Abandoned - Land Ho - Story 91

[Abandoned]

Originally Posted 4-30-23


Intro


  This is the 91st story in the Smallville Series.  The story is about another old town on the east coast of the World Map.  It is north of East Port story 90 but not as far north as Springfield story 23 or Mayville story 68.  The old town had been abandoned after it was almost totally destroyed by the outbreak of tornadoes that struck the northeast in year 53 SVT.  In the spring of year 55 SVT a ship carrying settlers from the old country was blown off course during a similar storm at sea. The ship hit the rocks and ran aground.  The shipwreck survivors resettled the old abandoned town.  This is their story.




Map picture was edited to look like the ocean.

Map seed # 601473401       CC Water World,   Small,   Fair,   Disasters Off,   Easy-seed (8 Families)


Mods activated for this map and load order are:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, CC Terrains, Settlers Deco, Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Tree Replacer XLight, Maritimes Riffle, Kid New Flora Edit, New Trees, Family Start

Tweak Mods:    Better Stock Piles, Better Stock Piles Storage, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Increased CC,  1:1 Alternative (Voeille), Override New Outfit, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, DS Jetty and Bridge, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Colonial City Center, Kid Colonial Housing, Kid Colonial Resources, Kid Old Hovels, Kid Old Town Ports & Pirates, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Downtown, Kid Workplace, Maritimes PEI Shores

Supporting Mods:   Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyards, Kid Fruit and Nuts, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Some Boats, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Workshop, Maypole


Story Note:  I have made my own ruin village start condition as discussed in a Suggestion and Mod Ideas thread here:    http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=4254.msg72476#msg72476



  Well, weary traveler, while we waited for an available ship to bring us to this world, we heard stories of the devastating windstorms that hit this area.  We never expected to be in this area; we were headed to East Port.  We were lucky to be alive and in any area after surviving the storm and shipwreck; let me tell you.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  We booked passage on one of the faster passenger ships, not one of the slower heavier merchant ships.  The 3 crewmen were young and inexperienced; 2 went overboard shortly after the storm hit and the captain went over trying to prevent the 3rd from following suit.  Our men were fisherman but had no experience with a ship that size or a storm that fierce.  They managed to cut the sails free to slow us down but the call of Land Ho came too late.  We barely had time to brace ourselves before the ship hit the rocks and the shore. 



  We suffered many injuries but no fatalities, thank God.  It was the middle of the night and pitch dark but brief flashes of lightening illuminated the outlines of nearby buildings.  With relief we realized we were very near a town.  We expected help but none came; the morning light revealed the reason why. 



  The town had been destroyed, probably by one of those devastating storms we heard so much about.  There was no help or shelter to be found here.  We were cold and wet and it was still raining.  We could not go back to that ship.






Chapter 2

  We women and children took shelter under the trees while the men scouted around.  There were 25 of us when we left the old country, 16 adults with 9 children.  Since then, 2 children became adults and 4 more were born. 



  The men returned and told us that just to the south was the older part of town and there were some damaged structures where we could take shelter.  They already moved much of the debris to the stockpile.  There were 7 small housed clustered together by a damaged storage barn, and a larger cottage a bit farther south by the farm fields.  We should take the children to those houses while the men got what supplies, they could, off the ship.



  Each of our 8 families had 2 or 3 adults and 1 or 2 young children, 4 families had newborns.  A family with 2 children moved into the larger cottage; Anya's father in the old country was a doctor so she had some experience, and the cottage had room for treating those that were injured.  We women suffered mainly cuts, scrapes, and bruises.  We sorted and divided up the supplies as the men, who were able, brought them from the ship to the storage barn.  There wasn't much but there were some dry clothes, some roots and potatoes, and some cook pots.  Barrels and crates would serve as tables and chairs and a few new floorboards would be our beds.  The chimneys were gone from the small houses and the firewood was damp and smokey but the damaged roofs let out most of that smoke. It was a little warmer and at least we could give the children and the men a hot meal of mashed potatoes. We bedded the children down early in any dry corner we could find in our houses.  The men were exhausted but they kept working until darkness fell on that dismal day.




Chapter 3

  Things looked a lot brighter the next morning; it was still cold but the sun was shining.  There was a lot of clean-up to be done; downed branches and debris was everywhere, but there were spring flowering lilac trees blooming and bright yellow daffodils too.  There was a row of asparagus and herbs growing behind our house; I picked some and took some to the storage barn for the others.  Cayde and I were in the last house down the road from the barn.  We were the youngest couple; he was 19 and I was 18.  We had a 1-year-old son named Santoine. 







