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Abandoned - Darkmoor Haven - Story 54

Started by Abandoned, February 29, 2020, 07:30:32 AM

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Abandoned

Intro

  This is the 54th story in the Smallville Series.  It takes place east of story 53's Forest Haven and the Winter Woodlands, it is on the east edge of the Northern Highlands overlooking the open moors south of Crystal Canyon and Misty Meadow, stories 36 & 37.  The group that settled here were of Elven descent from those areas but they were not purebred elves skilled in Elven magic nor were they wood elves skilled with living off the land and communing with nature and wildlife.  They settled here in year 63 SVT in the dark days of winter when you wonder if spring will ever come. They named their settlement Darkmoor Haven, but after they settled, it only got darker.

 
Map  # 325297580     Harsh Plateau,  Small,  Harsh,  disasters On,  Medium (5 Families)


Mods enabled in load order:

Starting and Map Changing Mods:  Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, doDaylight Cycle, DS Terrains and Climates, Kid Tree Replacer Xlight, New Flora Edit, New Trees, Family Starts

Tweak Mods:   Bigger Wheelbarrows, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative, Rocks Respawn

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Nomad Sign Complete, Storage Crates, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Ghost Flowers, Kid Gothic Fantasy, , Kid More Haven (newly released), Kid More Houses, Kid More Houses Dark, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods: Idle Small Fisherman, Kid Coven,   Kid Farmyard (newly released), Kid Garden Shed II,  Kid Gothic Farm, Kid Gothic Tithes and Tributes (new, testing), Kid Market Carts, Kid New Pump, Kid Old Fence, Kid Washing Mod, Kid's Workshop, Tiny Chopper


Mod info:

Kid More Havens  has been released, you will not have to wait.  It consist of haven houses and platforms, but not the extra pieces of Kid Forest Haven.  Kid More Havens have 3 variants made to match Kid More Houses mods original, dark, and vanilla.  The dark texture matches Kid Gothic Fantasy.

Kid Gothic Tithes and Tributes  (testing) consists of several pieces in 3 textures.  The main piece is a collection dock where storytellers and role players can pay taxes or tributes when the riverboat comes to collect.  Others can dispose of excess items.  Each will get a totally worthless receipt in exchange.  The release version will have a regular trading post added.  It will not be in this story.



So, Welcome, weary traveler, come sit a while and I will tell you all about those dark days here at Darkmoor Haven.

Abandoned


Abandoned

#2
Chapter 1


  Yes, weary traveler, those moors are not the most welcoming place to be especially in the dead and dark of winter.  When our group reached the wooded highlands we decided to settle.  We named our settlement Darkmoor Haven and thought our struggles were over.  Little did we know.

  There were 14 of us, 10 adults with 4 children. We arrived in the wooded plateau with some supplies.  We had no herd of livestock, only a few chickens, goats, and sheep. We had no seeds for fields and orchards just enough for a few farmyards.  We gathered resources and some wild foods and branches and set to work building houses.

  Gardo and Elaynellama being of elven descent built a tree topper house for themselves and their 2 children by the river.  Gardo began fishing from the river bank immediately. 

  My husband Averich and I were from farm families, we had chickens and 2 goats that took up residence under our apple trees.  We built a spacious farm house and planted oats, carrots, berries, corn, and potatoes.  We would tend the farmyard and animals together and Averich would cut the firewood.  My name is Emmalynn but you can call me Emma.

  Hesteban and Berty built another tree topper house by the river east of us.  And Adon and Suzetter build a pretty house on the main road behind our house.  A short way to the west Juliano and Marandy built another spacious farm house.  They had 2 children and 3 sheep.  There would be wool and wool clothes. They planted oats, potatoes, and carrots.  Like we did for our chickens, when the days got short and dark and cold, they built an awning covering for the sheep.  We both mulched the crops with hay to prolong the harvest into winter.  If the winter was very bad we planned to bring our chickens into the house. 

