Intro
This is the 57th story in the Smallville series and tells the tale of six families that, for one reason or another, were in Summerset Swamp in the southeast corner of the world map at the time of the deadly giant frog invasion that occurred in year 62 SVT. The 6 families came together in the swamp northeast of the town of Summerset (story 24) and founded a town of their own. It was the beginning of year 63 SVT, the same year that another group of survivors settled Gator Glade (story 43) further south in the swamp. The new town was named Everglade and the area around it was different than anywhere else in the world.
The map seed is # 823499680 Swamp , Small, Swampy Climate, disaster On, Easy Swamp Start
Mods activated for this map and load order are:
Map changing and Starting Mods: Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, Jinxie Natural Decorations, New Flora Edit
Tweak Mods: Fishing Dock +25%, Increased CC, 1:1 alternative (Voeille), Simple Tombstones, Tiny Smoke
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Nomad Sign Complete, Storage Crates, Kid Abandoned Places, Kid Swamp Thing (newly released update), Mini Buildings, NMT 3.0 Series Orchards
Supporting Mods: Chicken Coop (TS), Kid Deco Plants, Kid Farm Animals (deco sneak peak), Kid Farmyard (sneak peak of future update), Kid Fish n Ships (update, testing ), Kid Houseboats, Kid Swamp Legend, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Yard Cover, Shroom, Water and Other Decorations.
Mod Notes: Kid Swamp Thing and Kid Swamp Houses mods have been updated with a clinic and chapel and are being released now. Kid Fish n Ships update is being tested. Houses and other buildings that can be built on jetty platforms in the water were added. Two new textures have been added to match Kid Workplace Village, bringing total to 5 with original swamp, vanilla, and weathered wood textures.
Sneak Peaks - Kid Farmyard update and the new Kid Farm Animals (deco) are works in progress and will be released later in the year.
With that said:
Yes, weary traveler, we were indeed lucky to have survived the giant frog invasion and luckier still to have met up with the others who not only knew the swamp but knew this area of the swamp in particular. It is doubtful we would have survived without them.
Chapter 1
My name is Ninnifer and my husband is Mayne. Our grandparents were part of the 4th expedition to leave Smallville. They founded Monkstown and built a monastery to produce Holy Books. Because of pirates, most of the Books ended up at the bottom of the river before they could reach Riverboat Junction for distribution. Mayne and I, both from large families, were newly married and wanted some time alone, we volunteered to deliver the next batch of Books. We had a small sailboat and were not far from Monkstown before the pirates were after us. Rather than throw the Books overboard to outrun them, we detoured into the swamp. We knew nothing about the swamp and were soon hopelessly lost. We saw the huge wave of giant frogs approaching and scrambled from the boat. The onslaught hit our boat overturning it. We spent 3 days in a tree before descending to salvage what little we could before heading in the opposite direction.
Others were not so lucky. Lenaro & Mackelin were the only survivors of a group of migrators from the north, they were both seriously injured. Like us, they knew nothing about the swamp. Terranis & Marandi and Harmand & Kassah both escaped their small swamp settlements that were in the path of the advancing frog invasion. All were in pretty rough shape especially Harmad, the hero, who rescued a 6 year old girl from a house where her parents and brothers were killed by giant frogs. None were in worse shape than Norrie & Domonia and the newborn she gave birth to while trapped inside the cabin of their houseboat. They escaped from Summerset which apparently was the target of the attack. They drifted for weeks and were near death when their houseboat came to rest against the shore where we all met and settle. Of course we did not know the details of everyone's ordeals until later. We were all in shock. Lucky for all of us that Elissac & Partha, native to this area of the swamp, were already settled here. They planned to stay forever and named their homestead Everglade.
Chapter 2
The northeast and eastern edge of Summerset Swamp was called Pahokee, meaning grassy water, by native Seminole tribes people. Elissac & Partha were nomadic descendants of those early natives. After the birth of their 3rd child they began looking for a permanent place to settle. They had not been here long before the rest of us arrived.
