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Abandoned - North Port Fort & Hot Springs Resort - Story 38

Started by Abandoned, February 28, 2019, 10:34:14 AM

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Abandoned

Intro


  This is the 38th story in the Smallville Series and tells of a small farming community, a port town protected by a fort, and later the development of the resort town of Hot Springs.  The story begins approximately year 60 SVT.  North Port's only connection to Smallville is the traveling river boatmen.  In fact, there are rivers and streams going in all directions to and from North Port connecting it in some way to every town on the map.  North Port's location is in a small plain in the mountains at the top of the World Map, in the center but much farther north than it appears on that map.


The Map is  #496552180      Plains,  Small,  Fair, Disasters Off,  Wildlife Start - M5 Elk, Geese, Bear


Mods enabled and load order:

Starting and Map Changing Mods:  Call of Nature Soundtrack, Banished UI Maps, Banished UI Town Names, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC light Rain, Landscape Nordic, New Flora Edit, Plain (Jose Rios), Wildlife Starts

Tweak Mods:   Better Fields, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Fishing Dock 25%, Hunting, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative, Rock Respawn

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Fenceless Pasture, Nomad Sign Complete, Kid Forest Outpost, Kid GrowHuntFish, Kid Old Town, Kid Stone House Addon, Kid Wooden Fort v1.1 (testing), Storage Crates v1   

Supporting Mods:    Campfire, EB Village Resort Deco, Fly Fishing, Jinxie Bitty Housing,  Kid Animal Shed Cheese, Kid Forest Ponds, Kid House Boat, Kid Market Food, Kid Mist, Kid Old Fence, Kid Pizza Hat, Kid Some Boats, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Yard Cover, Water & Other Decorations.



So, weary traveler, welcome to North Port Fort and Hot Springs Resort.  I know you are curious about how these two towns came about so I will tell you all about them from the very beginning.



Abandoned

#1
Chapter 1
 
    As you may have noticed, weary traveler, this area is rather unique because it has a main river that runs from the mountains in the northeast to the west and then south.  It branches off and flows into a smaller river that flows down from the northwest and North Pole area slowing the flow enough that the small river is easily navigable in both directions.  A smaller faster river flows into the main river from the highlands in the south.  The result is the main river from that junction point east has an under current that allows river boats to travel both east and west.  South of that section of the main river are 2 tiny lakes heated by underground hot springs, it is that underground heat source and our warmer waters that keep the world's rivers from freezing over in winter.  From this junction at the top of the world river boats can travel to and from any direction, north, south, east, and west at any time of year, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

  For generations there was just a small settlement of families at this northern river junction.  They survived in this cold northern climate by gathering wild foods, by fishing, and by doing a little farming.  They raised their families and a few mountain goats and sheep.  They hunted when the elk and geese migrated.  They gathered branches for firewood.  They built log cabins, a school, and a small workshop for making simple coats and tools.  They raised their children here, but like the elk and geese, most of them moved on to warmer climates.  Some of us stayed and carried on as our parents and their parents before them did.  Their needs and ours were simple, river boatmen were few and far between. But things don't always stay the same, they change.

  It was the weather that began to change first, becoming colder even in late autumn with early snowfalls.  Crops did not get harvested and it was more difficult to collect wild foods and firewood.  I remember often being cold and hungry as a child.  There were not enough workers for the jobs that needed to be done.  Older children and other families from surrounding areas began to migrate south.  I remember that one family argued so much about whether to stay or to go that they would not even live together in the same house.  There was a problem and a lot of talk when the teacher's daughter did not attend the new school.  Why then did they need a teacher?  Some said you did not need an education to catch fish and raise potatoes.  I wanted to go to that school when I was old enough.

kid1293

You are rewriting the geography of the world!
Ooops! Banished world - my fault!  :-[

Abandoned

 :) I could not have found a better map for this story if I tried.  The river and small streams flow in the directs I describe.  :)

Abandoned

#4
Chapter 2

  When early spring finally arrived so did a new problem, bears.  The colder weather and heavier snowfalls had made food scarce for them too.  They were spotted in the forest east of our settlement and along the riverbank to the south.  The bear were now much closer to the settlement than they had ever been.  Their presence kept the geese and elk away.  Gathering wild foods and branches was now a dangerous undertaking.  We had no grain because they ate whatever wild oats they could find.  We did however gain a bit of bear meat and some furs.

