Intro
This is the 21st story in the New World Series. Like Butcher & Baker in the previous story, it took some digging to reconstruct the history of the Candlelit Castle and the settlement it represents. Unlike Butcher & Baker, the history of the Castle goes much farther back, back to the time of the Orc Wars and the Battle for Middle Earth. The Castle withstood those dark times but not the passage of time itself or the ravages of wind and weather. The Candlelit Castle is north of Butcher & Baker of story 20 and west of Bricks & Mortar and the mud flats of story 18.
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Map seed # 503645344 Plains One River, Small, Fair, Disasters On, Easy 8 seeds
Mods activated for this map and load order:
Map Changing and Starting Mods: Banished UI Maps, Banished UI Town Names, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, overrideFewer Trees, override Map, Settlers Deco, Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Deco Tree Fall, Kid Tree Replacer x-Light, New Flora Edit, Family Start
Tweak Mods: Better Fields, Better Stock Piles, Better Stock Piles Storage, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Rural Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke.
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Kid Workshop, Jinxie Bitty Chicken Coop, Jinxie Bitty Rabbit Hutch, Jinxie Bitty Village Set, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Gothic Deco, Kid Gothic Fantasy, Kid Gothic Farm (updated with Gothic Textures), Gothic Tithes & Tributes, Kid Medieval Grace (updated with sheep shed and wall pieces), Kid Workplace
Supporting Mods: DS Fences and Decorations, I See Fire (RK), Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Houseboat, Kid Jam & Wine, Kid Market Carts, Kid Market Foods, Kid Washing Mod, Specialized Stockpiles, Tiny Quarry, Training Camp Deco (RK)
Welcome, eager explorer, no need for formalities, just call me Benni. My husband is Ranco. He was the eldest grandson and heir, and was told by his dying grandfather that it was time he reclaim the family castle. Come sit by the fire and I'll tell you the Castle's early history and what we found when we arrived here years ago.
Chapter 1
No, eager explorer, we never expected to live in a castle, to be called Lord and Lady, or to be responsible for the well-being of an entire village. We thought the tales of a castle and knights of old that were told to my husband as a child were nothing more than bedtime stories. Ranco's mother died during childbirth, his father and grandmother died during an epidemic a short time later. Ranco and his younger brother were raised by their grandfather who was a west coast shipping baron. The younger brother was more suited to handling the fur trade than he was. Ranco inherited the title and the castle being his father's eldest son. We had just been married, his grandfather wished us well even though I was just a village girl. Ranco was given a huge old key to the keep, a deed, and some information about the castle and told its location. I was told to have a son.
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It was a long and tiring journey east. Word had been sent ahead that we were coming. A small group of grandfather's servants accompanied us. One of his merchant ships carried us most of the way but could go no further; the last part of the journey was on foot over a treacherous mountain range south of the castle. We got our first look at our inheritance from that vantage point. Needless to say, we were shocked by what we saw in the distance. It was no small castle; it was a large, ruined castle surrounded by some large buildings and an outlying village.
After our dangerous mountain climb, without heavy weapons and armor, we could understand why the castle was built in this location all those years ago.
Chapter 2
We were greeted by the villagers as Lord and Lady. They apologized for the condition of the castle and village. The monks tried several times to contact the owner but received no reply; there was nothing they could do but hope that one day someone would come. We learned a lot about the castle from the villagers.
The villagers could not tell us the name of the first Lord or where he came from; they thought that the castle was once referred to as Riverbend Stronghold but weren't sure. They knew the first Lord was a human, but he had dwarves and elves with him in those early days. The dwarves were probably the stone cutters and castle builders, and the elves managed the forest and the hunting. They all fought together to defend the castle.
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As we discovered, the south mountain range was a natural defense, as was the river itself; it was a natural mote around most of the castle. The river was dangerous and fast moving; there was a steep waterfall upriver to the southwest. That had to be the reason the merchant ship could take us no further. There were mountains to the north and mud flats to the east; heavily armed troops would be exhausted by the time they got anywhere near the river and the castle. They would be easy targets for elven archers and dwarves with catapults up on the towers. The builders always had time to build scaffolding along the walls for the archers; the castle soothsayer always knew when an army or a severe storm was approaching. Yes, eager explorer, soothsayer; those were the days of seers and wizards. The lord of the castle always sent a warning to the neighboring settlements and our village to come seek shelter in the castle. The villagers felt safe and cared for.
We can only image, eager explorer, what it must have been like living in those dangerous times.
Chapter 3
Some changes were made to the castle over time but in those very early days, it was more a place of defense and security. When warned of approaching danger, the villagers would gather their children and what livestock and belongings they could and head to the castle. The outer ward of the castle had a pen for their animals; the women and young children were taken to the inner ward where there were rooms for them to stay in the 2 large well-defended core towers. The men and older boys stayed in the outer ward and were give weapons to practice with preparing for battle; there were archery targets and practice dummies for sword and battle axe users.
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In the outer ward was an anvil for tool and weapon making, and a wood cutter for firewood for the houses and cookfires. The hunters would have returned to the castle and venison would be roasting on the spit. A tailor workplace made hide coats with the leather the hunters provided, and warm coats with the hides and wool from the villager's sheep. There was a large stockpile and a storage building for food and supplies and 2 wells for drinking water and firefighting. There was an apple tree and chestnut tree in the outer ward; it was important that there was food stored and produced in the castle in the event of a long siege. Torches were lit and practice continued well into the night; the men and boys gathered around the spit to eat and rest when they could.