  The men had a surprise for us that morning; they had wash lines set up for us and erected a Maypole to celebrate spring and the fact that we were all alive and well.  Not far from our house, they found a swing and a bench in a pile of debris that had blown into the trees; they set the bench and swing up by what they thought had been a school and chapel. There was a cemetery there.  Most of the dates on the grave markers were from 2 years ago; that must have been the year of the storm that destroyed this town.  It seemed that most of the residents did not survive.  Two of the men went scouting over the hill to the west.  If those stories of that storm were to be believed, chances were they would only find other destroyed towns; if so, we assumed that we would be staying here.  We already had clothes hanging out on the lines to dry.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4

  Anya's husband, Warrence, took the last of the potatoes, cut them into pieces, and planned to plant them in the farm field in front of their cottage.  Even though he had an injured leg, he picked up the bigger branches and kept the 4- and 5-year-olds busy picking up sticks from the field.  That left the mothers free to gather wild foods.  They found a gatherer's workplace, and some baskets scattered around, in the forest south of the farm fields.  There was a forester's hovel there too.  Neither had been damaged by the storm. 



  Anya found a hedgerow behind the farm cottage.  There was a plum tree, hazelnut bushes, wild honey, and some rabbits.  She found what was left of a rabbit hutch behind what remained of the animal shed next to the cottage.  She finished planting the potatoes while Warrence rested his injured leg.  When he was rested, he repaired the hutch.  He scattered some wild oats, and most of the rabbits returned to the hutch but a few still hid in the hedgerow.  There would soon be rabbit meat and hides which we needed to make clothes.  Our supply was getting low. 







Chapter 5


  Another hedgerow was found by the damaged farmhouse across from the 2nd farm field.  There were more hazelnut bushes, more asparagus, some wild oats and some mushrooms.  There were plenty of dead branches to be gathered there and in the farm field.   






  There were a lot of trees and branches in the water along the dock which had been badly damaged by the storm.  The fishing pier at the south end appeared to be newer than the rest of the dock; it was undamaged and stable.  Mauriel, who suffered an injured left arm, couldn't do much lifting or carrying, but he could fish.  We were confident that with the addition of fish and rabbit meat, our diet of fruit, vegetables, and wild oats would be enough to keep our families healthy and well fed. 




Chapter 6


  The 2 men who went scouting to the west returned in early summer.  They brought sheep, chickens, and wheat seeds with them.  We were right to assume that there was nothing to the west, and East Port was a long way to the south.  The men met up with several of the survivors that left this town after the storm 2 year ago.  They had a small settlement and were just barely surviving.  If we planned to settle in their old town, they would return to help us rebuild.  The devasting storm was not something that was likely to reoccur, no one remembered anything like it before or since.  Our men brought the livestock and seeds back with them, and expected the families to follow as soon as they could.

  The men were happy to learn that our food supply had improved while they were gone; we could add eggs to our diet now.  At least one of the chicken coops needed a new fence and good cleaning for the chickens.  The animal shed needed to be rebuilt for the sheep.  We would have wool for warm coats for the coming fall and winter.  We need better houses.  The town survivors said most of them had lived in the north part of town so we could have our choice of the houses on the south side.  We were amazed anyone could have survived the north side of town.  The town had no name so we could call it what we wanted.  We decided to call the town Land Ho.





  One of the chicken coops was cleaned and fenced, and the animal shed was rebuilt while we considered where we wanted to live. I thought the house next to the chicken coop would be nice but Cayde said he liked where we were.  He would rather chop firewood or make tools in the workshop than farm and tend chickens.  The tiny workshop next to the barn was rebuilt.  Our neighbor, Elian, made a few linen clothes from the flax that had been gathered while waiting for rabbit hides and sheep wool.  There was a woodcutter's chopping block across from the workshop, and there was an anvil inside the workshop and another by the stockpile.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7



  Elian and her husband, Omarion, were one of the 2 oldest couples of the group.  He was one of the 2 men who went scouting.  He pointed out that our first priority should be to rebuild the storage barn; we could not afford to lose any of our food or supplies due to the condition of the barn.  Like the animal shed, the barn's structure was not sound; it should be demolished and rebuilt.  Most of the destroyed buildings had solid foundations and framework and could be rebuilt.  We began moving crates and barrels out of the barn.



