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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

#15
Chapter 4


  In spring of year 4, 8 survivors arrived from Summerset.  They were tired and rundown, each of the adults had a serious injury that needed tending.  Kylandro said they were welcome to stay, they would be taken care of here.  I recognized most of them from Summerset and they remembered Kylandro as one of the boatman.  They thought there were other survivors back in Summerset.  When they made their escape, many of the frogs were dying.  There were not enough swamp flies and other insects for that magnitude of frogs to eat, they were starving.

  Our food supply was getting a bit low.  Whoever was able to went out to gather wild foods.  There were still plenty of goods to unload from the booty ship, walnuts, apples. and sea biscuits.  Cheers went up when 2 barrels of rum were unloaded.  Kylandro gave permission for a Pirate's Den to be built but not before there were enough good stone houses for everyone.  A still was set up out back of the houses to make more rum using the sugar from the booty ship.  The ship's pet parrot was perched before the doorway to the Den and squawked loudly until someone gave him a sea biscuit.

  After Kylandro inspected the cargo aboard ship, I heard him say he wasn't surprised to find peg legs, it was typical of Riverboat Junction to try to make a profit off the victims of the swamp disaster.  I was surprised to see Kylandro bring a crate of seedlings off the ship.  The lemon tree seedlings should be planted right away.  He said it was important for the men to have citrus fruit when out to sea.  It prevented a disease called scurvy.  There were enough lemon tree seedlings for a small grove, the other seedlings looked like Smallville seedlings.  A forester could plant them and we would have to wait and see what trees they produced.  I asked how he knew so much and he said you learn a lot when you're a river boatman.   I was even more surprised when he ordered a school to be built.

  The woman who took the lemon tree seedling to plant told me she remembered Kylandro coming to port in Summerset.  Her husband was trader for awhile and said there was often extra items thrown in with the trade or a sack or two of something was found on the dock after Kylandro left.  She thought those sacks weren't left by accident.  I only remembered that the river boatman would smile and wave at me as he rowed by.


kid1293


Abandoned


Goblin Girl

Peg legs!  A shop that makes peg legs!  This is hilarious.  I love it!

Abandoned

 :D Just the reaction we were hoping for  :D

Paulo

I love your stories and your cities...
It give me some joy after a busy day at work.

Thank you for sharing.

Abandoned

You are welcome and thank you so much @Paulo  :) that is nice to hear.  I am glad you like my stories.

Abandoned

#22
Chapter 5


  As he predicted, the shipwreck survivors who failed to find their way out of the swamp began building a small village near the site of the wreck.  Kylandro saw some swamp houses from the watchtower.  He asked me to go with him to pay a visit.  There were 17 survivors total.  A few agreed to move to town, the others refused and wanted nothing to do with us dirty pirates, and would stay where they were.  Dirty pirates?  Kylandro said if they needed anything they should not hesitate to ask.  They seemed to be doing okay. They had a small shed full of gathered foods, a stockpile with some building materials, and a fishing pier.  They were scavenging for anything of use they could find from the wrecked ship.

  When we got back to town, Kylandro instructed watch to be kept on the village to make sure no signal fires were lit.  Jeffer had set up a stash near the watchtower and bridge to the village, he said he'd keep an eye open for rum and run over to the village to pillage it if any was found.  I was surprised when Kylandro patted him on the back and said "good man".  Kylandro looked at me and explained that pillaging was something pirates always do, there was no stopping it.  He knew the family, Jeffer had swamp fever as a child and was not able to learn things like other children did.  This was something he could do.  The villagers would be compensated for anything Jeffer took. 

  In spring of year 6, I was surprised when Kylandro said he was doing a riverboat run back into the swamp.  Our third child was not even a year old, and our fourth was due in a few months.  He would not be gone long but he wanted me to stay close to the house especially if the still was making rum and the Pirate's Den was serving it.  His men were good men but pirates were pirates especially when they were drinking rum.  He said two houses were being built close to ours, one for his first-mate and one for another trusted crewmen.  If I needed anything I was to go to them.  I watched Kylandro row away.


Abandoned

#23
Chapter 6


  While Kylandro was gone, a small area was set aside as a cemetery near the lemon grove, and a forester station was built across the creek to plant seedlings and harvest trees.  Logs would be put on the swamp village stockpiles whether they wanted our help or not.  I had taken them some apple tree seedlings to compensate for the scavenged rum that Jeffer pillaged.  They were not very friendly or nice, one woman called me a cheap pirate's wench.  She made it sound like a bad thing.  She took the seedlings.

  Our daughter Imogeneva was 3 months old when Kylandro returned in late autumn.  He laughed and said "come give your pirate a hug, wench" when I told him about the swamp woman and seedlings.  All teasing aside, he said he found things back in the swamp to be even worse than he expected.  He called a meeting with his top crewmen.  Swamp people were in dire need of more than we could provide.  He wanted a port built so we could trade for needed items.  There were several river boatmen who could be trusted with our location.  He would send word. 

  The small port was completed by early spring of year 7.  There would be no lighthouse, any ship that entered our cove entered at their own risk.  We had other ways of making our presence know in these waters.  I thought of the shipwreck and found it hard to believe that Kylandro had something to do with causing that ship to run aground.  The shipwreck survivors were doing okay though.  The apple trees were thriving and the villagers built a small workshop to make their own tools and clothes.

