Intro
This is the 67th story in the Smallville Series and tells the tale of 6 families, from the island of Japan far to the west, whose ship was blown off course during a storm and broke apart when hitting the rocks off Banished World's southwest shores. They encountered heat and drought in the southwest and wild animals and unfriendly natives in the west. Further inland they encounter floods and famine. They were directed to Smallville where they were given food and supplies and were told to head east, but there they encountered the aftermath of deadly tornados. They wanted only to settle in a peaceful place away from the problems of this world that they found themselves in. They headed south into the mountains near Chattachoo story 4 and Mountain Mines story 8, and there they found their Shangri La. Shangri La was an imaginary land high in the mountains of Tibet depicted in the James Hilton's 1933 novel Lost Horizon (later a movie). Shangri La has since be used to describe any beautiful remote place where life is tranquil and near perfection, a utopia. These weary travelers found such a place in year 53 SVT.
The map seed # 20082702 Mountain Meadow, Small, Mild, Disasters Off, Japan (6 Families)
Featured mods for this story are
@angainor88 Japanese mods.
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, Settlers Deco, A8Japenese Trees, Kid Tree Replacer XLight, New Flora Edit, A8 Japanese Start
Tweak Mods: Better Fields, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Dried Mushrooms, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting (TS), Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), A8 Japanese Clothing Override, Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Fenceless Pasture, Nomads (Kid), Storage Crates, A8 Japanese Deco, A8 Japanese Housing & Storage, A8 Japanese Misc., Kid Workplace
Supporting Mods: Chicken Coop, Grow Onions, Japanese Shrine, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Work Shop, Sample White Chicken, Water and Other Decorations
Yes, weary traveler, we were lucky to be alive but we found ourselves in a strange land where we did not speak the language or understand what was said to us. We had no way to let our families know we were alive and no way to return to our homeland across the sea. We walked on silently, alone with our thoughts of our homeland and our grief.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVPtPGSLXlY
Yes, weary traveler, It was a long and sad journey. We could only walk on with our heads held high so we wouldn't cry. When we finally saw these mountains that reached to the sky we knew we had found a new home, our Shangri La.
I always enjoy your stories, and I'm very excited to see my mods in use! And if you have any problems/feedback for them, let me know
:) I will let you know, so far so good, what a nice selection of buildings to chose from. :) I am enjoying Japanese mods very much.
Chapter 1
The mountain meadow we found reminded us of our homeland, there were plants and trees like we had at home. From the highest mountain peak we could see a vast sea to the east, a sea like the one that brought us to this land. We young people were on our way up the coast to celebrate the betrothal of our dear friends, we had many gifts for them like silk worm eggs and mulberry tree seedlings. There were 21 of us, 12 adults with 9 young children. The weather was not good, we should have listened to our parents and not gone that day. A fierce wind got hold of our boat and after many many days it threw us up on the shores of this land.
We salvaged what we could from the wreckage including those gifts plus rice and soybean seeds. We traveled inland and met people we did not understand but they pointed us in the right direction. There were many hardships in this land but the people in a town called Smallville were very kind. They taught us a little of their language and showed us what wild foods were safe to gather and eat. They gave us a bow and taught us to hunt a deer. We knew how to fish. They gave us some clothes, tools, and potatoes and told us we would find good land to the east. We found thick forest land and then land destroyed by fierce windstorms, but on the southern horizon we saw these mountains. We walked on, climbing up into these mountains to find this meadow.
We gathered building supplies and built a storage kura. We would store our box of silkworm eggs and sleep inside until we were able to build houses. We must secure our food supply but first we built a Japanese temple next to the kura. We practice Shinto, the way of the Gods. We worship the spirit of nature and our ancestors. We will not forget the old ways or let the children forget where they came from. The temple would serve as our first school. My husband, Demarcel, and I had no children yet even though we were the oldest couple. My name is Annine.
