Thanks for the advice on good things to order from merchants to start out with, Nilla.
I am getting the hang of micro manging, stopping some work to add more workers for something else to get it done faster, or at all. I am having a problem with having both the campfire and the hunter’s tent. When I set down the spot hunter, I thought the worker from the campfire would stop roasting meat and go to the spot, but instead, the hunter from the hunter tent camp goes. I would rather the campfire hunter did that.
Year 8
The newcomers, Alderber and Laven had a baby boy they named Dariah. Ibraham and Larabel’s youngest daughter, Lannine, watched the baby so that Laven could get back to work. More people did mean more workers, but also more use of resources and food. Everyone was working multiple jobs and working long hours to keep up with what was needed, and hoping to get a good supply built up.
“What are you playing?” Laven asked Lannine, after arriving home at the end of one autumn work day. She watched Lannine rolling rocks while the baby slept.
“It’s a game I made up. I’m trying to hit that yellow rock, but none of these rocks roll straight so it’s not easy.”
“Oh my gosh!” exclaimed Laven holding the flat, bumpy yellow rock to the light. “This is gold!”
Over the next few weeks, the older children and those adults with some spare time searched the river and stream banks for more gold. They happily found some more, and were determined to keep searching.
Ibrahim made a few wheelbarrows, mainly for use hauling goods back and forth from the trading post, for which everyone was happy. It was difficult dragging or carrying heavy items, especially the logs they planned to trade.
By the end of the year, the trading post was finished. Finally having some extra food, firewood and other supplies stored, the group celebrated the new year with wheelbarrow races, pushing loads of firewood, and having a big feast.
[I was going to use Tom’s free to place decorative wood boardwalk pieces for my expanded dock. But, they are not ghosted. Fortunately, Discrepancy has full ghosted dock deco pieces that matched Tom’s dock pier. They are from Discrepancy’s Jetty and Bridges mod.]
Year 7
Over the winter, Ernice and Almireya built a log cabin (house from Kid’s Swamp Houses mod). They had to use wooden shutters to close the windows when it was cold, but eventually there would be glass. The ghoati was left standing in case it would be needed by someone else.
The gatherer’s hut and hunter’s tent constructed deeper into the forest were helpful for having places to drop off food, and to have a shelter to get out of bad weather. During the winter, fallen branches for fire wood was all there was to pick up from the forest, but that was fine, as firewood was always needed. After some time, wild bee hives were found and soon the survivors could have honey!
“Help! They’re after me,” yelled Gastoney as he ran into the gatherer’s hut, and slammed the door shut, panting heavily.
Ernice dropped the mushrooms he was about to put in a sack, and grabbed a stick to fight off whatever was chasing Gastoney. “Wild boar? Wolves? What!?”
“Bees. Lots of bees. I think I got stung,” Gastoney replied, holding his hand to his cheek.
It was tricky work, collecting wild honey without getting stung by multiple angry bees. The next time someone tried to get wild honey, they used a lot of smoke to get the bees to leave the hive and subdue those still in it. Deer hide gloves and a hood with eyeholes were sure to be worn. Gastoney refused to try to collect honey ever again. But, he did carve an idol of a Norse god and put it by the Gatherer’s hut, for hopeful protection of those who would be collecting honey.
In the summer, a husband and wife, Adelber and Laven, showed up, having heard about the new settlement while visiting the monastery. They were hoping they could join the community, handed over some loaves of the monk’s delicious potato bread, and everyone agreed they would be welcome. They moved into the ghoati that Ernice’s family recently vacated.
With the food supply running low, for the rest of the year, most other work was halted so more people could gather wild foods and hunt.
Enough tar had been produced to coat wood so a fishing pier was built over the winter, allowing for a greater quantity of fish to be caught. It was hoped to get the trading dock built soon, so they could trade for some crop seeds.
First Half Year 6
The healer’s hut built over the winter, and staffed a few hours a day by Larabel, (who was knowledgeable about herbal remedies), helped improve everyone’s health. The bloomery had been moved so the healer’s hut could be located next to the sauna. When the spring snow melted and the ground thawed, a potato garden was planted with the seed potatoes from the monks (using Kid’s Bakery and Garden mod).
Digging peat and filling the bogs near their settlement was able to be resumed,now that the ground was thawed, to make room for more buildings, and also so no one would accidentally walk into one and get stuck, as had happened two years ago. A Stabbur was under construction; this large storage place was much needed, as the small sheds were almost full. But, being very labor intensive and with so few workers, it would take until the summer before it was completed.
Belina and Gastoney’s wedding was held at the end of winter, and by the middle of spring, they had baby boy, Ulisco.