This area is different than anywhere else in the world. It actually is a combination of 3 types of swampland. Most of Summerset Swamp is typical lowland freshwater swamp with shallow, mostly stagnant, swamp water. Areas with slow moving rivers and streams have slightly deeper water. Reeds and grasses grow in the water and on land. The soil is soft and muddy and does not dry out. There are tall shrubs and small trees such as willows. Taller trees, like oaks, elms, birches, even evergreens, grow on higher ground in areas called hardwood hammocks.
This area of Summerset Swamp also has areas of salt water marshes caused by run off from coastal regions to the east. The water is slightly salty. Freshwater vegetation doesn't grow well here but grasses thrive. The climate is subtropical which lends itself to the growth of tropical trees and vegetation, most noticeably the mangrove trees that grow in still salt water mangrove swamps. Both the salt marshes and mangrove swamps produce a variety of salt water fish and shellfish. The soil in this area is peat and muck formed from decomposing plant materials. There are dry period where this soil and plant debris dries out causing a fire hazard. Water wells fill with salt water unfit for drinking. Elissac & Partha choose this area to settle because there is a stream of fresh water flowing in from the mountains to the north.
Whoa those are some nice swamps! Though there would be too many mosquitoes for me IRL :P
;D Thank you
@angainor88 It was a bit of a challenge to get basic swamp deco done at the very start. I am keeping environmental facts as close as possible to the real life Everglades swamp here in the USA state of Florida. I am not just making all this up :D (crocs are not hunted) Mosquitoes love me ??? feeling is not mutual :D
Chapter 3
The 2 families of swamp dwellers arrived first, followed by the houseboat from Summerset, and then the couple from the north. We were last to arrive but the most welcomed, Elissac and Partha desperately needed help caring for the others. Mayne and I were only weak from hunger and exhausted from wading through the swamp carrying what little we salvaged. I often felt sick in the morning but other than that we were not sick or physically injured. We did all we could to help, but we tired easily.
Before any of us arrived, Elissac and Partha had a swamp house and storage barn built plus supplies gathered. They had a coop and fenced area for swamp chickens behind their house. They were packing reeds to use as firewood. Not only was a fire needed to cook meat and fish but it helped tremendously to offset the constant dampness in the house. The couple was taken totally by surprise with our arrivals and tales of horror. There were swamp pond with frogs across the river but the crocs kept their numbers under control. Elissac and Partha noticed some bigger than normal frogs and some unrest lately but made nothing of it.
Elissac had been busy building houses as each couple arrived and Partha was treating injuries and illnesses with what herbs she could find and chicken broth. After hearing some of our stories, Partha feared the illnesses were not simple swamp fevers but the more serious corpus disease caused by decomposing corpses of man and frogs. Those that were sick should be isolated, we needed a clinic. The couple rescued from the houseboat and their infant were near death, we needed a cemetery. With our arrival there were 12 adults and 7 children, we needed food. The rescued 6-year old girl was traumatized and would not speak. She was the same age as Elissac & Parth's daughter, it may help if the 2 girls spent time together, we needed a school. We survivors were all dirty and ragged from our trials in the swamp, we need new clothes. Would we all survive?
Chapter 4
Those first few months were very difficult while the others were healing and recovering. Mayne and Elissac built a cemetery and clinic and, because it rained a lot, coverings for the washlines and boiling pot. Clothes and bedding needed sterilization, new clothes would have to wait. A covering was also built over the mini outdoor classroom that was built for the 2 girls. Partha and I took turns teaching the girls and tending the younger children. Partha gathered mushrooms and planted them where the men cut trees. Giant shrooms often sprouted where trees were cut, they thrived in the swampy wet soil when given more light.
The swamp dwellers were first to heal and recover and the help was most welcome. There was soon a fishing jetty and croc hunter built. Only crocs that ventured too close to our shores would be caught, they were needed for frog control. We could not keep torches lit with all the rain we were getting here in the swamp. There were fish being caught we had never seen or eaten before like crayfish and catfish. Lenaro & Mackelin from the north and Mayne & I had a lot to learn about the swamp. We were teasingly called Outlanders by the swamp dwellers.
