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Riverboat Junction North Annex - Story 84

Started by Abandoned, August 31, 2022, 06:45:19 AM

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Abandoned

Intro


  This is the 84th story in the Smallville Series and tells of the 19th expedition to leave that town.  Heavier snowfalls in the north in recent years have caused the water level of the lake north of Smallville to rise and overflow and erode the blockage that caused Smallville's main river to be reduced to a trickle.  Because of that overflow, the river was now passable by lightly loaded riverboats, but even so, it was still a long way for riverboats to travel from the north to and from Riverboat Junction in the south.  There was also the problem of supply and demand.  The new Stockyards of story 81 was doing a good job of supplying livestock to the south and central regions but the animals were not acclimated to survive the cold north.  Orchard Grove of story 83 was now supplying the south with fresh tropical fruit but surplus food for trade to the north was still in short supply.  Even Smallville was having trouble supplying migrant families with the basic food, seeds, and livestock.  Smallville sent expedition 19 upriver to settle near the lake to help rectify the situation.   The new settlement would also serve as a drop off and pickup point for river boatmen in the north.   It was year 75 SVT.




Map seed   # 435822340      Plains One River,    Small,     Fair,   Disasters Off,    Easy Seed Animals   


Mods activated for this map and load order are:


Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Banished UI Town Name, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Override Map, Override Fewer Trees, Settler Deco, Kid Deco Tree Fall (new), Kid New Flora Edit, Family Start

Tweak Mods:   Better Fields, Fishing Dock +25%, Increased CC,  1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Rural Clothes, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Smallville, Storage Crates, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Old Town, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Downtown

Supporting Mods:    carrots, Colorful little House (RK), Deco Sunflower, Green House (RK), Kid Animal Breeder, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Fruit and Nuts, Kid Grow Hunt Fish, Kid Home Grown, Kid Workshop, Kid Yard Cover


   Yes, weary traveler, it was good to settle so close to Smallville.  All of us were born and raised there.  Our parents and grandparents and theirs all helped supply expeditions and migrants with basic essentials before they went on their way.  We were happy to volunteer to do our part to do the same.  We were lucky that recent storms and flooding cleared a section of dense forest near Smallville where we could settle.   We crossed the river and headed north.  We knew others would follow to help so we erected a Smallville sign and two arrow signs, one pointing back to Smallville and one pointing to where we would settle.  Our expedition did not have far to go.



Abandoned

Chapter 1


  We arrived at our destination with carts full of the usual supplies: iron tools, hide coats, potatoes, and firewood, seeds and seedlings.  We had more seeds and livestock than other families usually got.  We had cows, sheep, and chickens.  Our goal was to breed livestock and help provide the other essentials as well. 




  We first gathered wood and stone and built a forester station to the north; we would need a lot of logs.  We then built a large storehouse where we could shelter while homes were being built.  A farmhouse and chicken pasture were built next.  The sheep were moved to a small farmyard where oats, carrots, and potatoes were planted.  The sheep would graze there and fertilize the crops. 




Meanwhile, a woodcutter was being built by the main stockpile and two crop fields were being cleared.  By early summer we had wheat and pumpkins coming up.  Our corn seeds had not yet been planted and the cows were still roaming free but we built a greenhouse and a 2-story colorful little house just like we had back in Smallville.  Our settlement was really starting to feel like home.




Abandoned

Chapter 2




  By late summer only 1 family was still without a home, and the cows were still in the sunflower patch.  The wheat and pumpkins were being harvested and a tiny school had been built there by the pumpkin field.  A tiny workshop was built across from the sheep, clothes or tools would be made depending on what was needed.  Summer had only just turned into autumn when we had our first frost.  Our food supply was very low, we could not afford to lose any of our harvest.  What workers we could spare were out gathering wild foods.  The first frost was followed by the first snow, we lost some of the harvest.




  We were worried about feeding the animals.  There would be sunseeds for the chickens but little for the sheep and cows.  The cows were moved to a farmyard down the road from the sheep, by then they had 2 more calves.  There would be some corn for the cows but little else.   We immediately began harvesting the wild grass from the patch that was growing across from the cows.  Some of the thatch could be used to heat the houses if our firewood supply dropped any lower.  There were 3 more newborns to keep warm that winter.



Abandoned

Chapter 3


  We built covering for all the animals and set aside food for them.  We went out to gatherer what wild foods we could find for ourselves throughout the winter.  I was still finding sunseeds under the snow in the sunflower patch.  I live in the blue farmhouse across from it.  My name is Carolannelison, everyone calls me Carolanne for short.  My husband is Errold, and we have 2 children.  Our daughter Aria is 3 and our son Donovany just turned 1.  Our food supply did last until spring but we were so concerned that it wouldn't that we actually cleared and fenced in a small area next to the green house to be our cemetery.  Luckily it was not needed.  We built a tiny town hall to keep track of births, deaths, and other town statistics.







