Abandoned - Whispering Pines - (part 2 of Forevermore) - Story 64

[Abandoned]

Intro

 This is the 64th story in the Smallville Series and is a continuation of Story 63 Forevermore.  The story of Whispering Pines is being told in another letter written by the storyteller in Forevermore.  The letter tells about the dreams she had of the past and of the town of Whispering Pines founded approximately the same year as Smallville.  The location of the dreamed town is in the mountainous pine forest north of Forevermore.  This story goes back in time so there is no disease in Whispering Pines or anywhere else.


The map seed 62921302     Mountain,  Small,  Climate Cold Mountain, Disasters Off, AE elk,geese,bear


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, Climate Cold Mountain, Lush & Green, Settlers Deco, Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Tree Replacer Only Pines, New Flora Edit, Kid Forge of Dwarves Caves (preview), Kid Wildlife Starts

Tweak Mods:    Dried Mushrooms, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille),  Override Winter Clothes, Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override uneducated, Storage Crates, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Tiny v 3, Kid Tiny Downtown (new, testing), Kid Workplace Village

Supporting Mods:   Deco People, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Farmyard, Kid in Transit, Kid Market Foods, Kid Portable Mine, Kid Some Boats, Kid Tool Emporium, Kid Tree Toppers, Kid Work Shop, Kid Yard Cover


Mod notes:  Kid Forge of Dwarves Caves is a small mod of free-to build caves good to use at the start of a map but it is not a start mod and will have no effect on other start mods used.  The caves will be  included in a Dwarves mining mod next year.

Tiny Downtown contains more shop-houses plus a few markets and town service.  The downtown is made to match Kid Tiny textures but vanilla stone and granny's original textures have been added.


A letter from Forevermore should be arriving any day now, weary traveler.

[Abandoned]

Letter page 1

Dear Weary Traveler,


  I hope you had a nice Christmas and I hope this letter finds you well.  We had a blizzard on Christmas day and it is still snowing.  I will probably be snowed-in for several days so I decided I would use this time to write you about the dreams I had just like I said I would do when I had the time.

  When others here in Forevermore began having dreams of Christmas past, I began having dreams of the past too but mine were not of Christmas.  In my dreams I was married to the crew chief who was here digging the railway tunnel and laying tracks, but in my dream we were much younger and our names were not the same, I was Liza.  Ludwight was still a dwarf but he had a beard with little braids.  We must have recently met, I said he was tall for a dwarf and he said I was tall for an elf.  He said his family would not like that I was an elf and a pretty one at that but I did have big ears and at least I could cook.  What is with these dwarves and cooking?  Anyways, we were on our way north to his family after work stopped on the tunnel he was helping to dig.  There was a log jam downriver that caused death and destruction.  I awoke from that first dream feeling it was more like a memory than a dream.

  The dreams always seemed to be a continuation.  In the next dream we reached the caves in which his family and friends lived like most dwarves at that time did.  The caves were hidden away in a pine forest valley.  There was one cave used for storage, and another larger gated cave that lead to the underground Dwarven city.  On either side was a gated cave that lead to the city's dwelling areas.  I refused to enter, I was an elf, I needed to see the sky and the trees.  Being an elf I found wild foods and a hedgerow while Ludwight went below.  He would be able to get tools, clothes, mushrooms, fish, furs, and bear meat.  There was an unground river and a lot of bears. 

  In the next dream we had a baby boy and lived in the tree topper house that Ludwight built for me.  It was a ways away from the caves by the small stream and a beautiful duck pond.  Ludwight had a short fall from the ladder and was still laying on the ground looking up at the sky when 3 of his many brothers with their families came out of the caves to help us.  It was hard to tell the women from the men, dwarven women also had beards.  His brothers looked me up and down then at Ludwight.  One told him I was pretty, the other said he should have listened to advice, I'd already caused his downfall.  The 3rd brother extended a hand to help his brother up.  All 4 stood looking at me, Ludwight told them I could cook.  When I asked "what advice" they laughed and began to sing. 


 

[Abandoned]

Letter page 2


  Well, dreams are like that, weary traveler.  Sometimes they are so real and sometimes they aren't.  I dreamed we had a deep snowfall and I said to Ludwight that I needed snowshoes and suddenly I was surrounded by white snowshoe rabbits.  Next thing I knew we had a rabbit hutch built by the hedgerow and a farmyard with mountain goats.  We would have milk, oats, carrots, and more apples.  We needed the food, we were always short of food, clothes, and tools.  We were often afraid that people would starve.  We built a cemetery where a few ancestors were buried, and a stonecutter marked their graves with new stones. A caretaker would tend the grounds.  Ludwight said his ancestors had lived there for many years. 

  Next to the tunnel, the woodcutter kept us from being short of firewood and freezing.  We needed a trading post to trade for food, the population above and below ground was more than this cold mountain climate could support.

