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Abandoned - Aspenglow - Story 35

Started by Abandoned, November 30, 2018, 10:51:42 AM

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Abandoned

#15
Chapter 6


  By early spring of year 6 we had another spice garden built, the nog nook and Christmas baker were often waiting for more spices.  In late spring another group of elves arrived, they would remain in Aspenglow despite the fact that they thought we would have no problem filling Santa's request without their help.

  In early summer we had 2,000 pieces of candy in the sleigh for St. Nicholas and by late summer the other sleigh was full of milk and cookies for Santa, it contained 1,000 eggnog and 1,000 gingerbread.  The last batch of cookies had barely been put in that sleigh when the sound of sleigh bells could be heard heralding the arrival of Santa's reindeer coming to pick up the sleigh.  We knew Santa would be enjoying the milk and cookies while putting Aspenglow on this year's nice list.

  Sleigh bells were heard again in winter on the morning of December 6th by those few who were awake just after midnight when St. Nicholas arrived to pick up his sleigh of candy to fill the stockings of all the good little boys and girls.  That morning everyone in town awoke to find a few pieces of candy in their stockings hung by the chimneys to dry.

  It was time now time to give some serious thought to our own Christmas gift giving.

rkelly17

All sounds good so far. The time to start worrying is when St. Nicholas asks you to help out by digging a coal mine.   ;D

Abandoned

 ;D Oh, I wish I had thought of that, lumps of coal of all the naughty ones  ;D ;D ;D

brads3

filling those sleighs in 6 years is fast.i did try a couple ideas to get it done in 5yrs.my builders worked us out of materials or we ran out of tools.

Abandoned

@brads3 I am sure it can be done faster than I did.  Try again  :) and be sure to show screenshots in challenge thread for chance to win.  :)

Abandoned

#20
Chapter 7


  We realized we had plenty of time yet before Christmas and although there were many people in need in the Northern Highlands, we must see to our own needs first.  Aspenglow now had 37 families but only 25 homes.  We needed houses and firewood to heat those houses.  Santa's elves and their families would stay with us and help any way they could, especially with sleigh building and gift making. 

Housing construction was well underway when the monks pointed out the fact that there were many children approaching school age and our one tiny school was almost full.  They wanted to build an education center near the monastery.  They also wanted to build a chapel by the cemetery.  They felt the spiritual needs of the people were not being met.  The people needed more to lift their spirits than a yearly visit from St. Nicholas or Santa Claus could provide.  Work on the chapel began as soon as the school was completed.

  No one could argue that the spirit of the laborers needed lifting.  They spent many hours in the cold and snow gathering pine branches for firewood, cutting trees, and gathering stones and wild foods.  A forest center with forester, hunter, storage, and stockpile was build south of the greenhouses to help will some of these tasks.  Two multi-story housing units were built nearby for the workers.  Although these workers and many others worked close to home, they were not happy with the long hours of darkness up here in the far north most of the year.  They sat for long hours in the dim light cast by their fireplaces thinking unhappy thoughts about the cold and the snow and the dark of night.

  The monks on the other hand were very happy with the new chapel.  They finally had a proper place to keep their copy of the Holy Book they brought with them.  However, even on the brightest days it was often difficult to read the sacred writings unless sitting by a window, and it was totally impossible after dark.  The beekeepers suggested they use our large supply of beeswax to make candles.  It was truly an enlightening thought.

Abandoned

#21
Chapter 8

  Despite all, year 7 ended on a bright note.  Our food and other supplies were good, as was our overall health.  Aspenglow's population was 116, 59 adults, 14 students, and 43 young children. At the beginning of year 8, we still had a few more houses to built but all the houses and the chapel would soon be a lot brighter, a candle maker's workshop was built behind the chapel.  The monks were the first to receive candles for the chapel and monastery.  They were also the first ones to see the river boatman coming down the river.

  As usual the clouds rolled in quickly and it was snowing heavily by the time the boatman reached our fishing dock.  He saw the monastery's tower from quite a distance and came to investigate.  It gave him hope that there might be a town here now.  He also saw some mountain goats on the hillside not far from here. There were not many settlements in these cold northern highlands, no farms anymore, mostly just some hunting and mining camps now and a few family groups barely hanging on. They had little if anything to trade but were sure to need food and clothes and tools.  Folks around here couldn't afford luxuries like candles.  He'd see what he could do about helping us get some of those needed things to the people but he couldn't say what he would be able to bring back with him to trade and it would be awhile before he returned.  He was most grateful for a hot meal and warm bed in the boarding house.  Giulian said she saw him leave at first light when she went to the pier to fish.

