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Abandoned - The Forge (of Dwarves) - Story 65

Started by Abandoned, January 09, 2021, 11:02:32 PM

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Abandoned

#30
Chapter 22


  There was a big turn out for the first town meeting.  The main topic of discussion was the need for houses for young people still living at home with their parents, many of the young people were now of marriageable age.  The Forge had 54 families but only 36 homes.  Construction of houses began in early spring along the west wall of the castle.  Young couples, ages 15-21, moved in as soon as each house was completed.  One house was also built west of town across the river.

  During the warmer months we collected herbs and branches several times.  New houses needed firewood.  We traded for apples, walnuts, and potatoes whenever Mechele came to the trading post.  He came 3 times this year.  We were again in need of leather but our supply of coats was still good.

By the end of the year 6 castle houses and a school were completed.  Most of the houses already had a newborn. Our settlement was now thriving.

Abandoned

#31
Chapter 23


  By early spring of year 23, more construction was underway.  A wood store and food store would ensure that castle residents had a supply of firewood and a variety of foods nearby.  A daily news office was built so notes could be taken at the town meeting and then copied and given to those who did not attend the meeting.  Many household now had infants and young children who could not be left home alone.

  There was construction in other areas of town also.  A tailor workshop was build behind the duds maker.  We had a supply of down and flax that could be made into warm coats. We added a 3rd woodcutter to cut firewood.

  There was a nice forest across the river now, the forge foresters were doing most of the tree cutting.  The forest workplace for extra foresters was long gone now.  But now the untouched forest across the river had a lot of wild foods and herbs that our baker needed for the herb bread.  A workplace was set up for a herbalist and one for a gatherer.  We would soon build awning covers over them and the tailor workplace too.  A house was built at the edge of the forest by the bridge for the workers.

  Our food, firewood, and clothing supplies continued to improve.

kid1293

Are the walls hard to work with?
Expensive? Hard to fit?

Abandoned

 :)  The stone requirement was no problem.  This map had a lot of surface stone plus I use the Increase CC and Rock Respawn mods.  A big help was having the matching Forge wood houses to build at the start while stockpiling some stone and waiting to have workers for a quarry.  The walls are not hard to work with at all, just a little extra attention needed when placing the corner towers to match up the wall walkways. I was disappointed that none of my bannies got up on the walls.  I wonder if I could have built things a bit differently to encourage them to use the walkways.  :-\  Maybe next time  :)

kid1293

I also have trouble getting the bannies to go up on the walls.
It looks like there has to be a lot of idle bannies for that to happen.

Abandoned

oh, well that explains it, I don't have many idle bannies.  I keep them pretty busy  ;D  No play breaks  ;D

Abandoned

#36
Chapter 24


  By late spring of year 24 we had a proper town hall built inside the castle walls.  The overseer's inventory was very handy by the trading post and the notice board served its purpose of keeping cave dwellers informed but now we had detailed records of births, citizen statistics, housing, jobs, and production all in one place.  Citizens were free to check for information whenever they wanted, if they wanted to know something they no longer had to find someone who might know the answer.

  Citizens also liked the town meetings where they could have their concerns addressed immediately.  The workers at the trading post said they often had trouble restocking trade goods before the river boatman came again.  Another worker was assigned.  The 3 woodcutters said the problem with the firewood supply was that the wood store worker took too many logs and they often did not have enough.  A market cart for logs was built by the woodcutters and the wood store worker was reassigned there, there was enough firewood in the castle store.

  Two more houses were built inside the castle walls, the teacher and her family moved into the one right next to the school.  There were now 3 students in that school and soon there would be more.  A small fenced playground with a slide and a swing was built next to the school.

  There were always favorable comments about our town at the town meeting.

Abandoned

#37
Chapter 25


  Our food supply fluctuated a great deal throughout the year depending on when the river boatman came, when the first and last snowfalls came, when the mill ran out of barley, or the baker ran out of herbs.  Gathering wild foods and feed for the goats depended on the distance that laborers had to travel.  They reported at one of the town meetings that the gatherer huts were a great help so another one was built.  This one was near the sheep shed and a new house was built next to it.  Fourteen-year-old Briela often helped her grandmother, Bessica, gather the wild foods there.  She liked the wildflowers that grew among the grass and thatch and decided she wanted a flower shop so others could grow the pretty flowers at home.  Her shop was built inside the castle wall and it wasn't long before more pretty red flowers and pots of wild flowers began showing up around town. 

  We realized that almost all of the castle residents were laborers or builders and thus had a long way to travel when working.  We decided more of the needed houses would be built in those far places like across the river.  A herbalist workplace was built next to the gatherer where another worker was assigned.  The road was extended farther back into the forest and a branch gatherer was built there to insure that the area had enough firewood close at hand.  There were always small ways we could improve our efficiency.


