World of Banished

Sightseeing => Village Blogs => Topic started by: Abandoned on September 19, 2017, 02:50:44 PM

Title: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 19, 2017, 02:50:44 PM
Intro

  This is the 18th story in the Smallville series.  It tells the tale of 3 families, way up north, that set off from North Mining Town heading west into the Majestic Mountains in search of gold. The story starts much later than any of the other stories, it begins in year 60 SVT.   It was inspired by Tom Sawyer's new Gold Rush version of The North and the song "North To Alaska" song by Johnny Horton.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKY5NC2pgio


The map is #246864676   Mountain, Small,  Mild,  disasters Off,  Gold Seeker Start


Starting & Map Changing Mods:  Labor Window, RK Minimized Status

Tweak Mods:   Norseman (real time aging), Nomad sign Complete

Major or Must Have Mods:  The North v5.31,  (Mini Buildings-later Disabled), Kid's Forest Outpost

Supporting Mods:  DS Jetty and Bridges, Slink Stacked Houses, Snowman, Stone Tools, Storage Crates, Tiny Town Hall (106), Tiny Trader, Tiny Quarry, Village School


Special thanks to Tom Sawyer for updated version of The North, and to Savidan for the beautiful new World map.



  So, weary traveler, I see you have one of Savidan's World Maps.  Did you know he was in the process of making that map way back when Riverview resort was being built?  After that, he and his group of surveyors came to North Mining Town while we were preparing to leave.  He waited to finish the map until we decided on a name for our town.  We hadn't really planned a town, more like staking a claim, so since we were going prospecting for gold we told him we'd name our town Prospect.  He said he heard "the rush is on" especially around that old white mountain, a little southeast of Nome.  Yes, weary traveler, Savidan and the gold rush literally put our town on the map.  Sit a spell and I'll tell you how it all began.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Whoyou13 on September 19, 2017, 04:38:24 PM
wow, how to make that map? did you connect all the river of every town you made? and is the river connection/design in your map is actually the map's river of your gameplay? I am stunned. . .
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 19, 2017, 06:33:39 PM
that map is freaking AWESOME.you get the artist gold star for the year with that.can you do mine?? JK.no way i could do that artwork.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 19, 2017, 07:47:09 PM
@Whoyou13 and @brads3 I wish I could take credit for this beautiful map but I cannot.  It actually was made by WOB member @Savidan using photoshop according to my roughly made map that appeared in the intro of each story since #10.  I had a map for my own use since story #1 Smallville and yes the rivers are as accurate as they can be.  I made the rough map to post after brads3 comment regarding by sending my bannies off in all directions it was hard to keep track of them.  :)

The rivers were changed several times to fit the storyline and fictional reasons were written into the stories.  Sometimes I find a map first and then a location on the map like #16 Bloomington and sometimes I pick the spot and then try to find a map to fit the location, not an easy task.  Savidan checked the stories and also made appropriate symbols to represent the towns, Smallville's greenhouse, Newport's tornado, North Mining Town's lighthouse and all the others. 

Savidan definitely deserves a gold star for the wonderful map and again, my thanks.  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 19, 2017, 08:10:22 PM
i was joking about the map originally but it has been helpful to keep up and see where you are.hats off to @Savidan for the artwork.impressive
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Tom Sawyer on September 20, 2017, 02:33:00 AM
What an epic world map. Remembers on Lords of the Rings or so. Great work @Savidan!

The in game map is a nice choice as well with natural looking tributaries. But the map is so small in mountains. Challenging and I hope your travelers can survive there. Will send a blueprint of a hunting cabin to help them out.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 20, 2017, 05:39:25 AM
Thank you, @Tom Sawyer for the hunting cabin, I look forward to adding it to the map.  It will be awhile, I am many chapters ahead playing the map than writing the story.  I do like this mountain map, it is a beautiful setting for The North, and I thought the small tributaries would be good for prospecting.  We will see if they survive the Gold Rush  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 20, 2017, 12:39:28 PM
Chapter 1

There were 10 of us, 6 adults and 4 children, who came here from North Mining Town.  Our parents came from Smallville and settled there some 25 years ago.  That thriving mining town is well know for its fine Dwarven tools.  We arrived here in Prospect with the best steel tools to be found anywhere and warm winter coats and plenty of venison.  Shedric, my husband, was the oldest of our group so most decision making would be up to us.  It was Shedric who wanted to undertake this journey after the prospectors showed up in NMT.

