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Abandoned - Ice Mountain Nature Preserve - Story 52

Started by Abandoned, January 09, 2020, 08:26:58 AM

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Abandoned

#15
Chapter 5


  Year 5 began with a parent's worse nightmare, a boy and a bear out on the ice.  The chunk of ice they were standing on broke off and was caught by the river current.  It was mother bear's cry of distress that alerted us to the dire situation and we were helpless to do anything about it.  If anyone could survive the frigid water they would not be able to scale the slippery ice to climb up to reach the boy and bear.  We could only watch in horror and follow behind hoping the block of ice would be washed to shore.  The iceberg was gaining speed and it appeared that all hope was gone when suddenly a creature of snow and ice detached itself from the icy shore, stepped out into the water, and plucked both boy and bear off the iceberg and deposited them safely on shore.  We saw then that it was none other than one of Crystal Canyons frozen tree fellows, a rare Yeti. 

  The boy and the baby bear were reunited with their mothers and safety fences were immediately built along shore.  We knew the tree fellows were protectors of the forest but it would seem they now considered us creatures of the forest that need protection. 

  A couple arrived in town shortly after the incident and they said they owed their lives to such an ice creature.  They were migrating from the area and were going by small boat to North Port when the current caught them and took them off course.  One of their oars broke on an iceberg.  Had the creature not jumped into the water and pushed their boat to shore a short way upstream, they surely would have perished.  They would gladly stay with us but wanted a house build as far from shore as possible.  We build our second animal barn nearby.

Abandoned

#16
Chapter 6


  That winter was a very cold and snowy one.  The wildlife were having even more trouble finding food, one feeding station was not enough.  We followed elk tracks from the fish pond and put out plant debris there and took a dog sled with fish and berries farther west to feed the polar bears.  In spring we would transplant winterberries from the hedgerows to several other locations.

  When the temperature warmed in spring of year 6 we had a few bees hatch in one of the greenhouses.  We built a small greenhouse and set a few hives inside and hoped we would soon have an apiary producing honey.  That sudden rise in temperature and spring sunshine caused a thicker than normal mist to form over the icy river and more ice crystals appeared on shore.  Thinking of our migrant couple and the possibility of a supply ship coming to our jetty, we built a light house at the north point river bend.

  Our care and feeding of the wildlife paid off.  When the polar bears and elk herd moved on in fall, the elks had a baby buck with them.  There was still no more baby bears though.

  We thought it was time to have a special treat ourselves.  We thought it would be too dangerous to build a watermill for flour so we set up a workplace grinder by the storage carts.  We thought it time we start emptying the carts, a new ice cave formed out of the spring mist on shore near the jetty, it would serve well as a storage unit.  When 2 of the carts were emptied we built a bakery in their place and by spring of year 7 we had delicious oat cookies.


Mod note:  Herb bread has been added to the bakery menu

taniu

@Abandoned ;D ;D ;D Great story, beautiful landscapes and winter accessories - Well done! Regards

Abandoned


Abandoned

#19
Chapter 7


  Our first task of year 7 was to decide on a location for a new school.  Our outdoor classroom had room for only 1 more student and there were several 4 and 5 year olds.  Lillam and I had 2 boys ages 3 and 5 and we wanted them to have an education.  We did not want to build a school on the east side of town close to the river.  That left west by the fish pond or north through the tunnel.  North would be closer and part of the walk to school would be inside the tunnel and out of the cold north wind.  We noticed there were now several more ice formations on the north shore due to the heavy mist of late.

  The increased number of icebergs was confirmed by a family of 4 who, like the other couple, were headed to North Port but got caught up in the ice flow instead.  They abandoned their small boat not far from the couples damaged one when they saw the Light.  They were grateful to have one of the new ice caves to call home.

  It snowed heavily several time that summer but the new school was completed by early autumn.  We were happy to see that the elk herd returned to the feeding area before winter.    Our food supply was also good going into yet another winter but with new families we wanted to be sure not to run short of grain.  We had a surplus of fertilizer on the stockpiles, more than enough to support another greenhouse for growing more oats.  In winter the new teacher at the new school came down with influenza.

Abandoned

#20
Chapter 8


  By the time we got the mini hospital set up and running we had 2 cases of influenza.  Throughout the winter, one patient would recover and another would become ill.  By spring there were no new cases and the hospital was closed. 