By the end of that first year everyone was fully healed or well on the road to recovery, we lost no one. In fact we gain 4 baby boys, our firstborn son, Burn, included.
Chapter 5
We now had more workers and we used the cooler months to pave more of our muddy roads with stone. Stone roads prevented months of cold wet feet, and that early spring of year 2 was cold and very wet. A large puddled formed where the men had cleared away the stone. We were all surprised when a family of wild pigs took up residence. The piglets were so cute. The men used scrap wood to build a fence and they transplanted a small wild apple tree from the hardwood hammock to feed the pigs and encourage them to stay. The pigs would provide us with pork and hides.
Our food supply was very low and the variety was very poor, consisting mostly of fish. Our overall health was dropping. There would be more wild foods to be had once we cleared more of the reeds and dense tree growth. In the mean time we now had some leather to make needed clothes, we build a workshop. Because of so many days of rain, the roof quickly covered with swamp moss like the other town buildings. The workshop had just been completed when 11 swamp dwellers arrived, and they had seeds.
The 3 families had news to tell. Their small village south of us was in the path of the frog invasion and many of their villagers did not survive. Frogs that remained and others from their swamp ponds began dying off because there were not enough insects left for the frogs to feed on. Many of the surviving villagers contracted and died from corpus disease. They could just not stay there any longer with their children. We could not turn them away, we could only hope they were not bringing the disease here with them.
Chapter 6
The seeds and seedlings the newcomers brought were most welcome, we were critically short of food. One small farmyard was immediately planted with corn, cabbage, beans, and pear trees. The new families agreed it would be best if houses for them were built away from the others. A jetty and platform for a house was constructed in the mangrove swamp near the new farmyard. The shade from the mangrove trees and the dampness caused moss to grow on the jetty and house almost immediately. Another jetty, a house, and a cabin were built for the remaining 2 families on the other side of town in the fresh water swamp area. The open air and lack of shade kept the jetty and houses free of moss. There was soon wash hanging on the line and fish being caught from a small jetty platform.
The newcomers also told us that it was thought that taking froglegs from young frogs in the ponds is what caused giant mother frogs to seek revenge and attack. We had no frog ponds on this side of the river but would keep that in mind should we ever expand to the other side. They also told us that the river boatman, Kylandro, who all the swamp dwellers knew for his kindness and generosity, was now making the rounds handing out emergency supplies for anyone who needed them. Many of the river boatmen perished during the frog attacks. With crocs in our waters we thought we should build a supply jetty should a boat come by.
Before the next rainy spell hit, another farmyard was planted next to the mushroom field, we would have more corn, cabbage, beans, and pears. A supply jetty was built not far from the croc hunter who thought it might be the scent of the giant frogs that had been on the houseboat that was drawing the crocs over to our side of the river. The heavy rain continued well into autumn and the jetty fisherman really appreciated the yard covering that was built on the fishing jetty.
Chapter 7
A Swamp Hall was built in the center of town next to the stock pile. Records showed our food supply greatly improved by the end of year 2. Our overall health improved also thanks to having fresh fruit and grain from the pig wallow and farmyards. Our mushrooms thrived in this warm rainy climate. The new Swamp Hall also now housed the only copy of the Holy Book I managed to salvage from our overturned sailboat. It was securely wrapped in hides to prevent dampness damage, maybe someday Everglade would have a chapel.
In early spring of year 3, in the pouring rain, Kylandro arrived with emergency aid. There was not much we needed except herbs but he insisted we take some apples, tools, and cooler linen clothes. The extra fruit was good to have and the sack of walnuts he threw in was a real treat. He spent some time catching up the swamp dwellers on the latest swamp news, indeed many river boatmen they knew had been lost. He personally was training some replacements from among the survivors. He would be sure one came this way. Any surplus we had to trade that could help others would be greatly appreciated, many survivors could no longer do the work they used too. He would also see to it that our families in Monkstown would be told of our whereabouts. They would be happy to know we were alive and well and they now had 2 grandsons, Burns and Allins.