  That spring, 15 workers with 2 young children arrived from Smallville to help.  There were several young singles so we would need quite a few houses.  Knowing that help would be coming we already built a rooming house down the road from the storehouse by the cemetery.  The first house built was for one of the young singles who would be cemetery caretaker.  Next a fishing pier and bait shop was built by the river bend.  Our apple tree seedlings from the green house were finally getting planted there.  Most of the families had homes before the first snowfall.  We lost a few pumpkins but the corn and wheat crops were harvested.




  We build a trading post hoping to get potato seeds that Smallville could not spare.  We only had a few potatoes left and potatoes were also needed by Smallville.  We had so much surface stone and iron that had been exposed by wind and rainstorms so we were hoping the river boatmen would accept some in trade.  We began stocking the trading post and freeing up space on our stockpiles.

Abandoned

Chapter 4





  The last family had just moved out of the Rooms and into a cabin next door when 24 workers with 6 children arrived from Smallville.  Most of them had come from Riverboat Junction down south.  It seems an agreement was made that if we provided the river boatmen with items needed up north, then they would pick up and deliver the items needed by Smallville.  We would become a mini Riverboat Junction in the north, an annex.  There were details to work out but first we must provide housing for the new arrivals.  There were not enough rooms for everyone.  It was good to have more workers and builders.




  A house with a coffee shop was built along with another tiny blue farmhouse and shed.  A family just moved into the new lighthouse in late summer when Jailynneth, the general goods merchant, arrived at our trading post.  He'd heard of the new agreement and thought it was a good idea making it easier to get much needed items to the folks struggling in the north.  What was most need was a variety of foods that traveled and stored well :  apples, nuts, cheese, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, pumpkins, squash, and flour.  There would be special orders for chickens, cows, sheep, and goats for those with animal barns or sheds.  They could probably use dried corn and sunseeds to feed the animals.  He told us about the animal trade system used in Stockyards.  He concluded saying warm coats were always needed in the north.  That prompted us to trade for the 50 flax that he had with him, and to order more flax plus leather.  He took stone in trade.

  We would make warm coats for the north with flax and our wool, we would make hide coats with the leather for Smallville.  In early spring of year 4, Jailynneth returned with our ordered flax and leather.  Smallville needed hide coats, iron tools, potatoes, seeds, seedlings, and livestock, the standard starting supplies for migrating families.  We needed warehouses and we still needed houses.

Abandoned

Chapter 5




  For the most part, the folks from Smallville wanted colorful little houses, either single or double story.  They thought the spot on the other side of the hill closer to Smallville would be a good spot to build some houses and clear land to raise potatoes when we get the seeds.  Another trading post was built there.  We stocked it with stone and iron, and when Brigetta, the seed merchant, came in early summer, we ordered potato, carrot, and cabbage seeds.  We only had enough seeds for farmyards, not for crop field.



  The folks from overcrowded Riverboat Junction were just happy to have single family cabins or farmhouses.  One of those families planted more oats, potatoes, and carrots in their farmyard, and would raise the newborn lambs.  They would make a few wool coats too.

   The workshop, that was now making some warm coats for us, would be too busy making coats to also switch to making iron tools.  A tiny smith was built near the storehouse.  Not far from there, plum tree seedlings were being planted.  The fruit gatherer would gather the plums as well as the apples.  That gatherer was also gathering nearby wild foods.  Another tiny house was built there too.



  We had made a good start but had more building to do, we were still having a problem with the log supply.  There was still too much stone and iron in the forester's area.

Abandoned

Chapter 6


  By early spring of the following year, we had a small and a large animal breeder voucher shed built.  The shed workers would distribute the animal food and water and issue vouchers to the farmers that were raising the animals.  The workers would pick up and take the animal to the trading posts when needed.  The farmers would only have to tend the animals and let the voucher shed worker know when an animal was ready to be traded.  The river boatmen would pick up the animals to take to Smallville or to fill their special orders as needed.  A feed store was built next to the voucher sheds making it easier for the shed workers to collect the animal food.  The water mill was nearby. 




  The foods and other items needed by Smallville and the north would be handled differently.  But first we built a mill near the tiny shed where most of our wheat was being stored.  The miller would grind the wheat into the flour that was needed up north.  An old warehouse was built next to the south trading post for the foods needed by Smallville.  While waiting for the potato, carrot, and cabbage seed orders, the farmers south of town planted a farmyard with potatoes, berries, and corn.   The corn would be dried in the corn crib by the cow pasture. 





