Abandoned - Forest Furs - Story 12 NWS

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 12th story in the New World Series.  Newburg's growing town (story 1 & 5) and dwindling forestland not only caused a shortage of logs and firewood but also a shortage of the furs they needed for trade with the merchant from the west.  There was little they needed from the western merchants anymore since Woodlands Wood (story 11) and the new northern trade route were providing firewood, logs, food, and other needed items.  However, the western merchant now had horses and farm animals; Newburg needed more furs than their hunters and trappers could provide.  They send another group of volunteers into the nearby forest, this time to the northwest.  The outpost settlement was called Forest Furs.





Map seed  # 262590303     Valley,   Small,  Cold Mountain,  Disasters Off,  Easy 8 Families - Elk, Geese, Bear
 
Mods activated for this map and load order:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Climate Cold Mountain, Kid Tree Replacer Only Pine, New Flora Edit, Wildlife Starts

Tweak Mods:   Fishing Dock +25%, Hunting Season, Increased CC, 1:1 Alternative (Voeille), Override Winter 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 Forest Outpost, Kid Forest Trader, Kid Workplace

Supporting Mods:     Kid Animal Barn Plus, Kid Deadwood, Kid Deco Farm Animals, Kid Deco People,  Kid Frozen Ponds, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Houseboat, Kid Market Food, Kid Some Boats, Snowman



  We are not surprised you had a hard time finding us, eager explorer.  The river boatman did too the first time he came to Forest Furs.  There are many forks in the river here and many small streams.  The river boatman took the wrong fork and ended up further north amongst the iceburgs, so consider yourself lucky.  We came here on foot from Newburg following the small stream.  Come sit by the fire and I'll tell you about Forest Furs.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  That river boatman was lucky he was using the new boat that was being built in Newburg when we left there.  It was a boat like the one that Riverboat Depots' founders came to this side of the world on.  They too were caught in the icebergs but their boat was badly damaged and they were shipwrecked north of Newburg.  We are not that far north but are quite a bit farther west than that.



  As I said, we traveled on foot. We had 3 carts of supplies, 10 children, 2 sheep, 1 milk cow, and a crate full of baby chicks.  There were 16 of us adults; my husband is Federic and I am Teresia.  We were the oldest couple.  Five couples had children, we and 2 other couples did not.  Fed and I were not hunters or trappers but we knew how to care for farm animals, raise crops in a greenhouse, and manage supplies, all skills we learned in Newburg. 

  The trip here was a day longer than we expected; we needed to find a river to settle by.  The snow had melted in Newburg when we left there but had not melted here.  It was cold; we were all wearing warm clothes.  The youngest children road in the carts well covered up.  The older children were so bundled up they could hardly move; they walked like little penguins. The sheep were hardy mountain sheep; they were okay.  We were worried about the cow.  We stopped to build a fire to warm up and to wrap the cow's feet and legs in hide coats and to cover her ears and back too.  We had the crate of chicks wrapped in hide coats, as well, to keep them warm.  We were glad our supply carts had the extra coats and firewood, along with iron tools and potatoes.  I had a small sack of seeds for a greenhouse.  When we finally reached a river and decided on the spot to settle, we gathered building materials and immediately began building a barn for the animals.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  Women and children settled in the barn with the animals; it was very crowded but quite a bit warmer inside than out.  I found some wild oats near the barn to feed to the animals, plus some onions and roots when I dug in the snow a bit.  There was a double-wide hedgerow in the clearing with snowshoe rabbits, winter berries, and a lot of downed branches.  There seemed to be only pine trees in this valley, no birch or oaks like we had back in Newburg, but there were a lot of big old deadwood trees that may have been oaks at one time.  A few of the downed trees served as bridges to cross the small streams; one of the men crossed over the stream by the river and found a log extending into the river that he could fish from. 







  The men did more scouting around the valley and found a herd of elk to the northeast and one to the southeast, but both were across the streams out of range.  We could use some meat to go with the potatoes we brought with us.  The elk proved we had traveled farther north than we had planned.  We were here for furs, but no bears were spotted, only a few beaver dams.  The elves in Newburg made sure we had enchanted bows, arrows, and traps so no animals we hunted suffered any pain. 