  There were 3 of them, Sam McCord, George Pratt his partner, and his brother Billy too.  They had been prospecting for gold up in the Majestic Mountains.  They'd had enough of the cold and snow and being alone.  George wanted to find his sweet little Jenny and put a band of gold on her hand.  He hoped she was still waiting for him back in Smallville. Their claim below that big white mountain was ours if we wanted it.  There wasn't any settlement, they'd been living in tents.  Shedric wanted that claim; he wanted to find enough nuggets to put a band of gold on my hand.  I could not talk him out of it.  The other 2 couples weren't interested in gold, they just wanted to get away from the mines and blast furnaces of North Mining Town.  So it was decided, we would stake our claim.

We were preparing to head west into the mountains when a fellow named Savidan arrived in town.  He had been surveying the land and charting the ever changing rivers.  When told of our plans, he wanted to know what we planned to name our new town so he could include it on the new map.  He finished the map before we set off.  It was a very fine map indeed, don't you think?

  We knew we were in the right place when we found the big lake that Sam and George told us about, so we set up camp immediately.  We all collected building materials then Shedric and I pitched a tent by the river and built a fishing pier.  Damare and Ameronie built and sturdy log cabin since they had 2 children and she began hunting.  Likewise, Ewellis and Fores built a cabin and she began cutting firewood.

  It wasn't long before Shedric spotted some sparkles in the rocky riverbank.  A little digging and he found a small gold nugget.  He figured he'd need at least 200 of them to have a gold band made at the jewelers back in NMT.  He place the nugget in the small storage shed next to our tent.  By then our tiny town hall was built and before that first year ended we too had a warm and cozy log cabin home.  Our prospects for the future were looking good.

Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Whoyou13 on September 21, 2017, 02:47:53 AM
thanks for the reply, with you people that I admired, when time comes I will continue also the Utopia I made with Banished gameplay. Thank you again
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 21, 2017, 04:21:48 AM
You are most welcome @Whoyou13 , I hope you enjoy the story.  We will look forward to another Utopia.  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 21, 2017, 11:31:31 AM
Chapter 2

In March of year 2 each family had a newborn, Ewellis and Fores' son, Anden, Damare and Ameronie's daughter, Ideline, and our daughter, Izabetter.  The tiniest fawns we'd ever seen were also born that spring.  Our hunter and forester in the north forest were happy when warm spring weather finally arrived.  The new hunter's tent would offer a bit of shelter.

  Our iron ore processing chain was well underway.  Ameronie, wanting to be close to home began making charcoal and since we had no spare workers, she switched to making iron bloom.   The blacksmith shop, where the bloom would be processed into iron and then iron into tools, was almost finished.  Later, Ameronie really appreciated the warmth and the shelter of the blacksmith shop on those cool rainy autumn days.

  I was glad to be close to home too.  Shedric was now forester and I took over fishing on the pier.  I could run home to warm up and check on Izabetter.  The house was nice and warm, there was plenty of firewood to collect under the trees.  Winter came early way up north here in the mountains, it was snowing already in October.  It was fantastically beautiful one snowy late winter day when the setting sun broke through the clouds casting long shadows and beams of sunlight on the snowy landscape.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 21, 2017, 12:07:50 PM
how do you fish for chickens? i never seen anyone do that before.i think you mean ducks.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 21, 2017, 12:29:45 PM
@brads3 I was surprised when I saw that too.  It has to be the black grouse, but what where they doing in the water swimming with the fishes.   ;D  I tried to come up with a believable reason to write into the story but  ? 
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 21, 2017, 02:01:36 PM
that's why i said ducks. i did have a issue before where either the duck hunter caught fish of the fisherman got ducks.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 21, 2017, 02:21:36 PM
Now that you mention it, I seem to remember that.  I guess we will never know.  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 21, 2017, 04:06:15 PM
my ducks just fly away. they don't get scared.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 22, 2017, 12:23:23 PM
Chapter 3

  We saw large herds of reindeer and flocks of black grouse that winter.  In spring there were adorable baby chicks.  In April, a couple arrived in town and decided to stay with us.  They had been prospecting without luck higher up in the mountains to the northwest.  They were finding it too difficult to survive on their own.  Constantos and Erli were happy with the small shack that was built in the forest and willingly took over as hunter and forester.  A new hunting tower was also built.