Abandoned

Chapter 7




  A warehouse was also built by the other trading post for the foods needed up north.  Two walnut trees and an apple tree were planted not far from there, both foods were needed by the north.  The reason we built warehouses rather than stocking the trading post was because the river boatmen wanted to pick up enough food every fall that would supply their northern customers throughout the winter without having to make frequent trips back and forth to our North Annex.  The Smallville families also said their food and supplies were needed in fall so that carts could be built and filled and waiting for families migrating in spring.




  The 12 adults with 4 children that arrived from Smallville in spring of year 5 confirmed that.  They brought a pear tree and goats from the Animal Refuge with them.  There would be pears and milk and they would plant some oats and make hide coats and iron tools also.   Another warehouse for Smallville was built by the south trading post.  The potatoes could be stored in one warehouse, and the coats, tools, seeds, and seedlings would be stored in the other.  The newcomers began building colorful little houses like Smallville had but in autumn colors.



  It seemed autumn was already in the air and many of the oaks and maples were already starting to display their fall colors.  We had a lot of work to do before fall.  We thought it would be interesting to see just how much we could produce and have in the warehouses by then.


Abandoned

Chapter 8


  Before we could begin filling those warehouses, we had to make sure we were producing everything that was needed, and we had to make sure our food supply would hold steady.  Our surplus could be better.  We decided that some of the flour should be used for our own people who were working so hard.  We built a tiny baker by the school but then decide rather than baking bread we would bake oat cookies for the children, we could continue to bake our bread at home.  Next we built a tiny beekeeper so we would always have enough honey for the cookies.





  A house and a tiny dairy were built by the goat farmyard to make the needed cheese.  Up in the forester area a tiny gatherer was built to gather the wild food there.  Our food surplus was increasing.  We now had more logs but our supply of tools was still low.
 


  The river boatmen were more concerned with getting food to the north rather than tools or clothes.  They needed a variety of foods.  We were now making cheese and milling flour.  We were growing apples, nuts, and pumpkins.  The potatoes, cabbage, and carrots in our farmyards were only enough for our use, we needed seeds.  We also had dried corn, sunseeds, and thatch for the north to feed the goats, chicken, and sheep we had for them.  Vouchers for the trade animals were already going to the trading post.  So, we only needed cabbage, carrot, squash, and potato seeds in order to grow those veggies, and to provide the north with the needed items.


Abandoned

Chapter 9


  Smallville needed tools and hide coats.  A young couple leaving Smallville were given 5 coats, 5 tools, 300 potatoes, and seeds for 1 field.  Four families left with 20 coats, 20 tools, 1200 potatoes, and crop seeds.  Five families got 30 coats, 40 tools, 1800 potatoes, plus crop and orchard seeds.  Six families left with 40 coats, 50 tools, 2400 potatoes, crop and orchard seeds, and a herd of livestock.  Most wanted sheep.  Rather than a whole herd, many families left with a milk cow, a few chickens, or sheep for an animal shed or farmyard.  We already had some vouchers for livestock at the trading post, and our green house was potting orchard seedlings.  We just need seeds and potatoes. 


  When Brigetta next came to port, he had cabbage and potato seeds.  He had a few squash seeds, enough for a patch or two, that we could have.  We took the squash seeds, and eagerly traded stone, iron, and 2 sheep and 3 chickens for the cabbage and potato seeds.  The livestock would go to Smallville.  He would try to get the carrot seeds before he returned.  It was still early enough to get the seeds planted.  The cabbage was planted next to the wheat field, and another field was being cleared for the carrots.




  Two fields of potatoes and one of wheat were planted by the Smallville dock.  The families living there needed grain.  A 4th field was being cleared.  A new school was built by that new field.  Our tiny school had room for only 1 more student.  I hoped it would be our youngest who would be starting school soon, the new school would be much farther to go. 

Another sunflower patch was planted behind the school, and another thatch patch was planted by the feed store in town.



Abandoned

Chapter 10



  The squash seeds Brigetta gave us were planted in a patch behind the dairy.  A corn patch was planted and an old shed was built across from it.  We built a cleaning shed across from the cow farmyard, all the animal pastures could use a cleaning.  A compost bin was built by the corn crib.  The squash patch could use some compost, it wasn't doing so well.



The older school children were learning how to care for the crops and animals.  They were also learning how to collect and save seeds.



