Abandoned - Gypsy Camp - Story 79

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 79th story in the Smallville Series and takes us back east to the vicinity of the railroad there.  The story tells the tale of a band of gypsies who came from the Green Woods and set up camp outside a small settlement across the river to the north of the railroad town of Ironwood (story 72).  The story begins in year 70 SVT.




Map seed   #160621676    Valley One River,   Small,   Fair,  Disasters Off,    Easy Seeds-8 Families






Mods activated for this map and load order are:


Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Lush & Green, override maps, Settler Deco, A8 Japanese Trees, Kid Tree Replacer Fairy, Kid New Flora Edit, New Trees, Family Start

Tweak Mods:   Bigger Wheelbarrows,  Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Fairy Clothes,  Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke, Woodcutter +3

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Fairy Garden, Kid Gypsy Fantasy (new, testing), Kid Old Town, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Downtown,  Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:    Idle Small Fishing Dock, I See Fire, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Jam & Wine (update, testing), Kid Market Foods, Kid Mountain Mansion, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Work Shop



  Welcome to our camp, weary traveler.  I was expecting you.  Some time ago I saw your coming in my crystal ball.  What's that you say?  "The future's not ours to see"?  Who told you that nonsense?  Ah, yes, the little dark elf twit who fell in love with the stick man.  What do elves know?  They hug trees and summon little fairies to do their work.  And love?  What do they know of love and passion, they have no gypsy blood.  I am gypsy, I know.  Come, sit by the fire.  Have a cup of tea.  I will tell you a gypsy love story before I tell you about our gyspy camp.  Then I will tell you your fortune by reading the tea leaves left in your cup.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  Yes, weary traveler, it was love at first sight between the gypsy and his lady.  We knew he was coming; Ette drew the Lovers card from the tarot deck several times in a row.  She was the only daughter of the railroad baron who built a castle in Ironwood's south valley.  Her father arranged a marriage for her but we knew that was not going to happen.  We gypsies had a small camp in the foothills northeast of Ironwood in the Green Woods.  We did quite well there gathering wild foods and raising a few goats.  We borrowed anything else we needed from Ironwood's far work camp.  The baron's daughter came to visit us often to have her fortune told and to talk.  Her mother died when she was young.  She did not want to marry the man her father had chosen for her.

  The girl was in our camp the day the gypsy came over the hill from the north.  There was a natural land bridge across the main river, a stone arch by the end of the mountain ridge.  The sound of his whistling and singing rang out across the valley as he approached.  The girl was captivated from the start.  She ran to meet him.  He knew instantly she was the one he came to find.  She knew he was the lover the Tarot cards predicted.  She did not hesitate to run off with him. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93oVQt82O-A

  Her father was dismayed that she ran off with a gypsy rover.  He went after her but soon returned alone.  Shortly after, we received a message to join her across the river.  We did not hesitate to go either.  We knew there would be trouble there in Ironwood between the elves, the tree fellows, and that baron if he cut any more trees in the south valley and built anything more.   We left our old gyspy wagons behind, packed our belongings in small carts, and crossed the river.  We found the Gypsy Rover's settlement at the north end of a very green valley.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  The gypsy's name is Marvid.   We learned that when the gypsy came here from the Green Woods he found seven young families struggling to survive.  They were living in some rundown shacks and storing supplies in carts.  They were gathering branches for firewood from the hedgerow along with hazelnuts, wild oats, mushrooms, and asparagus.  They were gathering more mushrooms and apples until the wild boar took over the patch by the apple tree.   They had a small farmyard with pear trees and berry bushes where they grew cabbage, brussels, and squash. Their few sheep and chickens were roaming free.  They frequently lost chickens to foxes and other predators.





  The families too thought he was just another gypsy rover but soon changed their minds.  He settled with them and got right to work helping them build a large store house, a forester, and a woodcutter.  He whistled and he sang as he worked and the families' lives became a bit easier and more cheerful.  They insisted he build himself a fine mansion by the river before he did anything else.

[Glenn]

I wonder what other adventures are to be predicted by the tarot cards - for the girl and the others, for there are times when we see in the cards what we want to see, not what is actually there.

[jerica]

The purple bushes are so pretty! Where are they from?

[Abandoned]

@jerica Those purple lilac bushes are in an old CC mod called New Trees.  I don't know if it is still available on that site.  Sorry, can't attach file here.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  By summer, farmhouses were being built for the families.  A chicken coop was built alongside one of them.  Hopefully the coop and the fence around the hedgerow would help protect the chickens.  The fence would also keep the little boarlets from roaming too far from their mothers. 



  The sheep were also fenced into a farmyard behind the storehouse.  The sheep could be taken inside on the worst rainy and snowy days.   The farmyard was planted with oats, potatoes, and carrots.