Abandoned

#38
Chapter 26


  By spring of year 26 we had a gatherer for wild food and one for branches built just south of the castle across the small stream.  Inside the castle walls there were more pretty red flowers growing.  Folks that came to the spring town meeting were impressed and stopped at the flower shop to pick up some to take home.

  A topic was discussed at that meeting that had been brought up before, when were we going to build an ale house.  Rock and I agreed, the people have worked hard stabilizing our wood and food supplies, they deserved an ale or two after a hard days work.  Our food supply included more apples now, the river boatman came at regular intervals with an ample supply of foods we needed.  We traded for 2,000 apples in Spring.  It was time we built an ale house.  Construction began immediately.  A good sized ale house with a big room filled with tables was finished by summer, a few tables were put outside.  Another early snowfall had everyone enjoying their mug of ale inside. In early autumn we traded for 3,200 apples.  Everyone agreed, we must never ever run out of ale.

Abandoned

#39
Chapter 27


  Work continued inside the castle walls.  By summer of year 27 there were 3 more houses for young couples, and a house of healing.  There were statues, benches, decorative wreaths, more flowers, and the rose garden that Rock had promised me.  While we sat enjoying the sight and smell of the rose garden on a midsummer day, Rock had our daughter, who just moved out, and our 2 sons still living at home, plant rose bushes around our house and hang a heart shaped wreath upon our door.  My Rock is such a sweetheart. 

  It does not seem that long ago that we first came out of the caves and Rock built that house.  The old part of town by the caves is still very much the same with the meat roaster, the school, and the duds maker.

Abandoned

#40
Chapter 28


The area through the tunnel is also still very much the same as it was and I still enjoy a walk in the undisturbed forest. No hunting has been done there for many years.  The guardians of the forest are still there though, watchful as always.  I think they miss the young children I use to bring on walks with me, they never minded when the children would chased the geese as they laughed and played.  The tree fellows will have to wait a little longer to see a child at play, our latest boy, Norrie, was born that spring.  My Rock is such a sweetheart.

  The area south of the castle has also been left undisturbed, only a little food and branch gathering is being done there.  South of town we hunt with elven bows and enchanted arrows and grow the barley we learned came from the hobbits.  Wild foods and herbs are gathered in the forest there.  Southwest of town across the river is another forest area, more trees were planted then were carefully cut with high quality tools.  In the forest directly west of town across the river is the 2nd hunting and fishing area where more wild foods and branches are gathered. 

  The elves and tree fellows have taught us a lot about protecting the forest and wildlife, our town is surrounded by beautiful forests where families of geese, elk, and bears still thrive.

Abandoned

#41
Chapter 29


  Even the Forge area itself has 2 small areas of trees, carefully cut by the forge foresters with their  precision-made grinder-sharpened dwarven axes.  High quality tools are used by our dwarf miners in both the large and small mines.  They bring up only the best crystals, stone, coal, and the iron ore that goes to the smelter next door to the mines.  Dwarf miners are the best, despite the dangers none died in our mines, none were laid to rest in our small cemetery next to the forge stone quarry.  Only Lila and Eugenery who died of starvation, Earldine who died in childbirth, and Karence the fisherwoman who died of old age are buried there.  Karence was 42 when she and her family came out of the caves in year 2, she was 68 when she died.

  Along the river were Karence used to fish are the trading post and overseer and of course the axe grinder.  We've traded a lot of axes for apples, potatoes, and walnuts.  We carried on the dwarf tradition of trading axes and tools for food, as always, dwarves make the best tools.  Our town was named after The Forge itself.

taniu

@Abandoned :D ;D ;DBeautiful city, beautiful architecture. A fantastic story about the world of Middle-earth. I have a question - you are talking about elves, I think it would be good to add the famous elven baked goods here? Lembasy.Elfy invite you for cookies, bread, which they traditionally prepare for the journey. Travelers got Lembas from the elves wrapped in large leaves or in linen cloth. I even looked for a recipe for baking bread. That's him:
Lembas with almonds
2 cups of wheat flour
- a teaspoon of baking powder
- egg
- 1/3 cup of milk
- 3 tablespoons of honey
- a handful of almond flakes
Maybe you add   this idea to your list? :-\ Regards

Abandoned

 :) Thanks @taniu and thanks for recipe.  It is up to @kid1293 to add products to mods but I will add this to my recipe box, Lembas look and sound delicious.  :)

Abandoned

#44
Chapter 30


  So, weary traveler, there's not much left to say.  We dwarves have done well here above ground.  Thirty years ago, Rock and I came out of the caves with 18 others, 51 others from below joined us over the next 10 years for a total of 71.  The Forge's population is now 222, 124 adults, 30 students, and 68 young children.  We have plenty of everything we need for a good life here above ground.  It is good to see the sky and the trees.  As always, it is good to be a dwarf.

You're welcome to say with us longer, weary traveler, but I realize you want to be on your way.  Safe travels and be careful traveling through the woods, especially at night.


The End