  In early summer a supply ship finally arrived with 12 migrants and a story to tell.  The ship was making its way from Riverboat Junction to North Port.  It was snowing heavily and they had just reached the junction where the river flowed in this direction when, according to the captain an iceberg hit them sending them into this current but according to the mate a giant ice monster rose up from the water and pushed them this way.  Of course we agreed with the captain that there were no such things as giant ice monsters but whatever the case may be it appeared it was meant to be.  There ahead of them was a large flat iceberg with the 12 migrants on it.  The families had been traveling together and were trying to get around an icy outcropping when the ice they were walking on broke away from shore.  Had the ship not appeared when it did to rescue them they would surely have perished.

  We were happy to say we had just completed a warm and comfortable Inn where they could stay until more houses were built.  And I must admit it was nice to have more workers.  We reassigned workers to clean the greenhouses and the animal barns.  Some of the cows were moved outside to make the job easier.  We could now collect wild foods again and put more food out at the feeding stations.  We had only seen a few elks recently and only one polar bear.  It must have been baby bear all grown up and returning to join its mother in the animal pen.

  Our rabbits had multiplied as rabbits always do, and a 2nd hutch was set up by one of the new houses.  More house were planned.  We were delighted to receive apples and walnuts from the supply ship, the elk would get the apples cores.  But as ships always do, this one was preparing to pull up its anchor and sail away.  Winter returned soon after, and as years always do, this year came to an end too.

Goblin Girl

Does this mod change the appearance of the traders' boats, or was that a deco item?

kid1293

That is only a deco boat. I do not know how to change the trader boat. :(
The supply jetty is a workplace where goods are created.
With or without a boat. But it looks better with a boat  ;)

The supply jetty is from Fish n Ships mod.

Abandoned

 :) yes, deco boat is from Kid Some Boats mod and Ice Castle shipwreck was made to match it.  Any deco boat can be placed at the jetty.

Goblin Girl


Jewelz


Abandoned

 :) The snowman I am using was made by Kid back in 2016. 

Zip file here  http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=1347.msg25731#msg25731

snowman was later included in Kid Christmas mod and in later mod update the snowman got more scarves in different colors.  :)

Abandoned

#27
Chapter 9


  At the beginning of year 9 our Nature Preserve had a population of 56, 31 adults, 11 students, and 14 young children.  Our overall health and happiness returned to 100% after the influenza outbreak.  We wanted it to stay that way so we built an herbalist/healer across from the school.  The influenza patients may have recovered sooner had they been in a proper hospital rather than outside in a tent.  A small hospital was built near the mine cave.  A study of our inventory showed a variety of foods but we could use more eggs and milk.  We had enough plant debris to feed more livestock but we were hesitant to build another animal barn, we feared we were infringing on the animal feeding grounds too much already.  We saw only a few elk this spring and no polar bears.

  We were also having to keep our eye on our firewood supply. One of the couples caring for the sled dogs said they could tell how cold the nights were by how many of their dogs came into the cave to sleep with them.  It was a three dog night when it was very cold.  The ice caves used a lot of firewood, the branches from the winter berry hedgerows helped a lot.  We selectively cut trees when we needed more logs.  The pine trees acted as a good wind break so we were careful where and how many we cut.  We always had an eye on the thick forests across the river.  Our supply jetty was built without having to step foot in the water, a bridge across the river could not be built that way and even if it could it would probably be damaged by floating icebergs or cause an ice jam.  We noticed more icebergs on the river back in spring and wondered if a supply boat would be able to make it back down our river.

  We would have liked to do some scouting on the other side of the river to see if the elk and polar bears had found other feeding grounds.  The thick pine forests made it difficult to see anything from this side.  In late autumn, high winds made it possible for us to go have a look. Several small icebergs lodged themselves against the icy outcroppings forming a bridge of ice from one side to the other.  It was a dangerous risk we were taking, the ice blocks could break away at any moment, but the workers wasted no time.  They cut some trees, found a fishing pond and berry hedgerow, and followed animal tracks to the top of the hill.  They spotted elk and polar bears confirming that the animals were alive and well.

kid1293

I like the stream carrying away icebergs!
This turned out good. Not too hard, I hope. :)

Abandoned

 :) No, not too hard but I have had to do some micro managing. I only had worker at supply jetty when I had ship there.  I have fun with the free to build deco pieces, easy to move icebergs  :)  It took some preplanning setting up the ice caves at the start of the map, but new ice formations form along the river now and then.  :)