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Abandoned - Hunting Grounds - Story 86

Started by Abandoned, October 31, 2022, 07:09:14 AM

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Abandoned

Intro


  This is the 86th story in the Smallville Series and tells of a Native tribe, who like the wood elves of Westwood story 85, are hunters and gatherers and teach the old ways to their children.  They packed up their original village in Which Way Woods and moved farther north to their summer hunting grounds when the heat and drought in the southwest became unbearable.  Their hunting grounds is south of West Port (story 31) and Cedar Creek (story 20) by the river along the west side of the World Map.  The story starts in autumn of year 33 SVT.




Map seed   # 465181012      Valley,    Small,     Mild,   Disasters Off,  E8 Bison, Deer, Grouse, Grass 


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, Cold Realism, Override Fewer Trees, Settler Deco,  Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Deco Tree Fall, Kid Tree Replacer Light, Kid New Flora Edit, Wildlife Start

Tweak Mods:    Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Native Clothes, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kids), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Native Village

Supporting Mods:    EB Natural Irrigation Deco, I See Fire (RK), Kid Animal Breeder, Kid Deadwood, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Jam & Wine, Kid Market Foods, Kid Wayshrine, Kid Work Shop, Tiny Chopper


Mod note:   No new mods are used in this story, just another seasonal story with fall color.
Story note:  The tribe chief is not physically on the map.



  No, weary traveler, we have not seen a lone woman with the strange name of Earthling of which you speak.  We saw no ship that was a mother, only an occasional riverboat. A ship that flies? A mother?   We think you have been drinking too much whiteman's fire water.  We have only seen the big iron bird that flies with no wings, twice.  Come sit by the fire and I will tell you.

Kristahfer


Abandoned


catty-cb


Abandoned

 :)

Chapter 1


  It was many moons ago that we first saw the iron bird.  Our village was farther south than here.  It was nearing the end of summer, just before our hunting party would come here to our hunting grounds to hunt buffalo.  It was a hot late-summer night and the moon was bright.  Our fishing party had just gone out with the canoes when we heard a strange rumble that was not thunder and we saw 2 bright white lights in the sky that were not our ancestors the star people.  When the lights got closer, we saw they were the eyes of a huge bird of iron that flew with no wings.  When it passed by, it looked back at us with huge red eyes of fire and left an intense heat behind. 

  The heat did not leave when the flying iron bird left.  The water was drying up, the trees and fish began dying off, and the wild game left our woods.  We would leave too.  We would pack up our teepees and all that we could, and we would move, here, to our Hunting Grounds.  There were 27 of us, 16 adults and 11 children, including the hunters who ran ahead to hunt. They left the horses for us.  The elders and the fisherman would follow with the canoes.



The hunters found that only a small herd of buffalo had come through the north pass from the prairie.  There were deer and grouse but they too seemed skittish and easily scared off by the least crackle of a fallen leaf.  Many trees had already changed to fall colors and many leaves had already fallen and many trees had died.  It was warmer than normal with pouring rain for the fall hunt, there was no snow for tracking.  When we arrived with the horses and carts of supplies, the trees were already bare.  It was still warm but much cooler than back at our original camp.   The iron bird that flies with no wings must have come this way.



Abandoned

Chapter 2


  Shortly after we arrived, we had a light frost.  We needed to get our camp set up as soon as possible.  Our teepee was erected first because my husband, Killie, was our chief's only son.  My name is Arabela and we had 2 sons at the time, a toddler and a newborn.  We had 2 white horses.  We chose a location in the center of camp near a small hunting grounds.  There were nuts, berries, and wild honey to gather plus branches for firewood, and small game including rabbits and the wild grouse that roamed the area.  We were basically hunters and gatherers but we cleared an area where I would plant the traditional Three Sisters , corn, squash, and beans, next year. 



   We were deeply concerned for our food supply for the coming winter.  We had some supplies we brought with us but not nearly enough since it was before the hunt.  We managed to gather berries and mushrooms, and grass for the horses before the frost hit.   Our hunters still had not gotten any deer or buffalo.  We depended on the buffalo for our survival.  The hunters should have better luck now that we brought their horses back to them and there would soon be snow for tracking. 

  We were also concerned for our fisherman and elders.  The canoes should have arrived by now.  Killie send a young brave on the fastest horse back to our original village hoping all was well.

Abandoned

Chapter 3




  The hunting lodge was set up in its usual place to the east of where we began setting up our main camp.  Only Arman and Aliah were hunting at the time,  Rowlandolph and Calison were helping to erect the other teepees, they had a 1-year-old toddler.  Arman and Aliah had a 4-year-old son and a pair of 7-year-old twins, a girl Artha and a boy Owen.  The boy was the young brave who was riding back to our original camp to learn the cause of the fisherman and elders' delay.  The horse he was riding and 3 others would be kept in the hunting camp.  Hopefully enough grass had been gathered to last the winter. 


  The buffalo pass from the prairie to the north is just across the stream from the hunting camp.  There are usually several large herds of deer grazing in the area.  These animals not only provide meat for us but hides for our teepees, bedding and rugs, clothing, moccasins, bags and pouches, and many other items. 