  Our newly planted seedlings also showed new growth and as Kylandro said, they were Smallville seedlings.  There were birch and pines and to our surprise, some wild oats as well.  And as he had said, things were very bad back in the swamp.  A couple with 2 children arrived by houseboat and confirmed that the situation was dire.  The injured survivors could not provide food for themselves and the dying frogs were causing diseases and more misery.  They would have stayed to help but had their own children to think about.  The sight of the houseboat brought back memories of that last day in Summerset and I again awoke screaming from nightmares of giant frogs.  Those nights especially, I was very happy to be a pirate's wench.


rkelly17

Quote from: Abandoned on September 19, 2018, 07:42:21 AM
The ship's pet parrot was perched before the doorway to the Den and squawked loudly until someone gave him a sea biscuit.

Love your stories, @Abandoned. Just a small question: What would a parrot do with a horse?  :P

Abandoned

 :D Thanks @rkelly17 glad you like the story.  Okay let me guess, a sea biscuit, hmm - a race horse? No, a cracker - parrot wants a cracker  ;D

Abandoned

#26
Chapter 7


  Kylandro decided he had to make an emergency run back to the swamp.  He ordered a small warehouse to be built on the swamp stream and wanted as many herbs and nonperishable foods taken there as we could spare.  Walnuts and sea biscuits from the booty ship would be good choices.  He was very pleased when the swamp villagers donated several crates of apples.  A small pile of  peg legs were also stacked in the boat.

  Just as he was about to leave, Ladarion, the seed trader, arrived.  Kylandro told me to trade whatever I had to, even the rum, to get the wheat seeds the trader had.  Me?  Why not the first-mate?  Oh, the first mate was left in charge of the ship and the crew.   Okay then.  I would get those wheat seeds.

Kylandro just left when Havenita, the resource merchant arrived.  Oh my gosh, he had a treasure map!  Yes, a treasure map.  I wanted that treasure map.  I asked the first mate what I should do.  He said he would not tell me what to do, I was the captain's woman, it was for me to decide.  At least he did not call me pirate's wench.  He did say these river boatmen were trusted friends of the captain, if they had a treasure map to offer then it was genuine and there would be a profit to be made by trading for it.  He smiled kindly and said I should not worry that Kylandro would be displeased with any decision I would make.

  I asked Havenita if he would wait until I got together enough trade goods together for the treasure map.  He would not take any rum because he was on his way back to Riverboat Junction.  They would only trade it to fellow pirates for a huge profit, better to take it to the other pirates ourselves.  Oh, so this river boatman was also a pirate.   He said he would wait, he was in no hurry to get back to the Junction.

  Kylandro had been in a hurry, he arrived back just before the end of the year.  He was pleased to hear I got the wheat seeds.  Our 4 children were happy to have him back and so was I.  Year 7 had been a good year.  Pirate's Cove had a population of 49, 29 adults, 4 students, and 16 young children.

Goblin Girl

I'm dying to know what use the treasure map has (in game)!

Abandoned

#28
 :)


Chapter 8


  A 12'x12' wheat field was planted in Spring of year 8 and a bakehouse was built next to the field.  The wheat would be milled and baked into sea biscuits, a staple food for long sea voyages because of its keeping quality. 

  By then I had already made the trade for the treasure map and Havenita went on his way.  I was so excited.  Kylandro said I was like one of the children with a new toy.  The map was a piece of cloth with a rough sketch of our cove done with a piece of coal.  There was a spot marked with an X.  That must be where the treasure was buried.  It was late in the year before I had time to look for the spot, it was near the smuggler's cave.  I took the map to the spot and scratched an X into the ground where we should dig.  Makaylynne from the houseboat came to help me dig, we took turns whenever we had time.  Her husband, Ranson, had volunteered to take the riverboat to Summerset with more herbs and food so he was not there in early spring of year 9 when we dug up the treasure chest.  Kylandro himself came to pick up the chest and take it to storage.  It was then taken to the trading post where it would be traded for needed items.  Indeed, a nice profit had been made.

Abandoned

#29
Chapter 9


  We needed more supplies for our growing population and also for Summerset and other swamp settlements that needed assistance.  Another forester and hunter were set up across the creek to the northwest.  A second gatherer was also built in that area.  The first one built near the swamp village was always busy collecting wild foods and wild oats.  This forester would plant the last of the Smallville seedling so there was bound to be more wild oats growing here as well.

  Kylandro and his crew went out for another booty run.  They targeted merchant ships and riverboats from the wealthier settlements like Mountain Mines and Riverview Resort, those who were living in luxury, sailing around in fancy ships, and making and selling gemstone jewelry while others starved.  Their goods would be traded back to Riverboat Junction to help the poor and needy.  There was even talk about building another ship.

  The booty ship had only been gone a short time when another ship was spotted entering the cove.  It must have been avoiding our pirate ship, as planned.  It was late in the year and the northwest winds caught hold of those fancy sails.  We knew it would not make it around that sharp bend in the river.  It overturned when it hit the far shore of the lake near the watchtower.  There would be a lot of good materials to be scavenged from it.  The 5 passengers said they would be willing to work for us if we just didn't hurt them.  Hurt them?  What kind of monsters did they think we were?  I had fruit baskets made up and delivered to their new swamp houses where they chose to live.  They would learn to help themselves and maybe learn to help others too.  They would come to no harm while living here with us.