  We were happy to have extra workers.   We were still in the processes of securing the basics for our town.  We had an outdoor classroom set up already and now could spare a worker to be teacher.  In November, Jamileth became our first student and Gennifred joined her shortly after.  We wished we would have been able to build a proper schoolhouse but the children didn't seem to mind being outside and they were allowed to go home often to warm up.  At least the classroom had a sturdy roof to protect them from the rain and snow. The children of Prospect would be educated including our newborn son, Cristen, who was born in February of year 3.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 22, 2017, 02:49:23 PM
my indians want to take your hunting stand and change it to work like RED's towers so they can get pheasants and turkeys but i don't think we would get away with it.every place has different types of animals around the world.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 22, 2017, 06:24:54 PM
@brads3 , no deal, I considered using Red's training camp tower but then remembered the buffalo, I know they don't roam way up North in Alaska.  I won't be building the red Nordic houses either  :( , they would not be found in Alaska.  I hope to compare some hunting and fishing numbers but we need wise Nordic woman @Nilla , that is her specialty.  Hopefully she will return soon.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 22, 2017, 08:29:42 PM
she is very missed. i do think there is her numbers but they are for older versions.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 23, 2017, 11:13:24 AM
Chapter 4

  Year 4 was another busy year.  A bridge was constructed across the river.  There was stone, firewood, and wild foods aplenty to be collected and there were probably more gold nuggets to be found along the banks of the river and stream.

  In April, 2 more prospectors arrived.  Kylar and Verenice were working a claim a little southeast of Nome but all they found were a few small nuggets and had had enough of prospecting.  They were happy to join us and a log cabin was constructed for them near the charburner.  Kylar thought there had to be a lot of fish in that big lake.  There probably were but for now we were happy just to be able to smoke the fish we caught from the pier.  Shedric and I took turns fishing or smoking the salmon.  We were both close to home and the children.

  We now had an extra worker to help with the iron processing but we were often short of iron ore.  There was a great deal of bog iron across the river, but a short bridge across the stream was needed in order to reach it.  There were more gold nuggets to be found and by winter we had a total of 33 nuggets in storage.

  In May Constantos and Erli had a baby girl they named Jellene and in February, Thur was born to Kylar and Verenice bringing our population to 20, 10 adults, 2 students, and 8 young children.  Prospect was doing well.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 24, 2017, 11:45:49 AM
Chapter 5

  In Spring of year 5, Ballace and Elmirandy arrived.  Ballace's father and brother were killed when the tunnel of their small gold mine collapse. There was no gold to be found and he had no interest in looking for any.  Elmirandy was a trapper by trade and she was twice his age.  No one questioned their living arrangements but they built themselves a small shack and a trapper's cabin. Elmirandy said we would get a good trade value for the furs and even more for fur coats.

Slowly but surely our small settlement of Prospect was growing and expanding.  Perhaps it was time we thought about doing a little trading.  We had plenty of fish and game but our overall health was not that good, we could use some grain.  And so we built a tiny trading post and Shedric became our trader.  It was completed by September and in February, a merchant was spotted coming downriver.  The sighting and imminent arrival of the riverboat merchant overshadowed any talk about Elmirandy giving birth to a baby boy they named Arling.

  Dandro, the seed merchant, would not accept any of our goods in trade.  He carried seeds and could not be weighed down or slowed down with heavy trade goods.  He would only accept coins, dalers or pennings.  We could get them by trading with other merchants.  So he went on his way leaving us wondering how long before another trader came this way.

Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 25, 2017, 12:28:46 PM
Chapter 6

  In March of year 6, some sparkles of gold were spotted along the north shore, so a bridge was constructed across the river to the north.  In April, Singerzo and Campbelley arrived, but like the others who joined our town, they had little interest in prospecting.  It was a cool and often rainy spring, summer, and fall.  Even the animals were seen trying to seek shelter, they were unaware of the danger that Singerzo's hunter's stand posed to them. 

The beautiful wood chapel that was built that year raised our spirits but our health was still poor.

Campbelley soon had a herbalist workplace set up next to their cabin and it became a very popular place to visit.  I made several trip there myself.

