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Abandoned - Pirate's Cove - Story 33

Started by Abandoned, September 15, 2018, 05:50:11 AM

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Abandoned

#30
Chapter 10


  Kylandro and the crew returned early, in late autumn.  It had been a good run and there was still plenty of time to make a run back into the swamp with some of the booty.  He knew my look of concern and explained without being asked.  No towns were raided, no one was hurt.  As always, they patrolled the common trade routes that led to Riverboat Junction.  Merchant ships and riverboats heading there threw merchandise overboard to lighten their load before fleeing from the pirate ship.  Occasionally, a ship unfamiliar with the area headed into the cove.  The merchandise they threw overboard had already been picked up.  Kylandro said he knew I would have no problem dealing with the shipwreck survivors. He was anxious to know what I decided to trade my treasure chest for.  He laughed and gave me a hug when I told him.  We now had a pasture with 3 piglets in it.  And we were getting fertilizer.  A small greenhouse was producing tropical fruits.

  In spring of year 11, 6 swamp dwellers arrived.  According to them, things were pretty much back to normal in Summerset Swamp.  There have been no new sightings of giant frogs anywhere and the insect population was also back to normal.  There were the normal cases of swamp fever and life was just as difficult as it always had been, but that was life in the swamp.  They would be happy to stay with us at least for the time being.

  The villagers seemed quite content to be living here and have adjusted well.  They asked if they could have the wild flax they saw being gathered and were soon making cool linen clothes in their swamp workshop.  Before long some of those cool comfortable clothes appeared in our sheds, storage crates, and the pirate's stash.  Jeffer was no longer pillaging the village, he was now living in it.  He was married to one of the village girls and they had 2 children. The villagers also brought their beeswax to the trading post for us to trade away as we saw fit.  We traded for sugar cane seeds that autumn.

  At the end of year 12 Pirate's Cove was doing quite well.  We had a population of 75, 43 adults, 10 students, and 22 young children.  Our education rate was only 9% but it would improve since we had more children in school now.

rkelly17

Nothing like a sea-going Robin Hood for a good story.

Question: Given that I see palm trees everywhere in Pirate's Cove, what exactly is the point of a tropical greenhouse? Wouldn't all that stuff grow outside in regular orchards (well, maybe not dates since they don't like high humidity)? And, by the way, I wouldn't waste any space on kumquats. The only fruit I ever tasted where the peel tasted better than the fruit.  :o  Nasty, bitter little things--don't let the cuteness fool you. Unless you are going to soak them in rum, but the rum is probably better straight.

Gatherer

Who would have thought that a pirate's life was so docile. :o
There's never enough deco stuff!!!
Fiat panis.

Abandoned

 ;D Robin Hood was my childhood hero, stole from the rich to give to the poor, and Davy Crocket, King of the Wild Frontier  ;D  Kid likes happy mods so I just had to make a happy pirate, one to be proud of.  :)  With a tropical greenhouse because I wanted pigs with fertilizer  ;D and had to have something to do with the fertilizer  ;D  Never ate a kumquat, thanks for the warning.  :)

Abandoned

#34
Chapter 11


  In spring of year 13 there was another baby piglet in the pasture and the wheat and sugar cane were planted.  Caronda, who worked the still, looked at the crop and asked what she was supposed to do with that.  Up until now she had been using sugar from the booty ship to make rum.  Pirates for the most part were uneducated and lazy, it was easier to pillage for food and things they needed than it was to grow or make them for themselves.  Well, if they wanted more rum, they would have to learn some things.  We built a sugar mill out behind the Pirate's Den.  The sugar cane would be milled into sugar that would then be used in the still.  Barrels of rum would go to Pirate's Den or to the trading post.  Our riverboat traders would see that it got delivered to fellow pirates in need.  They would also deliver peglegs to those in need.  Wooden legs did not last very long in the soggy swamp soils, at least Summerset had stone roads.

  I was at the trading posts every time a trader came to port.  I was hoping for another treasure map, maybe one that would unearth a bigger treasure.  Havenita, the resource merchant, was keeping his eyes and ears open for one but had had no luck finding another one so far.  He did have information for Kylandro through.  It seems there have been some pirate raids on small villages, and several river boatmen reported being injured and robbed.  There was a rumor going around Riverboat Junction that one of the warehouses had been pillaged.  There could be trouble brewing.

  Kylandro thought it best to be safe than sorry and ordered another ship to be built.  Though we were managing well on our own now, the booty enabled us to help the poor folks back in the swamp.  They no longer wanted hand-outs but wanted to trade what they could for what they needed.  The booty insured that we had enough of what was needed.  We only hoped they were not now the ones doing the pirating.

By the end of year 13 we needed firewood.


