Abandoned - Seeds and Seedlings - Story 10 NWS

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 10th story in the New World Series.  Like Seed & Feed of story 9, many settlements in the new world had very little fruit or nuts if any at all; the river boatmen could not fill all the requests for fruit.   Many wanted a few seedlings to plant in backyards or farmyards in order to provide themselves with some of the needed fruit and nuts while other wanted seeds for a small orchard or two.  Riverboat Depot wanted to be able to offer fruit and nut seeds and seedlings to their trade route customers and to give to the migrants and expeditions that leave the Depot.  When a group of wood elves came to Riverboat Depot with a warming about cutting too many trees without replanting, the depot took the opportunity to recruit them to form a 3rd expedition, one to provide the depot with the needed fruit, nut, and forest tree seeds and seedlings.  Who better to help replant the new world than wood elves?

  The elves agreed but on the condition that they pick the best location for their settlement; they agreed to begin their search across the river not far from the settlement of Feed & Seeds.  The new settlement would be referred to as Seeds & Seedlings.



Map seed # 294264885   Valley One River,    Small,    fair,    Disasters Off,     Easy 8 Families 


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, override Fewer Trees, override Map, Number 12 terrain, Settler Deco, Jinxie Natural Decorations, Kid Deco Tree Fall, Kid Tree Replacer Fairy Pines,New Flora Edit, Family Starts

Tweak Mods:   Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), Override Buckskin Clothes, Rock Respawn, Tiny Smoke.

Major or Must Have Mods:   An Empty Square, Nomads (Kid), override Uneducated, Storage Crates, Kid Workshop, Jinxie Festival Park, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Forest Deep, Kid Friendly Pumpkin, Kid Old Town, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:    Greenhouse, Kid Deco Magic Mushrooms, Kid Deco People, Kid Forest Fellow (updated with family), Kid Fruit & Nuts, Kid GrowHuntFish, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Home Grown (updated with rice patch & deco), Kid TreeTopper (updated with 3rd Friendly Pumpkin texture), Tiny Chopper, White Picket Fence.



  Welcome to Seeds & Seedlings, eager explorer.  It was also All Hollows Eve when we first came to this valley, when the spirits of those departed are said to be closest to the earth.  We came down the river from Seed & Feed, it was just before sunset, and to our surprise, we were greeted by 3 small ghostly figures.  They seemed to want us to follow them.  They were not will o' the wisps who try to lure travelers astray, these appeared to be ghosts.  We followed.



 They led us to an overgrown hedgerow.  On closer examination we saw 3 graves in the thicket.  We camped for the night and fell asleep to what sounded like small children crying.  In the morning, we got to work clearing the hedgerow of brush and bramble leaving only the 3 small crosses and some berry bushes.  When nightfall came again, the 3 little ghosts reappeared.  They examined what we had done to clean up the hedgerow and graves and then they faded away.  We did not see them again.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  The 3 little ghostly figures did not the deter us from remaining in this valley; the forest fellows we saw convinced us to stay.  Forest fellows are the protectors of the forest, they are solitary creatures, but here most of those we saw were in family units with their mate and offspring.  Without a doubt, this must be a good place to raise trees.



  The area along the river was something of a wetland; there were several small ponds and a lot of mushrooms.  There were birch and willow trees growing in the area.





  We traveled further inland.  The area was somewhat drier but there were still plenty of mushrooms of all sizes and one wet weedy area with snails and wild rice.  We could make use of the largest mushrooms and the big old tree stump we saw; we elves are very resourceful.  Yes, we were all wood elves.  There were 22 of us who set out from Riverboat Depot, 16 adults and 6 children.

 We also saw patches of fruit and nut trees plus oaks and maples scattered among the evergreens.  We saw more forest fellows and a large herd of deer.  This would indeed be a good spot to collect tree seeds and raise seedlings.  It was here we would settle.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  The autumn nights were already chilly and the mornings were frosty.  We needed shelter.  We gathered building materials and wild foods.  We had tools, clothes, and plenty of potatoes but our overall health and happiness were a bit low.  We were all unhappy at the loss of one of our expectant mothers on the way here from Seed & Feed.



  My husband, Elmerson, who was the eldest of our group and I carved out the big mushroom by the river to create our new home.  My name is Tian.  Elmer and I had a daughter who just turned 3.  She was thrilled that the first snow of the season fell on her birthday.





