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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

Intro


  This is the 52th story in the Smallville Series.  It takes place in the polar region northeast of Crystal Canyon (story #36).  The Preserve was settled by wood elves who were among the group of elves sent from the North Pole South Annex (story 21) to the Winter Woodlands (story 22) to care for wild animals who were struggling to survive the worsening weather  conditions. Families were leaving the area and farm animals were also being abandoned.  These elves met and advised some monks, who later founded Aspenglow (story 35), to follow a group of lost sheep that were headed north.  These elves were headed northeast after being told by a river boatman from North Port (story 38) that if the wild animals in the polar region were not helped soon, they would be gone forever.  These wood elves would establish an animal preserve on Ice Mountain in year 63 SVT.

 
Map  # 344633301      Mountain,  Small,  More Snow,  disasters Off,  Easy (8 Families)


Mods enabled in load order:

Starting and Map Changing Mods:  Call of Nature Soundtrack, Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status,  Jinxie Natural Decorations, Maritimes Riffle, Kid Ice Castle (new, testing)

Tweak Mods:   Better Stockpiles, Better Stockpile Storage, Busy Laborers, Fishing Dock 25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative, override Ice Castle clothes, Rocks Respawn

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Abandoned Places, Kid Friendly Blue (new, testing), Kid Workplace, Mini Buildings

Supporting Mods:   Campfire, DS Tunnels, I See Fire, Kid Animal Pen, Kid Fish n Ships, Kid Market Carts, Kid Mist, Kid Some Boats, Snowman


Mod info:  I have Kid Ice Castle as a start condition mod in my mod order.  It has snow year round, special animals, and only vanilla pine trees.  There are different numbers of starting families, none with seeds or livestock.  There are ice structures and deco made for this climate included.  This mod should not be used with other mods that change trees, climates, animals, or start conditions.

Kid Friendly Blue was actually the first retextured Friendly Neighborhood to match Kid Tree Toppers mod. (Kid Friendly Blue Too has the same blue roof but vanilla wood walls, this has weathered grey walls.)  Friendly Blue was designed with winter in mind and has some special extras added but it can be used with any climate or start.  If using Friendly Blue with Ice Castle as I am doing - Tree Topper mod is not recommended because the treehouse trees will have leaves in the snow. 



Welcome to our Nature Preserve, weary traveler.  You look half frozen.  Sit by the fire to warm up while I tell you about our Elven settlement.

Abandoned

Note:  None of the Ice Castle starts have anything other than stockpiles and carts already on the map


Chapter 1


  Who better to send to protect and defend wildlife than wood elves, we have a special way with animals.  On the way northeast we befriended a pack of wild dogs who then helped pull our supply carts through the snow.  We rescued a group of abandoned farm animals also, 2 cows, 2 sheep, and some chickens.  We would not be able to travel too far with the livestock even though we wrapped the chickens in hide coats and put them in one of the carts.  When we came to an area of ice caves by the river we decided it was where we would stay.

  There were enough caves for each of our 8 families to have one, there were 21 of us, 16 adults and 5 children.  My name is Dall and my husband is Lillam, we were the eldest with no children so we were put in charge.  We would take care of 2 of the sled dogs.  There was a large cave that could be used for storage so we temporarily put the livestock in that cave.  There was a cave to the west by one of the fishing ponds that seemed to be more rock, coal, and iron than ice so we put a wooden sign above the entrance designating it as a mine cave.  There was a lot of surface stone nearby so we quickly built a stone wall to form a cemetery.

  Besides the 2 fishing ponds there were 2 hedgerows that would provide us with herbs, winter hardy berries, and branches for firewood.  We only saw a pair of elks when we arrived, we would do no hunting until we assessed the wildlife situation here.  We of course had the finest elven bows and arrows, made for accuracy and pain free hunting.  From the hilltop behind our ice caves looking north across the river, we could see a small group of polar bears but there were no baby bears with them.  There was also a sunken ship there and another one much closer.  They must be 2 of the supply ships the river boatman said were sent from Riverboat Junction.  There would be time to explore later, first we had work to do.

Abandoned

#2
Chapter 1  screenshots  :)

Abandoned

#3
Chapter 2


  Once we were settled in our caves, our first priority was our livestock and food supply.  We set up an animal pen outside and began building a large animal barn to house the livestock when temperatures fell into the teens and single digits.  We no sooner got the animals out of the storage cave than a snowy owl appeared in the dead tree overlooking the animal pen.  The snowy owl was one of the animals we were here to protect but we must also protect our chickens. We immediately put our only rooster inside the pen's small tent.  Food was scarce for the wildlife and livestock.