   The small pond the scouts found was froze solid, the ice was quite thick; it would take a long time to thaw if at all. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3


  It was spring before the snow began to melt; the temperature hovered around freezing.  The sun felt warm and the seeds I planted in the newly built greenhouse sprouted readily.  We built the greenhouse back from the road by the trees so it would be protected from the icy cold north wind.  A cleaning station was built nearby.  We built a pen and brought the animals out of the barn to graze; when the pen was cleaned, we would have fertilizer to use in the greenhouse.  The plant debris from the greenhouse would help feed the animals in winter.  The animals would provide milk, eggs, and wool.  The greenhouse was planted with potatoes, carrots, onions, oats, and berries.



  We had even more room in the barn when 3 of the families moved into their newly built houses.  A wood cabin was built at the far end of the animal pen.  A forest house was built down the road by the hedgerow and another closer to the stockpile.  We began building roads between the buildings.

  North of the stockpile and across the stream, a forester got to work cutting and planting trees.  We were a little concerned with the laborers carrying logs and stone across the fallen tree bridge but they said it was quite stable.  They would not be working out there during the coldest snowiest season.
 




  The herd of elk that was spotted east of the forester, crossed the stream and a hunting blind was being built just east of town.  The elk herd that was spotted down to the south, also crossed over the stream and was seen grazing not far from town.  A hunting blind was quickly built there too and we soon had venison and a few hides.   

  A small storage barn was built next to the stockpile, one cart was emptied into another while the barn was being built.  Our log house was completed by late summer near the storage barn.  The house was conveniently located by the animal barn and pen so Federic and I could care for the animals, greenhouse, and newborn son, Irelany.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4




   It snowed in early autumn just after the 2 houses were built on the road south of us.  One house housed one of our foresters and his family; having moved to this house, he would become our fisherman instead.  The other house was occupied by one of our hunters and her family.  The temperature dropped even more after the snow, so we moved the milk cow and the chickens into the animal barn.  There were still families staying in the barn waiting for houses to be built, so we left the hardy sheep outside a little longer.





  One of the families still in the animal barn had 3 children which include a set of twins, a boy and a girl, who just became adults.  The girl, Lellamae, moved into a small tent by the south hunting blind and would take over the job soon.  The current hunter had just gotten a bear and Lellamae's parents were a bit concerned for their daughter, especially because she was living in a tent.  They told her if the weather got much colder, she should come stay with them in their new house that was just built by the greenhouse's cleaning station.  There would be room; her twin, Donel, was waiting in the animal barn for his house to be built.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5


  It was spring of year 2 before Donel's wood shack was built next to the south hunting blind where he would be a hunter just like his twin sister.  It took a while for the house for the last family of 4 to be built because of the snow and cold.  It was on the road from town to the forester's tree bridge.  The new forester would be living closer to his workplace.



   Before either of those 2 houses were built, a woodcutter and workshop were built next to the stockpile.  The woodcutter was partially enclosed with a roof to protect from the cold and snow, when firewood would be needed most.  The workshop had room for only the smith or the tailor to work inside.  Our supply of coats was getting low but by the time the workshop was finished, our supply of tools was even lower.  The smith began working inside and a tailor workplace was built outside next to it.  They would have to take turns working inside during the coldest time of year.

  Our coat supply would recover like our tool supply did, but we were short of workers.  We only had 2 laborers and 2 builders.  We were very happy to welcome the migrants from the north when they arrived that spring.  There were 16 of them, 12 adults and 4 children.  They were trappers but game had been scarce because of the extreme cold and snow; they lost a hunter, a woodcutter, and one of their 2 donkeys.  They headed south with everything they owned in a cart and on the back of the donkey that pulled it.  We invited them to stay with one condition, that they used our enchanted traps and hunting equipment.  They were welcome to whatever supplies they needed from the storage barn and cart.  They agreed to stay.





  We told them that neither of our hunters got an elk or bear this past winter.  The newcomers said they saw bears with cubs that must have just immerged from hibernation across the stream to the northeast.  They also saw the beaver dam and would be happy to add the furs to the town's supply.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6



  With more builders and laborers, home building moved along quickly until the weather changed, we even began paving the road with stone.  A trapper's cabin with an outside stall for the donkey was built at the edge of the southwest forest not far from where the hunting blind was.  The donkey could spend the coldest winter months in the animal barn.  Two log cabins were built near the trapper's cabin close to the rabbit hedgerow.  The houses were occupied by 2 young single males; both said they would keep an eye on young Lellamae, the hunter, when the bears were nearby.  Lellamae's parents did not know which they were more concerned about, the bears or the 2 young men.
 


