How most Scarterrans get their drinking water

There is a misconception that real world medieval people did not drink water, they only drank ale and other alcoholic beverages. There is a kernel of truth in this, medieval humans consumed more alcoholic beverages on average than modern real world humans and this was largely because fermenting is a convenient way to make imperfect water safe to drink, but mediaeval people did drink water and so do Scarterrans.   Scarterra is of course based on ancient and medieval real world humans. Scarterra has some factors that affect the procurement of fresh water, but most of the time Scarterrans rely on mundane means of securing drinking water.  

Water Sources

    A few natural springs exist. Some of these were implemented by Mera or her spirit minions as an act of kindness to mortalkind. Others are relics of the major events of water elementals during the First Unmaking and others are the result of random elemental energies coalescing. These springs are highly prized as they usually naturally clean filtered, able to be drunk as is, without any treatment.      

Boiling Water

  In the real world, many cultures discovered that boiling water could make it safer to drink but different cultures discovered it at different times and sometimes they didn't fully understand why and how it worked until germ theory became widely known in the 19th century.     While Mera and her Tenders got the ball rolling on the use of boiling as a means of water treatment, the process is no longer considered a religious act. Scarterrans who are arreligious or even hostile to Mera regularly boil their water as a means of santitation.  

by Eron12 with Hero Forge

-Enfys the Rainbow of Death, expatriate of Swynfaredia

 

"boiling water will eliminate most disease causing germs or spores, but it will not help sterilize water that happens to be carrying very potent supernatural curses.   That said, powerful curses don't linger in waiting forever and fade away if they cannot find a mortal house. Water cannot generally hold lingering supernatural curses more than a week, two at the most, before it dissipates harmlessly. Even then, if you spiked a resevoir of drinking water with ghoul fever or something similar it would probably only afflict one-in-ten people who drank the water at most, though this might be an advantage because it makes it harder to tell that the drinking water is the source of their woes."

 

Fermentation

 

by Me with Hero Forge

Norabruck Grumblespine, dwarven Circuit Priestess of Nami

 

"'Beer holds strength, wine holds companionship and water holds Maylar spores' That is a common saying among Rovers and we are very grateful for Nami's gift of fermentation, almost as valuable as Nami's Gift of free will in my opinion.   Turning water into ale or wine will make it safer to drink. Boiling water is faster true, even if you have to boil it and then let it cool, but I'd rather drink ale or wine, personally. I am not the only who has this attitude.

 

IIt's not just drunkards that think this way. Boiling unpleasant water may prevent it from making you sick but that doesn't mean you remove all the things that make the water taste unpleasant. Ale or wine covers up these flavors...of course the best ales and wines use clean water as a base but one cannot always be choosy.   Ale is essentially liquid bread and other fermented beverages have some food value as well. A working man or woman can get a lot of nourishment from what they drink, nobles too I suppose.

by Me using Nightcafe

  t is no wonder that making ale or wine is such a daily staple of Scarterran life. The fact that it helps make water safer to drink is just a fortunate side benefit. Mera owes Nami big for that contribution to mortal welfare.

 

by Me with Hero Forge

-Basim, Confederate Satyr

"I like a good beer as much as the next goat, but there is a dark side to using beer for sustenance. The dark elves have a long tradition of giving their slaves a lot of beer as part of their evening ration. This nourishes them for another day of work but it also makes them docile at night, a time that would ordinarily be the best moment for escape attempts or retribution."

 

 

Magical Water Treatment

  Less than 1% of Scarterrans have the ability to cast divine magic, so divine magic is not ubiquitous. That said, of the thirteen divine sphers of magic, Purification is the most commonly practiced. Divine casters associated with Mera, Khemra, Phidas all treat Purification magic as a favored sphere but many casters outside these groups still learn Purification magic.   Purification magic is best known for the ability to treat or cure poisons and diseases but this magic can also purify water. Purification ●● can desalinate sea water and cleanse fresh water from most questionable sources. Purification ●●● can turn almost any liquid into drinkable water including a bottle of deadly poison or a bucket of troll urine. Even Purification ● is helpful. It won't clean water, but it at least answer is "Is this safe to drink, yes or no." If the caster rolls well, they can learn what is contaminating the water (or other beverage) and whether boiling or filtration can fix the problem.   Most theurgists who practice this sphere of magic initially learn it because they want to cure diseases, either out of altruism or as a means of profit and control. But many find themselves purifying water as a side hustle.       Unless water supplies are very scarce, most Purifiers stay on hand to help people with infections, illness, or poisons and at the end of the day, if they mana left over, then they purify some water. This is often the case on sailing ships. The last thing a captain wants is for the crew to fall ill (or too drunk to work), but if the crew is not ill, increasing a ship's stock of fresh water is a nice side benefit to having a Purifier crewman on the payroll.   That is assuming that a divine caster has zero or very few divine spheres apart from Purification. Most very powerful casters with many spheres at their fingertips, keep Purification in their back pocket for emergency healing but rely on their other magics most of the time. Most theurgists and favored souls of this power level generally have better things to do than purify water.  

-Beslyfle the gnome, matron of Fumaya's Tenders

 

"There is a saying that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. In a large city, sanitation is a major concern and there is usually more than enough work to keep the purifiers busy. It is usually more efficient to have Purifiers cleanse the waste products the gong farmers collect so that it doesn't fester and contaminate water in the first place.   Most Purifiers in big cities go after the waste products rather than try to indiviudally treat every single container of water, though some wealthy people will pay good money to make sure all their drinking water is treated thusly."

 

"

by Eron12 with Hero Forge

-Daana, Defender of the Hearth, Paladin

Purification magic doesn't destroy contaminants in water, it removes them. Usually the distinction doesn't matter, but if you magically purify a large quantity of relatvely clean sea water, you'll end up with a small pile of sea salt. If you are situation where you have to pinch every copper piece to make the ends meet for those under your care, this extra bit of salt is helpful, either to use or to sell."

  An arcane conjurer with the spell Create Element can literally create water out of nothing. If the caster decides to create water, it'll puddle on the floor if there isn't an empty bucket or similar container on hand. The spell only creates about a gallon of water per success rolled meaning that this might help keep a small band of adventures alive in a water-less dungeon, it's not efficient on keeping a large group of civilians alive long term.   On average, arcane Conjurers are more selfish and aloof than divine Purifiers so one is not likely to provide the masses free water out of altruism. Also, there aren't as many arcane Conjurers in Scarterra as their are divine Purifiers. Many Conjurers forgo learning the Create Element spell as a waste of time or else they focus on the spell's ability to create fire or wind. Many Conjurers treat the ability to create water out of thin air as little more than an emergency fire extinguisher.   The gist of all the above is that while magic can create drinkable water, it is usually not the most efficient means to do though spell casters of various stripes may step up to create can step up to create water in emergency situations.