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Abandoned - Railway - part 4 - Forevermore - Story 63

Started by Abandoned, November 21, 2020, 10:00:40 AM

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Abandoned

Intro


This is the 63rd story in the Smallville Series and part 4 of the Railway mini series.  Back in Pumpkin Junction (story 62) work on the north tunnel had only just begun when an unknown disease began causing illness and death throughout the known world resulting in shortages of food and supplies and threatening to destroy Christmas.  Word was sent out that help was desperately needed in the north and anyone of Elven descent was asked to report to the new settlement northwest of the North Pole South Annex (story 21) immediately.  The tunnel was completed and tracks were laid, the work train left Pumpkin Junction in autumn of year 94 SVT heading north. 


The map seed # 760857717   One River,  Small,  Fair, Disasters ON,  Easy Start- 8 families with seeds


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, override Map, Settler Deco, New Flora Edit, Family Starts

Tweak Mods:    Better Fields, Disease Unknown (with edited real time aging made for this story, effect unknown), Dried Mushrooms, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, Override Winter Clothes, Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), Storage Crates, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places, Kid Tiny v3 (update, testing production buildings. Tiny Chapel and fences added. Tiny fences are not shown in story.)

Supporting Mods:    Christmas Mod 2020 (testing), Colorful Little Houses, Creepy Cemetery, Kid Deco People, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco Wreaths, Kid Farmyard, Kid in Transit, Kid Market Puzzle, Kid Mist, Kid Mountain Mansion, Kid Railway, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Work Shop, Kid Yard Cover, Orchard Forester, White Picket Fence.


Mod notes:   Kid's soon to be released Christmas mod now has blue wall texture added, Julmust (traditional Swedish Christmas beverage), shop houses for Main St., and more Christmas deco. 


Story note:

  I write this story in the midst of a worsening global pandemic, a tragedy of unbelievable proportions that is beyond belief.  Please take a moment to give thanks for all those front line workers in hospitals and elsewhere that are risking their lives for us.  Pause to give a thought to all those who have died this year: doctors, nurses, and patients fighting the virus, plus those who died fighting fires, crimes, and terrorism, and give another thought to all those who mourn them.

  Because of the risk of Unknown Disease, the storyteller is not physically on this map.



Note written to Weary Traveler:


Dear Weary Traveler,

  I know you and others back in Pumpkin Junction, Iron Ridge, and Hometown are wondering about our town and how your friends and family members are doing here in the north.  It is sad you can not be together but I will write you letters to keep you posted.  I am in charge of Santa's Mail and have access to flying reindeer.  This may not be the happiest holiday season ever but we still have much to be thankful for and good reason to have a Merry Christmas.  These are sad times indeed for all of us, weary traveler, but especially for those of us who are missing loved ones.  They will remain in our hearts Forevermore. 

I will write more soon.

Abandoned

#1
Letter 1  Regarding  Year 1

Dear Weary Traveler,

  I hope this letter finds you well.  It was a rough first year here in Forevermore.  I was one of the original settlers from the Annex.  I lost both my parents and grandparents to the unknown disease.  I came here with 8 families from the northern towns, we were selected to fulfill the Annex's yearly quota of stocking stuffers for St. Nick.  We could expect more request from the North Pole before Christmas, the unknown disease was taking its toll there too.  I would be the contact person and the town planner.  There were 28 others, 16 adults with 12 children.

  We arrived by sleigh with supplies, seeds, and some livestock from the Annex. We were told to expect a work train from the south and more help soon.  We had a lot to do before then.  Settling the animals, planting crops, and building homes was first priority.  I consulted with an expert farmer who agreed that the open area with full sun east of the stockpile and hedgerow would be ideal for a wheat field.  His wife would tend the cows and chickens in the animal shed.  A 2-story colorful little house like we had back in the Annex was built nearby.

  West of there the sheep were settled in a farmyard that would provide us with some oats, potatoes, and carrots.  We would build a covering for the sheep as soon as possible.  A Tiny shed and stockpile were built nearby as well as another colorful little house.  Meanwhile, Santa's Workshop with a 2nd floor house was built, and my house was built next to it.  I had a cozy little loft above the 2nd floor mail room.  Children would be taught how to read and write on the 1st floor.  It was sad how many children already missed starting school.  I would take care of the reindeer as well as Santa's mail.