There were reeds just like back home on the lake that a river flowed into. We knew fishing would be good there. We built a Jomon fish weir to catch fish like they did in the old days. It was important that we get our rice seeds and soybeans planted as soon as possible. A rice paddy was dug and a farm field was cleared by the small stream. There were deer spotted to the north and to the south of the fields so there is where we built a hunting tower. It rained often but the temperature was mild just like it was back home.
Mod note: The Japanese Shrine school in the Ch1-2 picture above is an old mod that can be found here:
https://banishedinfo.com/mods/view/654-Japanese-Shrine
Chapter 2
By summer of that first year we began building homes. Our food and clothing supplies were low but we gathered wild foods and had hopes for a good harvest. A small house extension was built onto the side of the kura for a newly wed couple who were expecting their first child. He started to cut firewood. If the climate indeed was like that of our homeland we would soon have cold weather and snow. We built an Iwate Inn to get the families out of the kura storage barn if only temporarily. A Yayoi pit house was built for Demarcel and myself by the fish weir. Demarcel tended the rice paddy while I fished. Our diet here would consist mainly of raw fish, rice, and soybeans. The mulberry orchard would take time to grow and produce. We found some mulberry trees growing wild. There was also bamboo growing wild along the small stream. With it we could make fishing poles, baskets, floor mats, and other useful household items. We found seedling of other familiar plants and trees growing in the wild too and we were beginning to feel at home here in Shangri La but our memories often made us sad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-JbvmuCNcc
Really like the addition of the music.
Thanks
@Kristahfer I always liked the first song, Sukiaki, and thought of it immediately when I decided to do a Japanese story. I actually still have the old 45 record. I did not know the English translation until now. Looking for a video of it is when I found the second song liking the picture and then the song. I thought the words really fit the beginning of the story and just had to include it. :)
Chapter 3
It was late autumn of that first year when the Kyoto farmhouse was built for one of our families. They had 3 children but there was room for 2 more. We had our first harvests of rice and soybeans and our first snowfall before that farmhouse was completed. Shortly after that, the Kitakata house across from the shrine was complete. The couple had their first child in early autumn as did the couple still living in the small extension built on the side of the kura storage building. Both couples had baby girls, Demarcel and I had a baby boy at the same time. We named him Rowlandra. The remaining 2 couples each had 3 children and just enough room in the 2 Nagaya rowhouses that were built along our main street. The Iwate Inn was now empty.
By the end of that first year our supply of food and firewood was good but we would need tools soon and our supply of clothes was very low. We had no silk for kimonos or leather for hide coats. Our hunter had no luck all year. There were deer spotted across the small stream but they did not return to this side. A bridge was built to cross the stream and another hunter was added to the tower. We made another bow from the bamboo growing along the stream.
Chapter 4
Early spring of year 2 was cold and rainy but we could better see some of the trees and shrubs like we had back home. Besides the bamboo and mulberry, we could see sakura, flowering plums, Japanese maples, and even a few black pines. It was a beautiful spring here just like back home.
Our supply of clothing was very low. Our hunters had a bit of luck and we now had some leather for hide clothes as well as venison that we learned how to cook in Smallville. We built a Nara Tailor shop to make a few hide coats until we were able to make silk for kimonos. Nearby we built a Gassho silk shed where we took one of the silkworm eggs. As soon as we had a mulberry harvest we could hatch the egg and feed the silkworm mulberry to produce the needed silk.
Before the 2 buildings were completed we were surprised by the arrival of 2 families consisting of 4 adults, a young child, and a newborn. From what little we could understand, they had been lost in these mountains for some time. We later learned they were surveyors for a railway company over the mountains to the northeast. They were not in good shape and suffered from exposure from being in the mountains over winter. It would take some time for them to recover their health and strength. The condition of the mother and newborn prompted us to build a walled Japanese cemetery not far from the Iwate Inn where they were staying. Someday we would plant a beautiful Japanese garden beyond the large gateway of that secluded resting place.