  Three of the mushrooms inland were carved out also, the 3 families each had one child, a girl age 2, a boy age 6, and a girl who turned 7 and became an adult just after they moved into their mushroom; she was already helping with the tasks that needed to be done.

  A wood house was built by the big tree stump not far from the stockpile for a couple with a newborn daughter, and a tree house was built for a couple with a 5-year-old son back in the forest behind the stockpile.  The forest fellows watched that not too many trees were being cut.



  Some distance to the west of the tree house a small wood house and a hunter's hideout were built for Cristin.  He lost his wife and unborn child not long before we arrived in the valley.  The crying ghosts really got to him and he just wanted to be alone.  He spent most of his time alone in the forest gathering firewood before his house and hunting hideout were completed.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  We had enough firewood but were short on logs so the last family needing a home decided they would live in the other large mushroom by the river.  The couple had a 5-year-old daughter.  They said they would pick the berries and keep the hedgerow graves from being overgrown again.  They did not see the 3 little ghosts but said they occasionally heard the faint sound of children crying just after sunset. 



 It was early spring, the snow had melted, and it was warm enough for the children to play outside.  The forest fellows, known for being fond of children, took up position along the river to keep the children from getting too close to the now fast-moving swollen river.  The forest fellow's children were fascinated by our little fast-moving children running around in the clearing.  It was time we got moving and secured our food supply before we would begin collecting seeds and seedling.



  Besides the berry bushes in the hedgerow, and the mushrooms and other wild foods along the river, there was a small duck pond by our mushroom house that provided us with eggs, mushrooms, wild oats, and walnuts from a small tree.  Inland, one of the large mushrooms provided a workstation for gathering wild foods.  With a little clean-up of plant debris, the snail and the wild rice patches would provide much needed protein and grain; our overall health was a bit low.  The snails were fertilizing the rice patch, and we built a bin to compost the plant debris we were collecting.   A garden supply shed and a storage barn were also built near the patches. 





  To insure a reliable and steady supply of food, we built a magic garden by the new storage barn.  We were wood elves, so we relied mostly on gathering and hunting but we did use a little magic now and then.  Our hunter's bows and arrows were enchanted to make then fast and accurate and protect the animals from unnecessary pain.  We never overhunted or over gathered so a little conjuration magic in a magic garden was often necessary.  We could conjure up wild foods, fruits, nuts, and even firewood when needed; we don't cut down trees if we don't have to.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  The 13 elves that arrived in town in spring of that 2nd year also believed in saving the trees; they would stay with us a while but would provide their own housing knowing our wood supply was low.  They were wood elves too and had been in the area rescuing animals that needed help after being stranded or abandoned because of recent heavy rains and flooding.  They told us about several sightings of forest fellows helping animals in trouble.  The elves turned over several farm animals to river boatmen to be taken to Riverboat Depot for care.  The elves were also spreading the word that there was a couple looking for 3 small children who were lost.  We told them about the 3 crosses by the hedgerow and that the first chance we get, we would tell a river boatman to spread the word that those lost children might have been here.



  The elves were given some food and seeds in Riverboat Depot and they planted some of the squash seed by the snail patch.  They added some of our compost to the squash patch and soon the squash and wild mushrooms were coming up and doing well.  Our overall health was still not doing as well as we hoped, but one of the elves was an herbalist so we built a workstation out of the big old tree stump.  Hopefully our health would improve.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5




  A single adult girl, Princenza, from the group of elves that arrived, moved into a large mushroom southeast of town by the river.  Her name reminded our hunter, Cristin, of his wife, Princes, who died on the way here.  He avoided Princenza whenever he saw her in town.  The other mushroom house there by the river was already occupied by another adult girl from one of our founding families.  There was another small duck pond and hedgerow there.



 While the newcomers were busy with their house building, we built a Tree Hall not far from the stockpile, to keep our town records in.  The inventory we took showed we were getting short of tools, and we were almost out of coats.  We built a tailor shop close by.  The 2 branch carts were emptying their branches onto the stockpile; our firewood supply was good.  The laborers went out to the forest to collect more plus wild foods before the first snowfall.  Our town statistics showed that Seeds & Seedling had 28 adults and 15 children that winter.  Elmerson and I had our first son, Reddy, earlier that year.