  A tiny town hall and well were built by the main stockpile, and a turkey roost was built by an old apple tree.  The families in the 2 story house would grow pumpkins and Brussels sprouts and cut firewood.  Another 2 story house was built to the northwest.  The families would be orchard foresters and they agreed that the northwest valley was more protected and may be suitable to grown orange trees like they did at the Annex.  We would need apples, oranges, walnuts, and pecans for stocking stuffers, and we needed to get the trees planted soon, and we needed more houses.  And then, there was an outbreak of the unknown disease.  We'd been here for several months, we thought we were safe.  We needed a hospital.

  Sorry to cut this letter short, weary traveler, but the mail sleigh is about to leave.  I'll write more later.  Stay well.


Abandoned

#2
Letter 2  Regarding Year 2

Dear Weary Traveler,

  Sorry for the delay, now where was I when last I wrote?  Oh yes, the outbreak of an unknown disease.  There was one case in early winter of year 1, a young child, and by winter there were 2 more.  By then we built a Tiny hospital and gathered more herbs.  All 3 patients recovered rapidly thanks to the magic of Elven healing.  We credited our well spaced housing and storage units for keeping the contagious disease from spreading as rapidly as it was doing elsewhere.  Maybe our 2-story houses was not the best idea but it was the closest we elves could get to living in a treehouse without the tree.

  By late winter we had no new patients and we had no homeless.  We built a 2-family rooming house next to Santa's Mail and the last family moved in.  They were in no hurry to have a house, their son was the first school student and it was right next door.  We named the rooming house Holiday Inn thinking help coming by train from Holiday Hometown would have a reminder of home for the holidays.  Their boarding house was the center of their holiday celebrations.

  We needed meat so a Tiny hunting stand was built, the herds always moved away when we sent a hunter out to the herds.  We also needed the hides.  With wool and hides we could now have warm coats.  We built a Tiny workshop.  In late summer a 3-year-old came down with the unknown disease but recovered almost as soon as the hospital was reopened.  By then we had an orange forester and a pecan forester built in the northwest valley, it was late autumn and snowing by the time the walnut forester was ready to start planting.  We would need a gatherer for the fruits and nuts.  We would look for more hedgerows before we planted an apple forester.
 
Duty calls, weary traveler, I'll write more when I can.

Abandoned

#3
Letter 3  Regarding early part of Year 3

Dear Weary Traveler,

  It was early spring of our 3rd year here in Forevermore when the work crew digging the tunnel from  Pumpkin Junction broke through the mountain into our valley.  I spoke with the crew chief who said one of his men was on his way back with the news.  The work train with more dwarves would arrive soon.  I had the strange feeling I met this man before but all I could think of to say was that he had no beard.  He said we were not back in the Middle Earth ages when all dwarves had beards.  I said he was tall for a dwarf, he said I was tall for an elf.  I said I was a wood elf, he said that would explain the big ears.  Before I could reply he said he and his crew would be going back with the work train after they laid tracks for a turnaround.  The tracks would be closer to town but the railway would go no further north because of the snow and ice.  Well, they had a lot of tracks to lay just to reach town.  As he walked away he paused to turnaround and look back at me.  I had the strange feeling not only that we met before but that we had part of this conversation before.  My ears aren't that big.

  As soon as the spring snow melted, we set out looking for more hedgerows and apple trees.  We found one by the 2 story hunter's house and another east of town by the river.  There was a small cranberry bog there too.  It looked like a good place for a fishing pier.  But first we built a trading post not far from there.  There was little chance now because of the unknown disease of a river boatman stopping by, but one of Santa's Elves suggested it as a place to store our quota of stocking stuffers.  Saint Nick could stop to pick them up without having to come into town and risking contracting the unknown disease should there be another outbreak.  I thought the trading post was a very good idea.  We needed 1,000 of each of the fruits and nuts plus candy and gingerbread.

I also thought it was a good idea to build a town cemetery and Tiny Chapel.  We had no cleric but town's people could stop in for a moment to pray for the sick and for the folks back home.

Abandoned

#4
Letter 4  Late Winter, Year 3

Dear Weary Traveler,

  As you know, the work train headed north from Pumpkin Junction in late autumn of year 94 SVT.  It arrived here right before Thanksgiving Day with 14 adults and 3 children.  The train stopped some distance from town having to wait for more tracks to be built.  The families would stay in the passenger cars until we had homes built.  The work crew who had been camping in the tunnel would move into the vacant cars.  They would be going back to the Junction when the turnaround was complete. 