Shortly after Kylandro left, 18 swamp dwellers arrived. They were crowded into 1 houseboat and 2 rowboats. They had crab traps. They confirmed what Kylandro had told us, some things in the swamp were better but some were worse. The water around their settlement was unfit to drink or even catch fish or crabs from because of all the dead and dying frogs. They did not want to eat anything from those waters which now had the added danger of crocs. What supplies they had with them they unloaded at the supply jetty to be taken to storage along with the supplies left by Kylandro. Mayne & I were amazed to learn from them that Kylandro was actually a pirate from Pirate's Cove.
Chapter 8
The 18 newcomers were from 5 families plus 2 single young adults. We would need to build 6 houses, one family would live on their houseboat if it could be moored in the shade. Because solid buildable land was at a premium we decided to build more jetties. The newcomers had no problem with that. The houseboat was moved to the new jetty in the Mangrove swamp and a cabin was built nearby for another family. Moss quickly covered the roof of the houseboat and cabin.
A cabin and a house were build near the fishing jetty on the west side of town. A couple asked about the vacant houseboat which Norrie & Domonia had arrived in. After their ordeal they would never want to step foot on it again. When told that the frog scent may be attracting crocs, the newcomers said they thought washing the houseboat down with salt water may solve that problem. It was worth a try.
Not having cleared land to build house, no reeds were added to the stockpile for the bundler. We were short of firewood. Laborers stopped what they were doing to gather reeds and, since we had plenty of logs on the stockpile, we built a woodcutter in front of the storage barn.
Another house was built in the Mangrove swamp and a small jetty storage. The jetty dwellers would have a nice selection of supplies nearby.
The last newcomer was a single young woman age 13 who was a lot tougher than she looked. She said she would help hunt crocs if they did not stay away from the salt-scrubbed houseboat. A jetty cabin and croc hunter workplace was built near the houseboat and more nets were put up. A nearby willow cast just enough shade for swamp moss to grow on the workplace which quickly spread to the house. We were just happy that all the newcomers now had new homes.
Chapter 9
Our recent firewood shortage prompted us to add another reed bundler, stockpile, and a firewood storage unit closer to the mangrove jetty houses. It was another very rainy spring so a covering was built over the bundler.
There were now several young children in the jetty houses prompting us to begin adding jetty rope rails. No matter how many times the adults said "no running on the jetties" the children were running on the jetties. Of course the water was shallow and the swamp dweller's children could swim like fish, we didn't want to take any chances especially where there were crocs in the water. Our Outlander children had to be taught how to swim.
Two of the children living in mangrove jetty houses were 6 years old and another was 5. We did not want any of the children to miss starting school so the new school was built closer to them. Later when needed we would build another school closer to the jetty houses west of town. We would decide then whether to keep a teacher at the outdoor classroom in town.
Our storage units were near capacity. We built 2 small swamp storage units, one general and one for food. It was time to assess our production numbers. We were in the process of evaluating our inventory records when Kylandro returned for the second time. Our supply of food, tools, and clothes was good but we accepted some cooler linen clothes, herbs, and apples. Fruit was in short supply throughout Summerset Swamp, so was grain. We had 2 hardwood hammocks and could grow some tropical fruit if we had seeds or seedling. Kylandro would see what he could do about getting us some, we should watch for a river boatman. Most survivors were able to fish and make basic tools and clothes but were having trouble supplying themselves with rare materials like wood, firewood, stone, and iron. Many had wooden legs and had difficulty walking across muddy swamp soil, they could not balance well carrying heavy items. Anything we could supply would help. We all felt even luckier than we had before.
@Abandoned ;D Great history and atmosphere. You present a truly magnificent swamp landscape - you have imagination and talent.Regards
:) Thank you so much
@taniu Deco helps tremendously with landscaping. ;D Stay well.
Chapter 10
The first thing we did in early spring of year 5 was designate a large area of the upper west jetty as a market, it would serve as a storage area until we assigned a worker. We moved one of the boats that was moored along the walkway. Next thing we did was build a jetty shipping dock with coverings. We had just finished building the coverings when more newcomers arrived.