Chapter 5
It was along back by the cemetery and waterfront that both families would chose to have houses built. They would be happy with whatever style of house we choose for them. They needed more time to recover before moving which was a good thing because we needed to build a Tataraba forge for tool making first, our tool supply was very low. We also built a Gassho Kara storage unit by the silk shed so mulberries would be stored closer to where they were needed. There still was no harvest from the mulberry orchard.
We choose a riverside Sawara House for the family of 4 who just had their 3rd child. The couple still in the Inn also had a newborn. We choose a Post Town House for them nearby where they would fish from the newly constructed fish weir. Both families were comfortably settled in before the end of the year and were genuinely appreciative of the care they received after they arrived. They would tend the cemetery grounds as a thank you. They were interested in learning our ways and customs.
Chapter 6
Year 3 began with the first student starting school. We tried as best we could to tell our new residents that when their children were old enough, we would have 2 teachers for the children. All the children would learn our old ways and their old ways. We would have a new school too that would teach new ways.
Like us the new folks missed the families and friends they left behind. Unlike us they had a way they could reach them if we built a trading post on the river. The river boatmen could deliver messages to their families. We could get seeds and livestock from these river boat merchants. We built a Edo Trading Post on the lake that the river flowed through.
In late spring more families arrived, 13 adults and a newborn. They too had been lost in these mountains and must have come from the same town as the first foreign families, they all seemed to know each other. There were many hugs and much chatter and laughter. We made them welcome.
Another Kydo farmhouse was built for the family of 4, and a rice paddy was dug nearby. Another Yayoi pit house was built for a middle aged couple by our first rice paddy. Another pit house was built on the other side of that rice paddy and a Magariya farm house was built there too. A Jomon gatherer and a Honghu forester were built in the small forest behind that farm house. Coming from a mountain area we knew how to make good use of our open spaces and how to conserve resources. It was snowing in late autumn by the time these building were constructed and we had our first small mulberry harvest. After the new houses were occupied, there were 3 teens still living at the Iwate Inn, they were 11, 12, and 13 years old. It would be a few years before any of the children would reach marriageable age and need houses of their own.
Chapter 7
That late autumn of year 3, 5 children were born in Shangri La, Demarcel and I had another son who we named Fred. One of our foreign friends mentioned the name and we liked it. We shouldn't really refer to the arrivals as foreigners, this was afterall their homeland, but Shangri La was now ours.
We thought it was time that we keep written birth records and record other important town information. We decided to built a Ikeda Kabuki Theatre where there would be room on the 2nd floor not only to store costumes but records as well. Our mulberry harvest had us hopeful that silk costumes and kabuki performances may be in the near future.
The theatre was build next to the cemetery where there would one day be a Japanese garden. The entrance to the theatre faced the small stream and the scenic beauty of nature on the other side. Upstairs we recorded our town statistics. In early summer of year 4, Shangri La had a population of 55, 29 adults, 2 students, and 24 young children. We were all happy and healthy. Our inventory records showed that our diet and food supply could use improvement.
Chapter 8
We decided to expand our food production to the other side of the small stream. By summer, land was cleared for another soybean field. Another bridge was build across the small stream where another crop field would be cleared. We still only had rice and soybean seeds, no river boatman came to our trading post yet. As land was cleared we took excess stone and iron to the trading post. We also had a surplus of firewood, there were always dead branches to collect.
Mulberry harvesting began and a worker was immediately assigned to the silk shed. Not only would we have more fruit to eat but we could start silk production. We would soon have more beautiful soft komonos to wear. Our foreign families were also looking forward to new clothes but pointed out that they could make linen clothes from the blue flax that was growing wild in the meadow. A tailor workplace with a covering was built by the Nara Tailor. The workplace could also make hide coats when more leather became available.
Chapter 9
At the beginning of year 5, our food surplus was still low. Weather permitting over the winter, land was cleared across the river for a bigger mulberry orchard. The 9'x18' field would give us plenty of berries to eat. In spring another rice patty was prepared but it was too late to plant. Another pit house was built and 14 year old Nico moved out of the Iwate Inn. Another Kyoto farmhouse was built and 15 year old Mayne also moved out of the Inn. That left only 12 year old Irenee who was quite content to stay where she was for the time being.
