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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@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.
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.
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.
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.
oops, forgot pictures ;D
Chapter 12
Before laying tracks we would see that the workers had good hot food readily available at break time. That stockpile where the wood and mine carts were unloading would be a busy place once track laying began. We set up a few tables and benches and built a large spit to roast boar or bear depending on what we had the most of at any given time.
The covered market would also be a busy place. We built a stew pot there and would keep it full of hearty venison or rabbit stew. We had plenty of potatoes and herbs to add. To the west, not far from the Human's stockpile we built a fall food stand to bake apples or potatoes, again depending on what we would have the most of at the time. We would make sure there was always hot food available especially in the winter and on those chilly autumn days like today.
Chapter 13
It took a while but in year 7 we were finally ready to start laying tracks. The plan was to extend the track from the tunnel straight west through town to the river and across. On the other side there was space to build a turnaround. We still waited for word from the railroad company about whether to merge back into the one track or have a second track and tunnel to return to Chattachoo. It would also be up to the company whether or not we continue to the west. As of now our purpose was to supply Chattachoo with iron and wood.
It was late spring when the wood and iron carts again headed to Chattachoo. The workers were eager for the train to be up and running, it was a tight squeeze getting the double wide wagons through the tunnel.
We were eager from them to return with news and hopefully with more workers. We only had 8 laborers and 3 builders. It would be a while before any of the children finished school and began families of their own. We realized the Human's school was filled to capacity. We promptly built another school, this one behind the stable, between the covered market and the closest work camp.
It was autumn when the empty carts returned from Chattachoo. The first few railway tracks had been laid.
Chapter 14
Chattachoo had no workers or animals they could spare but our animals had started to multiply and we could free up more workers. We would manage. The foresters in the first work camp, and the wood and branch cart workers from the far work camp would not be needed for the time being. We had plenty of firewood and logs and there would be plenty more logs from the land we need to cleared while laying the tracks. The mine cart from the far camp also was not need now, there was plenty of surface iron and stone close by. Only the wood and mine carts going to and from Chattachoo would continue hauling those resources.
The hunters in the Elven Tree Trunker and the closest work camp were doing a good job providing meat and textiles but the traveling trader from the far work camp was providing rabbit meat. That worker would continue working. Likewise, the Elven Tree Trunker gatherer and the gatherer from the first work camp did a good job providing fruits and vegetables but the cart from the far work camp was doing the same and would continue working. The peddler cart that came from Chattachoo had long since been emptied but was now bringing supplies to the covered market from the human side of town as well as apples from the fruit and nut patches. It would continue to do so.
Clearing the path for the tracks would provide iron and wood for the tracks, as well as logs for the firewood cutter. There would also be more stone as well. There was already a good supply of stone on the stockpiles. We would start paving our road with stone, making traveling easier for the traveling trader carts.
The workers returning from Chattachoo with the empty mine and wood carts brought with them instructions from the railroad company and a copy of the latest world map. We did not know there was an earlier copy of a world map.
Chapter 15
The map was marked with the railroad's expansion plan. Ironwood would continue to supply iron and wood to Chattachoo and points east. It was our choice if we needed a station or loading dock but the turnaround and double tracks and tunnels would be needed. When the supply train was up and running we were to build another tunnel and continue laying track across the Green Woods and across the main north and south river. A station was to be built there. The tracks were to continue from there as far west as Riverview Resort where another station would be built. The Resort was a popular destination for riverboat families to meet. There were also more people from the east that wanted to head west. The railroad company would be building passenger trains. Whether the train would continue on north to Smallville was still debatable. That had been the original plan of the 2nd Expedition from Smallville who founded Chattachoo.
We had a lot of work to do but first we needed the Elves approval. They were not happy with the expansion plans or double tracks but we agreed that nothing but tracks would be built through the Green Woods to the west and we would not expand our town into the south valley. In fact the track layers and their families would be moving on to expand the railroad.
By early spring of year 8 we began building the return tunnel and laying the double tracks. While the laborers delivered the wood and iron, the builders began paving our roads with stone. We were soon short of both stone and iron. Laborers gathered more of both from nearby, the mine was reopened to bring out iron, and the mine cart again brought resources from the far work camp. By Autumn work had progressed as far as the Covered Market where bowls of hot stew awaited the workers. The tree fellows watched every move we made.
Chapter 16
We did not make much progress laying tracks, the winter weather was bad and we were short of workers and resources. Work had to stop often. Weather permitting we gathered surface iron but there was little to be had nearby. There was a great deal across the river where we would build the turnaround.
We built a double stone bridge across the river so a double wide trader cart could cross. We built a stockpile that the oxen cart and track layers could easily get to. A few laborers also crossed the bridge to help gather stone and iron. By autumn work on both the roads and the tracks continued. We hoped that by this time the following year we would reach that stockpile and the river.
