Abandoned - Ironwood in the Green Woods - Story 72

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 72nd story in the Smallville Series and tells about the settlement that was founded in the Green Woods west of Chattachoo story 4 after Dwarf miners finally tunneled through the mountain so the railroad company could continue expanding the railroad from east to west.  To do so the railroad needed a great deal of wood and iron.  This town was meant to provide it.  The Dwarves named their settlement Ironwood. The story is being told by one of those Dwarves.  The year is year 62 SVT.


The map seed   # 474616541            Valley,   Small,   Fair,   Disasters Off,   E8 Deer, Geese, Bear, Boar


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,  Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Tree Replacer Deco, Kid Tree Replacer OnlyPines, New Flora Edit,  Kid Forge of Dwarves-Caves, Wildlife Start

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

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates,  Kid Abandoned Places SE,  Kid Old Town, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Downtown, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:    ChooChoo (RK), Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Forest Fellow (Fairy Tale tree fellow made separate for this story),  Kid Fruit and Nut, Kid Hedgerow, Kid in Transit, Kid Market Foods, Kid Railway, Kid Traveling Traders (new, testing), Kid Tree Bridge, Kid Tree Topper, Kid Work Shop, Kid Yard Cover, Tiny Herb Patch


Mod note:  Kid Traveling Traders consists of several carts that are bringing food and resources to market from outlying areas.  There are free-to-build deco building to create those distant areas.  The carts are not meant to be cheats, simply a means to supplement production and get food and resources to areas where they are needed.



Well, let me tell you, weary traveler, we certainly did not expect to be met by Elves and tree fellows when we finally broke through that mountain ridge from Chattachoo.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  We are Dwarves from the mountains in the far north.  Worsening weather conditions were making food scarcer than it already was.  Despite the weather, we Dwarves preferred to work and trade for food so a group of us went south.  The Hobbits had food but no work for us.  They told us that the railroad town of Chattachoo was looking for miners and tunnelers so we went further south. 

  The railroad town had depleted their resources of wood and iron and the tracks and trains they built were already in need of repair.  They dug some tunnels to expand the railroad but the surveyors they sent through had not returned.  They determined that tunneling straight west to the woods beyond was their only choice.  We dug that tunnel.  The single workers went back with word to Chattachoo, our 3 families would set up the work camp.  We emerged to be greeted by Elves and a small army of tree fellows.

   They had a small settlement set up with supplies and resources stockpiled.  There were  3 families of humans and 2 families of elves.   The humans apparently were surveyors from Chattachoo who had been lost in the mountains.  The Elves welcomed them to their town and they were here now to protect the Green Woods from destruction.  We could listen to what they had to say and follow their advice or we could turn around and go back.  By the looks and number of the tree fellows we thought it wise to listen.  We took advice from Elves in the past and found it to be sound. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  It was a late afternoon in autumn when we emerged from that tunnel.  The days were getting shorter and there was a chill in the air.  The trees and shrubs were already changing color.   After we agreed to hear what they had to say, the Elves showed us to a dwelling cave they found in this valley.  There was one storage cave there and another where they built their small settlement.  The dwelling cave was half way between the tunnel and that settlement.  We could help ourselves to supplies that were stored there.  It was good to be out of that tunnel. It was a frosty night.

  The next day we met the families and got a look at the settlement and the surrounding area.  Elissac and his wife Ashanna were the head Elves of the group.  They were the same age as my husband Spence and I, who were in charge of our group.  My name is Miliana.

The Elves had 2 tree topper treehouses built.  One was to the north along the river where they had a tree trunker gatherer.  The other treehouse was to the south where they had a tree trunker hunter.  There was a stone bridge across the river where there were deer, bear, and wild boars. There was another stone bridge upriver.  There would be no riverboat traders, this river was only run off from the main river to the north, it did not go anywhere.  All the more reason to extend the railroad we said.  The river did however have fish and the humans built a fishing pier as well as 3 wood houses nearby.  They had just started building a school.  There was a hedgerow where they were gathering berries and branches and there was a patch with apple and walnut trees.  Food and firewood were in short supply and it would soon be winter.  We helped gather more, there would be time to talk later.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  The Elves request was quite simple, we do not mass cut trees, we plant as many as we cut.  The Elves would see that we had enough seedlings for planting.  The Green Woods was mostly pine trees but there were pockets of hardwood trees in the valleys to the north and south of the tunnel.  Hardwood oaks would be better for building tracks, it was stronger and would last longer.  In the long run it would save trees that would otherwise be needed for repair and replacement.  The softwood pines should be reserved for buildings and there were plenty of branches to be used for heating and cookfires.  We should set up mining and forestry camps at a distance from the town.  Whenever possible, build in clearings rather than cutting trees.  Those workers could bring the products to town and trade for food.  They would be traveling traders.

