Intro
This is the 22nd story in the New World Series. It tells of a group of dark elves who created a magic portal to escape the clutches of the witch hunters. They had no idea where they were when they emerged from the portal, but I can tell you they were somewhere north of Candlelit Castle, but unlike the happy people of Candlelit Castle, the Coven lived in darkness and fear of being discovered. Things were not going well; it was as if someone or something had put a curse on them, even their dark magic was not working as it should. The coven was glad that a group of wood elves followed them through the portal; the valley was densely forested, and wood elves knew how to survive in the forest.
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Map seed # 546186907 ValleyOne River, Small, Fair, Disasters off, 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, Fairy Pines terrain, override Map, Settlers Deco, Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Deco Tree Fall, Kid Tree Replacer Fairy Pines, New Flora Edit, Family Start
Tweak Mods: Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), override Black Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke.
Major or Must Have Mods: An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Kid Workshop, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Fairy Garden, Kid Gothic Deco, Kid Gothic Fantasy, Kid More Houses Dark, Swamp Frog, Kid Workplace
Supporting Mods: Creepy Cemetery, EB Natural Irrigation Deco, EB Natural Irrigation System, Kid Coven, Kid Deadwood, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyard, Kid Forest Fellow, Kid Forester Fellow, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Houseboat, Kid Mist, Tiny Chopper
I am surprised you found us here, eager explorer, although you are not the first to do so. I trust you are not one of the witch hunters. Yes, witch hunters; they are the reason we came here many years ago. It was All Hollows Eve, just as it is today. We just barely escaped with our lives from Summerset Swamp. What? What did you say? Summerset Swamp is on the other side of the world! A deadly giant frog invasion? Oh no, it was worse than we imaged! You must tell me more; come sit by the fire and I'll tell you what I know about the frogs.
Kinda wish you wouldn't use the word "Coven". I am a practicing Solitary Witch, and it is a bit offensive. Not going to make a fuss about it, just kinda rubs wrong is all. But whatever you will.
:heart :heart
Nothing offensive about the word Coven. It's in Webster's dictionary - an assembly or group of witches. That's what the story is about.
Kid The Coven mod was released in October of 2019, don't recall any negative comments being made. I used it in a Coven story then and several times since, and probably will again. I'm rather pleased with how this story turned out. Hope you enjoy it. :)
Quote from: River on October 31, 2025, 12:18:54 PMKinda wish you wouldn't use the word "Coven". I am a practicing Solitary Witch, and it is a bit offensive. Not going to make a fuss about it, just kinda rubs wrong is all. But whatever you will.
:heart :heart
River it might be best for you and your friends to think about people using the term coven as one of the cultural differences of life.
To give you an example -
When I watched a clip of Hegseth complaining about seeing fat generals walking the halls of the Pentagon the message I heard wasn't what he was complaining about.
The reason being was that when I grew up in Australia having a fat / a fattie / or cracking a fat was the slang name give to a man's erection.
So while Hegseth was complaining about seeing overweight generals what I heard was Hegseth complaining about seeing generals with erections walking the halls of the Pentagon.
To me it was a hilarious comment as what I heard was a weak man complaining about his own insecurity and envy.
Abandoned is correct - a coven is a term used to describe a group, just as is the word team, party, or cohort can be used to describe a group of similar like minded people - it isn't a derogatory term and it certainly isn't meant to cause offence. :)
Recap from Oct. 31st Intro
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I am surprised you found us here, eager explorer, although you are not the first to do so. I trust you are not one of the witch hunters. Yes, witch hunters; they are the reason we came here many years ago. It was All Hollows Eve, just as it is today. We just barely escaped with our lives from Summerset Swamp. What? What did you say? Summerset Swamp is on the other side of the world! A deadly giant frog invasion? Oh no, it was worse than we imaged! You must tell me more; come sit by the fire and I'll tell you what I know about the frogs.
Chapter 1
Our coven of dark elves was fleeing from a group of witch hunters. We met up with a group of wood elves with their forest fellows who had been planting trees further north when the witch hunt began; the elves fled south and met up with us. The witch hunters were not far behind us. We cast a few camouflage spells to escape them, then conjured up a magic portal to leave the area. We hoped those that lagged behind would somehow catch up and find the portal. Yes, eager explorer, we dark elves know a bit of magic; that doesn't make us witches.
There were 12 of us dark elves with 2 children and 2 families of wood elves with 5 children that went through the portal along with 2 families of forest fellows. The remaining wood elves stayed behind long enough to cover our tracks, roundup what tree forest fellows and stragglers they could find, and then followed us through the portal. The forest fellows would be in danger from the witch hunters too, but they would guard the portal entrance and exit until we were all reunited on this side of the portal.
We found ourselves and our supply carts out in the cold and snow. We were from the southern swamp region; we never saw snow before but the wood elves had. They thought this was just an early autumn snowfall that wouldn't last long. We were sure to have many pleasant fall days ahead of us to provide ourselves with food and shelter. We got what coats we had in the carts and bundled up the children. It stopped snowing before we were done checking what supplies were left in the carts.
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