Chapter 17
We reached that stockpile by early spring of the following year. We had a few students finish school and those few extra workers really made a difference. Ironwood now had 90 citizens, 54 adults, 17 students, and 19 young children. Another 2 or3 students would be finishing school very soon. We would not need more housing though, there were still young singles in the worker cabins waiting for spouses. By the time the next group of children reached marriageable age, there would be vacant houses when the workers moved on to continue the railroad expansion.
Having reached the river, it was a ways to go back down the tracks for hot food. We built a Market Foods fish n chips BBQ stand not far from the fishing pier. The workers could get there quickly and easily for their midday lunch break. Work was ahead of schedule, work had begun on the trestles to extend the tracks across the river. By autumn the three students finished school and joined the workforce. The railroad tracks crossed the river in autumn of year 10.
Chapter 18
The winter was a mild one and work continued. By early spring of year 11 the turnaround was finished and the traveling trader mine cart workers took word back to Chattachoo. We would continue extending the tracks to the west mountain ridge. It would not take long, workers were already clearing the trees, rock, and iron out of the way. A small stockpile was set up close to where the tunnel would be dug.
The Elves were pleased with our decision to make the turnaround as small as possible. Only a single track would continue on across the Green Woods. The Elves were still not happy with the railroad crossing their forest but were pleased it was done with as little destruction as possible. Well, the tree fellows saw to that. They watch us every inch of the way, from the tunnels in the east to and from Chattachoo, through town, and across the river and all the way to the west. They watch when a group of bears got on the track but the Elves said not to worry, at the first sign of danger the tree fellows would move the bears off the tracks. We were to rest assured that the tree fellows would see to it that no child was ever in danger on the tracks.
Chapter 19
On a cool crisp autumn day of that year, we heard the whistle of a train echoing through the tunnel. A small group gathered to watch as the train emerged from the tunnel. Men were waiting in town near the main stockpile to flag the train down to a stop. We were all impressed by the shiny new train but surprised that it was only the train engine and fuel car that arrived.
The engineer explained that due to the fact we were ahead of schedule and Chattachoo was still short of supplies more cars had not been built. The engineer brought instructions for building the car that was needed before the train could head back to Chattachoo. They were starting work on the engine for the passenger train that would head further west when the tunnel was dug and the tracks were laid across the Green Woods.
Well, weary traveler, Dwarves can build anything and build it well. Work began immediately on the material wagon that was needed to haul resources to Chattachoo. The west tunnel and tracks were completed, the mine cart that gathered resources across the river would now deliver the iron and stone to the train instead. If needed, more iron could be brought from the Trader's Mine.
I love the look of this town (especially the market area)!
:) Thanks
Chapter 20
Those Traveling Trader carts played a big part in the success of Ironwood and the expansion of the railroad. Those first branch carts helped keep us warm that first winter being sure that every stockpile had a supply of firewood. The workers and the animals they brought from Chattachoo made more carts and heavier hauling possible.
The wood and mine carts hauled endless loads of iron, wood, and stone from the far wood camp and from across the river. Not to mention trips back to Chattachoo with resources they badly needed. The wood cart also brought the branches cut from the logs pleasing the Elves with the extra effort at saving the trees.
The peddlers cart brought us much needed tools, clothes, apples, potatoes, and flour all the way from Chattachoo. The fruit and vegetable cart delivered gatherables to the covered market from the far work camp, and the hunter cart took meat and textiles to the open trader market across town where they were needed.
Those carts lightened the workload of our laborers and made it possible for us to build the tracks that brought the train to Ironwood. The mine cart brought resources to have that train loaded and heading back to Chattachoo in the early spring of year 12.
Chapter 21
Yes, weary traveler, Spring is nice but there is nothing like autumn in Ironwood, crisp cool days with sunshine warm upon your face, the rustle of autumn leaves from the hardwood trees beneath your feet, and the smell of pine wood cookfires and roasted meats and baked apples. Life is good here in Ironwood and everyone did their fair share making it that way.
The Elves hunted, fished, and gathered, but most of all they protected the Green Woods. The Humans kept records, built a school, grew wheat, baked bread, raised goats for milk, and made clothes. We Dwarves made tools and build houses of stone and houses of wood. We cut stone to pave the roads and dug tunnels and a mine. We built the carts that the young singles used to haul goods from the work camps to the town.
In autumn of year 12 Ironwood's population of healthy happy citizens was 94, 61 adults, 25 students, and 8 young children. The railroad through Ironwood was complete and many of those young workers would be traveling on to expand the railroad further west. I suppose it is time for you to be traveling on too. Safe travels, weary traveler, and enjoy the fall season.
The End
Kid Traveling Traders has been released. Find info and link to download here:
http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=4040.0