Abandoned - Coats and Cloth - Story 16 NWS

[Abandoned]

Intro


  This is the 16th story in the New World Series.  Like those in Picks & Shovels of story 14 and the Underground City of story 15, there are many along the northern trade route that struggle to supply their people with enough clothing and warm coats.  Some lack the skills to make warm clothing, and others lack the needed raw materials due to climate or poor hunting.  The river boatmen have many standing orders for leather and wool, and they trade away warm coats almost as soon as they get them.

  Riverboat depot has sent a group of volunteers over the hills to the north to establish a settlement to provide the Depot with coats, clothes, and textiles.  The location is just upriver near Barnyards but on this side of the river.  It is close enough to the Depot that the items can be picked up by cart rather than waiting for the riverboat; a warehouse should be built in an easily accessible location.  A river boatman will call to trade food or other items the settlement may need; we should tell him when we have enough coats and textiles ready to be picked up.  The Depot will send more volunteers to help as they become available.






Map seed #684932018    Mountain One River, Small, fair, Disasters Off, Easy Seed Animal (8 Families)

 
Mods activated for this map and load order:

Map Changing and Starting Mods:   Banished UI Maps, Labor Window, RK Minimized Status, CC Light Rain, Spring terrain (Kid), Override Map (Kid), A8 Japanese Trees, New Flora Edit, New Trees (BL), Family Start

Tweak Mods:  Better Fields, Bigger Wheelbarrows, Fishing Dock +25%, 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, Kid Abandoned Places SE, Kid Settlers, Kid Summer Haven

Supporting Mods:    Kid Coats & Cloth (New, Testing), Kid Deco Animals, Kid Deco People, Kid Farmyards, Kid Hedgerow, Kid Houseboat, Kid Jam & Wine, Kid Market Carts, Kid Patchwork, Kid The Glade (released 3/29/25), Kid Traveling Trader, Kid Washing Mod, Tiny Chopper


Mod Note:  Although most mods include their own tailor, many of those mods were made before Kid's Farmyards, Hedgerows, Animal Starts, and other mods that produce textiles that were not useable in those tailors.  I found I was using Kid Workplace tailor (outside in the cold) more and more.  The new Kid Coats & Cloth mod has a coat and a cloth maker in 6 textures that are meant to solve that problem.  The mod includes Kid's flax and cotton patches.  Also shown in this story is Kid The Glade mod which produces meat and textiles.


 Welcome to Coats & Cloth, eager explorer.  We don't really have much experience trading with the river boatmen.  The coats and clothes we make are picked up by horse and cart and taken to Riverboat Depot where the river boatmen pick them up and deliver them to those who need them.  We accept nothing in exchange, we are glad to help those in need, we would even help those on the other side of the world if we could.  As you know, that is where the founders of Riverboat Depot are from, and they tell many tales of people in need there too.  We may have less than some, but we have oh so much more than others, we feel quite rich.

Come sit by the fire, eager explorer, and I'll tell you a story.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 1


  So, eager explorer, we came to this valley to produce textiles and coats to send to Riverboat Depot.  We came over the hills from the Depot and entered the southeast corner of this valley.  The area was heavily forested.  It snowed lightly off-and-on as we made our way north through the valley until we found a clearing in which to settle. 



 There were 24 of us, 16 adults with 8 children, a herd of sheep, a milk cow, and a few chickens.  We had 3 carts of supplies as well as some seeds.  Our group was made up mostly of nords with a human or 2.  My husband, Dillip, and I and our 2- year-old son, Marter, were wood elves.    My name is Doshiko and I'm really only a half-elf.  Dillip is a full-bred elf, a tracker, and a hunter with elven enchanted bows and arrows.  He immediately did some tracking and found there were 3 large herds of deer just north of our stockpile of newly gathered resources.  Our builders got right to work building a hunter's workplace in the center of the 3 herds.  Snowflakes were still falling.





  Just out of hunting range to the east, Dillip discovered a small glade.  He took Marter and me to take a peek.  There was a small pond surrounded by cattails and wild oats, there were ducks, rabbits, and 2 beautiful deer, a kind we had never seen before.  We agreed these deer should be protected and we spread the word to the others who may help with the hunting, that these deer and any like them that we may come across were not to be harmed.  The little glade was so beautiful and so peaceful.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 2


  We had our own animals to take care of.  We built an animal shed for the milk cow and chickens; there was room for 2 of the sheep that did not seem to have made the trip here as well as the other sheep did; these 2 needed a little extra care.