  The newcomers planted a squash there by the Tree Hall and gave it plenty of compost.  When it was big enough, they carved it out and added a door and windows.   A couple with 2 adult children moved into the squash house.  It was already winter and there were still families that needed homes.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6




 Between that first squash house and the magic garden, another squash house was built; a middle-aged male moved in by spring of year 3.  A third squash house was built behind the herbalist's tree stump; another couple with 2 adult children moved into that house.  In early summer, a couple with 1 child moved into the fourth squash house that was built northeast of the tree hall. 





  In autumn we celebrated that everyone had a home and that our overall health had improved. An anvil to make tools was built next to the tailor shop, and we had everything we needed.   It had been a good year and we were thankful.  We planted a pumpkin patch and built a small park for the children in the center of town.  We saw the young forest fellows that came to play with the children but none of us adults saw the 3 small ghosts that the children said came to play too.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  We spent late autumn and the winter months planning our seeds and seedlings production.  By early spring we had our first potting shed built by the mother tree we found north of town.  Mother trees produce many forest offspring of all kinds, they drop many seeds that produce seedlings.  The forest surrounding our mother tree was made up of evergreens, oaks, and maples.  We assigned a forester to help clear iron and stone from the area so there would be more room for seedlings to grow.  Our potting shed worker would dig up and pot all 3 types of seedlings.


  A seed gatherer would collect the seeds; each of these 3 types of trees grow from different kind of seeds.  The evergreen seeds were in the pinecones that fell from the trees.  The oaks trees grew from the acorns that fell, and the maples tree seeds were inside little winglets that carried on the wind and sprouted where they fell.  We would have sacks of pinecones, acorns, and maple seeds for the foresters who needed them.
   


    A 2nd potting shed was built near the river across from the seedling greenhouse we built; all the seedlings would be stored in the greenhouse until they were taken to the trading post for the river boatmen to pick up.  The greenhouse and trading post were directly east of town.  The potting shed worker would pot the birch and willow tree seedlings that grew in the riverside area.

  Both potting shed workers would gather seedlings from the inland area were there were many fruit and nut trees scattered between the evergreens, oaks, and maples. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9


  The seed gatherer's shack was built on the road between the tree hall and the potting shed.  Folks were asked to save the seeds and pits from the fruit they ate and bring them to the shack: tables were set up to dry the seeds outside in the sun whenever possible.





  By autumn, 32 seedlings were potted at the potting shed, 102 were waiting in the greenhouse, and 78 were already at the trading post waiting to be picked up by the river boatmen.  We already had plenty of nuts, so we took some of the walnuts to the trading post also.  Some of the walnuts and pecans would be roasted for our enjoyment at the newly built nut roaster by the nut grove south of town.   Everyone who saw it smiled at the large squirrel someone carved out of old tree stump and placed by the nut grove and roaster.





  Everyone got to enjoy the apple cider that was brewed that year by the children's park; the apple seeds went to the seed gatherer's shed.  The snow held off that autumn so the children could still enjoy playing outside in the park with the forest fellow children and, again they said, with the 3 little ghosts.  None of us adults had seen the little ghost since cleaning the gravesite but the family living nearby still occasionally heard the crying.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10




  When Garvie, the general goods merchant, came to our trading post in early winter of year 4, we told him about the 3 graves and the family we heard was looking for 3 children; we did not mention 3 ghosts.  He said he would spread the word that the children had been here.  Garvie said he would see about getting us warm coats and iron tools; we ordered them because we needed the smith and tailor for other seed and seedling jobs.  He also said he would accept logs and firewood, plus nuts and apples in trade.  He could not take the other fruits which were too perishable unless he had orders for them close by.  Riverboat Depot would be sending someone to pick up the seeds and seedlings when the weather got warmer. 

  We had no logs from downed trees to spare; we were not cutting standing trees or chopping firewood; we gathered branches and fallen tree limbs.  We had plenty of nuts even after sacking them as seeds, but our apples were used for cider after removing the seeds.  We had plenty of other fruit but they were too perishable for trade.  We hated having the fruit go to waste after removing pits and seeds so we decided to make fruit jam.  We built a preservist  by the pumpkin patch and set up a beehive across from it by the compost bin.  We were pretty sure Garvie would want some of the fruit jam the next time he came.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  It was late spring of year 6 before Riverboat Depot sent a depot barge to pick up the orchard seeds and seedling that we had waiting at the trading post.  By autumn, we had more seeds and seedling waiting to be taken to the trading post.  Most of the seedling in the greenhouse were for forest trees; they came from the potting shed by the mother tree. The fruit and nut tree seedlings were doing well in the greenhouse too.







