Abandoned -Wildwood (Deadwood Part2) - Story 78

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


Like I said, dwarves are miners and stone cutters and toolmakers who are more interested in ore and stone than anything else, all the dwarves except for Woodman.  He may have founded a mining town but now seemed more interested in wood.  He was always building something, a chair, a chest, a crate, a shed.  He said he really came to appreciate the forest and the smell of the pines and the wood while he was one of the deadwood trees in the forest of Deadwood.  He was happy being a builder building wood houses for the newcomers.



  Most of the new houses were built across from the gold mine that was dug after the gem miners discovered a vane of gold ore at the end of one of their shafts.  Another mine would be able to explore that vane further and extract the gold ore.  By early winter of year 3 all the newcomers were housed.  The new houses caused a shortage of firewood so a 2nd woodcutter was built and 2 more workers began cutting firewood while laborers went in search of downed branches.  Woodman built me a wood branch cart just like the one my brother and I used back in Deadwood when I was a child.



  I had another reminder of home when I went to the feed store to fetch some corn and oats to feed the old donkey.  There behind the corn crib was a small flock of ducks eating some of the corn that had spilled out of the crib.  I did so enjoy feeding the duck in my neighbor's pond back in Deadwood.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8


  Shortly after that group of dwarves arrived, Hannon, the general goods merchant came to port.  He offered a trade value of 3 for each unit of gold ore and 5 for each rough gemstone.  The amount did not justify having 7 miners doing the work.  Hannon had nothing with him that we need so no trade was made.  The newcomers said we would surely get a better trade value for gold bars made from the ore and for finished gemstones rather than rough one.  We took their advice and built a smelter and a gem smith near the mines.  When Hannon returned later that year, he offered a trade value of 8 for the gold bars and for the emeralds.  Again Hannon had nothing we needed.  We would have to rethink whether 9 workers was worth the effort.



  We would also have to rethink our food supply stability.  We had a few months without snow and there was some wild foods to be gathered.  We thought it was worth having a gatherer's shed and a permanent gatherer working near the miner's houses.  I would continue to gather wild foods and branches north of our house.  We also built a soup house behind the grain house.  We would grow potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and onions; good vegetables for making soup.

[jerica]

What mod are the mines and gemstones from?

[Abandoned]

Oh, sorry, I see I missed that one when typing the mod list in the Intro.  The placer mine on the river, the mountain mine, the smelter, and the gem smith is from an old CC mod called My Precious.  I don't believe it is available on the CC site any longer but, if not mistaken, it is included in the full CC mod. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9

  In early spring of year 5, Woodman told me he had a surprise for me in the forest north of our house where I often went to gather the wild foods and branches.  He had disappeared several time on those days that the temperature got above freezing.  It was not quite that warm but it was sunny on the day he wanted to show me the surprise.  Just as we were about to head to the forest a laborer came to tell him that families had come through the tunnel.  Woodman told me to go on ahead, I couldn't miss finding the surprise.  He was eager for me to see it. 



  Well, I was surprised and delighted with what I found in the forest.  Woodman had rounded up some of the ducks I had seen and dug a small pond and planted a hedgerow for them.  He started building a wall to protect them for the winter wind and drifting snow.  When he found they had survived the winter he couldn't wait for me to see them.  He built a wooden bench so I could sit and watch the ducks and the children. They were only 2 and 3 years old at the time.  There were some bears nearby but the wall, when finished, would keep them away.  When I went back with the children to feed the ducks on a warmer day, I found that Woodman had carved some wooden sunflowers and a squirrel.  He said he knew how much I missed the wildlife back in Deadwood, now I would have wood wildlife.




  By that time, the folks that came through the tunnel had started building a boarding house.  They were on the train from Holiday Hometown that would head east after turning around on the other side of our tunnel.  An early winter snowstorm made that impossible.  They took shelter in the tunnel waiting for a midwinter thaw that didn't come.  Our end was blocked by drifted snow.  They survived on hunting and some mushrooms but were weak and exhausted and came to us for help when the snow began to melt.  They would build a boarding house like the one back in Hometown to stay in while they decided to stay or go back when the train tracks were cleared of snow and ice. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10


  There were 14 of the newcomers, 8 adults with 6 children.  The boarding house was completed by late summer and the train had long returned to Hometown without them; they would stay here with us.
 