  Another slightly older young man moved into the log cabin that was built by the pond and the small stream to the west which was blocked by another beaver dam.  The young man soon added 6 furs to the few furs already in the storage barn.  As we suspected, the temperature in summer never got warm enough to melt the thick ice on the pond.

  It snowed in early autumn but was immediately followed by a brief thaw and that first snow soon melted.  Two families built forest houses by the northeast beaver dam just north of the other hunting blind.  One of the families also set up a gatherer's workplace seeing there was wild food in the area.  Both families were enjoying the warmer weather here.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  It snowed more but was not that cold when the last 2 families moved into their new forest houses in late autumn.  One house was built next to the animal barn for a couple with a young child, and the 2nd house for an older couple was built behind it next to the hunters' parents.   Another forest house was built by the tree bridge for the daughter of one of our original families; she just became an adult and wanted to be a forester.





  We needed another forester; we were often short of logs and the laborers had to go to the forest area to cut trees.  Our hunters in the forests were not having much luck; the tailor often did not have enough leather to make warm coats with what wool there was.  The sheep were not sheered when the weather was too cold.  Even when it was warmer they spent some time inside the animal barn after being sheered.  We had no shortage of rabbit meat or furs. 

  We had over 90 furs in stock by the time the trading jetty and overseer's jetty were built.  We had seen no sign of a riverboat but we would have furs ready to go.  The trader kept an inventory of all of our goods in the overseer's office.  We could use leather and grain in exchange for the furs.  Our overall health was a bit low at that time.

 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8


  By the time the snow had melted in spring of year 3, we still had seen no river boatman but we had more furs and knew that Newburg was waiting for them.  Our 2 trappers mostly trapped rabbits from the nearby hedgerow, and since we had more than enough rabbit meat, both stopped working.  Both however made good use of their free time.
 


  One of the trappers hooked the donkey up to the cart, loaded it with furs, and headed south along the stream that we followed here from Newburg.  The trapper with the cart had to wait not once but twice for bears to move out of the way before he got very far downstream.  The other trapper seeing this had a better idea for getting furs to Newburg.  He headed south on foot also to where he was told we had passed through a large birch grove on the way here.  By the time we had another forester's workstation built in our north forest, the trapper was back with a birch bark canoe he made.  Since still no river boatman came to port, the trapper loaded the canoe with furs and headed downstream to Newburg. 





  Our log supply was still low but with 4 foresters now at work, we had hope that our supply would improve.  Our overall health had not improved.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9


  Our food supply was good but made up mostly of elk, rabbit, and bear meat.  We had a variety of other foods but not a steady supply.  Our gatherer in the north help provide berries and other wild foods.  Another gatherer's workplace was set up by the edge of the west forest near the trapper's cabin.   Our greenhouse was supplying us with some of the same foods plus carrots, potatoes, and oats.  We had plenty of fertilizer so we added another worker to the greenhouse hoping to increase its yield. 







  By the time the first snow fell we had a stew pot set up by the greenhouse and storage barn.  We considered making rabbit stew but decided on vegetable stew instead with potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms so folks would be sure to eat more vegetables.  That did the trick, our overall health rose to 100% despite the cold and snow.  Just to be on the safe side, we built an herbalist workplace next to the west gatherer, and a sauna behind our house by the hedgerow.  Next to it was built a swing so the children could be encouraged to get outside in the fresh air and sunshine on the warmer winter days. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10


  Having come from Newburg, we remembered something the couple from the other side of the world told us about.  We were only children at the time but we thought it was cool.  They had shoes with runners on the bottom that they could glide around the ice on frozen ponds with.  We asked our smith if he could make something like that; he could. 

  Dustlof in the log house by the pond said the pond was froze solid year-round and would be safe to skate on.  He and the couple in the forest house by the pond both said they had only seen one lone bear in the area; it only showed up once in a while since it was a cub.  It never stayed around long. 



  It wasn't long before we had ice skates in all sizes and were out on the ice learning how to skate.   We saw the bear once and decided for safety's sake to build a fence around the back and sides of the pond.  A stand was built to keep the skates in and when the trader returned with the canoe from Newburg, he brought a treat.  Newburg had cocoa they got from Woodlands Wood and gave some to the trader to bring back to us with instructions on how to make hot chocolate.  We soon had a hot chocolate stand next to the skate stand.  Winter became a lot more enjoyable in Forest Furs.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  By spring of year 4, we had a lot more furs even after taking more to the trading post.  We still saw no sign of a river boatman.  The trader in Newburg was surprised to hear that; the boat builder finished the special cargo ship for the north a few years ago and it certainly should have gotten to us by now; they were glad our donkey cart and canoe were bringing them the furs.