Wanting to knit some clothes and blankets for the baby, with the knitting needles Ibraham made her as a wedding present, Belina was dismayed to find no good area to work in the tailor’s shop. “We have all this raw and processed wool in here, but I can’t make some simple wool clothes?”
A small workplace was set up behind the shop for Belina to do her knitting. It was a relief to the mothers of small children to have some clothes that fit their youngsters, instead of wrapping them in stiff deer hide capes. A tannery was planned to make leather to use for clothing, but that wouldn’t happen for a while.
[It is odd to me that in order to use the wool to make clothes in the Tailor Shop, after turning it into wadmal, first one needs to build a tannery to make leather to use for the wool outfit that includes leather shoes and a belt. I love that outfit idea, but I think the people starting out with a bunch of sheep with all their wool should be able to make some kind of simple wool garment not needing yet another building and production item.
Too bad there aren’t three categories of clothes- fair, good, best. Then that wool outfit with the shoes and leather belt could be in the middle category.
So, I moved Kid’s Workplace mod above the north, and put his very small tailor rack behind the tailor from The North. I used a ghosted cover from Kid’s Fish n Chips mod to put over it. I made some wool clothes but won’t keep using it once I get the tannery build. I just couldn’t stand the thought of those babies being wrapped in stiff deer hides, and years’ worth of wool taking up storage, but not being able to be used yet.]
Year 5
The new year started with an announcement from Gastoney and Belina that they were engaged and would be sharing Belina’s ghoati. They planned to marry in a few months, when Gastoney would be 16 years-old. Their parents were delighted.
It took a few weeks before the bridge was completed, since no one could spend days solely dedicated to the task, due to other chores that needed to be worked on as well. Finally, mid- summer, Roderick and Hustoney were ready to venture across the river.
Tiacielo was in the storage shed at the edge of their settlement, finishing packing supplies for the men to take on their trip, when she heard an unfamiliar woman’s voice. “I don’t think this is the monastery.
“You’re right, Almireya,” a man said. “We went in the wrong direction. Well, maybe these people will let us spend the night.”
Rushing out to see who was talking, Tiacielo almost knocked into the newcomers. The rest of the survivors came over and excitedly fired off questions. Ernice explained that they had been off trail riding on their ATV, when their vehicle got stuck in a bog and partially sunk. They were intending to walk to the Monastary they had passed, and from there make their way to the town over the low mountains, but, they went in the wrong direction.
“Oh no,” Permela said with a wide smile, “You came the right way, finding us! A town, a town, oh my, I am so happy!“
“Hey, you must be the three families whose plane went missing a few years ago. There was a search, but they obviously never found you,” Almireya remarked while surveying the settlement. “It looks like you managed quite well.”
Permela wanted to leave immediately, but after finding out it would be a three day walk to the Monastary, and the newcomers were hungry and tired, the rest of the day was spent packing and planning.
Ibrahim and Larabel wanted to stay, as did their son Gastony and his fiancé Belina. Belina’s parents, Roderick and Tiaciela, had mixed feelings, but thought they would stay on for a while to help out. However, they did want to go to find out where the Monastary was. Hustoney and Permela wanted to get back to their former lives.
After some tearful goodbyes the next day, those where leaving set off. Roderick and Tiaciela’s two-year old son would stay behind with his sister, Belina, until Roderick and Tiaciela returned.
It was slow going for the group of nine, especially with three young children. They made it to the stream they would need to cross, by stepping on large rocks which formed a kind of walkway, but they needed to construct some shelter for the night before continuing. A ghoati was constructed, as well as two small tents made from deer hides.
[The deer hide tents shown in the picture are from Discrepancy’s mod DS Small Village: Homes. They use the deer hides from The North with no problems. But, being open tents, one would not stay in them during the winter!
I think it takes overly much work and boulders to make stepping stones across a stream, or rather, stepping boulders. I suppose these are very wide and deep streams. It wound up taking into year 6 to finish, but in the story the rocks were already there.]
Back from the Monastery
“Hello!” called out Roderick cheerfully as he and Tiaciello approached the settlement.
Belina greeted her parents with hugs. “You took so long I thought you weren’t coming back.”
“It was only two weeks, “Tiaciello replied. “We brought back gifts. The monks make delicious potato bread, and gave us a few loaves. But best of all, they gave us some seed potatoes, so we can grow potatoes!”
The couple told the group about the trading dock at the monastery, and that a boat arrived while they were there. Permela, Roderick and their children went with the trader to the town. The trader said he would sail up the river to the group’s settlement in the summer, to see if they were ready to trade.
“A sauna! You built a sauna while we were gone! II know how I will be spending the winter!” Roderick said with a laugh.
