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A Storybook Tale: Dunderwoodruff

Started by slink, August 01, 2014, 05:06:13 PM

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slink

Preface

The huge planet seemed to rotate below them as they circled it in orbit.  Billions of settlement sites paraded before them.  Some were large, some were small, some were medium, and no few were occupied.  Some who came here had no choice of where they were set down; they were the banished ones.  Only those whose emigration from the overcrowded mother world was voluntary got to choose.

The planet had no name.  Its period of rotation around its sun was five times the norm for human beings.  You would age five years for every cycle of the seasons.  There was no easy escape from the settlement sites.  The planet had been terraformed with an atmosphere so shallow that the mountains surrounding each colony were nearly impassible.  Only the truly desperate travelled between the colonies; mostly those whose own settlements had failed.  They were poor, ignorant, and riddled with diseases.  The exceptions were the traders.  They navigated an extensive network of rivers in their giant submarines, which were surmounted by simple rowboats so as not to frighten the more backward colonies.  The submarine portion was hidden from sight by advanced stealth technology.  It could carry far more goods than a trading post could hold.  No one was sure how the river connected because settlers could never leave their sites by water, but the traders could.  More advanced technology was no doubt responsible.

The newly arrived settlers looked out the viewing port of their colony ship with intense interest and great optimism.  Here was their chance to thrive and expand, in a new place with clean air, fresh food, and a simple lifestyle.  There were plenty of resources available for those who were allowed to choose their site, and these settlers wanted to locate the best they could.  Several good sites were located but had already been claimed.  The name of the colony was settled by vote well before the ideal location was sighted.  They orbited the planet once more after that, to be sure.  They mapped the site from orbit, and named the water features.  Then they composed themselves and pressed the big green button.  Dunderwoodruff was founded.

slink

The Chronicles of Dunderwoodruff
Begun by Gradyn, Eldest

In deference to our new home, we are going to number our years according to the rotation of the planet about its star.  This will make our chronicles strange reading, since one of the planet's years is five of our biological years, but so be it.

The Chronicles will be kept by the eldest colonist.  Right now that's me, Gradyn.  I'm also the natural father of two of the nine children, which should count for something.

The five families on landing consist of five couples, one child of a previous marriage, three children of the present marriages, and five adopted orphans.  I am listing the names and ages of the members of each founding family, but do not plan to continue the genealogy in detail.  One result of the breeding laws on overcrowded Earth is that all of the damaging recessives have been bred out of us.  It doesn't matter anymore if we marry our sisters or mothers.  Our only constraint is that the ages of the two people united in marriage must be within twenty biological years of each other, else we may run out of fertile couples.

Bentoney 13
Odeliana 14
Heydence 5 adopted child

Trentony 15
Treen 17
Kamilan 2 natural child

Gradyn 18
Joeller 16
Giannie 7 stepchild of Joeller
Arthenie 4 natural child

Eugenery 16
Mika 12
Harmaine 8 adopted child
Kershauncy 1 natural child

Fernard 11
Serenae 12
Milbur 4 adopted child
Ezekiah 4 adopted child
Penell 4 adopted child

slink

Year 1
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

Entry 1:

The site we chose is just north of the Snake River, where Long Creek runs parallel for a time before joining the river.  We have reasoned that fishing will be good in the location.

The landing vessel expanded on impact into a prefabricated barn, next to which rolled out a stockile of wood, stone, and firewood.  Inside the barn were our meager supplies: preserved potatoes, seeds for wheat and peppers, starts for peach trees, some iron tools, and some hide coats.  Although we were allowed to choose our own landing site, Earth's strained economy did not allow us to take much with us.

The very first thing we did was plant two fields each of the wheat and peppers.  While four adults tended these fields, the other six began laying out a marketplace nearby.  This includes a school for the nine chldren which are presently running helterskelter over the landscape, eight stone houses, a woodcutter's yard, a blacksmith's shop, a tailer's shop, two fishing docks, and two bridges, as well as the market itself. 