Their story was much the same as the others. The 2 men were brothers, Antos was a crab catcher and Lusterlin a fisherman. They survived because they were out on the water when their small settlement was invaded. They rescued a young woman, she and Lusterlin now had 2 children. She was happy to have covered washlines next to their house on the jetty in the mangrove swamp. Antos had a small cabin on the lower jetty near shore where he immediately set out crab traps. He could easily get to his boat, moored by his brother's house, to check the traps he set farther out in the water. Antos was surprised that crabbing was not being done over by the fresh water jetty, he saw a boat with crab traps moored over there. Tremain, the owner of the other crab boat, had thrown out a few crab traps in the deeper water without much luck. He planned to try again closer to the small stream when more food was needed.
The first river boatman to stop at our shipping jetty was Kellian, a food merchant. He had nothing we wanted or needed but confirmed the need for fruit and grain. We wished we had some to spare. He brought news from our families back in Monkstown. They were overjoyed to hear from us and wanted to know when we would get home. Everglade in Summerset Swamp was now our home.
Chapter 11
By early spring of year 6, we had a records jetty built next to the trading post so our trader could better decide what needed items we could spare for trade goods. Some stone, iron, fuel bricks, iron tools, and leather were moved to the trading post. We all had our fill of mushrooms so our surplus was moved also. When Patie, the seed merchant, arrived, she said she would take all those things in trade, just tell her what seed and seedling we wanted and she would get them for us.
Moving items from storage to the trading post freed up storage space in town but jetty dwellers were not getting much variety especially from the market on the west jetty. We assigned a vendor and in no time at all the market began filling up with a nice selection of goods. Jetty dwellers on the east jetty thought they should have a market too so we decided to build a market there too. It would be a few years before we needed more jetty houses but when we did there would be needed supplies nearby.
We picked an area with few trees to clear for our first orchard. The stone was used to extend the road past the farmyard and some stone went to the trading post. The reed bundlers where happy to get more reeds for firebricks. In late winter, Patie returned with grapefruit seedlings.
Chapter 12
The grapefruit seedlings were planted immediately and by spring of year 7 the small trees were green and healthy looking. We were concerned we might be planting them too close to the salt water marsh.
A fishing jetty was built on the east jetty, because people on the west jetty had one. Lusterlin could wave at his brother, Antos, as he checked his crab traps there in the mangrove swamp. Tremain, the crab catcher who owned the other boat with crab traps still did not have a crab jetty workplace on the west jetty. He often complained he had to bail water out of his unused rowboat. We had plans to extend the jetty west towards the shore where Tremain thought the crab catching would be good, but Chestevan, the fisherman, complained that more jetties in his fishing radius would severely decrease the amount of fish he would catch. We began extending the west jetty farther away from him and closer to the market instead.
We had been considering the piece of land across from the west jetty as a possible location for a fruit orchard some time in the future. That peninsula was a hardwood hammock by the river, fruit trees should grow well there on the higher ground. First we would have to get over there to assess how many hardwood trees would be lost. We wanted to preserve our swamp as much as possible. We decided on the area just past the mushroom field for our next orchard. There was little that needed clearing before the site was ready. We just needed more seedlings.
Chapter 13
In early spring of year 8, the mushroom crop was still being harvested. We were short of logs and reeds. We realized that the workers in that area lived quite some distance away, it was a long walk in the rain. We were happy when 6 more displaced swamp dwellers arrived and the family with 2 young children wanted to live as far from the frogs and crocs as they could get. They were willing to give farming a try. The other couple was more than happy to have a cabin built for them out on the west jetty. The wooden jetties and our stone roads made it so much easier for a man with a wooden leg to walk.
Several of the town's young adults wanted places of their own, Elia was the first to get a house and she chose a spot by the grapefruit orchard. The house building again left us short of logs. We didn't want to cut more of the hardwood trees but what choice did we have. Mayne and I took a walk back into the trees and discovered many young saplings that could be transplanted to areas where stone and iron could be removed. The transplants would grow bigger and stronger with more space and light. A forester could plant the new trees and carefully select which of the old trees to cut. We would be planting more trees than we cut.