By the end of year 6, Catalee the merchant arrived and we traded furs and tools for 20 dalers, we had 39 gold nuggets in storage, and our population had risen to 28, 14 adults, 3 students, and 11 children.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 25, 2017, 10:54:12 PM
Did you have that low health before?
Seems like they are slowly dying. But I think it only affects idling.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 26, 2017, 03:51:53 AM
@kid1293 I did notice that their overall health was going down but did not realize until this point that some were much healthier than others.  Some have no herbs or wild foods in their pantries at all.  There are much less to be gathered in the North mountains.  I hope it only affects idle because that is the main storytelling character.  With visit to the new herbalist her health has improved 1/2 heart.  They need grain and dalers to buy grain seeds.  Hopefully soon.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 26, 2017, 07:55:41 AM
Such problems could be solved in part if you get a selection of seed from the beginning.
There is everything you need in seeds. Fruit Vegetable Grain Protein
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 26, 2017, 08:10:55 AM
This Gold Seeker start condition has no seeds or livestock, 3 families with tools & clothes & venison.  Prospectors only interested in striking it rich not settling down and farming.  This bunch is a little different, they settled down and plan to stay.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 26, 2017, 08:55:53 AM
The hard life?  ;)

I think they have time for a beer, so some seed is necessary. :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 26, 2017, 12:19:06 PM
Ya, it is a tough life for these poor guys with no beer.  :)  No seeds, no one to plant the seeds, and no one to make the beer.  Is the gold worth that kind of hardship?
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 26, 2017, 01:17:26 PM
The bracelet maybe is. Who knows the mind of a bannie?
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 26, 2017, 01:35:50 PM
Chapter 7

The prospectors:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi1DTMP8-nc
   
A couple of prospectors stopped by but didn't stay long.  They said that old white mountain looked like it had some gold in it, yup, yup, yup.  They sat around the campfire by themselves for a while and then set off downstream.

  That mountain did look like a good spot to dig a gold mine, so that's what we did.  When Heneral and Darleigh arrived in April, Darleigh grabbed a pick and headed for the mine.  They said they didn't want any share of the gold until they paid us back for the fine house, food, clothes, and tools we gave them.

  We spent a lot of time that year collected wild foods, we needed more variety since our overall health was still low.  We also began roasting venison over an open campfire and it was a good spot to warm up at on rainy and snowy days.  We had an early October snowfall that was just beautiful with big fluffy flakes.  It was followed by a cold and snowy winter.

  Ameronie was happy to make the switch from the bloomery to the covered blacksmith workshop.  She would be just as happy when she could switch from making heavy iron to making tools instead.  By the end of year 7 there would be plenty of tools in storage and some for the trading post also.  Ballace, the trapper, sent plenty of furs to the trading post that year too.  We could have used a few more deer hides for parkas but we had plenty of venison and salmon.  The only thing our town of Prospect seemed to be lacking was workers.

Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 26, 2017, 03:52:55 PM
To bad my english is not good enough.
I understand the video for the most parts but sometime (when they laugh)
it just goes by. Thanks for sharing.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 26, 2017, 04:33:11 PM
@kid1293 I think you probably understood it well enough.  I thought the one guy looked more like a pirate than a prospector though.  :D
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 27, 2017, 02:52:22 PM
Chapter 8

  In year 8, we began giving more thought to the layout of our town.  We designated an area to be used as a cemetery should the need arise.  Prospecting and mining were dangerous jobs.  We also gave some thought to where more housing could be build. 

  We were delighted when Hold, the food merchant, arrived in April with flour.  We traded for 380 units.  Everyone was a bit upset that Damare and Ameronie took way more than their fair share, especially since we selected a location and laid the foundation for an oven house to bake bread.  It didn't really matter since we realized in order to finish the building we would have to wait for bricks or make our own, a task we could not spare workers to undertake at the moment.

  We gained 4 more workers when Kather and Earl and Garvie and Skyleena arrived.  We then had  a charburner, a gatherer, and a stonecutter, leaving us with 4 laborers and 1 builder.  Those laborers spent a bit more time that year gathering firewood and wild foods and herbs.  Thanks to our improved diet and herbalist, our health had improved.  By year end we had a new fishing pier.