  We built a cleaning shed to collect what plant debris we could find by digging beneath the snow.  We added potato peels and berries to feed the livestock.  We would need to grow food for them as well as for ourselves.  The animals were providing us with fertilizer, eggs, milk, and wool.  We built another cleaning shed to clear fertilizer from the animal barn once the livestock were moved inside.  We built a greenhouse and used the fertilizer to grow oats, the plant debris would then feed the livestock.  We would build more greenhouse for potatoes and berries.

  By the end of the year we built a woodcutter, an mini outdoor classroom, and a mini town hall to keep our records.  We did not get a teacher working in the classroom before the first child became an adult.  Our inventory records showed we were doing alright so far.

Abandoned

#4
Chapter 3


  In spring of year 2 Aleesa, who lived in the cave next to the newly dug tunnel, rescued a family of snowshoe rabbits from falling prey to a snowy owl.  Her husband, Lamare, built a rabbit hutch for them and kept 2 torches lit to keep the snowy owl at bay, it was perched in the tree overlooking the hutch.  Hopefully, the grains and plant debris would attract enough small arctic rodents to feed the snowy owls.  With careful management, we would have rabbit meat to feed ourselves and the sled dogs.

  The elk herd was spotted again over the hill to the north, there were now 5 elk.  We put out some plant debris for them and hoped they would learn that this was the place to come to when food was scarce in winter.  Some of the wheat that Lillam scavenged from the shipwreck was put out for them too.  Other than the wheat there was logs, iron, and firewood to be had from the wreck.

  Until the elk herd increased in size significantly, we would have to rely on rabbit hides to make warm coats when we needed them.  We built a tailor and a smith but as of now our supply of tools and coats was holding steady.  We built a supply jetty in the hopes that another supply ship would come down the river.  We feared our jetty may not still be here then, floated icebergs missed hitting it several times.  The current was swift and treacherous, the ice seemed to be always moving.  Often on a sunny day a huge chunk would break off from Ice Mountain and splash down into the river below.  It was no wonder that river boatmen would not come this way.  We repeatedly told people and children to stay off the ice, it wasn't safe.

kid1293

Great work! It looks better than when I tested it :) :)

Abandoned

 :) Thanks, it is going well.  Ice caves fit well on mountain map but I am thinking terrain is interfering with polar bear population.  :-\

Abandoned

#7
Chapter 4


  Four polar bears were spotted at the elk feeding spot.  We put out crates of fish and the bears returned. We noticed that several of the bears had injuries we thought may have been caused by fishing among the ice chunks.  One bear limped quite badly.   Lillam saw a mother bear and 2 cubs up by the point.  That was a good indication that the polar bears would survive.

  Our survival here too depended on our food supply.  We built a second greenhouse and planted potatoes.  Our livestock was multiplying and soon we would need a second animal barn for them.  Freemanuel, the fisherman, reported that the bears passed by his ice pond and one of them stopped and helped himself to some of the fresh caught fish.  Well, we could spare a few more fish, our catch had been very good.  Our greenhouses, animal barn, and rabbit hutch were all producing well.

  In early spring of year 4, the polar bear with the limp showed up at the feeding area with a cub.  Neither mother or baby seemed to be getting their fair share of food, the other 3 bears were more aggressive.  It took some doing but we lured the baby and mother to our animal pen with a basket of winter berries.  Mother bear seemed quite content to let us care for her and her baby.


Kristahfer

Once again you produce a great work.


I noticed in one of your earlier posts an "Animal Barn". Will that available? Or is it specific to the Ice Castle starts?

kid1293

Hi. The Animal Barn is in the Friendly Blue (with the white walls).
It is perfect for wintery settings but it will work anywhere.

To be released soon :)

Abandoned

Thanks @Kristahfer   The animal barn is pictured in the 2nd last picture of the last chapter, it works together with the cleaning shed and the greenhouse.  As @kid1293 said, animal barn is part of soon to be released Friendly Blue mod.  Pieces like the frozen fish pond, polar bears, and ice caves are part of the Ice Castle start mod. 

Jinxiewinxie

#11
(Edited bc I looked at pictures before reading, heh) are the sled dogs part of the ice castle mod?

Abandoned

 :) Hi @Jinxiewinxie yes, there are huskies, deco ones with dog houses in both Friendly Blue and Ice Castle, there is a storage dog sled in Ice Castle mod.

Jinxiewinxie

Yay! Those puppers have me looking forward to playing again =)

Abandoned

 :) I hope we are inspiring you to return to some modding.  :)  Jinxie's rabbit hutches are on this map  :)  8)