Abandoned - Swamp Haven - Story 94

[Abandoned]

This story was originally posted June 20, 2023


Intro


  This is the 94th story in the Smallville Series.  The founders of this town were Elves who established a small marshy settlement near the foot of the mountains west of Desert Oasis of story 93.  Like the Oasis, there were no frogs in the Elves' settlement but there were plenty across the river in the swamp and Everglades.  Like the Hobbits of Bakersfield story 92, the Elves would also help survivors, but not survivors of a deadly windstorms, rather survivors of the giant frog invasion that occurred in Summerset Swamp the summer of year 62 SVT.  It was year 60 SVT when the Swamp Haven was settled.






Map seed #  439936207      Valley One River,   Small,   No Snow,   Disasters Off,    M6 Deer, Duck, 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, climate No Snow, Swamp Terrain, override Map, Settlers Deco, Kid Some Deco Trees, Kid Tree Replacer Fairy, Kid New Flora Edit, Wildlife Starts

Tweak Mods:  Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Increased CC,  1:1 Alternative (Voeille),  override Fairy Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke

Major or Must Have Mods:    An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates,  Jinxie Bitty Village Set, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Fairy Garden, Kid Forest Deep, Kid Friendly Blue Too, Kid More Havens, Kid Old town, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:   Deco Sunflower, Kid Deco Magic Mushrooms, Kid Farmyards, Kid Fish n Ships, Kid Forest Fellow, Kid Forest Pond, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Swamp Houses, Kid Swamp Legend Plus, Kid Tree Topper, Kid Washing Mod, Kid Workshop, Shroom, Tiny Chopper, Water and Other Decorations



  No, weary traveler, we don't know what caused the giant frogs in Summerset Swamp to attack the way they did.  In fact, we didn't even know there had been a frog attack until a small group of survivors made their way to our settlement.  There were signs that something was amiss in the swamp but we didn't know what.  We didn't know quite what to do with the survivors, one in particular.  We were young and this was all new to us.  It was quite a dilemma, but we managed, and we became a Swamp Haven.  Let me tell you how that came about.





Chapter 1


  We were a group of young people who, like many others, set out on our own; we were from the Green Woods and wanted to know what was on the other side of the mountains.  We were told there was nothing but swamp.  What we found was a secluded hideaway at the foot of the mountains.  A small river came down from the mountains in the north and ran south into a larger little-traveled river that ran from west to east.  Across that river was the swamp.  We would be undisturbed here.



  The mountains to the north were rich in iron, copper, and other minerals.  Those mineral traces in the somewhat marshy soil were responsible for the rich shades of color in the numerous pine trees that grew in this area.  Along the river were wetland willows, shrooms, and cattails, but at the south end, closer to  the swamp, there were lily pads and mangrove trees.  We Elves were very adaptable, we would make our home here.





  There were 22 of us when we arrived; six families comprised of 12 adults with 10 young children.  One of the families carved out a treehouse by the river and built a fishing jetty where the land jutted out into the water.  Fishing would be good there.  There was another good fishing spot far inland to the east; an underground spring in a pile of rocks created a scenic waterfall and small pond.  It is a favorite spot of fairies; look closely weary traveler, you will see fairies and will o' the whisps and even a tree fellow or two around our haven.





  Just west of that fishing pond, another treehouse housed the fisherman's family.  They planted a fairy garden around the apple tree that grew wild there along with wild honey and mushrooms.  The cabbage, potatoes, squash, and herb seeds they planted we brought with us.  They sprinkled the garden with fairy dust from the purple flower of the dust plant they brought along from home.  Our settlement was beginning to feel like home.