Between those 2 houses a Yayoi Granary was built to store food. The tree leaves were already changing to autumn colors by the time the harvests were complete and the wild foods were gathered. The gathered foods gave us a bit more variety than our diet of fish, rice, soybeans, and mulberries provided. We need more field workers and gatherers but no new foreigners arrived this year, neither did the river boatmen. Our resident foreigners were eager to get word to their families but also to report their surveyor findings. The town they came from built railroad tracks in 3 directions and every so often they sent surveyors to report if it were possible to continue building in those directions. Reports were always the same, it would be impossible to build tracks and tunnels through this mountain range where many surveyors have become lost.
Perhaps a river boatman would come next year but now our work was done for the year and it was time to think of a bit of entertainment.
Chapter 10
We had been busy in our spare time preparing for a traditional Kabuki theater performances. The men made a small stage at the front of the main 1st floor room of the theater with curtains and changing rooms behind. They also made benches for spectators to sit on. We had a few flutes and samisens which the foreigners said were like their banjos. The oldest traditional Kabuki dance dramas were preformed by all men, but our Nara tailor could not resist making a few traditional female dance kimonos. Our first performance would be a traditional female dance with samisen music and song.
We were all excited for that first performance. It would be the first time our children would see an important part of their heritage. They would be taught to carry on the traditions. Our foreign friends were eager to see and learn more of our culture.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bZWfAmuKIY
Chapter 11
By spring of year 6 we had a beautiful gazebo built on the lake. The view of the lake and surrounding mountains was spectacular. There still was no sign of a riverboat trader. Our food supply was low after another winter. We took to the forest areas to gather from the wild. We should have planted more soybeans in the new field but we had hope that the trader would come in time to plant.
We built another bridge crossing the small stream to make it easier to collect the wild foods on that side of the stream. The area across from the Kabuki theatre was very beautiful and the perfect peaceful place for another shrine. First we built a Torii gate and laid the foundation for the shrine. We only had 5 laborers so work had been slow as the laborers were busy gathering more wild foods. There was still no harvest from the new mulberry orchard and the riverboat had not come. It was late autumn and snowing by the time the Ise Shinto Shrine was complete.
Chapter 12
Our Shangri La was indeed a place of peace and tranquility, especially in winter when we had more time to observe the beauty of nature. That winter of year 6 the population of our town had grown to 64, 29 adults, 9 students, and 26 young children. Irenee, the last foreigner living at the Iwate Inn, turned 15 and moved in with foreigner, Mayne who she met at the Inn. They had a baby girl. Demarcel and I had our 3rd son, Lenaro, that winter. We had a baby girl, Tessika, the winter 2 years before. We were teased by the other founding families because we were the last to start having children but had now caught up to the others with 4 children. Like the other Japanese families, our marriage was arranged by our parents, but unlike the others we were strangers when we wed and took time to get to know each other.
We all looked forward to spring of year 7. We spent a lot of time out in the cold gathering what wild foods we could find. In spring we planted soybean in the new field and dug another rice paddy. Our food surplus increased that year and we had the first harvest from the new mulberry field. It was a small harvest which barely began before another winter was upon us.
Chapter 13
Early spring of year 8 was very cool and rainy, we had to be out gathering wild foods so we would have enough to eat until harvest time. Our firewood supply was good but we all agreed that the tradition way of heating was better. We built a Ishikawa charcoal kiln so we could heat our homes by burning charcoal in habachi bowls. We could do the same to heat the new Tokyo bathhouse across the stream from the kiln. The tradition bath house was not for bathing but for relaxing and socializing and restoring ones spirit in the comfort of the fragrant warm waters. The bathhouse was completed by autumn and we looked forward to winter days relaxing there after our gathering chores were done. Our food supply was good after the harvest but there was much gathering to be done. I looked forward to some time to relax, our 5th child, another daughter, was born that autumn.