  The survivors mentioned that there had been a shed by the mill, and a clerk's office behind the shed.  There was a well and 2 houses there as well.  We were getting fresh water from the well so we knew where to look for the shed's foundation.  The shed was rebuilt so some of the items being removed from the barn could be stored there.  While waiting for the barn to be emptied and demolished, the hovel house across from the shed was rebuilt for the fisherman and his family. It helped his injured arm to be out of the cold damp ruined house.  The old ruined houses would be demolished one by one as they were emptied. 



  The tiny house by the chicken coop was also rebuilt at that time.  Lusten and his family moved in.  He would take over farming the potato field so the Warrence could continue to rest his leg and only have to tend the rabbits and sheep with his wife who was still tending the injured.  All were healing nicely.  Warrence and Anay were quite happy with their cottage; it was only the porch roof that was damaged.  Maybe someday the roof could be fixed.



  The new barn was completed by the end of summer with a leakproof roof and sturdy doors.  All the crates and barrels were being moved back in. The potatoes were harvested and stored in the barn and shed.  It was decided that the school would be rebuilt next.  There were 3 children that would reach school age very soon and some of the younger children could be dropped off to be watched-over, safe and warm, while their mothers worked.  There was a lot of work left to be done.







Chapter 8


  Gartha and Olette's son was one of the children that would be starting school soon.  Gartha took the job as temporary teacher while their house was being built.  It was the tiny house down past the farm fields; it had the hedgerow with hazelnuts, wild oats, mushrooms, and asparagus.  A new fence was put around that crop patch and another around the chicken coop on the other side of the house.  The coop was cleaned and ready for baby chicks the following spring. Gartha would help farmer Lusten clear the other farm field of debris so it would be ready for a spring planting of wheat.



The couple's oldest daughter who missed school had a house built for herself in the forest behind her parent's house.  She would be the gatherer there and maybe spend some time planting some trees.  Maybe when she was older, she would marry someone who wanted to be a forester. 



  The first snow of the season occurred in late autumn; the rest of us were eager to have our houses built before it got any colder. At least we now had warm clothes.  The next family chose the dock house at the end of the pier; they would work the fisheries when they were rebuilt.  Their adult son moved into the nearby rebuilt bait shop.  The eldest couple who had been our next-door neighbors moved into a rebuilt hovel house across from him.  They would take care of compiling the town records in the clerk's office that was also rebuilt at that time.  The second eldest couple who had lived across from us built a tiny house where the 4 demolished ruined houses had been.  We moved into the barn and spent most of our time in the workshop while our small colonial house was built in the same place our ruined one had been.  We were all healthy, happy, and a lot warmer.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9





  And then it was spring and the crops were being planted.  An unexpected snowfall claimed some of the earliest planted potatoes and wheat, but it was spring.  Baby chicks were moved to the 2nd chicken coop, the one north of the farm fields.  A tiny mill was rebuilt and a baker oven workplace was built next to it just waiting for the harvest.   A wood store was rebuilt across from our house, and the woodcutter's stump was moved.  The firewood would be kept drier and burn better than what was kept on the stockpile.





  Two fisheries were rebuilt on the dock; mussels and scallops as well as the fish would be taken to the newly rebuilt fish market next to the bait shop.  The tiny chapel was also rebuilt by spring and the school had its first student; two more would follow soon.  By spring, 1 baby girl and 4 baby boys were born, our 2nd son, Kamarick, included.  We had a lot to celebrate that May Day.






Chapter 10




  To celebrate we rebuilt a hovel tavern where one had been before.  We would make mead with our wild honey.  We were glad that the town survivors told our men what buildings were here on the south side of town.  We were even more glad when 5 of those survivors with 1 child arrived that spring.  They were impressed and grateful for all that we had already rebuilt and improved.  More of their family and friends would be returning but first they were going to other survivors in the surrounding area to let them know where they would be.  Maybe some of those would also return.

  Having moved inland, the survivors really missed the seafood caught from the seacoast dock here.  These 2 families were fishermen and were glad to see their houses had not yet been rebuilt and occupied.  One family lived on the dock and the other in the ruined house next to the stockpile.  They said most of the small ruined houses had been vacant a long time; the families moved to the new north side of town.

  There was a lot of work to be done on the dock.  The driftwood and debris had to be removed and the missing pier sections replaced.  One of the fishing boats was a total loss but the other was freed from under the pier where it was wedged.   The jetty house and the fishery next to it were then rebuild.  Another fishing pier was built next to that seafood fishery and another jetty house was built next to that.  The 2 families quickly settled in.  The broken jetty sections were then replaced and a driftwood collector was built at the end of the pier. 