  By late autumn 3 couples, including Averich and I, had our first child.  We named our daughter Hessi.  Gardo and Elaynellamae's daughter had just turned 6.  Averich thought it best that we build a school right away.  Averich was the eldest and it was he who organized the group and suggested we settle here together so we were in charge of our Darkmoor Haven, for now.

Abandoned

#3
 Chapter 2


  The winter was not as harsh as we expected although there was an early snow and some very cold days.  In late winter the temperature hovered around the freezing mark and we took the opportunity to gather branches and what wild foods and herbs we could find.  There were a number of coughs and colds but nothing too serious.  We began building a cemetery just in case.  That early warm spell sprouted new growth in the farmyards. 

  Marandy only had time last year to make 2 wool coats but there was a nice little surplus of wool in the general storage now.  We thought it best to build more storage and get more things out of the carts and crates.  We also set up a tiny chopper by the main stockpile in case we quickly needed more firewood.  We needed more hides for warm coats but the hunter was not having much luck.  The deer herds were small and few.  The moors were not known to be fertile lands to attract wildlife, our rocky farmyard soil was proof of that.  We spent a lot of time picking small stones out of the soil in order to grow nice straight carrots.

  With so many items in carts and crates it was difficult to estimate just how much we had of what, Averich wanted a town hall built where inventory and family records could be kept in one place.  When he choose to built one next to the school was when we realized that Gardo and Elaynellamae's daughter missed starting school because we failed to assign a teacher.  I said I would gladly teach the students but the next child to reach school age was now only 3 years old.  Averich and I just had our 2nd daughter who we named Shastity.

  By early autumn there was more wool in storage and workshop was built to make warm coats and tools when needed.  It snowed again in autumn and we knew it would be another cold dark winter.

banishedsanni

Not sure if i am allowed to post here (dont want to disturb your story telling).

Just wanted to say that i like the idea of telling a story and I would like to do this myself but always get lost in the process of planning, building, decorating and forget about taking screen, story writing.  :'(

Keep up! :)

Abandoned

 :) Thanks for encouragement @banishedsanni   It is fine to post here  :)  It takes a bit of planning and note taking, story often develops as I go along.  One story often leads to another.  :)

Abandoned

#6
Chapter 3


  Juliano and Marandy had been having a bit of trouble with wild rabbits in their farmyard so they built a small hutch to shelter them.  Rabbit meat and hides would be a nice addition to our supplies.  Our hunter was not providing enough hides needed for making warm coats.  The workshop was now making iron tools.

  We had a nice variety of items in storage and decided to build another storage shed to make it quicker and easier for our few laborers to do their job, especially in the snow.  We only had 3 laborers and 1 builder at the time.  We had a thaw in early spring of year 3 but as soon as the crops came up and the leaves opened on the trees, it snowed again.  It made it difficult to collect branches to replenish our firewood supply.  A small gatherers hut was built in late summer but our food supply was good so it would not be used this year. 

  Several times during the year there were reports of strange sightings across the river.  Glimpses were brief and no one could say if they had seen animals or people.  Averich though we should investigate and construction of bridge began.  With only 3 laborers and 1 builder it took until late autumn to complete it, by then it was snowing heavily.  Investigating would have to wait.

kid1293

It looks like it is winter most of the time - the light.

Abandoned

 :) The terrain, and the rain, and the dark of night help add to the dark atmosphere, and it is winter, for 16 more days  ;D  The first day of spring is a day early this year because of leap year.  :)

Abandoned

#9
Chapter 4


  It was a harsh winter and we used a lot of firewood, our supply was quite low by the time we could get out into the woods to collect branches.  Still it was not enough so we assigned one of our 3 laborers to cut firewood.  Another laborer became teacher because Juliano and Marandy's daughter turned 6 and we did not want another child to miss school.  We had enough warm coats for the winter so our workshop worker began making iron tools. 