  The families were originally from Iron Ridge and Hometown, we knew how difficult it was for them to be away from home for the holidays.  We wanted to make Thanksgiving Day special for them.  The men quickly built a festival park by the town hall with tables and a small cookfire.  We women prepared a special meal, we wished we had more time.  We prepared turkey, mashed potatoes, Brussels Sprouts, carrots, cranberries, and the best pumpkin pies we could make without a bakery.  The families were very thankful for our efforts and one of the men was a cleric who had song booklets with him.  He said a brief prayer and lead a song of thanksgiving as We Gather Together:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahjZhZygvOY


  Everyone enjoyed the meal especially the work crew.  The crew chief said I was a very good cook, he looked puzzled.  We decided we would continue to serve meals in the park until no one was homeless or hungry. Work resumed the next day on track laying and a house was built next to the chapel for the cleric and his family.  A 13-year-old girl moved into the empty room at Holiday Inn, her older sister moved into a house built next door.  Like me, they lost their parents to the unknown disease.  A 2nd Holiday Inn was built along the same street, a widower and his son moved into one room, an older widow moved into the other.  The remaining 3 families moved into a single family house by the trading post and a 2 story house by the hedgerow and cranberry bog.  At the end of year 3 everyone was thankful to have a home.

  Weary traveler, please send word to Iron Ridge and Hometown that their loved ones arrived safe and well in Forevermore.  I will keep you posted.

Kristahfer

Once again you produced a wonderful story board.

Thank You

Abandoned

 :)  Thank you @Kristahfer  I hope you and everyone everywhere is having a good day today.  :)

Abandoned

#7
Letter 5  Autumn, Year 4

Dear Weary Traveler,

  I hope this letter finds you well.  It's been another busy year here in Forevermore.  Early spring was cold and snowy with 2 cases of the unknown disease.  Folks were keeping their distance from each other more now, so there was little or no spread when an outbreak occurred.  The patients recovered rapidly.

  We made some progress towards increasing our food supply and filling our goal for St. Nicholas.  A Tiny mill was built by the wheat field, the turkey farmyard doubled in size, and the sheep farmyard expanded to include chickens, potatoes, corn, and berries.  Two orchard gatherer huts were built.  There were no fruits or nuts to gather yet but the workers would gather wild foods until there was.

  Work on the tracks was progressing steadily and had actually rounded the bend to where a station would be built.  There were a lot of trees, stone, and iron to clear away before the turn-around tracks could be laid.  The work crew would not be leaving anytime soon.  Working closer to town, they could often take a break at the new warm snack stand by the park for a baked potato.  I met the crew chief there several times, by accidents of course, and was getting to know him but there was always that feeling that I already did.  He was single and came from someplace up north, dwarves often work as miners, smiths, or tunnelers in exchange for food for their people.  He did not understand why I was still single since I was such a good cook.

  Later autumn was cold and snowy and there was yet another outbreak but only 1 case this time.  We thought it was the weather that kept people inside and prevented the disease from spreading.  Oh, the mail sleigh has just arrived, must go.  Stay warm and stay well, weary traveler.

taniu

@Abandoned ;D Thank you for the new story, it's very interesting as always - I think you won't kill your heroes, I liked the song - unfortunately the pandemic is taking its toll - reality - all over the world - Regards

Abandoned

@taniu  Thank you, I am happy you like the story and song  :)  Always nice to hear from you and know you are well.  Pandemic is truly tragic.  Best wishes for you and your wife to stay well.

taniu

@Abandoned ;D ;D ;D Thank you for your good wishes. It's very hard for us to survive this whole situation with the virus. We wish you good health and a happy Christmas. Now Banished is therapy for us and my wife - we can break away from all worries. There are very nice people on this site - I like watching different stories and maps - more than once I was surprised by the great ideas of moderators and other players. Regards

Abandoned

 ;D Thanks @taniu for wishes and for picture of Santa coming to town.  It won't be long now and Christmas mod 2020 will be released long before that.  :)

Abandoned

#12
Letter 6  Early Winter, Year 5

Hello again, Weary Traveler,

  We are all well here, hope you are the same.  I have a lot to tell you.  We are making progress on the stocking stuffer requirements. We've had our first harvests of all required fruits and nuts.  This year we built a spice house, a sugar house, and a Tiny beekeeper, ingredients needed for candy and gingerbread cookies. Sugar and spices are also needed for a special treat for the work crew.  The chief and I were talking about Christmases when we were children and he told me of a tradition soft drink  in the north especially liked by children.  It is called Julmust and is only made at Christmastime.  We built a Julmust store next to the Holiday Inn closest to the tracks.