  The gypsy rover had been doing some planted too.  He built wooden support fences for the grapevines he planted in the clearing behind his mansion.  There would not only be music but there would be wine.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  By early spring of year 2, a house had been built for the woodcutter and one for the foresters.  A tiny hunter lodge and a nearby house for the family was built.  A farmhouse was built behind the storehouse.  Another farmyard was fenced in next to the first one.  It would grow berries, corn, cabbage, and potatoes. Some of the chickens were moved to this farmyard and another chicken coop was built there.  There were a lot of baby spring chickens hatch that year.  The families all had new houses, but some of the old shacks that were abandoned had not been emptied or demolished yet.







  The gypsy's grape vines were doing well and had produced the first grapes of the spring season.  Marvid decided it was time he do some roving and find himself a bride.  He came from the Green Woods and he knew it was there he would find his lady.  He came to Ironwood and "he whistled and he sang until the Green Woods rang ."  He met Ette and it was love at first sight, and "he won the heart of a lady".  She left her father's castle and she left her life behind and ran off with the gypsy rover.  We followed right behind like they asked us to.

[Glenn]

True love wins the day

[Abandoned]

   yes, it does 


Chapter 5


  We left Ironwood and crossed the river, we went over the hill and saw the gypsy's valley before us.  It was very green and had more than just pine trees like the Green Woods we left behind.  We could see birch trees, and in the distance, there were many springlike flowering trees and shrubs as well.

  We chose a clearing just south of where foresters were busy cutting and planting more trees.  We roped off an area for our horses and our goats.  We left our carts nearby and made our way to town.  There were 15 of us, 13 adults and 2 children.




  We were just in time to celebrate the marriage of the gypsy and his lady, Marvid and Ette.  They greeted us warmly and wanted to know if they would be happy.  I said I did not need a crystal ball, tarot card deck, or cup of tea leaves to know they would be happy together, forever and always. 






  A small park was set up for the day of the ceremony but the celebration lasted for 3 weeks.  There was pork roasting on a large spit and nearby tables were kept filled with plates of fruits and vegetables to go with it.  There was a large cake in the small park and next to it were two half-barrels where women were taking turns stooping the grapes into fine gypsy wedding wine.  Yes, there was music and there was wine to celebrate the joining together of the gypsy and his lady.

[Glenn]

I haven't seen pork roasting on a large spit before -  I imagine that is something new?

[Abandoned]

@Glenn No, pork on spit is not new.  Kid Market Foods was updated some time ago to include this large Roast Spit that will roast beef, pork, venison, bear, boar, or bison. (The graphic is the same for all meats).  There was also a small Roast Stand added at that time that will roast turkey, chicken, duck, rabbit, or game.  The small Roast Stand is not used in this story. 

[Glenn]

Thank you Abandoned -  I haven't used MarketFood before.

[Abandoned]

@Glenn    You will like Market Foods 


Chapter 6

  We stayed in the abandoned houses during the celebration.  Marvid said we were to help ourselves to whatever supplies we needed.  We would all have new houses or wagons built for us, whichever we chose.  I was the elder of our group so my family was given first choice.  My husband is Conardo and we have a two-year-old son, Jencarlton, and an eight-year-old daughter, Teller.  She wanted a place of her own and would make her own choice when the time came. I saw in the crystal ball that she would chose a spot close to us.   I choose a spot for our wagon close to the camp's stash and carts.  I am Artina, the fortune teller, and many will come to me for their daily tarot card readings so I wanted to be in a convenient spot.



   A worker was already bringing supplies from the town storehouse to our stash.  It was a new experience for us to be given permission to do this.  We gypsies were considered to be tramps and thieves and not welcome in or around most town.  Townsfolk did not seem to mind visiting our camps though and enjoying the benefits.  Many would come to my wagon to have their fortunes told.  I set out a small table with my crystal ball and two chairs beneath a small awning alongside of our wagon.  Another small table would serve for tarot card reading, palm readings, tea drinking, and maybe even a seance or two.  Conardo set out my sign when all was in place.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  A separate area, where there were 2 apple trees, was set aside for our goats.  We were given oat and carrot seeds to plant there to feed them.  There were soon rabbits in the carrot patch from the hedgerow that was discovered when some trees were cut.  Wilmers and Malvira had their wagon built there and would care for the horses and goats.  They had a 6-year-old boy, Sedric, and a newborn girl named Lynn.  Their 10-year-old daughter, Mckaylan, wanted a place of her own.  This too I saw in the crystal ball when Malvira came to me concerned for her young daughter.  I told Malavira not to worry, her daughter's wagon would be built close to theirs.  And later, it was.






  Like Wilmers and Malavira, Yander and Cayle also had a newborn and a young daughter. The couple was happy to move into their wagon near ours.  It had been a few years since Cayle had an infant to care for.  Their baby boy was named Omarien.  Their 7-year-old daughter, Campella, not only wanted a place of her own but she wanted to live in town.  She wanted to learn to be a tailor.  The town had no school but children learned what they wanted to know from the adults.  A tailor shop was built not far from the sheep farmyard, and Campella moved into a house near the tailor shop.