  A cottage for a couple with 3 children was built next to the animal pen, and a well was dug near the cottage.  The mother wanted to try out one of the enchanted bows before she went to work tending the animals.  We would have venison that night with the potatoes we brought with us. 

  A pasture for the rest of the sheep was built at the base of the nearby hills.  They would have plenty of room to graze and some dry grass was also gathered for them.  A manor house was built for a couple with a 4-year-old son, they wanted at least 3 more children.  They were both builders but when the building they were working on was finished, the couple would become herdsmen for the pasture and the animal shed.





  A stockpile and market were built just to the left of the cottage, straight south from the main stockpile and carts.  A small storage barn was being built by the carts whose contents we hoped to have properly stored away by the time cold weather and snow returned to our valley.



  Farther left of the market, by the river, a couple with 2 children moved into another cottage that was built.  There was a duck pond there that was quite a bit bigger than the one in the small glade, but the ducks and cattails were the same.  There would be duck meat, eggs, and down gathered from this pond.  There would be fresh fish caught from the fishing pier that was built not far from the cottage.  The couple was happy to be contributing to our food supply.   

[Abandoned]

Chapter 3




  As the weather warmed, a double row of asparagus and herbs came up over by the small glade.  Dillip began cutting the asparagus spears just below ground level.  I helped clear an 8' x 10' farm field; there was quite a bit of stone that had to be cleared away.  I planned to plant potatoes there but by the time the plot was ready to plant, it was too late in the season.  The potato planting would have to wait until the following spring.  Being elves, Dillip and I built a treehouse in the trees right behind the glade.   From the upper deck we could see first one then several deer cross through the potato field. 





  In summer, we began paving the roads with the stone that was cleared away from the farm field and building sites.  A large manor house was built for a newlywed couple there next to the potato field; they planned to have a large family.  Another couple built a cottage down next to the sheep pasture; it was early autumn before they moved in.  A 3rd couple also built a cottage.  They chose a spot right behind the market.  It was autumn by the time their cottage was finished; the leaves had fallen from the trees and everyday seemed colder than the day before.  We feared it would snow before the last family's house would be built.



  We were also concerned about our food and firewood supply for the coming winter.  A tiny chopper block was set up next to the main stockpile and the laborers took to the surrounding forests to gather branches and wild foods. We needed warm coats.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 4


  When the snow began to fall and the temperature continued to drop, we really wanted warm coats.  A seamstress' shop was built by the market and Meryll, next door, got right to work making warm coats from leather and wool. 





  In the meantime, the cottage was completed for the last couple and their 6-year-old daughter.  They chose a spot near the duck pond.  They were surprised when several large birds came out of the forest; they at first thought they were some of our chickens.  They were in fact wild grouse and it was thought that they were flushed out of the forest by the laborers who were gathering wild foods and branches.
 


  By late winter, we had a few warm coats in storage, and a smith was built by the main stockpile.  The last of our 3 storage carts was being emptied into the small barn.  The carts would be stored away too.  Even though we had warm coat, we were looking forward to spring and warmer weather.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 5




  By early spring of year 2, a town meeting hall was under construction.  We wanted a place to meet, and a place to record births and deaths.  There were plans to build a cemetery next to the meeting hall. Coats & Cloth had 30 citizens, one child became an adult and 6 babies were born.  Dillip and I had another son we named Palmerson.  There were washlines with diapers hanging on them all over town as soon as the temperature was above freezing. 





  There were flowing trees and shrubs blooming around town too.  We didn't notice much last spring; we were so busy building houses.  We were noticing a lot more this spring, like how many more rabbits and grouse there were.   

Lark and Novellamae, in the cottage next to the animal shed, actually shooed some of the rabbits and grouse out of the shed.  They didn't go far, just into the small patch of hazelnut bushes across from the shed.  There was a tree there that they didn't recognize; they asked me if I knew what it was figuring I would know since I was a wood elf.  I knew it was a plum tree that produced the kind of plums that were good for baking and jam making.  The tree was self-pollinating but the beehive would produce wild honey if collected.  As I was leaving the patch, I saw a rabbit heading back to the animal shed.