Chapter 14
The gazebo was a wonderful place to relax in spring and summer. The lake was now a place of tranquil scenic beauty, many water irises and water lilies now bloomed. It was agreed we did not want that tranquility disturbed by riverboats even though after 8 years we did not hold out much hope of ever seeing a riverboat man. We often felt we existed on a lost horizon forgotten by the rest of the world. But nontheless, we decided to build a new Edo trading post out on the point directly on the river.
After all these years our communication with our foreign friends had greatly improved. We now spoke some of their language and they spoke some of ours. The told us of some of the many things we could trade for.
We had so few workers but we assigned 2 to the new trading post who picked up the trade goods as they were emptied from the old one. It was hard heavy work moving iron, stone, logs, and firewood. The few remaining laborers worked extra hard gathering to keep our food supply stable. So it was extremely disappointing in summer of year 9 to spot a riverboat on our lake and then to watch it go right on by without stopping.
The bright spot that year was the beautiful Koi Pond built outside the cemetery gate. We had planned a walled Japanese garden there but did not want to disturb the grazing ground of the deer families. They were such beautiful gentle creatures and a large part of the scenic beauty of the area. They did not even mind the presence of the children who came to watch the pretty fish in the pond.
Hmm I've never had that problem with the trading post before, but I will look into it when I am feeling better.
@angainor88 I am not certain it is the trading post. Only once before did I have a boat go past without stopping, and never had a problem with the trading post on the lake rather than the river, but others have had the problem. I found this thread:
http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=3920.0
At first I thought maybe I did not place trading post good. I built the new one and it was barely completed and here comes the boat :) and there goes the boat :( ;D It was not long after that the boat did return and came at regular intervals with no problem. Problem may be random depending on the map itself. :-\
Hope you feel better soon.
Such a beautiful way to display
@angainor88 's mod. Thank you again, great work.
Oh by the way, how long did you have to wait for that great Koi Pond capture?
Thanks
@Kristahfer :) Actually I planned a walled garden but did not want to disturb the deer. I built the pond and took the screenshot then saw the child, it was unexpected, I took another screenshot. You would not believe how many screenshots I end up with in the screenshot folder. ??? The culprit is usually rain, I will take shot so I don't miss it all together and then take another when the rain stops. Sometimes rain or snow shot is better. Japanese mods are making it easy to get a nice looking screenshot. :)
Chapter 15
It was winter of that year, year 9, that another riverboat was spotted on the lake. This time it did not pass by. It was the same boatman who passed us by before, he could not stop because the spring snow melt and summer rain made the river run too fast at that time. We were thrilled that he had mountain grown tea seedlings from a town called Morningside far to the north. We ordered potato, onion, and cabbage seeds. He agreed to take some of our silk for a very good trade value, he would see if a place called Riverboat Junction would think there was a market for such a cloth here.
Chann, the merchant, also had news for our foreign friends about the railroad town they came from. It was pretty run down now and almost deserted. He would see to it that word reached them that they were alive and well. There was little hope of expanding that railroad through the mountains in this direction. There was however rumors of another railway being built in the northwest. There was also word of a deadly giant frog invasion in the swamp southeast of us. There was news of a group of surveyors who were mapping the whole world. He doubted they would ever find us here in our remote hideaway. He was sorry but he heard no mention of any boats arriving on the far west shores. He would make a few inquiries and keep an ear open and let us know if he heard anything. He had no idea where the rice he had came from, he could ask at the Junction. He would return with at least some of our order soon.
We had few workers but we cleared a crop field for whatever seeds he might bring and an orchard was cleared and planted with the tea tree seedlings. Our rice and soybean harvests were good that year. In late autumn Chann returned with cabbage seeds. By the time the snow began to fall, the old trading post was emptied and demolished, we would have a worker for the cabbage field.
