Intro
This is the 77th story in the Smallville Series and tells the tale of a group of Dwarves who came out of their caves high in the northwest Majestic Mountains to build a forge. The Dwarf North Mining Town of story 13 seemed more concerned with restoring old stone ruins than making enough high-quality dwarf tools and their young ones that settled Prospect of story 18 were more concerned with silver and gold than Dwarven tools. There was a railroad being built in Iron Ridge story 50 and Dwarves were digging tunnels and mines all over the world. There was a growing need for high quality Dwarven tools, and everyone knows that no one can make tools like a Dwarf in the North. The year is year 62 SVT.
Map seed # 566567853 Mountain One River, Small, Fair, Disasters Off, Very Easy 12 families
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, cold realism, do Daylight Cycle, override maps, Kid New Flora Edit, Maritimes Riffle, Override Fewer Trees
Tweak Mods: Better Stock Piles, Better Stock Piles Storage, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), Override Ice Castle Clothes, Rocks Respawn, Tiny Smoke
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Forge of Dwarves Winter, Kid Friendly Blue, Kid Ice Castle, Kid Plimoth Plantation, Kid Tiny, Kid Tiny Downtown
Supporting Mods: Campfire, EB Statue Cristo Redentor, I See Fire, Kid Animal Pen, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Market Carts, Kid Market Food, Kid Mist, Kid Some Boats, Kid Traveling Trader, Kid Work Shop, Snowman
Mod note - This story combines Kid Ice Castle, that was used 2 years ago in story 52 Ice Mountain Nature Preserve, with the new winter version of the Forge of Dwarves that was used 1 year ago in story 65 The Forge. The Forge Winter version was made to match Ice Castle.
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We don't get many visitors way up here in the cold north, weary traveler. You look half frozen. Come sit by the fire to warm up while I tell you about our Valley Forge.
Chapter 1
Well, it was high time we expanded our underground settlement; it was getting a bit crowded even though single men and young couples often left to go find work to send food back home to the settlement. The last 2 ships with supplies they sent capsized along the icy shore. The weather up here in the north had gotten colder and riverboat traders came less often even to our underground river. Our above-ground river was now quite dangerous with many icebergs and a cold freezing mist caused by the warmer water temperature. Good thing there was an ice fishing pond right outside our caves. The last riverboat trader said he would endure the cold and risk the dangerous river just to get some high-quality dwarf tools that were in high demand.
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So, twelve families with 12 children volunteered to move above ground to build a forge. My husband Kennie and I were among them. My name is Mckayli. Kennie and I had 2 children at that time with another on the way. I only agreed to make the move if a school would be built right away so our 6-year-old son, Samiro, would not miss getting educated. Our daughter, Rennifred, was 3.
There was a large cave from our underground settlement to the small valley on the south side of the mountain. We could bring up needed supplies and store them in the medium size cave next to it. There were 3 smaller caves we would use for dwellings until houses could be built. There were a couple of ice cave houses on the east side of the mountain facing the river; more were forming all the time. The south valley was a bit more protected from the elements. We had a lot of work to do.
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Chapter 2
We would need more food than just fish up here on the surface even though we were bringing up bear meat and mushrooms from below. Next to the fishing pond, we built a cleaning shed and a greenhouse in which we planted oats. We build an herbalist greenhouse there too because our overall health was failing because of our poor diet. The cleaning shed tools would be used to gather plant debris from the greenhouses to feed the mountain goats and sheep the men managed to round up. We would have milk and wool. The animals would be kept in an animal pen until the animal barn was complete. They would be moved into the barn at night and stay inside on really cold days. We had a few chickens in the barn that one of the families who returned from tunnel digging brought home with them. We would have eggs. They brought the oat seeds and seed potatoes too.