  The Elves' plan made sense.  I doubt there was anyone in the known world that didn't know of the death and destruction this railroad company caused in the Smallville area years ago.  We saw for ourselves what was being done in Chattachoo.  We readily agreed to the Elves' plan.   

  We had not been in Chattachoo long so other than the general condition of that town there was nothing we could tell these Humans about the people they would have known.   They had not been there long themselves before being sent out as land surveyors.
 
  It was spring before we got a better look at the area we found ourselves in.  There were birch and some oaks along the river.  The town and the small side valleys were mostly pine trees but there were oaks and fruit and nut trees mixed in.  There was plenty of surface stone and iron but these mountains would be good for mining as well.  The Elves said it would be our town, but it was their woods and they would stay to protect it.  We would be part of a nice little town, the humans just built a Tiny town hall and our children were welcome to attend the new school.  We named the town Ironwood.  I was eager to get out of the cave. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  Being Dwarves, the first thing the men built was an old forge to make tools.  Spence said you can't build good houses without good tools.  My Spence is one smart Dwarf.  He also said we would build mostly stone houses to save the trees and please the Elves.  He did not want to end up having to ask permission for every tree we cut.  Three sturdy stone houses were built and we promptly moved out of the dwelling cave.  It was autumn again and a bit chilly. 

  The humans built an old tailor and were making hide coats.  The Elf hunter got a few geese and had a bit of down.  The Elves' gatherer discovered a small pond and ducks arrived in early autumn, there would be duck eggs and meat and more down.  The humans would make warm coats for the winter.  We Dwarves were a hardy bunch but that didn't mean we didn't like a warm house and fire and warm coats.  The town was short of firewood.  We all took to the woods to gather what wild food we could find and collect downed branches.  We built a cart to bring those branches back to town.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  The branch cart worked well and we built another.  The worker could leave one cart at the stockpile to be unloaded while he went out to fill the other.  We had serious doubts that branch gathering instead of a wood cutter would be enough.

  On the other side of town the humans gathered flax from the woods and planted a tiny flax patch next to the tailor.  There was more down now and the tailor had begun making warm coats.

  It was spring of year 3 when the workers arrived from Chattachoo.  We could hear them laying tracks in the tunnel as they got closer to us.  There were 27 of them, 7 couples with children and 6 singles.  We would get them settled following the Elves advice and then begin work laying tracks.  Like us, there was little the newcomers could tell our Human families about the folks back in Chattachoo.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


  The workers had no problem with living and working farther from the town itself, especially the families with children.  They preferred to have the children farther from where the tracks and train will be.  The first family moved into the wood house next to the hunter cabin that was build in the north valley.  There were large herds of deer plus bear, boars, and geese. They were close to the apple and walnut patch and there was a hedgerow with berries and branches. A gatherer was built there, then a shed, firewood stockpile, and another wood house.  We used wood for these houses because it was quicker and easier to build with than stone and we were hoping to have houses and firewood for everyone before winter.

  It was a beautiful fall with a fresh crispness in the air and pleasantly warm autumn days.  We spent a lot of time gathering branches but it was not enough, we were short of firewood.  A forester was built in the north cluster to begin planting trees like we agreed to do.  There were only a few branches on the stockpile there but it would be awhile before there would be trees to cut for firewood.  The Elves and Humans however had logs on their stockpile and the humans set up a tiny chopper under a covering and began cutting firewood.  They also built a small cemetery next to the town hall and we built a stone house for a Dwarf stone cutter. 

  By winter our firewood supply improved but there was still a family and some singles living in the dwelling caves.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  Another stone house was built in town for the family with children.  We began building worker cabins for the young singles not far from the railroad tunnel.  There was a storage cave and another large cave where they had stashed some of their belongings and supplies when they arrived.   We built a mine and would start bringing out coal for stronger tools for track laying.  Iron or stone could be mined if needed in the future but for now there was plenty of surface iron and stone to be had.