Yay the trader boat came at last! No longer forced to eat only soybeans and rice :P
:)
Chapter 16
Chann, the riverboat merchant, had mentioned that there was some disease spreading because of the invading frogs dying. Our foreign friends told us of other more common diseases know to the area. We have had no illnesses whatsoever but decided it would be wise to build a hospital if ever needed. We cleared land next to the Bathhouse and by summer our 1 builder had the hospital completed. Patients would be able to recover in the peaceful beauty of the area across the stream.
Our builder's next project was a teahouse. We chose a spot with the beautiful view of the tea orchard. We would make herb tea like we did at home until the orchard produced tea leaves. We were excited at the prospect of being able to have traditional tea ceremonies. The teahouse's floor would be covered with mats called tatami and wall a nook called a tokonoma would have a decorative hanging scroll and vases of flowers. Preparing and serving the tea in the traditional ceremony is complicated and has strict rules on how it should be done.
There would be no tea leaves harvested that year but we had the first harvest of cabbage. Chan returned in summer with onion seeds and since we had a surplus of soybeans we decided that the small soybean field would be planted with onions the following spring. But before then, we would enjoy hot herb tea in the Soan teahouse and another traditional production at the Kabuki theatre.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIQJa-j5Sxs
@Abandoned, beautiful as always! May I ask which mod lets you see your fields' yearly production?
@jerica - see picture. The production is always available.
It is a vanilla function, no mod.
Thank you
@jerica :) Just click that button Kid is showing - it switches what info is displayed, very useful
...
:o ??? :-[
I've been playing this game for years and didn't ever know that function was there. Wow. Learn something new every day, I guess! Thanks, Kid and Abandoned!
:) glad you discovered it now :)
Chapter 17
It was soon springtime and time to get back to work. The first thing we did in spring of year 12 was to move the stockpile by the teahouse over next to the granary. The onions were planted and were soon coming up and doing well. Another pit house was built where the stockpile used to be. Foreigner, Lelandrae age 17, moved in and he soon married 16-year-old Novellar, they were our first mixed couple and we were all confident that their differences would not stand in the way of their happiness.
We had our first harvest of tea leaves and the teahouse switched from herbs to tea leaves for brewing the tea. The tea leaves themselves were very medicinal. It took a while but our only builder built a Temple Kura next to the tea house. It was a good decision to build a large storage unit there because the onion harvest was quite plentiful.
An Okinawas farmhouse was built just past the tea orchard along with another rice paddy. Ressika, from one of our original families, moved into the farmhouse and was followed by her younger brother, Calvia, in early spring of year 13. We at first thought they left an overcrowded farmhouse but there was talk when they had a child together. This would never have happened had the parents arranged a marriage for the girl when she became of age. The couple's younger sister, Gieselah, moved into the Bengara house that was built next by the hospital. She would work as attendant in the bathhouse there.
Chapter 18
We need more houses for young people still living at home but did not want to create another situation where a young single would move in and then make a poor choice. Instead a new project was started over by the trading post. The location was chosen for a Kyoto Pagoda because of the view from the gazebo, it would be an impressive sight, and indeed it was, and not only from the gazebo but from afar. Chann the riverboat merchant said he could see it from way up river. The towering pagoda was indeed an impressive building, even in winter.
We did not trade for any seeds that year. We had plenty of room for more fields but we had few workers although we had a few students now finishing their schooling. We would need more houses closeby the farm fields for those workers to live. Instead we traded for potatoes and wheat. Both foods we had back home and hoped to one day grow ourselves. For now were would trade for what we needed, we had plenty of logs, firewood, stone, iron, and silk.
Chapter 19
Both the wheat and potatoes were taken from storage as soon as they got into it. We discovered that the 2 storage units in the old part of town had very little food stored even though our inventory records showed good surpluses. To rectify this we built a Kaurazukuri, a market, in the old part of town and assigned one worker to bring goods to it from the food growing side of town across the small stream. We built another such market on that side of town for future need, until then it would have no worker and act as a storage unit. Young Giselah was now 14 and still alone in the Bengara house which now lay between that market and the hospital. She still worked at the bathhouse. Both markets served their purpose well.