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There was a hedgerow with winterberries where rabbits were sheltering. We built a bitty rabbit hutch to breed more. The hutch was near the new school that was built just in time for Samiro to begin his schooling. With the animals housed and the school finished we started to build wood houses but we were short of logs. While trees were being cut, a tunnel was dug to the other side of the mountain where the forge would be built. A forester got to work planting trees on this side of the mountain just southwest of town. He kept a campfire burning to keep the wolf packs at bay. The berry hedgerow was providing branches for firewood. We would need plenty for the long cold winter ahead.
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Ah. Friendly Blue Neighborhood! I haven't seen that before, I think. :) :)
:) I think I only used Friendly Blue in Ice Castle Nature Preserve, problem with more snow climate you don't see the roofs. Maybe we should make another mod it will match with ;D :-X ;D The animal barn is so cool 8) Greenhouse and herbalist too.
Chapter 3
House building resumed in early spring of year 2. More families came up from below but had to be sent back. There was not enough room in our dwelling caves for them all and the weather was too cold not to have proper housing. We would not have had enough food for so many either.
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By early summer a few more houses had been built, ours was down at the end of the road. We could hear the wolves howling at night. A 2nd greenhouse was being built to grow the potatoes. The days were getting shorter and darker by the time the potatoes were planted. The animals were moved into the barn and the pen was being cleaned. The wolves were always lurking nearby. Since the forester's campfire proved to be keeping them at bay, we kept torches lit around the animal pen and the rabbit hutch. We moved a few rabbits into the barn to keep them safe. No one really felt completely safe. I don't know which was worse on those long winter nights, the howling of the wolves or the howling of the cold winter wind.
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Chapter 4
Dwarves are a hardy bunch and before winter the remaining families had moved into the ice caves by the east riverbank. They began removing supplies from one of the shipwrecks. The wheat they found was a nice boost to our food supply. We needed the logs and firewood too. It took some shoveling but the ice cave dwellers found another fishing pond. They also found another winterberry hedgerow with branches and snowshoe rabbits.
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In spring of year 3, 12 adults with their 5 children came up from the underground settlement. They immediately moved into the dwelling caves and were not overly concerned with having houses built. Instead, they pitched in to gather downed branches for firewood and to help carry logs to the south edge of town where a palisade fence was being built to further protect the town from the wolves. It was nice to have more laborers and builders. It was also nice to have the extra security that the finished palisade fence provided. The wolves kept their distance from the fence. We could still hear the howling at night but slept well knowing we would not awake to find a wolf at our door.
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Chapter 5
Inside the fence there was still room for 2 more greenhouses. We would plant more oats and potatoes when needed. Right then we need more fruit, all we had were berries in short supply. We also built a duds maker. We had plenty of leather and wool now for warm coats to be made. We had plenty of hide coats we were getting from the underground settlement as well as some bear furs. We were using most of those as rugs and bed coverings but warm coats could be made from some of them too. Another animal barn was being built behind our house for more wool, milk, and eggs.
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A tiny food trader was built and stocked with some of the surplus hide coats and iron tools. We could only hope that a river boatman would make it through the icebergs to our trading post. We would soon begin work on the forge itself and have higher quality tools to trade.
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An overseer's office was built near the trading post and an inventory was taken of all the stockpiles and storage facilities. We had no berries, milk, or eggs, and our grain supply was low. The new animal barn and greenhouses could augment those shortages. We had plenty of rabbit meat but only a little bear meat from below and no venison. There were only a few small elk herds and the bears up here on the surface were all polar bears; there were black and brown bears down below. We knew that Native people of this area considered the white bear to be sacred, and we knew from returning dwarves that the Elves have established a Nature Preserve in the Ice Mountains to save the polar bears. We would not hunt them unless they became a threat. They kept their distance, so we did not see that happening.
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Chapter 6
Construction had begun in the north valley on the other side of the mountain through the tunnel. An area was set aside for a stockpile next to the bramble and berry patch that was found. Resources were being gathered and a stone road was being laid to where a shop was to be built. Wood houses would be built there for the families still living in the cave dwellings. They wanted a chapel and cemetery built before any mines were dug; mining was dangerous and the wives wanted a place to pray that their husbands would be safe in the mines.