Year 4
“Momma! Help”, screamed young Tell, who was sunk up to her knees in the bog near her home, unable to extricate herself. Larabel and Tiacielo, who were nearby, rushed over and dragged her out of the muck.
“We have got to dig the peat and fill that bog in,” Roderick declared. “It will delay the next exploration trip, but it has to be done. It’s too dangerous being close to our houses.”
In an attempt to cheer up Permala, who was upset about more delays, Hustoney built a picnic table with stools, a see-saw for the children, and transplanted some wild flowers in front of their home Seeing how more homey it looked, the other families followed suit, except Ibrahim built a swing, and a fence along the bog which was close to his house.
At the end of summer, after most of the bog had been filled in, the second exploration trip took place, this time going east and searching for several days. Yet again, there were no signs of other people.
The small blueberry patch, planted next to Hustoney and Permela’s home last year, was bearing fruit, which reduced the amount of foraging that was needed, though the immature bushes didn’t yield much. With the majority of the survivors wishing to avoid wandering into the woods as much as possible, instead of building a trapper’s cabin, a workplace (the tailor shop) was constructed, close to the homes, to process and use the wool from the sheep to make warmer clothes.
Permela frowned as she looked around the settlement. “This is becoming a small village. It’s like we are setting up to stay here forever!”
“After we build a bridge, we can search across the river,”Hustoney said. “Hopefully, that won’t take too long. There’s got to be some signs of other people.”
[I added a blueberry patch from Kid’s Fish n Ships mod. These berries were in pots, to put on a jetty, but on land, the pots were sunk in the ground so they look like regular planted bushes. It works, with the Bannies eating the berries.]
Year 3
There was still snow on the ground at the start of the new year but it didn’t last very long. Another turf house was built to replace the small ghoati, which Tiacielo insisted be done before Roderick would set off to search for a help- no way was she going to be crammed in the tiny ghoati with a new baby.
While pleased with the greater amount of room in the turf house, Tiacielo was not pleased about going to the river for water after she slipped and fell in. A well was dug next to the houses. Fortunately, they didn’t have to dig very far to reach water.
With all the rocks and logs around, they had arranged them to make a meeting place, next to the campfire. They moved the boulders by rolling them over logs that had been set up as a rolling track.
“Oh, hey! “ exclaimed Gastoney, “This is like the Viking’s Thingstead! I saw that on a TV show.”
Now that the basics for survival were being met, the group gathered to discuss their plans. It was decided that Roderick and Hustoney would leave now to do some exploring, while the weather was still good. They planned to be gone only a few days. With smoked trout and other provisions, they set out early one morning, headed in the other direction of where their plane crashed.
While the two men were gone, Ibrahim made some traps to catch some small furry animals that had been spotted, so warmer clothes could be made. He thought they might be martens.
“Dad!” Belina yelled happily after spotting Roderick and Hustoney walking back to their settlement through the light snow accumulation. They had been gone for four days, not wanting to leave the others short-handed with winter arriving.
Permala’s smile faded when Hustoney shook his head. “Nothing but trees.”
Settling in for another winter, the group gathered, fished, hunted, roasted and smoked more food, collected iron ore to smelt into iron bloom, made more charcoal, gathered more fallen branches, chopped wood, and worked on the trapper’s cabin- endless work. Some of the group thrived on all the activity, while others yearned to relax on comfortable chairs watching TV or playing video games eating easy to obtain store bought snacks
Picture showing end of year three, winter.
Year 2
Spring arrived but there was still much to be done before a scouting party could set out. The pasture area was finished, and the sheep seemed to like it. Obtaining meat close by reduced how much wandering was needed for hunting wild game, freeing up one of the party to work on other things, while hunting occasionally.
A second turf house was completed, which 12 year-old Gastoney laid claim to, wanting it all for himself. But, instead, his parents and younger sister moved in, while Gastoney was sent back to the ghoati.
The charcoal pit, bloomery and smithy were completed and the second needed ax was made.
It was autumn before enough hide capes were made and some more tools were produced. A smokehouse needed to be built to be able to preserve some meat for the scouting party. Ibraham got held up making the iron fittings for the door hinges, due to it taking longer than expected to produce enough charcoal. The lack of firewood was the problem, so, a wood chopping block was set up to avoid too much searching for fallen branches. There was a peat bog near the Smithy, and it was planned for peat to be cut for the survivors to use for home heating until they amassed enough firewood.
“So, here we still are, with another winter to live through,” Permela sighed. “And all we women now with new babies!”
“We’ll be OK,” Hustoney comforted his wife. “We should be able to get things set up enough for Roderick and I to set out in the warm weather.”