Chapter 20
In autumn of that year, year 14, a new trader came to our trading post. It was Trenae, a livestock merchant, and he had chickens. Our foreign townmates were familiar with this bird, it would provide meat and eggs, soup made from the meat and bones had medicinal qualities that help common cold sufferer to feel better. They advised us to trade for some. We traded for 8 of the birds and took the opportunity to question whether the merchant had heard anything from the west coast about a ship or travelers who may be looking for us. No, nothing he heard but there were now some World Maps being circulated that were a great help to river boatmen since there were now many new rivers and towns to navigate to. He said he could spread word of our location so Shangri La could be added to the map. Anyone arriving would have an easier time locating us. Well, after all this time we had pretty much given up hope but it might be a good idea all the same to be on the map.
For now we had to find a good location for these chickens.
If soup made from these birds indeed helped sick people feel better, we decided the chickens should be housed over near the hospital. A few wild oats were scattered by the trading post where the chickens waited patiently for land to be cleared and a coop to be built.
Chapter 21
By spring of year 15 we already had chicken eggs and baby chicks. A large Gassho Farmhouse for 8 was built next to the coop and the coop area was slowly being fenced in. We added another builder to our work force. Merence, a child from the first group of surveyors teamed up with Yanden from the rowhouses and they soon had their first child. They would tend the chickens and make miso in the miso shed they built next to their house. The miso made from soybeans would be used in the chicken soup. A Takakura storage unit was built next to the miso shed.
Gieselah was no longer alone in the Bengara house next to the hospital. Jenser from the rowhouse next to Yanden married Gieselah and they also had a newborn. The 2 couples were now good friends and their children would all be friends too. There would be many more big houses and big families in that area and they would need a school nearby. We built a Bizen school there that would be able to teach 55 students.
I spent some time going over town statistics in the Kabuki theatre's upstairs record room. In spring of year 16 Shangri La had a population of 94, 46 adults, 23 students, and 25 young children. We need more houses, we only had 19 homes for 28 families but everyone was happy and healthy. Our education rate was 63%.
Chapter 22
As I worked in the theatre's upstairs record room I could here the sound of the workers below. With the help of the school children a new stage background was being painted. The scene was like springtime in Japan with green rolling hills and mountains and beautiful blooming sakura trees. Our human townmates said there was a day in spring they called Earth Day. It seemed that would be a good day to put on our new kabuki performance using the new stage background scenery. The new kabuki show was very grand.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU8kHbsj4tQ
Wow! :)
Moving to mixed media. Way to go, and a great idea. Wonderful clip.
:) Thank you both, always nice to get feedback. :)
I wonder if it's possible to make the rice paddy using Bartender's water.
@Glenn Oh yes, it is possible to have Bartender's water in the rice field,
BUT always having waves in it does not look natural.
His glass (transparent) material is much better for this.
The rice paddy does already use Bartender's water :P
But kid1293 is right in that it doesn't show up as well as the glass material. Since it's so shallow it won't show up well, but you can see the waves if you look closely.
The best look is if you layer water on top of glass, but I haven't been able to get models to accept three different materials, and one slot is already taken by the plants...
My opinion is rice paddy is just beautiful the way it is :) Rice paddies are man-made flooded area to grow rice, not a natural pond, so it should look different. The color is beautiful, very scenic :)
Chapter 23
As I said, we need houses, there were many adult children living at home. Our oldest son was now 14. Another row house was built onto the others across from us and I was hoping our boy would move into it, but Rancis from the rowhouse next to it moved in with Robertie, a foreigner. Another pit house was built down the road by the shrine and the tailor but Rancis' sister, Mckaylyn, moved into it.