In spring of year 4 two thing happened at the same time. A food trader made it to our port. We traded hide coats and iron tools for what walnuts he had, and we ordered more, plus apples and venison. He had just pulled away from the trading post when 21 adults with their 5 children came up from below. Our supply of coats, tools, and food dropped dramatically. Our supply of logs was already nonexistent from what houses we were building. We immediately removed what tools and coats were left in the trading post. We sent laborers to cut trees. We made sure that every animal barn, greenhouse, and hedgerow had 2 workers.
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By autumn a house had been built by the overseer's office, and the foundations were laid for another house, a forge forester, and the forge in the north valley. Over by the tunnel, the shop and 2 houses had been built. The cemetery area was walled in, and the chapel had just been started when one of the workers died in childbirth. The stonecutter cut and carved the headstone while his house and workplace were being built. There were still families in the cave dwellings that needed houses but we raised the building priority and by the end of the year, the Forge was completed and we were making tools. No respectable dwarf would ever run out of tools.
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Chapter 7
In Spring of year 5, 28 dwarves came up from below to work, but we had to tell them to go back down. We needed workers but we barely had enough food for the workers we had. When Ammi, the river boatman, returned we had nothing to trade but he took some iron in exchange for apples. He wanted to know when we would have tools and axes to trade. He saw that we built a grinder next to the trading post. The current of the river would turn the wheel that would sharpen the axes. The wood cutter also wanted to know when we would have axes; his were getting dull and it took him longer to cut the trees. We could not finish building the forge forester without being able to supply it with axes. We could not make the axes without coal. We were waiting for wood to build the mines.
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A quarry was built by the forge stockpile, we only had 1 quarry worker. We would build a large mine for random resources and a small mine for coal in the mountain behind the stockpile. We could not have mines in the mountains where the settlement caves or the ice caves were. We would only have 1 miner in each mine to start. These workers would need a good hot and hearty lunch so a stew pot was set up next to the Forge. Everyone was welcome to stop by for a bowl of rabbit stew.
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The stew was good on those cold winter days when temperatures drop into the teens and single digits. We realized how far the school children had to walk out in the cold so we built a 2nd school behind the overseer's office. Near the school we built a mill hoping to have a bakery making fresh warm bread to go with the stew but the barley we traded for in autumn never made it to the mill. The apples, walnuts, and venison, that we traded wool and hide coats for, did not stay long in storage either. Our food and log supplies were still very low. Life was a lot easier down in the caves.
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Chapter 8
By early spring of year 6, the first 2 Dwarven axes were made and delivered to the Forge forester; our log shortage would soon be solved. By early summer we had 14 high-quality Dwarven axes waiting at the trading post for Ammi, the river boatman to arrive. We traded 840 units of axes and wool for apples, walnuts, and barley. The extra food would not do much to help our food shortage. The problem was the town had 60 children to feed and only 56 adults to feed them. Kennie and I had 1 daughter and 3 sons and we knew how much they liked to eat.
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Baby chicks, goats, and lambs were moved to the new animal barn that was built on the other side of the mountain through the tunnel. Another rabbit hutch was built on one side of the barn and a cleaning shed on the other. A greenhouse was built to grow more potatoes. Hopefully, the stew pot would have a steady supply of ingredients for the rabbit stew.
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By the time our 1 trader got the barley out of the trading post, we had a tiny bakery built near the mill. Some of the barley got to the mill this time and was ground into flour. The first loaves of bread were soon coming out of the baker's oven but still our food supply was critically low. We could only hope the food merchant would return soon.
