to feed the children. But the men explained everything to them, in addition to the pride of the gnomes, the covenant of their ancestors not to reveal the secret of making weapons of the gnomes. It was just common sense, as soon as they show up and reveal the secret, they will immediately be killed.
Either humans or a squad of gnome killers who they believed still existed on the continents. Much has been written about this in the legends ... This detachment has long disappeared from three continents, and the dwarves themselves were few. But none of them knew about it. The emperors of the dwarfs, fleeing persecution, left three continents. Until now, no one knew about this.
"Work, otherwise you won't get food!"
- We work, we work, give me something to eat!
-We haven't eaten for two days!
Dara, meanwhile, was preparing his own food, a new way, pickles. There was no soda, no citrus. Maybe they were in this world, but he did not know about them.
The snake meat was tasty, but tough, he didn't want to go to the cook right away. He decided to try one old recipe that grandfather's subordinate told him.
The subordinate was a mountain ranger, special forces. They were taught to survive in the wild. They usually marinated the meat of wild animals in herbs that were found in the mountains. These were edible and medicinal herbs. Dara, using the hint of the on the magic clock , determined what herbs are edible in these stunted mountains.
Golems collected grass, several species, in some way these plants of a different kind resembled Earth dill and stalked celery. Then they rubbed some of the grass with their own hands, squeezing out drops of juice from them, which flowed into a bowl made of bone.
The bowl was huge. It was once the skull of a Continent Destruction dragon. It imperceptibly glowed with a turquoise color, mixing with the magical power remaining in the bones and juice from medicinal herbs.
The juice began to possess new magical power, restoration of the precepts of the ancestors, strength, wisdom, good health and a healthy body and mind. The meat of the snake monster, Dara, following the example of his friend Fang, was wiped off with juice, and then he sprinkled these herbs on the sverkh.
He closed it with a lid and set it to rise in the shade of the cave for 4 hours. The marinating of meat has begun! 4 hours flew by slowly for Dara, he really wanted meat, but in cooking, magic is not the best advisor. By speeding up the time, you can change the flavor and texture of the meat. So I had to wait! Scouts, time has flown by!
After marinating the meat, Dara created a large cauldron from the bones and three spirit stones right in front of the surprised scouts. It was a multicooker from another world. After setting the program with the help of white crystals, he put the meat in a pot, sprinkled with salt, which he got in the gorge of the monsters. He closed the lid and set the meat to 950 degrees for 2 hours. The monster meat was cooked only at this temperature.