Abandoned - Darkmoor Haven - Story 54

[Abandoned]

The deco ship also come with white sails.    Deco ship is great, I placed it over the riverboat at the dock, it appears as if the ship is being traded with.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 16


  We were busy the rest of year 15 collecting branches and preparing the rocky soil for more farmyards.  There were pear tree seedlings, and corn, cabbage, and beans seeds.  We prepared a 7x8 farmyard on both sides of the river.  We were told next year's tally would again be tools and hide coats and apples, so we transplanted some apple trees and set up bee hives to help better pollenate our fruit trees.

It was a busy time.  We needed more iron for the extra tools and we were again low on firewood and reassigned the woodcutter.  There were more seeds and seedlings to plant.   By spring of year 16 the new farmyards were growing well and we built one new house.  In early autumn the collector ship arrived.  We had 100 iron tools, 100 hide coats, and 600 apples which was half of what we had in storage.  It was our choice how many needed apples we wanted to donate.  We received our receipt for 2900 units and the ship was on its way, and finally there was time to talk.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 17


  Averich and I met with Bostoney and Hilliam at our town hall.  They would tell us what we wanted to know.  They came from the Dark Forest in the south near Monkstown and Pirate's Cove, their dark elven settlement is much older though, older than even Smallville.  They are not pirates but have been helping the pirate captain of Pirate's Cove, more accurately helping the swamp dwellers that Captain Kylandro has been helping.  He was a river boatman turned pirate helping the poor, struggling to survive, swamp dwellers.  In year 62 SVT, a few years before the dark elves arrived here, Summerset Swamp was invaded by giant mother frogs seeking revenge.  Kylandro was one of the survivors, he rescued a young woman he would marry, and they established Pirate's Cove.  The dark elves helped treat many of the swamp survivors with their herbal medicines, but no one helped them more than Kylandro and Jacalynn.  There was a crack down on piracy in that area and the dark elves came here, a safe distance away, to help provide needed goods.  The river boat and collector ship's crew are Kylandro's men and survivors he helped and gave jobs to.  Some help is still need but with our help and yearly tally most survivors are now self-sufficient.  There would be no more required tally after this one but we could still donate items if we wanted to.  Hilliam said they would tell us more about the Dark Forest settlement later if we wanted to know. 

  It was a lot to take in but the information could not have come at a better time, we had 2 more couples with spouses from opposite sides of the river.   We had 3 more houses under construction.

Our tally that year was a donation of 100 iron tools, 100 hide coats, 370 apples which was half our inventory of apples, and we added 144 pears which was half of our pears.  The ship arrived late, it was a frosty autumn.  The ship again waited in the lake while the river boat collected the goods and gave us our receipt for 2814 units.   

  Shortly after the ship left, our daughter Shastity married Hilber from across the river and they built a tree topper on this side.  Our 1st grandchild was born that winter.  Although the days were short and dark, winters in Darkmoor Haven didn't seem quite so dark anymore.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 18


  In early spring of year 18 we did another tally voluntarily, the same as last year, 100 tools, 100 coats, and half of our apples and pears, and again it was dark elves who came to do the work of hauling the goods to the dock.   After giving it some thought, I realized that over the years it was the dark elves who did most of the work.  Certainly they did almost all of the heavy work, tree cutting and log hauling, stone and iron gathering and hauling.  They even made it easier for our wood cuttter and blacksmith by providing market carts and workers to bring those heavy material closer to our workers.  They hauled heavy building materials to building sites on both side of the river.  They built their own houses and haven platform and coven as well as help build our new houses. We tended our farmyards and did some hunting and fishing.  I wondered now if we would have survived here without their help.  Our yearly tally now seemed a small price to pay.

  The ship returned in late autumn that year and again anchored at the dock on a bright snowy day.  It did not take long to load the waiting goods and give us a receipt for 2,955 units, the highest total so far. Our production had increased as well as our population.  At the end of year 18 Darkmoor Haven had a total population of 90, 51 adults, 13 students, and 26 young children.

[kid1293]

That last picture really tells of hardship. Nice story

[Abandoned]

Thanks    I thought the picture of the ship in the snow looks really good. I really like that ship 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 19


   As you know, weary traveler, we just had another long dark winter, with long dark nights, and long dark shadows on the river.  And now suddenly it's spring and we receive a wonderful surprise.  The flowers, bulbs, and tree seedlings the ship brought us a few years ago are all blooming for the first time.  There are purple and white lilac trees and bright yellow daffodils and multi-colored ghost flowers blooming on both sides of the river.  What was once dark and dreary is now bright and sunny.  The birds are singing and the bees are buzzing and children from both sides of the river are playing together and laughing and singing in the schoolyard's playground.  The farmyards have new baby chicks and the hutches have new baby bunnies.  Many of the house have newborn babies too. 
 
  Hilliam will be here soon to tell us about the settlement in the Dark Forest that the dark elves came here from.  Until then, have a Happy First Day of Spring, weary traveler. 



To Be Continued

[kid1293]

Thanks

I also wish all a Happy Spring.

[Abandoned]

  Moral of the story, there is light after darkness 

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