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Chapter 9
The next 2 years our main concern was food and housing. Several times we traded axes, wool, and crystals from the large mine for more apples and walnuts and barley. We also got some stone from the large mine so we stopped work at the guary. We needed the worker for the new greenhouse that would grow more oats: we only had 1 laborer and 1 builder. Our oldest son, who was the school's first student, had still not finished school. It took a while for our 1 builder to build more houses for the families still living in the dwelling caves.
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In spring of year 8, 12 adults with 3 children came up from the underground settlement. There was just enough room in the dwelling caves and we needed workers, laborers, and builders. We only had 1 mine worker and would need iron soon. But first, the newcomers gathered branches for firewood and what wild honey they could find. We all liked the honey on our morning oats and the children especially liked it on baked apples for dessert.
The extra miner helped bring more iron ore out of the large mine and the extra builders helped build the Smelter. It was completed by autumn of year 8. With more iron and more workers we could reopen the small coal mine and assign another smith to the Forge. We could make better tools to trade for more food.
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Chapter 10
Year 9 was much the same as the years before; gather branches, build a house, trade for food, repeat. By the end of the year all the families from the cave dwellings had homes. One house was built between the 2 greenhouses on the south side of the mountain and the rest were scattered around the north side wherever one would fit.
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By early spring of year 10, Valley Forge had a town hall. Our 2 teachers and the older students spent what time they could gathering information and it wasn't long before we had a full set of town records. The records showed that we had 41 homes for our 43 families. There were 149 citizens, 72 adults, 36 students, and 41 children. Our food supply was still very low but considering the climate here in the mountains, our town was doing pretty good. So good, in fact, that our stone cutter got a large chunk of crystal from the mine and carved a statue. Valley Forge now had a statue of a Dwarf Miner holding a lantern outside the chapel door by the entrance to the cemetery.
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Chapter 11
By year 11, more of the older students were finishing school and joining the work force. Another worker was added to the Forge forester and another woodcutter began chopping firewood next to the stockpile in front of the mines. We would be able to add another worker to both of our mines. The small mine, which was producing crystal for trade, now switched back to mining for coal. With more coal and another worker, the smelter could smelt more iron ore into iron. With another smith and more logs and iron, the Forge would begin making hardened tools, which were high quality and had a higher trade value. With another worker and more resources, the grinder would also be able to produce more axes for trade, and our food supply would continue to grow.
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A third crystal statue was carved in the port area, like the second one this statue was a dwarf miner with his pickaxe. That same statue was carved in front of the mines next to the quarry. A worker was again digging stone out of the quarry. The first statue was the dwarf with the lantern by the chapel. Our mountain Valley Forge was prospering.
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Chapter 12
We would continue to prosper as long as our food supply remained steady. The more trade goods we had the more food we good trade for. Checking the overseer's inventory we realized we had quite a few furs that were sent up from below, we could make more warm coats to trade. A tiny tailor was built next to the trading post to make coats from those furs.
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It was the tailor who said that the overseer's tower blocked the northwest wind and on a sunny day it almost felt warm outside her workshop. The trader agreed that the school and houses helped block the wind too. We decided to build a wall between the Forge and dock areas. We had enough stone. A good portion of the wall was finished by autumn and the builder said it was much colder up on the top of the wall in the wind than it was down on the ground next to it; 15 degrees on top felt like zero or below. The wall was finished by winter of year 11 and by late winter there were 2 new houses and an animal barn on the north side of it.
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In spring of year 12 we built an ale house on that side of the wall too. Folks could take their bowl of stew inside and order an ale to have with it. We hoped the river boatman continued to bring apples on every stop. His route was a short one and he usually came twice a year.
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I saw one person up on the wall. It is working! I like that! :) :)
:) :) :) It is one of the builders up on the wall. I was so happy to see him. No one got up on the wall when I used Forge of Dwarves last winter, unless I missed it. I was watching constantly. There was a child up on this wall also but I did not get the screenshot. I do like that wall, looks good and is easy to place. :)
Chapter 13
The ale house was very popular and there were soon 2 dwarf statues with lanterns from there to the town hall. Another house was built on that side of the wall but like the other 2 houses built there, it was occupied by a young singe. Town Hall records showed 14 families without homes. It would probably be a few years before the young singles were old enough to pair up.