  Two of the singles made a trip back to Chattachoo with word of our progress and returned to say we could expect more workers to arrive.  We did not know how many to expect but we wanted to be sure our food supply was sufficient and that everyone especially the Elves and Humans had access to a wide variety.  We built a covered market on the main road at the intersection leading to the outlying work camp, between the stone houses and the worker cabins.  We built an open market by the town hall for the Elves and Humans.  If they wanted they could always build a covering over all or part of it.

  Studying the Human's inventory records we saw our food supply was good but we could use more meat and more grain.  The potatoes were almost gone.  Miners and railroad workers needed good hardy hot meals especially in fall and winter.  We consulted with the Humans.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8


  The Humans were like Dwarves, they liked good food.  Difference was they knew how to produce it.  They built a tiny bakery and a workplace grinder to make flour from what wild oats we had.   They gathered herbs from the wild and planted them in a tiny herb patch, they would bake herb bread.

  In spring of year 5 our Humans were even more thrilled then we were when 8 adults with 2 children came through the tunnel.  The newcomers brought livestock with them, oxen, horses, donkeys, and goats.  They had a covered wagon with some iron tools and hide coats as well as apples, potatoes, and flour.  And they had seeds.  Best of all our Humans actually knew 2 of the families.  They had a lot of catching up to do.

[Glenn]

I was wondering if the oxen cart is part of the new traveling traders?

I like it. -  a horse drawn wagon (alternative ) would make it even better.

[Abandoned]

@Glenn  The oxen, horses, and donkeys are part of the Traveling Traders but they are not attached to the carts.  There are several different carts with merchandise or empty, you choose which animal you want to pull it.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9


Those 2 families were farmers and wanted to live close to their old friends.  One family built a tiny house and planted a farmyard with wheat, cabbage, and potatoes.  They would tend the goats and cut a little firewood.  The second farm family got permission from the Elves to clear land for a small wheat field, a tree fellow was right there to supervise.  Only a few trees needed cutting.

  The 3rd family built a house with a stable for the horses by our covered market and 2 upper units were added to the row of worker cabins for the young singles.  A small pasture for the oxen was being built there.  A small area was fenced off down the road in the work camp where they would tend the donkeys.  Another farmyard like the first would be built there too.  We were told there were a few more workers coming with the animals that had lagged behind in the tunnel.  With the help of our smith the newcomers began building work carts.

  The covered peddler's cart was parked next to the covered market where they began unloading the tools, coats, apples, potatoes, and flour.  Yes, finally, more potatoes.  We were looking forward to some good hot meals.

[Abandoned]

Mod note:  Everything described and shown in this chapter is deco.  The far distant work camp is free-to-build deco, no one lives in the houses and no one works in the production buildings.  It is the non-deco traveling trader carts shown in later chapters that do the producing.


Chapter 10


  A wood cart and a mine cart were loaded with logs, branches, stone, iron, and coal and headed back to Chattachoo.  They would make many trips back and forth before the tracks would be laid and the train would be traveling between the two towns.  Chattachoo badly needed resources, tracks need repair and a new train was being built.

  Here a new work camp was built far to the north that would help supply some of those resources.  Three houses were built for the workers, a small pasture for the oxen, and a stockpile.  A hunter and gatherer got right to work.  So did the forester.  The elves were impressed that the branches from the cut trees were also being loaded as firewood onto the wood cart.  There were many hardwood trees in that far valley.

  It was autumn of year 6 that the first carts made their way to our market.  The fruit and vegetable cart was closely followed by the hunter cart, both being pulled by donkeys.  The workers would trade their goods for the food and supplies they needed.  They were our first traveling traders.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  The fruit and vegetable cart pulled up along side of the covered market and began unloading the wild foods that had been gathered in the far distant work camp.  The hunter cart with meat and textiles went further west to the open market and parked next to the tailor's flax garden.  By that time, the first harvest of wheat was in.  Also the first grave was in the cemetery, Fitzhughie the builder died after falling off a ladder while building the new water mill for the wheat.  The workplace grinder would still make flour from the wild oats.

  The wood and mine carts took longer to be fully loaded and to reach the stockpile next to the smith.  The oxen were taken to the small pasture until they were needed to return the empty carts to the far distant work camp and bring back full ones.  We were almost ready to start work laying railroad tracks.

[Abandoned]

oops, forgot pictures