  In early winter the child who had the unknown disease when she was 3 years old contracted it again but her mother, knowing the signs, got her quickly to the hospital and the girl soon recovered.

  The train is parked closer to town now.  The work crew stays in the passenger cars except when it gets very cold and windy, then they stay at the Holiday Inn, we insisted.  The turnaround is almost complete.  They will be leaving us soon, going back to their families there in Pumpkin Junction.  We have another surprise for them.  They'd been away from their wives and children for a long time and we thought it would be nice if they had some gifts to take home to them.  We built 2 shops, a candle shop and a gift shop.  We women spent our spare time making candles which could also be lit in our tiny chapel to remember our lost loved ones.  For the gift shop we made linen aprons and doilies and pot holders from flax, and woolen mittens and scarves.  We added some little packets of nuts and candy from Santa's Workshop, jars of homemade jam, plus small jugs of Julmust for the children.  We will have the work crew pick what they want for themselves and their families before they leave Forevermore.

  I must be getting a cold, weary traveler, I need a hanky.  I will write more another time.  Stay well.

Abandoned

#13
Letter 7  Late Autumn, Year 6

Dear Weary Traveler,

  I write to say I am confident now that we will meet the quota for stocking stuffers, no children will wake to find their stockings empty on Saint Nicholas' Day.  By spring of this year we had a candy store built and 2 bakeries, a Christmas Baker for gingerbread cookies and a Tiny baker for bread.  Down the street from Santa's Mail room we built a Bake Shop.  It is nice to have fresh bread and cookies nearby.  I really like cookies.  We now have candle-lit colored street lights on our main street, from the Bake Shop to the Candle Shop.

  There was another outbreak of the unknown disease early in the year but all 3 patients recovered by summer.  We feared another outbreak in autumn when the weather turned cold and rainy.  There was no 2nd outbreak but it did snow early delaying the work train from leaving this year.  The turnaround was completed just before the first heavy snowfall.   The workers were disappointed at the delay, they were eager to get home to their families, but the crew chief said it would give them time to build a station and a coal bin and tiny mine for us.  We probably would not need to mine for coal for the train, it was not that far to and from Pumpkin Junction but should we need it, the mine shaft would be dug.  He thought we may have more trains coming here in the future when friends and families could come to visit.

  Must go, I'll write again soon.

Abandoned

#14
Letter 8  Autumn Year 7

Greetings Weary Traveler,

  As I write this letter, the work train and crew are on their way back home.  They were here a long time, I will miss him them, I will miss them.  We all will.  Thinking of a train returning in the future with visitors we were prompted to built a 3rd Holiday Inn, this one closer to railway station that the crew built before they left.  There was the station itself plus a station master office, a ticket office, and coal bin.  To the west, they dug a Tiny coal mine should we need it.  They did not need any coal for their return trip but they loaded logs and iron to take back to Pumpkin Junction with them.

  We had no outbreak of the unknown disease in spring but 5 adults with 1 child arrived on foot from the South Annex, it was only a few days walk from that town's west side.  They brought news and came to help.  They had no outbreak there either this spring but the disease had taken its toll.  Their population was higher than ours and they lived much closer together, every outbreak spread like wildfire, recovery time was much slower and they lost some citizens, young and old alike.  They wanted to be sure we would met their quota for St. Nick, for the children.  They commented on the restoration work going on southeast of town.  I must confess, I forgot all about it.  The laborers gathering branches reported finding some old buildings and later a few of our builders asked if they could do some restoration work in their spare time.  I had been so busy with our main street, the railway, and the production buildings in other parts of town I completely forgot.

  Besides the 3rd Holiday Inn, we also built a tavern on Main Street, to serve Christmas Spirits.  We wanted something stronger than Julmust to celebrate the completion of the railway and to toast the workers and wish them well.  There was fun and laughter but also hugs and tears.  They thanked us for the gifts to take home to their families.  Several times I thought the crew chief wanted to say something to me but all he said was he had no idea where the railway would take him next, perhaps we would meet again someday. He added that we had no way to know what the future may hold, and then he they were gone.   I did not go to the station with the others to wave them off, I did not want to see the train leave Forevermore.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F2Mu3Grm7o