  Shedric was disappointed we hadn't been able to improve our mining and prospecting, we only had 60 gold nuggets in storage.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 28, 2017, 12:52:14 PM
Mod Note:  Tom Sawyer's Hunting Cabin has been added to the mod list.  Thank you, Tom

Chapter 9

  In April of year 9, a couple arrived who had been hunters for a small group of prospectors whose claim was played out.  Those 5 prospecting families arrived a few days later.  We had barely begun constructing houses and the new hunting cabin when a large group of gold seekers arrived from the southwest.  They heard we struck it rich here "below that big white mountain just a little southeast of Nome".  Struck it rich, what the heck were these people talking about and where did they hear such a thing?  Well it didn't matter, we couldn't let them roam off into the mountains, they had 10 young children with them and little else.

  So we made a deal with them.  If they stayed and helped us with our claim and our goal of 200 nuggets we needed,  we would see that they had housing, food, clothing, tools, and education for their children plus every man, woman, and child would receive a big nugget of gold before the town of Prospect was done.

   Could we keep such a promise? Only time would tell.  In a few short months our town had grown from a population of 40 to one of 67, 39 adults, 1 student, and 27 young children.  We had work to do, at least now we had workers to do it.  We now had 3 builders who got busy building cheap and easy housing all around town.

  We were very glad when Scaly, the merchant, arrived with corn a short time later.   Roosevelyn and Luannemari got the first house and he set right to work hunting.  That new hunting cabin was a very impressive looking building.  A second one was being constructed a ways south of the main part of town.  On the other side of the river, several log cabins were being built as well as a gatherer and forester station.  There was a lot of game in the surrounding forest so a small hunting stand would also be built there.  It was a chilly rainy fall and we still had many homeless people.  It turned cold and snowy very quickly and appeared that we were in for a bad winter.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 28, 2017, 01:39:15 PM
you need some snoeshoes on your hunting cabin.oh and a log with a chipmunk too.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 28, 2017, 02:07:40 PM
 ;D  I would love a log with a chipmunk.  I think Necora's igloo could make us some snowshoes. I think that is one nice looking hunting cabin.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 29, 2017, 12:29:57 PM
Chapter 10

  As expected, it was a cold and snowy winter.  Our builders were still busy constructing houses, laborers were busy hauling materials.  Each step of our iron processing chain now had its own worker, they were glad for the extra warmth their tasks provided.  With extra hunters we not only had more venison but we also had more hides for coats.  Our supply was increasing.

  Our family was doing well, the children were healthy and happy.  Shedric and I made frequent trips to the herbalist so our health was steadily improving.  There was plenty of firewood to gather from under the trees but we added another woodcutter to our workforce.  Our workers were well divided among the needed professions.  By the end of year 9, we had 20 homes and no homeless families.  Our population was 69, 39 adults, 2 students and 28 young children.  Our education rate was 21%.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on September 30, 2017, 10:11:20 AM
Your bannies are doing alright even under stress.
First Adam and Eve and now the harsh climate of the North.
Will there be a swamp map? Sorry if it exists I haven't seen all. :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 30, 2017, 10:31:45 AM
@kid1293 A swamp map? Ya, there will be if talented modder makes enough swamp things   :D

Edit: Please
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on September 30, 2017, 10:32:52 AM
what would you like for the swamp ? RED's new canals,CC dock pieces,Ds docks??
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 30, 2017, 10:35:01 AM
Pirates and alligators  :D
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on September 30, 2017, 11:54:10 AM
Chapter 11

  In April of year 10, we saw a merchant coming downriver and hoped it would be a food trader but it Elliam who had dalers to trade.  We trader for another 20 and then had 40 in storage at the trading post.  Shortly after, 7 prospectors arrived followed by 36.  We badly needed more housing and more food.  In July Garvie the laborer died of starvation. It was time we start making use of the resources the big lake could provide.  Problem was we had no builders skilled at jetty building but they would do the best they could.  By the end of the year we were critically short of food.

  In April of year 11, Lamberto the resource merchant arrived.  We did not need tools, iron, or steel but we placed an order for bricks. We were very glad that the 11 prospectors who arrived shortly after did not want to stay.  They did not want to wait around for a share of the gold.  The young couple that arrived alone however were happy to stay with us, they were tired of struggling on their own.

  In June there was an outbreak of mumps.  In September, the first victim was laid to rest, a young child.   The number of cases was rising.  Would the small sauna be finished in time to save the rest?
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 01, 2017, 11:09:42 AM
Chapter 12

  By the time the small sauna was completed, there were 7 cases, 6 of which were immediately admitted for treatment.   It had already begun to snow and our food supply was critically low.  The weather was bitterly cold and our supply of firewood was also low.  Laborers were sent to the woods to collect firewood but at this time of year there were no wild foods to collect.