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The riverboat trader returned with our standard order of apples, barley, and walnuts but this time included venison that we traded for years before. We would trade for some again now that we had a good supply of trade goods with good trade values stocked at the trading post. Our food supply was the best it had ever been and we could trade for extra apples for the ale house.
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We had been so busy tending our food supply that we didn't notice the shortage of iron. We were about to adjust the number of workers in the mines and smelter when an event occurred that did not happen often but we would take advantage of. The riverboat trader did mention there seemed to be more ice blocks upriver that spring. They reached us by summer and, as sometimes happens, they jammed together to block the river. The blockage formed a makeshift bridge from one side of the river to the other. We immediately sent laborers to the other side to quickly gather what surface iron there was to be had. The blocks were showing some signs of separating by the time the workers returned, they made it back just in time. Some were given the job of helping to clear the blockage and others were assigned to the mines and smelter. Our iron supply improved and our supply of trade goods was soon restored.
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Chapter 14
By early autumn the river boatman returned and was able to maneuver his way between the ice blocks. Another statue of a dwarf with a pickaxe graced our town; the latest one stood proudly in the old part of town by the stockpile in front of the large cave to the underground.
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After trading for more apples we thought to build a market stand to bake apples near one of the schools. It was then we realized that both schools were filled to capacity. We promptly built a Tiny school over by the chapel, a good distance from the other 2. It was there by the greenhouses that we built the baked apple stand. If we ran short of apples it could bake potatoes instead. The river boatman had just left when one of our 2 traders, Maneta, committed suicide. Everyone was shocked. No one really knew why: some said she was a bit too friendly with the river boatman. No one wanted to pry into the matter.
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We built a small roasting spit in the dock area near the other school. The ice cave residents really enjoyed the roasted rabbit. It was then we discovered that the 2 grinder workers were idling. We assigned another worker but still no axes were being produced. Thinking the problem was due to our recent iron shortage, we built an iron market cart to bring more iron to the area. Still no axes. The problem was not lack of iron but a lack of coal. The small mine had switched from mining coal to mining iron ore and the large mine, even with more workers, was not producing enough coal to make up the difference. Again I thought how much simpler and easier life was back in the caves.
Very nice, enjoyed today's entry!
Thanks
@haewalt , happy to hear that. :)
Chapter 15
Our small mine got another miner and immediately switched back from mining iron ore to mining coal while a 2nd small mine was being built on the other side of the large mine. One small mine would mine iron ore and the other coal. The large mine would continue bringing out iron ore, coal, crystal, and stone. The new small mine was just assigned workers when there was a cave in in the large mine and Evlynett, the miner was killed. We were a bit dismayed to discover that there were 2 young boys who missed starting school working in the mines. We also discovered that the large stockpile by the mines was almost filled to capacity, mostly with stone. With more workers in the large mine, the quarry no longer needed 2 quarry workers. When questioned about the large quantity of stone, they said nobody told them to stop working. Well, dwarves can always find something to do with stone. They would build a big statue.
Our river boatman, whose wife was related to one of the monks in Aspenglow, recently brought a gift of a Holy Book and some candles for our chapel from there. The candlelit chapel and Book were a great comfort to our recently grieving family. When the river boatman saw our dwarf statue by the dock, he told us about a big statue the monks were planning on building. It was decided we would build one like it with some of our extra stone.
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A site was chosen behind the Forge forester for the statue. It took a while to haul the logs, stone, and iron to the site and even long to construct the statue. Progress was slow but eventually the Cristo Redentor statue was finished, and it was magnificent. It towered over the forest majestically and could be seen from afar. Folks said they felt as if they were being watched over and protected.