Abandoned

#35
Chapter 12


  The villagers insisted they could help out with firewood.  We continued to put logs on their stockpiles, they would help by chopping some of them into firewood for us and for their own needs.  A tiny chopper and firewood shed were built near the bridge.  Some of the firewood was taken to the swamp stream warehouse for the next swamp run.  Jeffer, who was the pillager, was now working at that warehouse.  Everyone was so proud of him.  He was doing a good job even though he was uneducated. 

  Kylandro was upset when he learned our school was full and a few children missed getting an education.  All 4 of our children attended our only school.  Again the villagers stepped in and build a swamp school not far from the bridge.  They had several children that would reach school age this year or next.  Our oldest boy, Brette, would finish school next year.  Brette always had a lot of questions about Riverboat Junction, the river boatmen, and about piracy.  He often asked his father why he became a pirate.  Kylandro said it was time he had a talk with the boy.  I was interested in what he would have to say, it was something he never wanted to talk about.

  Kylandro's parents like many others were displaced by floods and food shortages.  They traveled downriver to Riverboat Junction where they heard there was housing, jobs, and food, they had 2 young children.  Kylandro's mother died of yellow fever shortly after they arrived.  His sister was too old for school, and besides, the school was too far from the worker cabins where they lived.  At age 7 she got a job as a worker in the port tavern nearby where their father became a frequent customer.  She would bring food home after work, sometimes she worked late and those nights there was no food.  One night their drunken father fell from the pier and drowned, then there were just the 2 of them. They would manage, she would work more nights.  She insisted he go to school to be educated.  She died during childbirth at age 16. 

There was nothing keeping him in Riverboat Junction after that so he became a river boatman, but he was not good at that job.  He was always short of merchandise when he returned from his swamp run, he just couldn't leave people to starve because they didn't have enough trade goods for food or seeds or tools.  So when he was waylaid by pirates, there was no way he was giving up the rest of his cargo.  The pirates were battered and bruised but impressed with Kylandro's skills with the oars.  He made a trade deal with them, alcohol for tropical fruit, and he returned to the Junction with a full cargo.  He learned a lot from those men.  Soon he had a ship and a crew and a riverboat trade route between Mountain Mines, Monkstown, and the swamp.  They were none the wiser that he was a pirate and not a Riverboat Junction trade merchant.  It was not until he rescued me from Summerset that he wanted a home and a home base and Pirate's Cove came to be.  Kylandro was only 17 at that time, only a few years older than our son Brette is now.

   Kylandro was well respected now and had a lot of connections with both river boatmen and pirates, so when Ethele, the food trader, came to port with froglegs, Kylandro sent out word that no one should make any trade deals involving frog legs, return them to Riverboat Junction.  Swamp dwellers must be discouraged from harvesting froglegs.  Who would be so foolish to be harvesting froglegs after all that happened back in Summerset? 

kid1293


Abandoned

 :) And I bet son Brette will be just like him  :)

Abandoned

#38
Chapter 13


  Our son, Brette, wanted to know that too.  In fact, Brette always wanted to know something about trading and pirating and ships.  He was an educated adult now and tried several different jobs.  He moved to one of the newly built rowhouses near the still where he was now working  but he was restless.  Kylandro let the boy do several swamp runs and even took him on a booty run.  I was not happy about that but Brette was thrilled and could talk of little else except that pirate ship until the spring piglets were born.  He had an idea which sounded like a good one.

  Our pigs multiplied enough that we now had pork and it was delicious. We agreed with Brette, much meatier than froglegs.  He wanted to trade piglets to folks back in the swamp.  The pigs thrived here, they loved wallowing in the soggy swamp soil.  They were easy to care for and multiplied well, Brette thought swamp settlements could thrive by raising and trading pigs and pork.  It was something to think about.

  Our Pirate's Cove has sure thrived and grown in 15 years.  Our pirate's mansion and headquarters grew into a small port settlement producing peglegs, sea biscuits, pork, and rum.  The swamp villagers are as happy and healthy as the rest of us.  Together we number 91, 48 adults, 19 students, and 24 young children.  Our education rate is now 15%

So, weary traveler, I know you will be as happy here in Pirate's Cove as we are.  You are welcome to make your home in the swamp village or here with us in Pirate's Cove, but I am afraid you can not go to Riverboat Junction until we are sure the knowledge of our secret location is safe with you. 


The End



(Coming soon - Riverboat Junction -Story 34 followed by release of Kid Old Town Ports & Pirates)


Abandoned

Kid Old Town Ports & Pirates mod used in Pirate's Cove Story 33 and in Riverboat Junction Story 34 can be found here:

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=2635.0

banfan11

Awesome. Loved the story and the mods. Well done, both of you.

Abandoned

Thank you so much @banfan11, I am glad you enjoyed the stories and know you will enjoy the mod as much as we enjoyed making it.  :)