   Near the Smallville dock, we build a seed collector, a tiny market, and another tiny smith.  Our tool supply was still low but now we had a steady supply of logs from the foresters.  After the harvest we began to take the needed foods and supplies to the warehouses.  The seeds were the last thing needed by Smallville. We now had the squash but still needed carrots for the north.  Our farmyard carrots were not enough.  Stocking the warehouses would be slow going with only 1 worker in each of the 3 warehouses.  We only had 5 laborers and 2 builders. 

Abandoned

Chapter 11


    That autumn of year 6, Brigetta brought our carrot seeds.  We traded 10 chickens, 1 milk cow, and 1 goat for the seeds.  Jailynneth, the general goods merchant, returned again like he did at regular intervals and we again traded stone and iron for leather.  Our gatherers were collecting flax from the wild but our workshop tailor was now making leather coats for Smallville.  We were wishing we had more warm coats, the autumn chill was already in the air, in the mornings and evenings especially.  The days were getting shorter.  The children all had warm coats, but warm coats for all of us would be most welcome. 



  The following year, the carrots were planted where the cabbage had been and the cabbage was planted in the new field at the end of the row.  An old town storage barn was built there with a small stockpile next to it.  When the laborers went to gather branches for firewood they would not have so far to go.  Pumpkins were planted in the field over by the new school.  We from Smallville all remarked how we remembered looking out of the schoolhouse windows at the pumpkin patch in Smallville.  Our children found it hard to believe we could remember way back when we were little and in school.  It was not all that long ago.




  In spring of year 7, another group of workers arrived from Smallville.  There were 16 adults with 4 young children.  The rooms were again full to overflowing.  A second floor was added to one of the colorful little houses by the wheat field and another first floor one was built by the new barn.  An old shack was under construction by the corn patch.  The other families in the rooms said they would wait a while because the builders were working on a project with the school teachers and the students.  It was a secret, the children were not talking.  Both our children were now students, ages 7 and 9, and they were doing a lot of secret telling and giggling.



Abandoned

Chapter 12

  Winter came early again that year.  The original fields in town were all harvested before the first snow in autumn but the fields south of town suffered some crop loss.  Now that we had more workers we would consider 2 farmers for each of those fields also.  We added a second worker to the north warehouse.

  We were adding needed items to the warehouses in small amounts of each item, increasing the desired amounts after each harvest.  We kept a close eye on our inventory so not to leave our citizens short of anything.  Our overall health was at 100% due to our variety of foods, we wanted to keep it that way. 

  For Smallville, we calculated that to supply 3 of each family-sized group we would need 285 hide coats, 345 iron tools, 17100 potatoes, plus orchard and farmyard seedlings and at least 15 sack of crop seeds.  So far we had apple, plum, pear, and walnut seedlings but only 6 sacks of seeds.  We added another worker to collect seeds.  We already built a second smith to increase tool production.



  We had no set desired amount for the north warehouse, we would add items until the warehouse was full and it was time for the items to be picked up.  If full sooner, we could always build another warehouse.  We would stock an equal number of each item increasing the desired number in small amounts, again keeping an eye on the town's supply.  If there was a problem with not enough of any one item, we would increase production of that item.  We would also keep an eye on how the 2 workers handled collecting all the items, we may add yet another worker.

The river boatman did say that warm coats were always needed in the north so we added some wool and warm coats to the list of desired items.  We built a tiny tailor next to the tiny smith.  The new tailor would make the hide coats for Smallville and the workshop tailor being closer to the sheep farmyard would make warm coats from the wool.  The autumn chill was a little less chilly when wearing a nice warm coat.



Abandoned

Chapter 13





  When the weather warmed in spring, the teacher and students again began tending their secret project.  In fall when the harvest began, they had placed squashes and a pumpkin behind the school and across the road.   Now they added compost and watch and waited.   It was not long before the vegetables began to grow, and grow some more.  They grew to an amazing size and we were more amazed when the builders began adding doors and windows.  They had created pumpkin and squash houses according to instructions given by the newcomers, some of whom were at a Hobbit festival where the houses were on exhibit. 




  One family and 3 singles moved into the vegetable houses leaving families still in the Rooms boarding house.  We needed more houses.

Abandoned

Chapter 14


  Another pumpkin house was built at the far end of the south pumpkin patch and another squash house was built by the goat farmyard.  A colorful little house was built by the squash patch behind the dairy.  The last family built a tiny farmhouse at the far end of the south wheat field.  They planted a pumpkin in their yard. 





  The town had quite a few young singles, most living alone but one or two still living at home.  There was only one that was old enough to marry but no one for him to pair up with yet.  Unless more workers came to town, we would not need more houses for a while.