Entry 2:

It is winter now.  Only the school, five stone houses, and the woodcutter's yard is complete.  Two of the children have come of age for schooling, so one of the adults now has to act as a teacher.  That leaves four to carry on the gathering of resources and the construction.

With the crop of wheat and peppers, a delicious cuisine has been created.  The wheat was made into noodles, and the peppers were boiled without their seeds to make a smooth, slightly spicy sauce.  The much spicier seeds were ground and sprinkled over the resulting dish.  The wheat was also made into cereal for breakfast and into bread for snacks.

Births this year:

Late Summer: Michelena
Winter: Mackenzil

slink

#3
Year 2
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

From now on I'm only going to write this once a year.  It's too hectic otherwise.  We plan and change the plans, and then do
something completely different.  It's all good as long as it works, but writing a chronicle entry for every season just isn't working.

Our diet lacked meat and fruit, so our health had been slowly declining.  By this past autumn we had built a fishing dock.  We have begun fermenting the otherwise inedible portions of the fish that we catch.  This makes a delightfully savory seasoning which goes well on the noodles and is wonderful when sprinkled on the bread, but there is still fruit lacking in our diet. 

We have finished building the blacksmith's shop, so we will not run out of tools.  It is becoming tedious to keep the woodcutter's yard and the blacksmith's shop stocked with wood.  Something must be done.

Births this year:

Spring: Shel
Late Spring: Naniela

slink

#4
Year 3
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

This past summer we built a bridge eastward across Long Creek.  It wasn't one of the two we had planned, but it leads to a region with plenty of trees, where our first logging camp is to be built.  The logging camp consists of a forester's lodge, a gatherer's hut, and a hunting cabin.

Births:

Early Spring: Nest
Late Winter: Cameric

slink

#5
Year 4
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

It took over a year for the logging camp to be completed, but when it was, our diet took a distinct turn for the better.  We now have onions and mushrooms for our sauce, and roots to cook with the fish for a second type of meal.  Berries are now available for dessert.  With two more fields laid out for farming, there are not enough people to hunt and to build new buildings, so fish still remains our only meat.

Life is good, but the original nine children are all grown up and we have no place for them to live.  There are only six new children and students, and we original adults are feeling our years.  The single span bridge we built across the Snake River was made into a double, and a cemetery was begun on the south side. With the stone from the south side of the river, work on the other three stone houses we had originally planned could finally begin.

Births:

NONE!

slink

Year 5
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

By early summer of this year, there were eight stone houses, and an empty cemetery.  Enough students have graduated now so that we can have some hunters, and construction has begun on the tailor's shop. 

We still haven't built the second of our originally planned bridges or the second fishing dock.  Thank goodness we had a lot of births this year.  Maybe we can get back to our plans soon.

Births:

Spring: Damarcus, Jalee, Annaliah
Late Spring: Lark, Millis
Late Summer: Havenie, Ettina, Hugh

slink

#7
Year 6
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

This spring we completed building the tailor's shop, and also four more stone houses.  No one has as yet died.  The colony numbers 23 adults, two students, and eight children.  About half of us are in ragged clothing, but since we do not have to travel far in the cold, this does not inhibit us in the slightest.  We now have meatballs made of venison to go with our noodles.  They make a delightful change from fish.  The fish sauce is still a favorite condiment, though.

With more houses needed soon, we are planning to clear the forest to the north of us for a major farming center.  There isn't room for both houses and farms around the market we have planned.  We've also made plans for a third fishing dock, although we haven't yet built the second one.  Births were strong again this year, so we have more mouths to feed but soon also will have more hands to build and to work.

Births:

Late Spring: Braelyne, Lyndal, Denzie
Early Summer: Arle, Annmari
Late Summer: Aretter
Autumn: Zecharia, Collett

irrelevant

Mmm, nước mắm. Love it.