  There wasn't much room for building on that side of the river, and Woodman did not want anything more built in the forest north of town.  He had almost finished building the wall around my wildwood garden.  The wall extended from the garden to our house, separating it from the rest of the town.  There was plenty of room for houses in the valley west of town past the mines and forester.  The boarding house would come in handy for anyone else stranded at the railway turnaround in the future.




  We would have to give some thought to the development of the west side of town and to the future of our mines.  The gold bars and emeralds were still stocked at the trading post.  When Hammon returned we traded wool and hide coats for oats and wild oats.  Our food supply was good and we wanted it to stay that way.

[kid1293]

The trees look awesome. Thank you @Abandoned for showing them.

Small note - I found them as a package on the internet. I had only individual pictures
to see, but they looked good. I gave them a try

[Abandoned]

   I do like those trees     Thanks for making them.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  One family chose to stay and be caretakers of the boarding house on the other side of the river, but by winter the other 3 families had houses on the west side of town.  The houses were built just past the gemsmith.  A small storage unit and stockpile were built next to the gemsmith with another woodcutter across from it. We were always short of firewood.   A school was built on the corner; the children of the new families and miners would not have as far to go to the school in town. 



  The new families came from North Mining Town.  They were migrating because weather had gotten colder, there was less food, and less work because of the failing mines.  They knew something about gem smithing and jewelry making.  There was a market down south for fine jewelry and it could be quite profitable for us.  Well, it was worth a try.  We began building a jewelers and took the gold ore and emeralds out of the trading post. 

  Despite all the building, Woodman found time to work on the wildwood garden.  He carved a wood fox and he transplanted some berry bushes along the east wall.  He got a few snowshoe rabbits from the hedgerow in town.  They made themselves right at home in the garden.  We took turns tending the garden and the children.



  By early spring of year 6 the jeweler was completed and emerald necklaces were being made from our gold bars and emeralds.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 12


  By spring of year 6, Woodman built a gatherer's hut for me just outside the garden gate.  He replaced the back gate with a solid piece of wall so the children could not roam out on their own.  Another gate was built into the wall closer to our house.  I could leave the children to safely play in the garden on warmer days while I gathered wild foods in and around it.


  On colder days I would be in the new kitchen making soup.  That big old kettle that was left in the peddler's cart finally had a purpose.  I had all my old recipes for soups and stews plus some new ones I thought of trying if we got the ingredients.  My father always said I was a good cook just like my mother.  The miners and outside workers sure liked my soup.



  I though fresh baked bread would go good with the soup and we had oats that could be ground into flour.  We began building a baker that would also mill the grain. We chose a windy spot by the river.  The foundation had just been laid when Hannon came to port.   We traded hide and wool coats, wool, and emerald necklaces for apples and barley.  Barley would go to our baker and our oats would continue to be fed to the sheep.  We were pleased with the trade value of 20 we got for the emerald necklaces.
 


  Hannon had cows with him that he asked if we would take off his hands.  The cows were not well suited for the cold climate here in the north and he knew we built shelters for our animals.  A family that was migrating asked if he would take the cows to someone who would want them. The Animal Refuge was too far south.  It was cold and getting colder, it would snow again soon.  Both cows were about to have calves; he needed to find someone who would take them.  We took them.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 13

 
  The baker mill was finished and baking bread before we got the cows settled.  We built the animal shed for the cows back in the valley where it would be more protected from the cold north and northwest winds.  The outside yard faced the morning sun.   We would feed them corn and we built another corn crib across from the cow shed.  Two calves were born as soon as we got the cows settled in the shed.  We would have extra milk to start but when the shed got overcrowded we would have beef for our soups and stews.




  We built a dairy at the end of the road by the cow shed.  We could make cheese, cream, butter, or goat cheese with or without herbs.  We decided on cheese from the cow's milk.   With bread from the baker and cheese from the dairy the kitchen could now make BBQ Cheese sandwiches. 



