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Abandoned - Westward Ho - part 1 - Outskirts of Smallville - Story 25

Started by Abandoned, July 04, 2018, 06:03:26 AM

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Abandoned

Intro

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day, here in the USA.  I thought it would be a good day to start this mini series, which is a preview and final test of a fantastic new mod called Westward Ho created by Kid.   Historically, Independence Missouri was the famous starting point for wagon trains  heading west along the Santa Fe and Oregon trails in the early 1800s.  Our wagon train will leave from the outskirts of Smallville, just to the south of town. 

  This is the 25th story in the Smallville series and the 14th expedition to leave that town.  The year is approximately year 40 SVT and by then the main river had changed it course, Smallville had suffered food shortages, and had send out many expeditions for one reason or another, mainly to relieve overcrowding. Word had filtered back from some of those expeditions that there were rich farmlands and gold to be had out west.  An enterprising young man has decided to built a wagon train to take his new bride and several other families west.  This is the first story of their journey that will be told in several parts from beginning to end.  I will try to keep the stories from becoming too long so you will not have too long to wait for the mods release.


The map seed for this story is  # 589456919    Valley, Small, Mild, Disaster Off,  Pioneer Hard Start


A word about start conditions:  The Westward Ho mod has the standard terrains and start conditions plus several special choices to choose from which you will see in this series.  However, the Pioneer Hard start of this first story will not be included in the release version.  I am hoping that the beginning shack and small shed will be included in a future mod by Kid.  :-X

Thank you, Kid, for this wonderful mod, I hope my story will do it justice.


Mods activated for this map and load order are:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:  Call of Nature Soundtrack, Banished UI Maps & UI Town Names, Labor Window, Rk Minimized Status, New Flora with Gatherer

Tweak Mods:  Better Fields, Fishing Dock 25%, Hunting v3, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 alternative (aging mod)

Major or Must Have Mods:  Nomad Sign Complete, Smallville (sign),  Kid Westward Ho, Mini Buildings

Supporting Mods:  Birch Bark Canoe, Colorful Little Houses, Deco Sunflower, Kid Animal Shed SA2, Kid New Pump, Kid Washing Mod, Storage Crates.


Theme Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdQioiyOSOA


So, weary traveler, you want to travel west with us?  Well, the wagons have been built, and the supplies have been gathered and loaded onto the wagons.  We're ready to roll the wagons, but first, sit a spell and I'll tell you how this all started.


brads3


Abandoned

 ;D Yes indeed, your multi-mod towns don't leave much new for the rest of us.  ;D  You will like this one @brads3

brads3

i have redid the mod order and loaded a bunch for the next map.waiting for PILRIM, to see the new colonial. otherwise it is ready to go.going to be a huge project.

rkelly17

Since I was born in a town that advertised itself as "The End of the Santa Fe Trail," El Monte, California (Large Valley, Mild Climate, Occasional Disasters), I'll be looking forward to this installment of the series. In its origins El Monte was truck farms and dairies; now it's part of the endless suburbs that extend East from Downtown LA.

Abandoned

@brads3 good luck with next project. 

@rkelly17 interesting info about end of Santa Fe Trail, thanks.  :)  Maybe Westward Ho wagons will get there, who knows where my stories will go.  Even I don't always know at the start.  ;D  We shall see

I hope you both enjoy the journey.  :)

Abandoned

Chapter 1


Yes, weary traveler, you know as well as I do how hard it is to travel this world pulling a storage cart. My husband, Domington, and I both came to Smallville as children but we each took our turns pulling those carts.  Unlike you, there was room in Smallville at the time, so we were given homes and grew up there, we attended the outdoor survival classroom together.  My name is Doree, and Dom and I had only just been married when we began this venture together.


Dom helped build and load those storage carts for expeditions and for families that were turned away from Smallville.  He said one day he would make it easier for them, he just didn't know how he would do it.  When word came from the Animal Refuge downriver that they had rescued some oxen and donkeys, he knew just what he wanted to do, he would build a wagon train and take families west to a new life.  Domington discussed his plans with the town elders at a town hall meeting and gained their approval.  He was given supplies, and a canoe from Lakeland, plus permission to use the old shack and storage shed south of town as a home base.  Word was sent to the Animal Refuge asking them to bring the oxen and donkeys there. And then, Dominton asked me to marry him.