  A new trading post was completed and we waited impatiently for a food merchant to arrive.  It was Dandro, the seed merchant, who arrived at the old port, but he had no grain seeds.  We could not afford to use our dalers for anything else.  At least our lake fisherman were producing well despite the cold and snow of winter.  The disease claimed no more victims and we ended year 11 hoping the new year would be a better one.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 02, 2017, 01:07:02 PM
Chapter 13

  In spring of year 12 we added another hunter in the North and a fishing pier in the southeast.  When the food merchant arrived we only traded for a little smoke fish, we would send laborers out more often to collect wild foods.

In July a couple arrived and like the others were happy to join us and wait for a share of the gold.  One became the 4th worker in the gold mine and the other a fisherman.  They built a house on the jetty where a 2nd mollusc farm was being constructed.  We now had 40 homes and 40 families.

We needed flour, bread, or herbs, but when the merchant arrived we traded for 160 mollusc and hoped our food production would hold steady over the coming winter months.

  At the end of the year, Fores the hunter, was killed by a bear.  He was one of Prospect's original settlers.  We were left with a population of 138, 75 adults, 7 students, and 56 young children.  We needed another school and we now need 338 gold nuggets.  We only had 112 in storage.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 03, 2017, 11:31:16 AM
Chapter 14

  In April of year 13, 18 prospectors chose not to stay with us.  We were glad because both our food supply and education rate were already low.  When Zellene the trader arrived we traded for rye and when Harlis, the resource merchant, arrived we again ordered brick for our bakery.  We change the planned location of the bakery and built another blacksmith instead.  We also built a small workplace to make stone tools for trade.  Surface iron ore was getting scarce and what little there was, was quite some distance from town.  We thought of an iron mine but many were getting impatient for a share of the gold and did not want to be mining for iron ore.

We got a good trade value for iron tools in exchange for much need bread, we needed more iron ore.  When Mayne, the miner, was killed by a cave in, there were even more who were against building an iron mine.  Before the end of the year, Gannon the gatherer ate poisonous berries and died.

  Year 14 was not off to a good start either.  We were low on food and herbs.  We traded for some trout.  A young couple arrived and decided to stay.  They were tired of the constant struggle and endless tasks.  We told them it would be much the same here, when not busy with regular work we search the woods for herbs and wild foods and firewood.  The couple still decided to stay.

  Our education rate was still only 11% and both classrooms were full so we built a village school.  We also built a second gold mine and if need be we could always switch production to iron ore but we needed gold.  Our population was now 149, 76 adults, 17 students, and 56 young children.  We needed 349 gold nuggets, we were only a few nuggets short of the half way point.  We had 177.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Tom Sawyer on October 03, 2017, 12:31:16 PM
Your people seem to be quite stingy, hoarding all their gold.^^ They could buy so much nice stuff for it and having a good life. ;D
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 03, 2017, 01:59:35 PM
Yes, that is true but Shedric wants to buy a gold wedding band for his lady love and that costs 200 gold nuggets back at the jeweler in North Mining Town where they came from.  And he promised the others that each man, woman, and child would get a gold nugget for helping him.  The thing we sacrifice for love  ;D
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Tom Sawyer on October 03, 2017, 04:30:51 PM
Wow, all the hardships just for a girl. I hope she's worth it.^^ But to promise a piece of gold for every guy can be a big mistake. You know how this always ends in such stories where gold has to be divided among people. :-X ;D
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 03, 2017, 06:51:53 PM
Ah, but these bannies are different from the ones in most stories.  These bannies have been wander around the mountains looking for gold and now they are happy just to have food and shelter from the cold snowy North climate, all the while enjoying the beautiful scenery and listening to the cranes.  ;D  Who needs gold?  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: brads3 on October 03, 2017, 07:03:58 PM
you keep it up and they'll move to KID's wildwest town and get drunk at the saloon.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 03, 2017, 08:40:14 PM
 :) Those early American bannies weren't happy where they were, go north, go west, at least it would be warmer in Kid's wildwest town, long dusty trail there, sure they'd stop at the saloon.  Then have to go back north for more gold.  :)
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 04, 2017, 12:39:59 PM
Chapter 15

   In April of year 15, 12 prospectors arrived but did not stay.  They wanted to strike-it-rich right away, they did not want to wait.   They did not come all this way North to be fisherman.