Chapter 2




  The main part of the settlement was halfway between those two fishing spots.  There was a treehouse for each of the three families who wanted the standard treehouse.  They would do whatever work needed to be done; there was a list posted on the notice board by the stockpile. There was a frock maker with a flax hedgerow across from it and a blacksmith down the road.  A wood chopping block was behind the storage barn. Two hedgerows needed tending.  One had summer sun seeds, corn, hazelnuts, and branches.  The other had spring asparagus, mushrooms, and more hazelnuts and branches.  There were bird eggs in nests in the flax hedgerow that needed to be gathered.  There were more branches and wild foods to be gathered in the pine forest.   



  Just south of the settlement closer to the river, my husband, Quentine and I build our treehouse.  It was more of a house in a tree rather than the standard house inside a tree.  Our tree topper treehouse had an upper-level porch.  We could sit and watch the summer sun rise in the east and set in the west.  We had a good view of the river.  There were several small ponds; one was in a hedgerow with a walnut tree and some wild oats and mushrooms.  There were mushrooms and shrooms all around.  It was a beautiful spot to live.  We had our first child shortly after we moved in, a boy we named Bessiah.  I'm Elisabel.







Chapter 3


  It was the summer of year 62 SVT that ducks began flying in from the south, from the swamp; they were swamp ducks.  There were hundreds of them.  The riverbank and every pond and puddle were full of them.  There were even some in the small hedgerow that sprang up next to our tree topper.  Things grew well in this climate and swampy terrain; an apple tree seemed to spring up overnight.  There were wild oats, honey, rosehips, and strawberries in the hedgerow.  I put the ducklings back in the pond with the parents.  We began collecting duck eggs from the pond hedgerow that had the walnut tree, wild oats, and mushrooms.  We wondered what caused so many ducks to migrate from the swamp.





  We had more questions when wild boars were spotted by laborers who were gathering wild food and branches just north of the settlement center in the spring of year 63.  Up until then, we saw only a few deer, and then the ducks.  That's not to say the boar had not been here; the terrain and climate was similar to the swamp.  It was possible that we just had not seen them, but we did wonder if they too migrated from the swamp. 



  And then came the crocogators.  They definitely came from the swamp; from our porch, we saw them coming up the river.  We saw one tree fellow and then another heading for the river, one stood guard over the ducks in the ponds by our house.  The men immediately spread nets across the river, and a croc hunter's hut was built there by the shore.  One of the crocs was caught in the net as soon as  it tried to get on shore.  Vigilant watch would have to be kept on the river from now on.





Chapter 4


  The croc hunter was now the watchman.  Twice he spotted black sails of pirate ships in the distance on the river that runs from west to east along the swamp.  There was nothing there that pirates would be interested in; swamp-dwellers were poor folk living off fish and frog legs; they had nothing pirates would want. 

   It was that same watchman that spotted the swamp dwellers, first one group then another.  He waved for them to go inland away from the river and the crocs, and then let us know they were coming.  It was then we first learned of the giant frog attack in the swamp the previous summer; these mismatched group of 10 adults and 3 children were survivors of that attack and finally escaped the swamp. The crocs were killing and eating the frogs, distracting the frogs long enough for the swamp dwellers to make their escape. They all had stories to tell of lost loved ones and narrow escapes.  All except one middle aged man who couldn't remember anything, not even his name.  They were all dirty and ragged and near starvation.  What were we to do?

  First, we had to check for injuries and get them cleaned up and into clean clothes.  Our frock maker had been busy and kept a good supply of clothes on hand so that was no problem but none of them wanted to bathe in the river or pond fearing frogs or crocs would attack them again.  We had seen no frogs here but we thought it best to take buckets of water to the survivors, rather than trying to get the survivors to the water.

  Feeding them was another problem.  We could not give them large amounts of food in their underfed condition; they would be ill.  They needed small meals often until their systems adjusted; some did not understand that, but we managed. 