  It was a very warm and rainy spring with one dark dreary day after another but  one was very dark indeed.  It was raining heavily the day 23 strangers came over the bridge, 13 adults with 10 children.  With the bad winter, firewood shortage, and lack of laborers we had not crossed over the bridge to investigate.  The strangers came to the town hall and informed us that they were elves and this was the land of their ancestors.  They were claiming the land and settling across the river.  We were welcome to stay.  Welcome to Stay!  Well, we had no claim to the land, we could not stop them from settling across the river, but we were not going anywhere.  They said they knew we wouldn't mind if they helped themselves to some supplies.  Well, what could we say to that, they had young children with them although most were older than ours and past school starting age. 

  They immediately got busy building houses but did not hesitate to help gather wild foods and branches on both sides of the river.  We wondered what kind of elves so indiscriminately cut so many trees.  They built 2 tree topper houses, a ground house, and a haven platform for 3 more houses.  We were not happy when they had a worker come with a wheelbarrow for supplies for their haven storage unit.  We  wondered about the house that was build farther back in the woods.  The couple's names were Bostoney and Hilliam, they seemed to be the spokespeople of the group.  That last house was completed just before the first snowfall.

Abandoned

#10
Chapter 5


  We were happy to see our new neighbors build a gatherer's hut and a herbalist, at least they did not plan to live off us entirely.  Our menfolk did not like the situation at all and began making more tools,  axes and pitchforks, in case there was trouble brewing.  When our dark neighbor built a school we had a strong suspicion of what we were up against, dark elves with dark magic.  Some would call them witches.  The Coven Hall they built confirmed our fears.  An axe or pitchfork was no match for dark magic.  Without magic, they already succeeded in doing what dark elves do best, instilling fear and terror.

  Our dark neighbors showed no sign of aggression or hostility and continued to help gather wild foods and branches for our stockpile and storage units. They built a dark hunter near their dark haven to provide more meat for all.  Everyone was polite but not overly friendly but our children played together.

  Early winter was dark and dreary. The moon cast eerie shadows on the river. It was then that the dark elves built a large dark cemetery.  When they came to us with a request, if you could call it that, we wondered if that grim cemetery was meant as a means of persuasion or intimidation.


kid1293

"The moon cast eerie shadows on the river."

:) :)

Abandoned


Abandoned

#13
Chapter 6


  Bostoney and Hilliam came across the bridge with their builders and informed us that they were building a special dock on our side of the river.  Since we were living rent free on their land it was only fair that we contribute our fair share to the Dark Elven Council Capital City hidden away in the Dark Forest.  The Council would send a ship to collect the tithe.  A tallyman's office would be built next to the collection dock to help calculate 10% of all items in inventory except for wood, stone, and iron.  The required number of items were to be stored a the dock until the ship arrived to collect them.  The first tally should be done as soon as the dock and office were completed.  They trusted there would be no trouble over this matter.

   The dock and tallyman's office were completed by early spring.   What choice did we have but to comply other than packing up and moving away.  This was our home and we had young children to consider.  It was not as if we did not have a good surplus of items we could contribute.

  We immediately began tallying the number of items required, it was not difficult to calculate 10% and then round the number up if need be.  The dark elves sent 3 workers who verified our calculations accepting that some numbers varied because items were constantly being taken from and added to storage.  The 3 workers took wheelbarrows to gather the items, many from their haven platform storage unit.  We wondered how long before the ship came to collect the items.

  The months came and went but no ship arrived.  The dark elves again came to help gather wild foods and firewood.  The head elf and I both had baby girls and she sent their herbalist over to check that both I and little Florancesca were doing fine.  The populate of Darkmoor Haven combined was now 55, 29 adults, 3 students, and 23 young children.  By the end of the year our inventory totals were slightly more than they were a year ago.

banishedsanni

Well I guess it is too late now, but there is a mod on nexus, that makes your bannies look like dunmer - because u wrote your bannies of this town are of  Elven descent.



maybe for another map :)