  With the dock restored and improved, all that was left to do on the south side of town was to finish clearing away that ruined house by the stockpile and the larger one by the farm fields.  We had been scavenging useable stone, iron, and wood from those sites; we had no forester working yet but may need one before too long.  There was a lot of rebuilding to be done on the north side of town.   

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11




  Since more survivors could be expected soon, we started the north side rebuilding with the Colonial Lodging house we had first seen when we arrived.  We had no time or reason to visit that side of town until now.  Some time was spent picking up downed branches and other debris from the area.  There were wild foods to be gathered and it was all stored in the rebuilt market near the lodging house.  The market's chicken coop next to the lodging house was cleaned and a new fence built around it.  We would bring over some laying hens when the new families arrived in spring.  There was still a bit of winter left; again, the farmers began planting a bit too soon.





  We made coats and tools as we needed them but we anticipated the newcomers would need more.  We rebuilt their hardware store and clothes store where we were told they were before the storm.  We also rebuilt their colonial school thinking they would not want their young children having so far to go to school.  The weather warmed and spring had arrived; we expected the families at any time.









Chapter 12


  We did not expect quite so many.  There were 21 of them: 5 couples with 5 adult and 5 young children plus 1 adult male.  With more laborers and builders, we soon had their houses rebuilt.  Across from the lodging house, a furniture store and home good store were built for the 2 of the 3 largest families.  We were thrilled that we would soon have real tables, chairs, and beds, plus home goods to make our houses cozy and comfortable.  A small colonial house was built for a small family of 3 next to those shops.  The other large family moved into their rebuilt cobbler shop next to the clothes store on the other side of which the single man opened a barber shop.







  On the far side of the market, a sweet shop and a jam shop was built.  Deeannika and her family would live in the sweet shop and she would make jam with plums she would pick from the fruit and nut trees behind the shops.  There were hazelnut bushes by the plum tree behind her house, and apple and walnut trees closer to the jam shop and bakery.  She would get bread dough from the bakery to make sweet treats with jam for her shop.  Two young singles moved into the rebuilt house down the road past the bakery; young Grise would no doubt become the baker when the bakery was rebuilt. 





  We all looked forward to visiting the market and those newly rebuilt shops. 





Chapter 13




  By autumn, all that was left to do on the north side of town was to rebuild what we were told were a meeting hall and Pilgrim Rest's tavern.  Wood, stone, and iron were being removed from the ruined site next to the meeting hall.  A new foundation and house would be built there.



  We were busy on the south side of town at that time too.  The potatoes and wheat were being harvested.  The wheat was being milled into flour and the baker workplace next to the mill began baking herb bread.  We gathered what wild foods and branches we could find before the snow would cover them up.  We check our firewood and clothing supply.  The winter past quickly and then it was spring again. 







  On the north side, the colonial town hall and tavern were completed and the colonial bakery by the market was baking nut bread with walnuts from the tree behind it.  The fountain for a large colonial house was laid where the ruin had been.  The last 9 survivors arrived and a family of 4 moved into the house as soon as it was built.  There were 3 young adults and 2 older singles remaining in the lodging house; the 3 young ones would remain there until they married; there were several young singles their ages living at home with their parents.  The 2 older adults would remain as caretakers of the lodging house after the younger ones move out.  They would take care of the market chickens; there were more baby chicks that spring.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 14



  There were more babies born in Land Ho by spring.  Cayde and I had our 3rd son we named Jalentice.  The town's population had grown from 8 families of 25 when we arrived to 30 families of 77.  There were 47 adults, 7 students, and 23 young children; all happy and healthy.  The town was thriving; we had everything we needed.  We were proud of all we had accomplished. 







That year we moved the Maypole over by the school, chapel, and cemetery.  We decided we would have a special day in May to remember those settlers from the old country who originally built the town here.  Their descendants thought a Memory Day in May was a good idea. 





Chapter 15


  So, weary traveler, it's been six years since we first heard the call of Land Ho. That is all I have to tell you about how the town was when we arrived back then and how it is now.  Before the devasting storm, the south was the newer part of town with a large market and shops, and the north was the older part of town with farm fields and a large dock and fisheries.  It is the same now after the storm. 














    I leave you now, weary traveler, with the words from an Irish blessing from the old country: 
May the road rise up to meet you.  May the wind be ever at your back.  May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields, and until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of his hand. 

Fare thee well, weary traveler.


The End