  We needed shelter for them and we needed wood to build the shelters.  We needed more workers but they were not in any condition yet to do any heavy work.  We found a tree trunker just a little northwest of the settlement center that would serve as a forester.  Two of the fitter men help the forester and two others would help our builder.   We began construction of an old town boarding house in the large clearing just north of the town center.  They seemed more at ease away from the ponds and the river but almost all said they would like to live in tree houses like ours.  We built a bitsy market by the hostel.  There was a hedgerow nearby with walnuts, sun seeds, berries, flax, and branches.  The first tree topper treehouse construction had just begun when 5 more survivors were spotted headed towards our settlement.








Chapter 5


  The last group of survivors were in the same condition as the first group and needed special care.  The 5 were an older couple with 3 adult children; only the youngest wanted to live with the parents, the other 2 wanted houses of their own.  Since there was no room in the boarding house, a tree topper was built for the couple and youngest, and the 2 oldest would have houses built on the raised tree house platform under construction in the nearby clearing.



  Another tree topper and 2 ground level houses were built nearby.  There was yet another hedgerow discovered that had a nice selection of wild foods growing together, including flax.  A friendly tailor was built close by to make linen clothes from the flax.  A friendly smith was built by the bitsy market so tools would also be readily available.  Another ground level house was built closer to the tree trunker forester.  The boarding house was empty.  Most of the survivors by that time had adjusting well and had joined the workforce. 





  The nameless survivor with no memory was working at the market.  He would make the rounds to the storage units to collect goods to stock the market with.  He was always friendly and smiling, often asking us if there was anything we needed, he would try to get the items for us. None of the other survivors had any information about the man but many said he reminded them of a river boatman.





Chapter 6

  The swamp dwellers were happy to have solid homes on solid ground; several of them had lived on swamp houseboats before the attack.  They were settled now and recovering well from the trauma of the attack.  They felt safe enough to let the children play outside; the watchfulness of the tree fellows helped with that.  A school and playground were built near the tailor.  Our nameless survivor often found some extra strawberries or other little treat to give the children.  The swamp dwellers also built a friendly chapel, gazebo, and town hall.





  We had more visitors that 4th year but they did not stay.  A group of Elves were on their way to help swamp victims of the frog attack they heard about.  Many in the swamp had been seriously injured and were in dire need of help to survive. Even the pirates were helping; that would explain the pirate sails we had seen in the distance. The Elves were very impressed with how we had already help some of the survivors.  If they came across others that wanted to leave the swamp, they would send them our way.  We would be a safe haven for swamp dwellers, a Swamp Haven.  We later learned that later that year the Elves would found the town of Marshfield (story 70) in the swamp.

We Elves were known to be healers. Before they left, we told the Elves of our nameless survivor with no memory.  They knew of no sure cure but said that familiar people and surroundings sometimes helped memories to return.  It sounded to them as if our nameless one could be one of the many missing river boatmen.  They would let it be known he was here.  We could send him to Riverboat Junction where the boatmen work out of, or we could send him to Riverview Resort where families of the boatmen meet to spend time with their loved ones who are away from home for long periods of time.  If our nameless one had a family someone there might have more information about him.   What would you have done, weary traveler?  Send him away?




Chapter 7


  No, weary traveler, we could not send our happy friendly nameless-one back to being a river boatman.  Would he remember the route, or how to escape pirates or bears, or navigate treacherous stretches of water?  We thought not.  He had worked long and hard if indeed he had been a river boatman.  We told the Elves to get word to Riverview Resort if they could; he would be here if anyone was looking for him.



  Our nameless-one was not the only happy and healthy one in Swamp Haven.  The new town hall records showed our population was 47, 31 adults and 16 children.  There were 16 homes in our Swamp Haven, 10 for swamp dwellers and our original 5 tree houses and 1 tree topper.  There was plenty of room to expand in the swamp dwellers part of town should more survivors leave the swamp and make their way here.  Our Elven part of the settlement remain as it had been, peaceful and undisturbed.  The wild flax and sunflowers bloomed every summer.  The wild foods, hedgerows, and fairy garden thrived in the summer sun.









Have a happy summer, weary traveler.



The End