So, another farmer; kindred spirit.

Bottom Lake, indeed.  :P

slink

Quote from: irrelevant on August 07, 2014, 07:48:09 PM
Mmm, nước mắm. Love it.

So, another farmer; kindred spirit.

Bottom Lake, indeed.  :P

Also known as colatura, or garum.  Both cuisines are similar, give or take availability of flavorings.  Living on the shore of a sea trumps language, apparently.  I love reading other people's work on tracing recipes.  Food is wonderful.  I enjoy cooking.  I also enjoy eating, which is why I had to lose 50 pounds over the past three years.   :(  However, I am healthier now, if hungrier and thirstier.  My recent outburst of beer-drinking has cost me three pounds regained.  More self-control is needed.  :'(

slink

Year 7
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

By early summer of this year, there were eight stone houses, and an empty cemetery.  Enough students have graduated now so that we can have some hunters, and construction has begun on the tailor's shop. 

It was hard going, this past year.  We built the central market, which helped with the distribution of goods but took up the time of another person.  Even with the extra storage in the market stalls, we were continually filling up the barn.  This caused items to be dropped everywhere, which had people tripping all over the place.  We were short of logs, which made building a new barn difficult, not to mention the crowding it would have caused to build another barn here in the center.  We made a start on the new farming center up north, but we only got as far as building one stone house, clearing one field, and building some dirt roads.  Cut stone is scarce, too.  Perhaps we can trade for more, when we run out?  Who would have any of that precious stuff to spare?  In any event, we have no trading post.  We still have plenty of stone that we can cut ourselves, but we are short of hands.  We need more people!

Births:

Early Summer: Erlie
Early Winter: Ottie
Winter: Cathlyn
Late Winter: Pearleen

slink

Year 8
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

Clearing fields, cutting logs, cutting stone, cutting iron.  That's what we've done this past year.  Oh, and we built a barn.

On the positive side, our tailor has gotten quite good working with leather.  We have everything from thick work boots to soft suede underwear.  Who would have thought that so much could come from one animal!  By that I mean the deer, of course, not the tailor.

Births:

Late Spring: Hassander
Early Summer: Parleton
Winter: Amirandi

slink

Year 9
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

Five more stone houses were built this year, along with the farming center's market.  All of the crops are grown up there now, leaving the land around the central market free for houses.  We have plenty of hands free now for building new houses, but we are always short on cut stone.  That, and firewood.  I suppose we need another woodcutter's yard, but where should we build it?

Births:

Spring: Ilia
Summer: Alvatore
Late Summer: Trenae
Late Autumn: Harvid
Late Winter: Malayah

slink

Year 10
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

Chop chop. Cut cut.  Not enough building resources, but plenty of food.  Life is still good, although the grown children are frustrated for the lack of housing.

Births:

Late Spring: Madorathy
Early Winter: Haronda, Glendo
Winter: Prude

slink

#14
Year 11
Written by Gradyn, Eldest

We have all the bridges built now that we'd planned, and three fishing docks although we have not got enough people to work them all at the same time.  Instead, we built a new logging camp to the west of the farming center up north.  We've also built another woodcutter's yard and six, count them, six new stone houses.  The young people have rewarded us with a new crop of babies.  Only six of the 24 fields up north are under cultivation, but we have four barns ready for the produce and we've built a second school to be ready for the wave of new students.

On a sad note, my own dear Joeller died this year.  I never thought to outlive her.  She died of simple old age.  Also dead of old age was Eugenery and Mika's adopted child, Harmaine.  A tragedy was the death of a young woman, born here, in childbirth.  Not only was she lost, but also all her future descendants, and their descendants, were lost.  We grieve.

Births:

Early Spring: Elviller
Spring: Tristone
Early Summer: Minniel, Briel
Summer: Valen, Maddie

Deaths:

Late Summer: Joeller of old age
Autumn: Harmaine of old age
Late Winter: Cathlyn in childbirth