  No part of the buffalo is wasted.  Many parts are meat, the fat is used as tallow and for soap making, tanning, and even hair grease.  The bones make tools and arrowheads, and other useful items.  The horns make cups, fire carriers, spoons, and ladles.  The muscles make bows and thread.  The hair makes pillow stuffing and ropes.  Even the tail and the buffalo chips have their uses.  The buffalo gives us more than I can even tell.  We thank the animals for dying for us and we thank the Great Spirit for sending the animals to us.   At the end of the hunt we have a feast of Thanksgiving for all that we have been given. 

Abandoned

Chapter 4


    Knowing the seriousness of our low food supply, Pearly and Mirah had their teepee set up by the river.  There was a fallen deadwood tree that would serve as a fishing pier until the fisherman arrived with the canoes.  Nearby the river widened to form a small lake.  Drying racks were set up by the cookfire and fish were being dried for storage and winter use.




  Three more teepees were built near the center of the camp.  The 3 families had 4 young children and 2 newborns.  The 8th family built a longhouse back by the stockpile.  They also had a newborn and wanted a big family.  They fenced an area next to their house to care for the remaining horses.  Owen had just returned on horseback from the old camp.

  Word from the elders and fisherman was that the river was running too high and fast for ladened canoes to be paddled upriver.  Our fisherwoman fishing from the fishing tree confirmed that the river was indeed running fast, probably caused by heavy downpours up north like our hunters experienced when they arrived.  The elders hoped that once the cold weather arrived up north and the snow would fall instead of rain that the river would slow its flow and make it easier to navigate.  By then the fishermen's catch should be dry.  The catch was good and lasting longer because the iron bird that flew with no wings warmed the waters.  Nothing was allowed to go to waste. 

kid1293

 :) I like that - Iron Bird with no wings.

Abandoned

 ;D ya, I think these Natives have been drinking too much firewater too.  ;D

Abandoned

Chapter 5


  It was not long before the first snowflakes began to fall.  We had 3 white frosts so we knew the snow would come soon.  There were no wild foods left to gather but the hunting was done, we now had venison and buffalo meat.  It was time to make tools and clothes.  A tool maker hut and a needleworks was set up between the stockpile and the hunting camp.  The young brave, Owen, built a longhouse there by the stockpile and would be the smith.  The horse he rode to the old camp was now with the other 3 horses in the hunting camp.  His twin sister, Artha, moved from her parent's teepee into her own by the needleworks.  She would soon learn from the needlewoman how to tan the hides and make the clothes and other needed items. 





  By then the large storage unit that was begun earlier on the other side of the stockpile was finished.  We would feel more secure once we had more food and supplies on hand.  Our food supply was still low.

Abandoned

Chapter 6




  The winter was mild, what little snow we had melted soon.  We began building a Chief's Hut and gathering place for the wise elders.  The elders would teach the children the old ways with their stories and legends.  There was still no sign of the chief, the elders, or the fisherman.



  When the leaves began to open on the trees we notice 2 things.  First, there seemed to be many more dead trees, and second, the leaves on some of the trees changed to their autumn colors almost as soon as they opened.  We hoped that did not mean those trees would soon be dead also.  There were many dead branches which we gathered and added to the stockpile.  We gathered more grass for the horses.



  The mild weather and warm sunshine had the corn, squash, and beans coming up and producing much earlier than expected.  There were also some wild foods to be collected.  The hunters were having no luck, no buffalo or deer had been sighted since the autumn hunt.  Mirah, who had been fishing from the deadwood tree, spotted a herd of buffalo and 2 herds of deer across the river.  She was the first to see the canoes enter the lake from the south.  The chief, the elders, and the fisherman had arrived.

Abandoned

Chapter 7


  The river was still running fast but their canoes were lighter, they'd used most of their supplies over the winter.  The weather had remained hot, and game and wild foods had been scarce.  There was the chief and 17 of our tribe members who finally joined us, 13 adults with 4 children.  The 2 elder couples had 3 young adult children and the 3 fishermen and their mates had 1 adult and 4 young children.




   A longhouse was built next to the chief's hut for one of the elder families, and a teepee for the other elder family near the storage tent by the elderberry hedgerow that was just discovered.  Three teepees were built for the fisherman half-way between the main camp and the lake where they landed.  A small fishing dock was built where the canoe fisherman could unload their catch of fish.  Another fish drying rack was set up with the others by the teepee belonging to the family who fished from the fishing tree.  That family had also been gathering cranberries from the small bog there by the lake.  Further over they now discovered a duck pond.  Duck meat, eggs, and down would be most welcome.




Abandoned

Chapter 8


  Our supplies took another drop but with more helpers we took to the woods to gather wild foods and herbs.  We found little.  The warmth and rain caused the grass to grow in abundance choking out the other plants.  Another plot of corn, squash, and beans was planted behind the 3 fisherman teepees.   In autumn we gathered grass for the horses and all the branches we could find for firewood.  Finally, a herd of buffalo was spotted.  Up until that time that year the hunters had only gotten grouse, no buffalo or venison. We finally had a little leather and down to make needed warm coats, and strips of buffalo meat were soon drying on the racks in the hunting camp for the coming winter.





  Our signs of nature did not warn of us of the early winter that year.  We had no light frost or freeze, only the first snowfall.  The last fisherman was still out on the lake in his canoe.  We could only think it was the fault of the iron bird that flies with no wings.

Kristahfer

'The Iron Bird That Flys With No Wings', is interesting.