  The old shack and shed were some distance south of the wild pear grove and deer sanctuary, but still close enough to family and friends.  Smallville's protection of the deer insured there were always deer there when they were needed the most.  Many Smallvillians were saved from starvation over the years thanks to those deer.  This area to the south now had an abundance of deer. 


  With the help of a close friend, Dom built the first 2 wagons.  The larger of the 2 wagons was a supply wagon where we would store items needed for the trip, items that would not be available for use until needed after the wagons rolled.  The smaller wagon would be our home out on the trail and we would keep the record books pertaining to the wagon train.  Dom would be the wagon master.  Dom knew a lot about building wagons and also a lot about supplies, inventories, and statistics.  Yes, Dom knew about a lot of things, but there was one thing Dom did not know.


Abandoned

Chapter 2

  Dom did not know I was expecting our first child, I did not tell him.  The wagon that would be our home on the way west was small, barely enough room for two.  How would we manage with three. What dangers would we face? Would he want me to stay home?  Would he give up his dream?  I need not have feared.  When I finally told him, he was overjoyed.  Of course I would not be left behind.  There would be plenty of room, we could keep some of our personal belongings in the supply wagon.  We would also be building a storage wagon, it was not a good idea to keep everything in one wagon.  Should something happen to that wagon all would be lost. 

  To make room in the storage shed we began moving items to the supply wagon.  Dom figured we should have on hand 40 hide coats, 60 iron tools, 500 pieces of firewood, and 2,000 potatoes.  He built a wheelbarrow to ease my workload.  I was instructed not to overdo it.  I asked why we were taking firewood and was told we had to cut trees to make room for the wagons and to pass through the thick forest to the west, we may as well chop it into firewood.  As long as we had room on the wagons it would be that much less work to do out on the trail.  That made sense to me.

  Our son, Linwoodrow, was born in early summer.  By then, Dom had begun work on 2 more wagons, he called them roadhouses.  A wood chopping block and mini workshop were almost completed.  When winter came we would stay close to the shack and make tools and hide coats.  As we did in Smallville, we would gather wild foods and herbs before the first snow.  Dom already did some hunting so we had leather, and plenty of venison to go with the wild foods I collected which included berries and wild oats.  Each night after Linwood was asleep, Dom and I sat outside on the woodpile and watched lightening bugs and listened to crickets until cool autumn nights sent us inside early to sit by the fire.  We took a quick trip back to Smallville to visit family and friends before winter.

  We had cleared an 8x12 crop field so in spring we would plant the seed potatoes we brought back from Smallville.  Potatoes would keep well on the trail west where we would have to depend on hunting, fishing, and gathering for all of our food needs.

  It snowed in late autumn.

Abandoned

Chapter 3


  Dom was eager to return to wagon building in early spring of year 2.  I planted the seed potatoes.  When I spotted 2 people on the other side of the creek I called to Dom but when I looked again the couple had disappeared.  We took the canoe over to the other side and looked around and called out but got no answer.  There was rough hilly terrain over there, why the railroad thought they could get a choo choo train through there was beyond me.  We would build a bridge over the small creek in case the couple came back this way.

  We just began building the bridge when 2 families arrived from Smallville.  They were told about the wagon train and were interested in going west.  They understood it would be a hard trip and that there was work to be done beforehand, they were more than willing to work.  They quickly settled into the Road House and pitched right in to help.  Our population was now 9, 6 adults and 3 children.

  With the newcomers help, Dom constructed another Road House,  a small wagon for a family of 3, and a school wagon.  None of the children were close to reaching school age but the wagon would be a safe place for the children to play until then. 

  Another mini workshop was built but we were short of leather so both workshops would make iron tools until more hunting was done.  Dom set desired amounts of items he wanted put in the supply wagon.  They were lower than what we needed before leaving but it was a start.  He did not want the storage shed or crates to run short if anyone needed a coat or a tool.  We had plenty of food so the potatoes were all transferred to the supply wagon as soon as they were harvested.  We began clearing a pasture next to the potato field and hoped that the oxen and donkeys would arrive from Animal Refuge next year.