 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 6


Closer to home, there were several rabbits by the potato field that had just been planted.   The asparagus were again coming up and being picked along with some much-needed herbs. 





  Over by the market, a row of blue flax had come up as well as wildflowers and pretty yellow forsythia bushes.  Some wild grouse were making themselves at home in the flax row, we saw a couple of nests with eggs.  We began picking the flax so the seamstress could make warm coats from flax and wool; she already used up what leather we had.

  Over by Cleonidad and Addilynneth's cottage, more forsythia bushes sprouted as well as hazelnut bushes, wild oats, mushrooms, and asparagus.  There were some branches to be collected.  The weeds that sprouted quickly spread to the patch the couple had cleared in the hopes of planting some oats; we needed grain.  Rabbits and grouse quickly took over the weed patch.  We just did not have the time or workers to clean up, weed, and work these patches. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 7


  Except for leather and warm coats, our supplies were doing good; we just finished taking inventory.  By spring of that 2nd year, we had a fence built around the cemetery next to the meeting hall, and a chapel would be finished soon.



 It was late spring when a group of workers arrived from Riverboat Depot, of course we knew some of them.  The group was made up of mostly elves but included some nords.  There were 15 of them, 12 adults with 3 children.  Talonso was an elf married to a nord, he was given one of the elven bows.  He and his wife built a cottage by the weed patch and a hunting cabin closer to the river; 2 herds of deer had been spotted along the shore on more than one occasion. 



  There was a large herd of deer that gathered near our treehouse by the glade; we dare not hunt there so close to the glade and the deer we were protecting.  We knew that soon we would have to do something about the ducks and rabbits that were multiplying rapidly.





  There was another glade that we did not see hidden in the trees when we came up from the southeast to settle here.  The elves discovered it when they cleared the land to build a haven platform to build homes upon.  From the upper deck they could see yet another glade in the small valley to the east of the platform.  They were hoping the rare deer by the haven would join the animals at that far off glade but the pair of deer stayed close to the haven undisturbed by the building going on so close to their small pond.  The haven had a small marketplace on its ground level.  Along the path that was paved from town to the haven, the laborers discovered several elderberry bushes in full bloom.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 8




  A couple with 2 children, a couple with 1 child, and a young single female moved into the 3 houses built on the haven platform.  It was early autumn and there was still one family needing a home.  It was late autumn before the elves' treehouse was built not far from ours.  They set up a forester workplace just behind their house, far enough away not to disturb the deer's foraging area in the hunter's forest.  There was a lot of stone to be gathered from the area.





 Dillip and I took turns doing the hunting in that forest. Hunting had been good even though the 3 deer herds never stayed in the area for very long.  The deer herds by the river did not linger long either but the new hunter there did manage to add some venison and leather to our supplies.



  We had mutton, rabbit meat, fish, duck and game, plus eggs, milk, and vegetables but our overall health was a bit low despite all the variety.  We only had a small amount of wild oats, no other grain.  We could use more fruit. We wanted our food supply to be stable and health to be good before we got down to the business we came here to do.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 9




  Our poor health could have been because of the lack of grain or the fact that our 2 storage barns had little or no food; most had been taken to one or the other of our markets.  In late autumn, the laborers immediately set about gathering wild foods from around those 2 empty storage barns.  We planned to build a gatherer's cottage in the area so there would be a steady supply going into those 2 storage units.  Our overall health did improve by early spring, shortly after the trading post on the river was completed.



  We needed a warehouse in a convenient location that would be easily accessible to workers arriving from Riverboat Depot to pick up coats and textiles.  It needed to be close enough to town to be easy to take those items to.  We choose a spot just south of the haven platform and glade to build our warehouse.  A path down to the southeast pass was already being cleared; it would be paved with stone as more stone became available. 



  We would fill the warehouse with hide, wool, and warm coats and linen clothes, and with the textiles needed to make them, leather, wool, fur, down, and flax.  Our climate was too cold to grow cotton.  Our worker at the new gatherer's hut across from our house, could gather some wild flax as well as wild foods, and we planted a patch of oats and one of flax near the row of forsythias and flax where the wild grouse were again nesting in spring.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 10 




  By early spring of year 3, we had built a coat maker on the other side of the market from the seamstress.  The new coat maker would make warm coats from flax and down while the seamstress did the same using leather and wool.  We were all wearing warm coats, we took the hide coats we brought here with us to the warehouse.  We had some of our leather, wool, and down in the warehouse too. 