  A town and trading post on the other side of the mountain through the tunnel would keep the secret of the Dwarven unground city.  We just needed something to trade and we needed an inventory to see what we had to spare.  A tiny trading post and tiny lighthouse were built by the river.  A tiny downtown area was built on the tunnel road.  There was a food store, town hall, post office, and the daily news.  A tiny tailor was built and a tiny bakery.  We would be able to bake bread as soon as a food trader came with flour.  Down by the fishing pier a bait shop and boat rental was built, and then a fish market.  There was a hunting and a forester tree trunker on that side of town too.  My dream town was starting to look like a nice normal town.

[kid1293]

Here is a little peek at a new mod we are making.
It is called Forge of Dwarves, and from it are the caves in Abandoned's story.

[Abandoned]

Letter page 3


  We had very little to spare for the trading post, only a few logs, a little firewood, and some duck down but it was enough to get us some potatoes.  Delinor, the food merchant, took our order for flour.  We needed  tools to trade.  Dwarves are known for their well-made tools just like elves are known for their bows and enchanted arrows.  I suggested we build a tool emporium where I could use a little elven magic to turn iron tools into steel tools that were worth more in trade.  A portable iron mine was built nearby, a tiny smith would be built on the other side of town.  Ludwight said they taught me well in Crystal Canyon, that must be where the dreamed me came from.   I also suggested a stew pot for rabbit stew made with the potatoes.  The stew pot was set up by the city gate and even Ludwight's mother down below said I was sure a good cook.  Ludwight took her some stew every time he took our boys down to see their grandparents.  In that dream we were older and had 2 boys.

  A tiny chapel was build by the cemetery and behind it was another rabbit hutch and farmyard with goats.  A feed store was built nearby, the silo could store grass to feed the animal.  The rabbits and farmyard added to the town's food supply which was more stable and had more variety.  There were enough laborers to collect wild foods and there was a standing order for flour and potatoes.

[Abandoned]

Letter page 4


  Some time must have past in the dream town, weary traveler, because in the next dream the downtown area was really built up.  There was a school, a jam shop, and a candy shop.  Apple jam on fresh baked bread was so good.  There was an old bank and a bookstore down the road from the school, and next to the storage barn was a furniture store.  Near the candy store was a House of Healing.  The town had no doctor but the cleric there believed faith could heal all ills.  Ludwight and I thought the coffee shop helped to do that too.  We so enjoyed walking through town and sitting on the upper deck to enjoy a hot cup of coffee and sometimes going to the candy store for chocolate. 

  More folks from below enjoyed coming downtown too now and more were planning on moving out of the caves.  There was talk of building a gift shop, flower shop, and an antique store, there were many old things in the caves that others might want.  Someone wanted a stable.  A large tiny rooming  house for those coming up out of the caves was built between the storage barn and the fish market.  At that time there were 22 homes for 31 families.  The population was 81, 49 adults, 1 student, and 31 young children.  I was rather sad, weary traveler, when the dreams stopped.  I was very happy as Liza in that dream town with Ludwight.  We were very much in love and had 2 darling little boys that looked just like their father. 

  You know, weary traveler, I think the snow is finally letting up.  I may be able to get this letter to you soon.

[Abandoned]

Kid Tiny Downtown has been released.  Find Info and link to download here:

http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=3902.0   Enjoy

[Abandoned]

Letter page 5


  You are not going to believe this, weary traveler, I can hardly believe it myself. 

  The snow stopped falling and the wind stopped blowing and much of it was cleared away from the walkways by nightfall.  The street lanterns were lit.  I awoke this morning in fear, hearing what sounded like a train, just like it sounded the day of the tornado.  I sprang from bed only to hear someone yell up the stairs to my loft that a train was coming.  I quickly dressed and ran outside and up the street towards the train station but did not get far before I was swept up and hugged by none other than the crew chief.  He heard about the tornado and had to know I was alright. 

  Oh my gosh, weary traveler, he had been planning to come back for me when his work was done.  He did not want me living a life like the crew men's families, left behind in one town while tunnels were dug and tracks were laid and then packing up and moving to another town.  Now he wanted me to marry him and go to his hometown with him.  It was not far up north in the mountainous pine forest, his ancestors lived there for many years.   He said his family would not like that I was an elf and a pretty one at that but I did have big ears and at least I could cook.  What?  Was I dreaming?

  Someone was shaking me, no, no, I do not want to wake up.  No, I was not asleep and dreaming, I was only momentarily dazed.  I told him of the dreams I had, just as I told you.  He said the town in my dreams sounded very much like his hometown of Whispering Pines.  Was it a dream of the past or a dream of the future yet to come?  We may never know, as he told me once before, we have no way to know what the future may hold, but we will be married tomorrow on New Year's Day and I know we will live happily forevermore.

Goodbye, weary traveler. Have a happy and healthy New Year.  Perhaps we will meet again on our travels.


THE END

[kid1293]

Thanks for the letters! Happy New Year!

[Abandoned]

Happy New Year, Kid