  In June we were delighted when the bricks we ordered finally arrived.  We could build a small oven house to bake bread.  Now all we needed was flour, grain, or grain seeds, and a mill.  The oven house was built in August and in September, Zellene the merchant brought flour to trade.  We got 640 sacks of flour and decided to keep half in the trading post to be released when needed for the oven.

  Damare, a farmer by trade, was up early every morning baking bread.  The oven house was right behind our house and we awoke to the smell of fresh baked bread and were most eager to get a loaf.

  It was another cold winter but we had plenty of firewood and a loaf of bread warming by the hearth.  Our overall health continued to fall, we were always short of herbs.  Hopefully the grain added to our diet would help.

  In January we celebrated the fact that we now had the 200 gold nuggets needed for Shedric to have a wedding band of gold made at the jeweler in North Mining Town.  We needed only 152 more nuggets to repay the people of Prospect who helped to make that dream come true.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 05, 2017, 12:22:12 PM
Chapter 16

  By spring of year 16 our flour was almost gone.  The trader that arrived did not have any.  The 22 prospectors that arrived shortly after did not stay.  In  May, Elliam the trader had dalers, after 15 years we still had no grain seed but we traded for 20 more dalers.

  In November we built another smoking shed over by the jetty fisherman, and we traded for 480 sacks of flour.  Another worker was added to the gold mine.

  In May of year 17 we traded for wheat and kept most of it stored at the trading post until a mill was built on the small stream.  The mill was finished by August and the oven house again had flour to make bread.  We hoped our food production would continue to improve along with our education rate.  Our overall health continue to decline though so another herbalist workplace with residence was constructed on the other side of the lake.

Our trading post was not restocked by the time the trader arrived with rye so we only traded for 40 sacks but we looked forward to rye bread with our smoked fish.  We had enough trade goods for 220 sacks of flour when Isha the trader arrived in January.

  At the end of year 17 Prospect had a population of 155, 83 adults, 21 students, and 51 young children.  We had a lot of mouths to feed but an education rate of 18%.  We only needed 64 more gold nuggets, we had 291.

Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 06, 2017, 12:22:25 PM
Chapter 17

  In March of year 18, Zellene the merchant brought wheat.  We trade firewood, furs, and stone tools for 610 sacks. We did not trade away any of our iron tools.  There was no more surface iron ore to be found anywhere and we did not want to stop mining for gold when we were so close to our goal.  We just added 2 more workers to the gold mines, they now had 8 miners each.  We still had 8 laborers and 2 builders.

  In July, Zellene returned but had no grain this time.  We were now completely out of iron ore and had only a few iron bloom left.  We had 136 iron tools, enough to last awhile.  In September we closed the bloomery and the iron blacksmith, both workers were now miners.  In October, Ollison brought wheat to the old port.  We traded all the firewood, furs, and venison that was stored there but not the 60 dalers.  After 18 years we still had no seeds or livestock.  We closed that trading post and gained one more gold miner.

  Several children were born before the end of the year.  The population was 161 meaning we needed 361 gold nuggets.  We had 348.  Our food supply and population held steady well into year 19.  In June of year 19 we had 86 adults, 26 students, and 49 young children, a total of 161 citizens.  We had 361 gold nuggets.

Yes, weary traveler, we reached our goal.  Shedric and I and our 3 children are headed back to North Mining Town with our 200 gold nuggets for the jeweler.  We had a big celebration outside the town hall to distribute the remaining nuggets to the families who helped us, each man, woman, and child received 1 gold nugget.  And we turned over the deed to the claim to the good people of Prospect.  You are welcome to join them. 

Live Long and Prosper in Prospect

The End

Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: kid1293 on October 06, 2017, 03:36:27 PM
:) Nice story but the end came quick.
Title: Re: Abandoned - (North to) - Prospect - Story 18
Post by: Abandoned on October 06, 2017, 04:53:23 PM
Thanks @kid1293  :) To me it seemed the last 2 or 3 years were a bit long, not much to do but keep food supply steady and wait for enough gold.  I was saving land in case I would get grain seeds or livestock but they never came.  I didn't want to build more houses to increase population and need for more food and more gold. It had a happy ending and I always enjoy my visits to the North  :)