On the other side of the river we built a Takayama Brewery to make traditional Sake out of rice. Another rice paddy was dug next to it. Not far from there, next to the school, a kitakata house was built, it matched nicely with the kitakata market on the other side of the school. Back on this side of the river, our son Rowlandra turned 15 and promptly moved out and into the pit house with Mckaylyn. Our 3rd daughter, Staphanita, was born that winter. Shortly after, Trencie the livestock merchant, returned and he had sheep with him. Again we took our foreign townmates' advice and traded for all six sheep. They said we would have mutton to eat and with the wool they could make warm winter woolies to wear under our kimonos.
Thank you for your explanation about the rice paddy
Your right, the paddy does look good in the blog, I only thought there may have been a way to make it look even better for everyone's enjoyment
@angainor88 - sometimes the game will nullify one or more (transparent) materials and only end up with one.
I had problems, I couldn't make a fire behind glass. One is a particle system but still...
Chapter 24
By early spring of year 17 we had land cleared for a pasture behind the 2 rowhouses that were built across the river by the Bizen school. Once the sheep were safely in the pasture we began building a fence like the one built around the chicken coop. The fence would keep the sheep from straying into the forest beyond. It took all summer to build that fence.
Even after the harvest, our food supply was lower than it had been. Our supply of rice was low. We stopped work at the sake brewery and built another rice paddy. We gathered wild foods on each side of town. We wanted our food supply secure before we started our next building project. We already began clearing stone, iron, and trees from the area behind our 2 earliest rice paddies.
Chapter 25
We wanted our town to have a magnificent castle like we had back home, an Osaka castle that would serve as a town hall. It would take a large area and a lot of logs, stone, and labor to build. We had plenty of logs and stone after clearing the land. We added 1 more builder to our work force. We were still building houses and still need laborers to gather wild foods. We all stopped by to see how the castle was progressing as we worked and did our daily chores. The stone foundation itself was quite impressive, moreso as more work was done. The castle was finished in early summer and was in a beautiful setting of sakura trees and rice paddies. Once the castle was complete, we felt as if our Shangri La was also complete.
Chapter 26
More rowhouses had been added to the row across from the school. There was plenty of room to expand the town there with more houses and fields as they were needed. Shangri La was truly the beautiful tranquil hideaway we hoped it would be. We had a Japanese Shrine and Ikeda Kabuki Theatre and rice paddies to keep the old ways alive. We had a beautiful peaceful Koi pond, Ise Shinto Shrine, a gazebo surrounded by water lilies, and a towering Kyoto pagoda. Our farmlands were scenic as well as productive with rice, soybeans, onions, cabbage, and mulberries and tea, just like back home. Our magnificent castle overlooked it all. We were at home here in Shangri La.
Chapter 27
Yes, weary traveler, in Spring of year 20 we were at home in Shangri La. We had 26 homes for 36 families. Our population was 131, 62 adults, 17 students, and 52 young children. We had an education rate of 73% and were happy and healthy. There had only been one death, in early autumn of year 18 Lavenie the farmer age 36 died in childbirth. Ottie, her husband, was happy she was able to see the castle like the one back in our homeland completed before she died. Only their 15 year old daughter was still at home. Many of the houses had couples of mixed heritage. Our foreign townmates agreed it was a good thing we instilled in the children from little on that it was okay to be different, it's what makes us special. We may look, dress, and talk different but basically we are all the same, we are all earthlings.
Demarcel and I still had 5 of our 6 children at home. We now had 3 grandchildren. Rowlandra chose his own bride but made a good choice. My marriage to Demarcel may have been arranged by our parents but we had a good life and could not be happier. He has a special little song he always sings just to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck38-HwjF5g
May you find your Shangri La too, weary traveler.
The End
It is like a garden. Perfect now in springtime.
Well done :) :) :)
I'm glad you had fun playing with the set!
It is a lovely story :)
:) Thank you both, I was a bit concerned at first choosing a mountain map but it worked out well, the Japanese mods are easy to make a beautiful town with. Very enjoyable mods. :)