  The weather turned clear and cold and remained so for most of the year.  Building projects progressed.  The monks built a storage barn and a hall of records.  They could keep track of the bread and candles they were making as well as other statistics.  A few more houses were build as well as a sturdy stone bridge across the river.  The was much needed stone to be had there on the other side of the river, and it was not quite so far to go in the cold and snow.

   I began leaving handfuls of barley and bits of bread on the other side of the small creek for the mountain goats that the river boatman had seen not far to the north.  It was a cold snowy winter.

Abandoned

#22
Chapter 9


  By early spring of year 9, the mountain goats were regular visitors to the feeding spot and followed the trail of barely that I made leading into the small animal shed that was built nearby.  They seemed to welcome the shelter that the shed provided.  The monks said that because of the varied wild foods the goats normally ate, the milk would not be very good but it would make good cheese.

  The monks continued to make bread for the town but production of gingerbread cookies and eggnog had stopped.  There was a supply in storage that would tide us over until Christmas.  There was now eggs, barley cereal, and warm milk for the children's breakfast before they were sent off to school.  There were many snow days when the children could not get to school until the roads were cleared, more and more snowmen began appearing around town. 

  Only 1 of our 3 children attended school but the 2nd would be starting soon.  Vicent was now herdsman and I was the tailor, the shop was only 2 doors away.  I was working longer hours because production of clothing and tools was being increased since we now had a means of getting those items to the people who needed them via the river boatman.  A trading post and Crafters Guild was being built near the Monastery's Hall of Records..  The monks at the Guild would begin work making hide coats since we had far more leather than wool.

  A small gingerbread hall was built on the east side of town.  Aspenglow now had 3 locations to keep production records and other statistics, and thanks to the candles, we had 3 places to have town meetings to discuss plans for the town and surrounding areas.  There was much to discuss.

Gatherer

The wall should be higher or the goats will jump over it. ;)
There's never enough deco stuff!!!
Fiat panis.

Abandoned

  ;D No, these goats are smart goats, they know where the food is.  :)

Abandoned

#25
Chapter 10


  The first topic of discussion was the Yule Tap that had just been built next to the wood cutter on Main Street.  We had a surplus of apples and berries to make cider but no wheat for ale.  The monk's who were skilled wine makers suggested a nice mulled wine with spices.  The response to the  mention of a warm spicy beverage was very favorable.   The elves knew where some wild grapevines grew and they would dig them out; in a greenhouse they would surely produce the grapes needed to make the wine.  The surplus of apples would be used to make more candy.  Our supply was low and the children needed a sweet treat now and then, a chewy sweet piece of candy was better than biting into a cold apple any day.

  In  spring of year 10 Alfredric, the general goods merchant, arrived and he had potatoes from Pumpkin Hollow with him.  He took our tools and coats and a few extra items we threw in so that he could afford to give the tools and coats to the people who needed them.  We gave him a mug of warm spiced wine before he went on his way.

  We decided to stop production of the mulled wine during the warmer months of the year, saving that treat for those long winter evenings by the fireside.  Instead we would have warm baked potatoes from the snack stand that was built by the stone wall.  The school children would have a nice hot lunch year round.  In late summer production of almost everything stopped when the snowstorm hit.  The temperature was just below freezing when the winds picked up and the overcast sky darkened even more.  After several days of snowing and blowing and drifting there was a lot of cleanup to do.  Branches were down everywhere blocking many roads and workplaces.  The temperature remained warm so cleanup was not too bad of a chore and we did end up with a lot of firewood for the colder fall and winter weather ahead.

  Our thoughts again turned to the less fortunate people in the highlands.

brads3

i like that KID left us with cider options and didnt set all alcohol to ales.

Abandoned

The Yule Tap was not changed since last year but yes, it does have a nice seasonal selection of nonalcoholic beverages.  :)

rkelly17

Quote from: Abandoned on December 10, 2018, 01:10:35 PM
The Yule Tap was not changed since last year but yes, it does have a nice seasonal selection of nonalcoholic beverages.  :)

What? Non-alcoholic cider? And the point to this would be . . . ?   ???

Abandoned

 :)  I suppose since it is made in Banished Tavern it is flagged alcohol but cider is not alchohol.  Actually it should be food or fruit  ;D  A nice healthy nonalcoholic cider so Bannies do not drink it and fall off dock and drowned.  ;D  It has been known to happen  :D