 There were still more furs in storage and our storage barn and storage cart were nearly full of food and other supplies. We needed more storage space.  We built a 2nd barn by the hedgerows near the tree bridge to the fishing tree.  The new storage barn was half full shortly after being built.





  We also had plenty of plant debris and fertilizer so we built another greenhouse next to the animal barn and pen.  One can never have enough potatoes.  A snack stand was built by the skating pond and by the time the first snow fell in autumn, we had nice hot baked potatoes to snack on while playing out in the cold and snow.





  We did not see the lone bear again but we did see one lone elk who cross over the stream to the west and then the one to the north paying no attention at all to those of us skating on the pond.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 12


  That winter was very mild.  There was a bit more snow but the temperature was much warmer than it had been over the past few years.  We saw flocks of geese for the first time since we've been here and both hunters added goose meat to our food supply.  The donkey did not spend any time inside the animal barn, and the cart was loaded with furs to take to Newburg as soon as the snow melted in spring.
 


  That summer of year 5 was the first time the ice on the pond melted.  The pond was not deep but we would check very carefully that the ice in autumn was thick enough before anyone was allowed to skate on it. 





  The canoe had just return from its fur run to Newburg when the new cargo ship finally arrived in early autumn.  Kurtiss, the general good merchant, had quite a time getting to us.  As I'm sure you know, eager explorer, the number of new trade route customers increased far more than the number of river boatmen. Recent bad weather often caused delays.  Many items were in short supply and an extra trip or detour to get the items from the source rather than Riverboat Depot was often needed.  The riverboats cannot pick up or deliver many logs, stone, iron, or livestock; even small amounts required extra trips.  Kurtiss, with the new cargo ship, was asked to make a few deliveries before heading to us.  That did not go well.  As you know, there is no map of this new world.  Directions given to Kurtiss did not take into account that the big cargo ship could not navigate the small streams like the riverboats could.  He often had to backtrack or go the long way around to get to his destination. He got lost a few times in the process.  He finally got the special deliveries made and was on his way here when taking a wrong turn took him farther north than intended and he ended up stuck in an ice flow.  It took weeks before he was able to break free of the icebergs, turn around, and make his way here; it was a good thing the boat was not damaged and there was food on board.  When he got here, all he had left to trade were walnuts and some hide coats. 

  He took our order for apples, oats, flour, and leather.  We traded furs for the walnuts, gave him a good hot meal and a warm bed for the night.  We wanted him to stay longer to recover from the ordeal but he was determined to be on his way to deliver the furs and to let his family know he was alive and well.  Like the river boatmen who visited Newburg, he was quite dedicated to the job at hand, very commendable.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 13


  When the trapper with the canoe returned from Newburg, he told us that the boat builder was working on making more riverboats.  Word was being spread that more boatmen were needed.  I did not think they would find a boatman here; life was good here in Forest Furs.  We had a population of 59, 36 adults with 23 children.  There were 7 couples with young children and our newlywed couple with none, yet.  There were 5 couples with young adult children living at home, 4 males and 1 female.  Only 1 male was old enough to marry.  Also not old enough to marry were the 3 males and 2 females living in their own houses or tent. There were 17 houses and 1 tent.  Each of our houses had a full pantry, a warm fireplace with plenty of firewood, and a fur rug on the floor.
 


Yes, life was good here in Forest Furs.  By late autumn of that 5th year, the stew pot was again bubbling, hot chocolate was simmering, and baked potatoes were roasting.  Snowmen were being built and the ice on the pond was thick enough to skate on.  We saw the lone bear again but he soon crossed over the stream to the north startling a small flock of geese; we knew we would be having another mild winter. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 14


  It was early autumn of the following year before Kurtiss, the general goods merchant, returned.  He had some of everything we ordered with him.  We did not need much; with 2 mild winters in a row hunting and gathering had been good.  We traded for leather and oats and were especially happy to get the apples and flour.  We placed the same order for his next visit, who knew what the coming winter would bring.



  Our 2 storage barns and one supply cart were almost filled to capacity.  We built a 3rd storage barn near the trading post and a 4th one over by the greenhouse and animal pen. 





  That winter brought snow and more snow.  The donkey and even the sheep spent most of the winter in the animal barn.  There was no skating on the pond that winter.