  The preservist was doing a good job making jam from blueberries.  Our strawberries and plums would also make good jam.  We set up another preservist workplace next to the first one.  When Garvie returned, he said he would be happy to take the jam in trade when he returned with the warm coats; he only had iron tools with him.  There were a lot of orders for warm coats.  We traded walnuts, hazelnuts, chestnuts, and pecans for 20 iron tools.  They were Dwarven made tools from Dwarves' Quarry so they were sure to be good ones.

  Garvie returned in early spring of year 7 with 8 warm coats; that was all he could bring this time.  They were expensive, 25 trade goods a piece, but we took all 8 in exchange for some of our fruit jam.  He said there were many towns that would welcome a jar of fruit jam.  He would also take hides in trade, there was a demand for textiles of all kinds.  We told him if he brought us wool, we would make our own warm coats and leave the others for those who needed them.  Not all the towns here in the north were doing as well as we were.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 12


  We have done well for ourselves in the 7 years we've been here in Seeds and Seedlings.  We have a good diet consisting of venison, snails, rice, squash, pumpkins, and all manner of wild foods, plus plenty of fruits and nuts.  We use our plant debris to make compost to enrich our soil and we gather branches in the forest to use as firewood instead of cutting down trees.  Most of our houses are carved out mushrooms or squashes to save on logs and trees.







  We have a tree hall in which to keep our records and a park for our children to play in.  The tree fellows have families, and they watch over ours and the forest.  The trees in our valley are beautiful especially in spring and fall.  There are evergreens everywhere and birch and willow by the river.  Inland are oaks and maples and apples, cherries, pears, plums, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pecans, and walnuts.  But best of all, we are providing forest, fruit, and nut tree seeds and seedlings for the northern trade route.  Our fruit jams are quite popular.

  We are very satisfied with the riverboat service here, eager explorer.  The seeds and seedlings are picked up regularly.  We trade nuts and fruit jam for iron tools, wool, and a few warm coats when there are extras available.  We have no complaint.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 13


  I do have one more thing to say about the river boatmen, eager explorer; they are very good at keeping us informed, delivering messages, and spreading information.  As I told you at the beginning of my tale, when Garvie, the general goods merchant, first arrived here, we told him about the couple looking for their 3 lost children and we believed those children were here.  He did spread the word and in late spring of this year, a couple arrived looking for their children.
 


  We showed the couple the graves with the 3 small crosses, and they believed they had found their children at last; they would stay here with them.  They built a tree house with a porch where they could sit and watch over them.  They soon learned that the sound of children crying had been heard there many times as the sun went down.  It was then that we began to hear the sound of a lullaby being sung softly at sunset.  It's almost that time now, eager explorer, listen.
 

Good night, eager explorer, we'll talk more tomorrows.

[Glenn]

So sad, so beautiful

[Abandoned]

Happy Ending


Chapter 14




  The couple's arrival brought Seeds & Seedlings population to 54, 36 adults and 18 children.  Elmerson and I have 3 of those children, Reddy age 10, Aliah 6, and Newel just turned 3.  Also included is Cristin and Princenza's newborn.  Yes, eager explorer, our hunter who lost his wife, Princes, on the way here married Princenza who he avoided since she arrived with the other elves in year 2.  She was the single girl who moved into the mushroom by the nut grove.  Although the town's overall happiness never rose after the loss of his first wife, we believe the couple is happy together especially since the birth of little Bert.





  It seemed that the familiar lullaby helped the 3 little ones to rest in peace; no more crying had been heard.  The 3 little ghosts did not come to the park to play with the children and forest fellows this year on All Hollow Eve as they had done since the park was built.  It snowed that day, as you know, as it often did; there was no lullaby sung that night.  It will be sung again soon though; the couple is expecting another child.  So, now I will wish you a good night, eager explorer; I know you want to be on your way early tomorrow.  Safe travels.


The End