Mayne and I made another discovery at the edge of the hardwood hammock near the fresh water stream. There were several families of ducks in and around a small fresh water pond. I saw several nest with eggs in the reeds and rocks that circled the pond. We would leave this area untouched for now but if we needed more food, we knew where we could find duck eggs and duck meat.
By the end of year 8, Tremain finally got his jetty workplace close to the shore that he thought would be a good place to catch crabs. Much to his surprise, he would not be bailing water out of his boat before going out to check the traps, he now had a new mooring place with a covering.
Chapter 14
Surprise was not the word to describe what we all felt at the beginning of year 9 when Kassah went missing and was found dead in that hardwood hammock across from the new crab jetty. We don't know what happened, she was a swamp dweller, she survived the frog invasion. We quickly extended the west jetty to the hardwood shore so the searcher could return quickly and safely. Harmand and their 2 children were devastated. When the shock wore off we realized we never assigned a worker to the mini forester that was built the previous autumn. We were again low on logs.
We still did not have seeds for the new orchard. The only riverboat we saw recently past by without stopping. We didn't know if he had nothing to trade or simply didn't see our trading post back in the reeds. We built a new trading post on the west jetty. When Eric, the general goods merchant, arrived he said he saw the new jetty trading post but there was no sign of life, he'd been to our old trading post before so he knew it was here. He thought the trader that past us by may have been one of the survivors and was scared off by the sight of the mother frogs on the shore across the river. Before Eric went on his way, we traded for some linen clothes and ordered flax.
We didn't know if that passing trader didn't see us or he saw the frogs, but we knew that Antos the crabber on the east jetty saw the boat covering that Tremain, the west jetty crabber, had, because now Antos wanted one too. Even with a new fisherman on the east jetty, the competition between the east and west fisherman did not end. They weren't even catching the same type of fish. Freshwater bass, perch, bluegill, and trout were caught from the west jetty. Saltwater cod, mackerel, and flat fish were caught from the east jetty. Cray fish and catfish were caught from the fishing jetty in town.
Despite getting a late start, Elia planted quite a few hardwood seedling and gathered reeds, iron, stone, and logs. The small orchard in front of her house also did well producing the first harvest of grapefruits. The pig wallow and farmyard also did well. Hopefully by the following spring we would have more fruit tree seeds.
Chapter 15
Our seeds did not arrive, but in spring of year 10, a houseboat of Outlanders did. There were 2 related families, 4 adults, 2 young adult girls, and an infant. They were migrating from the cold north where it seemed to get colder every year. Like us they turned into the swamp to avoid pirates and became lost. Swamp rivers were very slow, they'd been in the swamp a long time. In that time, they grew to like the swamp and the swamp's climate with no snow. They would stay with us if we were willing to teach them about living in the swamp.
We immediately began building houses. One of the adult girls wanted to stay on the houseboat, the other wanted a small jetty house of her own. She wanted to learn how to catch crabs. One set of parents wanted a house on solid ground, or as solid as swamp ground can be, they moved into a house next to Elia. The other set of parents with the infant chose to have a house on the east jetty.
In late autumn a seed merchant came to the west jetty trading post but only had grapefruit seeds which we already had. We again ordered orange, lemon, and lime seeds. The houseboat moored there was drawing attention, it was very colorful. The jetty residents wanted more color. We decided to build an arbor where they could enjoy the view and watch for approaching riverboats. They did more than that, they began feeding the ducks and attracting more ducks. We feared the ducks would attract hungry crocs. The arbor and the ducks also attracted residents from the east jetty, and of course, they wanted an arbor too.
Chapter 16
Thorntonia, a general goods merchant, had no trouble getting to the west jetty trading post despite all the extra croc nets that were put up. Thorntonia had oranges but no seeds. We traded for some of the oranges and ordered orange, lemon, and lime seeds. We had orders placed with 4 different merchants.