Chapter 4
The inner ward of the castle was the home of the Lord and Lady of the castle and their family. They lived in the upper level of the keep; the house servants lived in the lower level and the best soldiers were permanently garrisoned there. Below the keep was a secret storage area that housed 2 wells for drinking and cooking water, foods that kept well lasted even longer when stored there, a must for long sieges. A long escape tunnel led from the storage area to the south mountains. If ever the attacking army was overpowering, the elderly and the women and young children sheltered in the underground storage area could escape through the tunnel if need be. The tunnel had collapsed long ago.
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Across from the keep was the grand hall where food and drink were served. There was a pantry and a kitchen area on one side of the grand hall and a bread baker on the other. There was little grain but a small workplace grinder in the outer ward ground what they had into flour. The kitchen often roasted chickens that were housed in the inner ward and provided eggs as well as meat. Some grain, fruits, and vegetables were grown along one wall; there were corn, cabbage, potatoes, and berries. There was a water well for firefighting between the keep and the small chapel, and across from the chapel next to one of the corner towers was the soothsayer's house. All four of the castle's corner towers housed a look-out soldier and his family.
The inner ward was well guarded at all times and was the last retreat of the outer ward soldiers if the castle should become overrun. There was little chance of that ever happening to this castle.
Chapter 5
The villagers were well treated by the Lord and Lady and residents of the castle; they were always welcome in the outer ward, and given tools, meat, and whatever else they needed in exchange for what foods and supplies they brought to the castle.
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The village women couldn't really tell us when the village came to be outside the castle. Their best guess was that their ancestors came from one or more of the small outlying villages over the hills that were in the direct path of an approaching army, and they fled here to the castle for protection and stayed. The castle was raising some of their own food and hunting was good; there were large herds of deer around the castle and in the forest to the south. Hunters would just have been sent out when a herd was nearby. Fishing was never very good in the fast-moving waters of the river.
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The small cemetery gave no hint as to the age of the village. The village did not seem to be anywhere near as old as the castle; they would not have needed a forester for many years. The forest would have been thicker, and they would have just sent workers out to cut trees as needed. Then again, the forester may have been built later than the village houses, it seemed to have held up better over the years. There was an abundance of wild foods to be gathered in the forest and a gatherer's workplace was set up by the foresters' houses.
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A hunter's workplace was built near the farmyards south of the castle. There were 3 farmyards and a chicken coop; they cut their own firewood and made wool coats from the sheep they raised. There was an apple tree, and they grew beans, cabbage, carrots, oats, potatoes, and wheat. Goats provided milk. The farmwork was pretty much left up to the womenfolk; the children were a big help especially when it came to gathering wild oats which they liked for breakfast. They were curious and wanted to know about everything; it was certainly thanks to the children that so much information was passed down from one generation to the next.
Chapter 6
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The castle too was passed down from one generation to the next. A time of peace had come and there were changes made inside and outside the castle. The archery targets and practice dummies, along with the tables and weapons were moved into the outer ward's storage shed. The anvil was stored in the underground storeroom beneath the keep should it ever again be need in a time of war.
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A smith's workshop for making tools for the builders, farmers, and foresters was built on one side of the storage shed in the outer ward. The tailor's workplace was also stored away, and a tailor workshop was built on the other side of the storage shed. A small market was built near the front entrances so a wider variety of foods would be available inside the castle walls. Two more small houses were built in the outer ward.
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The inner ward also saw some renovations. More roads were added, and the chickens were fenced in rather than roaming free. The baker's oven was replaced with a bakehouse for baking breads. Workers in both the outer and inner ward were happy to have sheltered workplaces especially in winter.
Chapter 7
Several years had passed, progress was slow; a lot of wood and stone was needed. Two stone tower houses were built outside the front of the castle. In between the two, a brewer workplace was set up to make ale whenever there was a surplus of apples. Tables were set up so villagers could sit and visit with neighbors while enjoying a mug of ale. Two more houses and two more wells were built nearby.
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A few more wells were added to the older parts of the village also, as well as a few more houses for young couples or young singles who wanted a place of their own. The Lord at the time offered to have new houses built for all the villagers but they were comfortable in their old cottages and did not want to move. All cottages were inspected and needed repairs were made. There were two new farmhouses built on either side of the old village; the new farmyards each grew beans, had an apple tree for ale making, and grew wheat for flour making.
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A mill with a storage space was built not far from the old village storage barn. The storage area at the base of the mill would be a better place to keep the wheat and flour until needed. The villagers were very happy with how well their needs were looked after by the Lord and Lady of the Castle. Whenever firewood was in short supply, the chicken and venison roasting was paused inside the castle to ensure that there was enough firewood for everyone. The villagers were also encouraged to come to the outer ward market if they did not find what they needed in their storage barn.
Chapter 8
The needs of the people both inside and out were further met by the monks who arrived at the castle while the renovation projects were being worked on. The village women weren't exactly clear on where or why the monks came here but it was peacetime and people were on the move. Several young people set off on adventures from both the castle and the village during that time.
The Lord and Lady welcomed the monks and allowed them to build a monastery and a crafter's guild next to the castle. The monks brought grapevines with them and planted a vineyard. They began making cheese while waiting for a grape harvest, and they built a garden corner so folks could come and enjoy wine and cheese whenever they came seeking spiritual advice.
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Three small houses for workers were built as well as a sheep shed for sheering. The crafter's guild could make many types of coats, tools, breads, and sausages, whatever we needed. They asked the villagers first but were told they would have to ask the Lord of the castle. The Lady of the castle had several baskets of fruits and vegetables delivered to them and told them to visit the castle market if there was anything they needed. She told them our tool and coat supplies were good at the moment, but some venison sausages would be a welcome treat. An archway was built into the castle wall for easy access to and from the monastery.