Ideal for: out-of-work farmers
Job specifications: If you love the soil but can’t find work as a
farmhand, head for the nearest peat bog. This depressingly messy and abysmal
place can hold a treasure trove of bog iron, brought in by the mountain
stream and processed by bacteria into pea-sized nodules. Your job is to find
them. You will pull back layers of peat—day in, day out—until your fingers
shrivel and your brain cells atrophy, and you take to talking to yourself
and sticking twigs into your hair just to break the monotony.
Drawbacks: You get paid for the iron you find, so if luck isn’t on your
side, you’ll find nothing but sticks and the occasional prehistoric bog
mummy as reward for your efforts.
Perks: Keep at it, and you can be promoted to the iron-processing team,
where you can shape the metal into weapons and other handy little gadgets,
instead of wasting your life in deserted wetlands.
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