  When Hannon returned to port in early spring of year 7,  I asked if he could get me tomato and pepper seeds.  He just happened to have a small bag of those seeds plus squash seeds.  No one up here in the cold north could grow them.  The seeds were mine if I wanted them.  I did.  We traded wool for more barley for the baker.  A salsa house was built next to the soup house and soon we had tomatoes, peppers, and squash that could be cooked up together in the kitchen to make salsa.  The grilled cheese sandwiches were great dipped in a bowl of salsa or with a bowl of vegetable soup. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 14


  In early summer 9 migrants with their 4 children arrived in town.  They thought it unlikely they would get far enough south before the snow and cold arrived.  They agreed to stay with us.  Three houses were built in the valley, one on either side of the dairy and one next to the school.  One of their children just missed starting school.  A two-story cabin was built near the river and the caretakers were again alone in the boarding house. 




  It was good to have a few more builders and laborers.  There were always branches, iron, stone, herbs, and wild foods to be gathered.  My Adalupe, now age 6, often came with me and help gather branches, herbs, and foods.  We saw a herd of deer outside the garden one day and she couldn't wait to tell her father about them.  He said she was just like her mother, she loved the forest and the wildlife, and he often saw her visiting the old donkey.  The wildwood garden got a new statue that year, a buck and a doe stood among the pines.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 15



    Woodman built himself a carver's shed right outside the garden fence through the gate closest to our house.  He could keep his wood carving tools and extra pieces of wood there.  He had some smaller pieces of wood left after carving the deer which he carved into a sunflower he placed right outside our front door.  He also carved a small squirrel that he placed over by the baker.   The townsfolk liked them so much he then carved another pair of deer he placed down in the mining section of town.  Some of the children had already seen the statues in the wildwood garden when they came to play with our children.  I got favorable comments from the mothers because I was teaching their children about the animals they were seeing.  Thanks to the animal statues and my kitchen cooking, people seemed to have forgotten I was a dark elf.




  The jeweler told Woodman that he was sure to get a good trade value for the wooden statues from the river boatman.  Woodman carved a few smaller ones and had our trader pick them up to take to the trading post.  When next Hannon came to port, everyone was amazed that the value of a small wood statue was 45 trade units.  I thought the dwarves were in the wrong business.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 16


  Our dwarves had not been so good at collecting iron and stone, we were short of both by spring of year 8.  There were not many surface resources nearby anymore, only some in the valley.  We sent what laborers we had to gather enough to last while a bitty mine was being dug between the gold mine and the gem mine.  The nearest woodcutter began cutting lumber since the new mine, between the other 2, would need its shaft reinforced for safety. 




  We had to do some adjustments to our workforce.  One miner was taken from each of the other 2 mines to work in the new one.  There were 2 woodcutters at each woodcutting yard.  The worker was taken from the salsa house to work in the kitchen, and a neighbor was now tending the wildwood hedgerow.  Woodman now had a young man who just finished school learning the art of woodcarving.  Our boy, Deshauney, even though only 5 was also showing an interest.  Woodman had more time now and used it to carve a new statue, a bear statue could easily be seen when entering the garden.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 17


  Our short summer had already ended, the temperature was already dropping, when Hannon returned to port.  He had pigs and piglets with him and was hoping we would take them.  As with the cows, they were not suited for this climate.  The owners who were now migrating got the pair at a Hobbit festival and they struggled to keep them alive here in the cold north.  We had never seen these boarlike animals before and had no idea how to care for them.  Hannon said they would be easy to care for in an animal shed and would do well here if fed roots or potatoes.  If we didn't have enough of either he could get some to bring us to trade.  I was gathering some roots from in and around the garden and the gatherer by the forester was getting some too.  We had some potatoes growing in the soup house and could always build another if needed.  We took the pigs & piglets.




  We build an animal shed for the pigs in the sheltered spot next to the cows.  Next to that we built a smokery to make bacon when the animal shed became overcrowded.  The pigs were eating as many potatoes as we could feed them.