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Chapter 16
After the statue was complete, we still had a large quantity of stone left. We paved the roads of the dock area just like the roads were paved in the north valley. When the dock area was done we proceeded to do the old part of town in the south valley. Another dwarf statue with the lantern was built on the road leading from the dock area to old town.
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Yes, weary traveler, we've come a long way since we first came out of those caves. Valley Forge has done quite well despite the adverse conditions. It is difficult enough in the mountains with a cold snowy climate, but here the elk herds were small, few, and far between. We did not hunt, and we had more children to feed than adults to feed them. The parents and grandparents living down in the caves helped out and still do to this day. They insist on sending up supplies for us including fish, mushrooms, bear meat, furs, coats, and tools. We may not have survived without their help.
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Chapter 17
It took a while to build up our food production and stabilize it. We supplemented what we produced by trading for apples, barley, walnuts, and a bit of venison. In the old part of town in the south valley we now have 2 greenhouses growing oats, 1 growing potatoes, and 1 producing berries. There is a herbalist greenhouse and a hedgerow producing herbs and berries. Another hedgerow produces berries and rabbit meat. A rabbit hutch produces more meat and 2 animal barns give us milk and eggs.
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The north valley through the tunnel also has a rabbit hutch and 2 animal barns and a hedgerow with berries and herbs. There is a greenhouse growing oats and one growing potatoes. There's a stand baking apples in the residential area and a stew pot by the mines.
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The dock area has a hedgerow producing berries and rabbit meat that goes to the nearby small roaster. There is an ice pond there like the one in the old part of town. And believe it or not weary traveler, we are still getting a bit of wheat off one of the shipwrecks.
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Chapter 18
I often wonder what would have happened if those 2 supply ships had made it to our valley and returned time after time. Would we have come up out of the cave to start a settlement, or would more of us just have left to work elsewhere and sent food back to the underground settlement? It was those miners, railroad workers, and tunnelers who helped fuel the need for more quality tools and inspired us to build a forge.
Yes, our Forge area in the north valley is quite impressive with its mines, quarry, smelter, and the Forge itself. The ale house and town hall are an added bonus. We recently built a large storage unit and a meeting hall by the forge forester. The stone wall and gate towers do separate the Forge area nicely from the dock area where the overseer and the grinder are located there on the river. We would have built a large Forge trader had we known our tools and axes would be in such high demand and that the river boatman would be able to navigate our icy river so often.
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We have truly been blessed here in Valley Forge and the magnificent Cristo Redentor statue is a constant reminder of that. The town records show that by winter of our 18th year we had a population of 183 happy healthy citizens. The town has 44 tiny, friendly blue, and forge wood houses scattered around town including the ice caves there by the dock. No, sorry weary traveler, no boarding house.
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Chapter 19
As I said earlier, we don't get many visitors way up here in the cold north. We've had many young men leave to go dig mines and tunnels and lay tracks for the railway. Some left to settle elsewhere. Some returned with their families. The last to return didn't stay long; only came to let his family know he was still alive. Seems he was digging tunnels down near Iron Ridge and claims he got caught by a witch's spell and turned into a tree. Said the elf girl he had with him broke the witch's spell; not just any elf, mind you, but a dark elf. Dwarves and elves have become acceptable over the years, but a dark elf. Maybe she put a spell on him. Anyways, he was quite impressed with the above ground settlement and with the Forge and especially with the crystal statues of dwarf miners. Well, he was a dwarf. He and the dark elf didn't stay long and that was the last visitors we had. So, no, we have no boarding house, weary traveler, but you are welcome to stay in one of the dwelling caves. They are quite warm and comfortable. Our winter nights are long and dark, I'm sure you will sleep well. Good night, weary traveler.
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The End
Thanks! :) :) :)
@Abandoned .Thank you for the beautiful story :) ;) :D
:) you're welcome,
@taniu Kid Forge of Dwarves Winter has been released. Find Info and link to download here:
http://worldofbanished.com/index.php?topic=4080.0