  The gatherer's hut we planned was completed but had no worker.  Both storage barns still had a good selection of foods in them, and our food supply was good.  We planted a patch of oats and one of flax down by the weed patch.  The weeds, grouse, and rabbits were getting closer and closer to the new patches every day throughout the spring and summer.



  In late summer, Orlan, the resource merchant, stopped by on his way back to Riverboat Depot.  He was told to stop to find out how we were doing and if we needed anything.  We reported we were doing well and had plenty of food and supplies.  He waited while 2 of the laborers went down to the warehouse to do a quick coat and textile count. We still had no wool coats, linen clothes, or furs. We had more textile than coats or clothes.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 11


  After the river boatman left, we again took stock of our supplies.  We had plenty of logs, firewood, stone, iron, tools, and clothes.  We had plenty of food but not much grain or fruit; we had only the 1 plum tree and wild berries.  In late summer, a couple of the women dug up some wild berry bushes and plants and planted them in a small patch by the cemetery.  There were wild raspberries and strawberries.  It did not take long for the grouse to discover the berry patch.  We would have to do more about the wildlife soon.
 




 We discovered that we had more warm coats and textile in storage that could go to the warehouse.  It was a cold and snowy winter, so it was slow going for our 2 warehouse workers.  The snow lingered into early spring, stopped, then started falling again.  The oats and flax were already coming up and the grouse were laying eggs.  The seamstress stopped making warm coats and began making wool coats instead.  We wanted a good selection of coats and textile for the workers from Riverboat Depot to pick up, when they come. 

[Abandoned]

Chapter 12


  In spring of that 4th year, one of our tailors switch over to the new cloth maker that had just been built next to the market.  Flax would be made into cloth and then into linen clothes as long as the weather was warm enough to work outside.  As of yet we had no linen clothes in the warehouse, we had plenty of flax.





  We also had enough oats that we thought it was a good idea to build a mill to grind the oats into flour.   The mill was built on the road just past the elderberry bushes; it was near the haven market.  It had just been completed, and the first oats had just been delivered when 11 workers arrived from Riverboat Depot, there were 9 adult and 2 children.

  A second story was built on to the 2 low-level houses of the haven; you know how elves like to save on wood.  An elven couple with 2 adult children and a young adult elven girl moved into the 2 haven houses.  Two nord couples were waiting for their houses to be finished.



  None of the newcomers could tell us when our coats and textiles would be picked up.  They could only tell us that a few of the laborers became river boatmen and the Depot was a bit short of workers now that they too had left.  They were impressed with how much we had waiting in the warehouse already.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 13


  In early summer, Larker, the food merchant stopped by on his way back to Riverboat depot.  He could tell us nothing much either about when our coats and textiles would be picked up, only that he heard they had to build another warehouse first.  He would not take any of our coats or textiles, but he would take a little of our iron; there was room on the Depot's stockpile for some.  When asked if we needed anything, we ordered apples and walnuts.  Our plum tree and berry patch were producing well, but we could still use more fruit.

   By late summer, a nord couple with a 5-year-old daughter moved into a cottage next to the chapel by the trading post, and the other nord couple with a 5-year-old son moved into a hut built next to the gatherer's cottage across from us.
 




  We had an unexpected frost in early autumn followed by a light snowfall.  We figured that no one would come to pick up our coats and textiles that autumn.  We also thought we had probably seen the last of the workers that would arrive from Riverboat Depot.

[Abandoned]

Chapter 14


  We were surprised in autumn to discover how many elderberries had been picked from the bushes down by the mill.  There were also quite a few berries in storage that were gathered from the wild and picked from our berry patch.  Berries do not keep very long in storage, and we did not want all those berries to go to waste. 
 




  We built a jam maker's hut next to the berry patch but used the elderberries to make the jam; we had plenty of wild honey to use.  Next to it we built a baker now that we had a mill making flour.  The baker decided to bake jelly buns instead of bread in order to use up more of the berries; the baker would make the jelly herself.  We all enjoyed fresh baked jelly buns through the winter and little crocks of jam were on our pantry shelves and in our storage barns for later use.  The berries were not wasted.

  The warehouse was slowly filling up, but it still needed hide coats, wool coats, linen clothes, and furs.