I remember one spring the beans did not all get planted because the bears were in the farm fields.  The old fences got broken and would have to be repaired again.  The adults tried to continue working without provoking  the bears, but they feared for the safety of us children and for the mountain sheep and goats they had in the animal sheds.

  That year the presence of the bears at planting time followed by an early frost and snowfall resulted in the loss of both beans and potatoes.  The potato harvest however was better than the year before and I remember how good those potatoes tasted sliced and fried in bear fat over the open fire.

galensgranny

Those bears are something, alright- large and scary!  That's great that you found a broken fence to use in your picture of the bears crossing the crop field after going through the fence!  :)

Nilla

Quote from: galensgranny on March 02, 2019, 11:00:48 AM
....That's great that you found a broken fence to use in your picture of the bears crossing the crop field after going through the fence!  :)
I like that picture, too! :)

Abandoned

 :) I really like those bears  :)  The fence is Kid Old Fence, I use it quite often, I think it is my favorite fence in the game.

RedKetchup

> > > Support Mods Creation developments with Donations by Paypal  < < <
Click here to Donate by PayPal .

Abandoned

#9
 :D

Chapter 3


  Another bad winter brought more bears down from the surrounding mountains.  A pack of bears began crossing the river just as a riverboat came into view.  The boatman spotted them and threw some merchandise overboard in an attempt to out run the bears but he did not succeed.   He was mauled and knocked from the boat.  Townsmen managed to rescue him while the bears were occupied with the boat and its contents.  The water was warm enough not to freeze but it was still icy cold.  The boatman and several others suffered from exposure.  It was months before the boatman's wounds healed enough for him to be on his way.  Before he left he did tell us that we were not the only ones suffering from the effects of the worsening weather conditions.  Although many have migrated there were more settlements in the north now then there had been.  Many were in need of resources and necessities. We would need a trading post to protect men and merchandise from the climate and the critters if we wanted to trade.  More river boatmen would come our way.

  Much to the grownups' dismay the bears lingered in our valley.  The bears were becoming more of a nuisance and prevented work from getting done.  They were attracted to the wild honey in the hives the bees built in tree stumps after the trees had been cut down for logs.  My father was the forester, and he could no longer work safely in the area until the bears moved on.  The hunter only harvested a small amount of venison because the elk herd was frightened off by the bears.  The geese too were frightened off and there was a real panic when the bears followed the geese into town one day.  The elders wondered for how much longer the goats and sheep would remain unharmed.

Despite the problems that year, there was an abundance of wild oats to be gathered pus onions and roots.  The bean and potato harvests were good.  There was some goose and venison, plus fish from the forest pond, trout from the river, and goat cheese too.  No one went hungry that winter.

Abandoned

#10
oops  :) forgot pictures

galensgranny


Abandoned

#12
Chapter 4


  The following year another river boatman barely escaped the pack of bears by the river bend.  My mother, Verdelila, was fishing for trout at the time and saw the whole thing.  I remember she said she was scared because the bears started to come her way but crossed to the other side of the river instead.   The boatman made it safely to shore but was exhausted from similar bear encounters.  He'd thrown most of his merchandise overboard in order to get away.  He said it was as bad here with the bears as it was down south with the pirates near Riverboat Junction.  (Wow, pirates!)  He told us children some stories about pirates while he stayed  for a few days to rest.  I heard him telling the grownups that several river boatman had been reported missing, they never returned to Riverboat Junction.  Some of them of course could have fallen victim to the giant mother frog attacks that occurred recently in Summerset Swamp.  (Wow, giant frogs!)

  Before the river boatman left, the adults decided they would build a trading post.  They chose the location carefully.  Riverboats coming from both the north and the south would have a convenient place to dock.  Hopefully we could supply some of the merchandise they'd lost, and others in the surrounding area would not have to do without.  Most of them relied on the traders for items they could not make themselves, and many of them now needed food.

  Luckily as the river boatman was leaving another was approaching from the other direction.  The two boats were enough of a distraction to keep the bears on shore and both boats made it safely past. The second boatman said he was not leaving until the bears moved farther away.  The trading post was completed before he and the bears left the area.

galensgranny

These bears are a serious problem! 

Is that riverboat from a mod in testing?  It needs two people, one to row, and one to shoot the bears.

Abandoned

 :) I really like those bears  :)  Just like in RKEC and TS The North I spend too much time watching the animals instead of taking care of bannie business.  ;D

The riverboat is deco boat from Old Town mod, I am trying to think where it is located on toolbar - under Old Town submenu of Town Services I think. F-Key with or without boatman.