  In autumn of year 2, one of the new families had their first child, and Dom and I had our second son, who we named Lion.  Dom said his cry was like that of a baby mountain lion.  Dom came to Smallville from the mountains in the North.  Both our boys looked just like their father.  Outskirt's population had grown to 11.  The couple with their newborn moved to the small wagon.   We hoped that next spring more families would join us.  Dom calculated that we could safely escort 6 families west.   We would need another family wagon for 4 and a storage wagon, but over the winter we would work on filling the supply wagon with tools, hide coats, and firewood.


Gatherer

Very nice story @Abandoned . Already one of your finest I'd say. And kudos to @kid1293 for the wagons.
There's never enough deco stuff!!!
Fiat panis.

Abandoned

 :) Thank you so much @Gatherer, I a finding the story a bit trickier than most to write.  @kid1293 did a absolutely fantastic job on these wagons. 

kid1293


Abandoned

 :) Your welcome, so far so good.  All is working as it should.

Abandoned

Chapter 4


Dom began building a storage wagon but construction was paused in order to finish the pasture by spring of year 3.  It was not long after that a family of 3 arrived with the donkeys and oxen.  They brought 3 donkeys and 7 oxen, just enough to pull the wagons.  They wanted very much to go west with us and they were more than welcome to join us.  The couple's knowledge about the animals was invaluable since none of the rest of us had ever seen such animals before. Their daughter was past school age but she often played with and watched over the younger children in the school wagon.

  Checking inventory, Dom discovered we were still short of leather, we also needed grain and other wild foods.  With the extra workers, hunting and gathering was not a problem, our inventory totals soon improved.  The  supply wagon was almost full of the items we needed before we could start our journey feeling secure.  By early winter the storage wagon was completed.  Both the supply wagon and the storage wagon could be covered if need be when out on the trail, but for now they were easier to load without the covers.   We only needed 3 more families and our journey could begin.

  In Spring of year 4 we got the 3 families and more.  You, weary traveler were among them.  Sadly we just could not feel comfortable adding more wagons to the train.  We would need even more supplies and our departure would be delayed.  We did not know what lay ahead.  But we were very happy your group worked it out among yourselves who would stay and who would go.  We were happier still that those staying behind decided to settle here in Outskirts.  Just like back in Smallville, we all loved the colorful little houses you built.  That small animal shed worked out well for tending the 2 sheep your group brought with them from Smallville.  Those sheep wouldn't have lasted long in the pasture with the oxen.  The donkeys and oxen have multiplied since they were brought here from Animal Refuge.  Yes, weary traveler, you are right, there is plenty of room across the bridge for raising livestock and growing crops to send back to Smallville, they are always in need of more food.  All that talk about a possible railroad kept Smallville from expanding in this direction.  The town elders warned us not to over-hunt the deer here.  It took Smallville a long time to rebuild the herds that those railroad loggers wiped out.

  Oh, excuse me a moment.  That's baby Greggie crying.  I'll be right back.

Abandoned

Chapter 5


  Sorry for the interruption, weary traveler, meet baby Greggie.  Yes, our third son.  He was born just before that first snow in late autumn.  Yes, he is a big boy.  I was so glad it was a mild winter so that the 2 older boys could be outside with their father who was cutting wood.  With winter being so mild, less wood was burned and with the 3rd mini woodcutter we soon had enough wood in the supply wagon.  In fact, by late winter we had everything we needed in the supply wagon, 60 iron tools, 40 hide coats, 500 firewood, and 2,000 potatoes. It was a lot less for Dom to worry about when we went back to Smallville for a few days so family and friend could meet baby Greggie and we could say goodbye to everyone.  Yes, it was very difficult.

  Needless to say when we returned we were surprised to learn that 2 of the older boys decided they wanted to stay in Outskirts and build more wagons, and their families decided to stay with them.  That left room on the wagon train for 2 families, yours included.  Did you fill your wagon with as much food and herbs from the shed as your wagon could hold?  As we speak the oxen and donkeys are being hitched to the wagons.

  Yes, weary traveler, it's spring of year 5 and it's time to roll the wagons when the sun is shining bright.  Let's go.



To Be Continued