Construction work had begun on the east jetty to provide access to their arbor, just like the one the west jetty had. Folks on the west jetty wanted to know why they didn't have a school closer to them like the east jetty had. We were again short of logs by the time work begun on the new school. We would need room for more students in a year or two anyways. Many of the newly planted trees were coming up and doing well but there was a lot more stone iron and reeds to be cleared away.
That summer of year 11 a food merchant came to both trading posts. This prompted a comparison of which jetty had more of this or less of that, who had eggs and who didn't. And then the west jetty folks discovered that the east jetty had a storage unit and a market, they only had a market. We built a small swamp storage unit across from the new school. A worker was assigned to the duck pond to gather eggs.
In autumn, Patie, the seed merchant, brought the orange seeds we ordered 4 times. We were happy to finally get them. Two farmers began to plant immediately.
Merle was not happy tending the ducks. The duck pond was a long way from her house and the weather was again very cool and damp with frequent heavy rain. She said she would scream if one more person said "it was good weather for ducks". Well, that was just ducky!
Chapter 17
The extremely rainy weather continued into early spring of year 12. The supply of logs and firewood was very low. We extended the east jetty to the shore hoping to make walking easier for the laborers gathering resources there. On the west jetty we began building a jetty storage unit closer to the west shore where branches and wild food could be gathered. Because of the rain and humidity, visibility was so bad we did not see the newcomers wading across the river.
There were 9 migrants, 8 adults and 1 young child, who came from the south. They were unaware of the frog invasion at the time, only that they had less frogs and more bugs as a result. More heat and rain made it impossible to stay where they were, others were sure to follow. They saw no frog ponds or crocs directly across the river from where they crossed but there were many trees.
Elissac & Partha's oldest daughter immediately moved in with the single male migrant when his cabin was built on the west jetty near the new storage unit. A couple with their 2 children moved into another cabin nearby. Two young adults moved into the cabin and house built on the east jetty, and the last couple occupied the house that was built on the west jetty. The families had potatoes with them and the last ones were cut into pieces to be planted on the west shore, along with some of our corn seeds. They transplanted a few wild berry bushes to the small farmyard and they would cut their own firewood. Some chickens were brought over from the coop in town. Eric the general goods merchant brought lemon seeds and flax. A small lemon orchard was planted near that farmyard, and we would all have more cool linen clothes. Or so we hoped, there was again more debate over which side had more of this or less of that.
To get more wood and help future immigrants from the south, we built a foot bride across the river. It had to be built a bit higher than the other jetties to allow enough clearance for the riverboats to pass under. One of the young adult males wanted a house built out far enough where he could watch that the boats did not run into trouble navigating under our bridge. The bridge and other spots along the jetties needed rope railings.
Chapter 18
Once everyone was settled and our supplies had stabilized, it was time for a special project, a town swamp chapel where we could gather and read stories from the Holy Book that Mayne and I salvaged from our overturned sailboat. The Holy Books were the reason we ended up here in the swamp to begin with.
The open-air chapel was built right in the center of town near the swamp hall where the Holy Book was kept stored. I spread word around, especially to those living on the east and west jetties, inviting everyone to the first chapel meeting on the first day of summer.
I began the meeting by saying that Everglades population after 13 years was now 107 citizens, 65 adults, 19 students, and 23 young children. Like us they came here to Everglade in Summerset Swamp with little or nothing more than the clothes on their backs. Then I read the inventory records of how much we had now, saying it didn't matter that those living in the north part of town had a few more grapefruit and oranges than the rest of us, or that those on the east and west jetties had more crab than those of us living in town. We all had so much and we obtained it while still preserving the balance of nature in the swamp around us. We would continue to work at having the supplies more evenly produced on all sides of town. In the mean time, everyone, east, west, north, and south were welcome to read the Holy Book. It tells the history of the world and has really good stories for every one of us weary travelers, no matter where we come from or where we may roam.
The End
:) Well done!
:) Thank you, Kid :) Well done update to Fish n Ships.
I should mention there will be a small jetty-building tutorial on release thread, and there will be another test story for items that were added to the mod while this test story and map were in progress.
The link to Fish n Ship download plus a Jetty-building tutorial can be found here:
http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=3070.0