CHAPTER 3:
FIRES OF INDUSTRYHello, everyone :3
Just like the movie after which this thread was jokingly named, I'm back from the dead
As I've said, I ran into some slightly complicated real life issues and it pretty much took me a month of my usually free time. The little time I had was mostly used to collect Dragonflies and study to keep the Village Claim up. It's all set now, gladly - so I can start to properly come back. It's a whole new world out there - not only I'm now 30 days behind on my already slow/difficult game challenge but there's also a lot of new threats like:
- my new neighbors which I don't know yet;
- my new neighbors the mammoths
- horses! People can chase me much easier now at least until I tame my own... which might take a while.
Also... I'd like to give
SPECIAL THANKS to whoever left a Meat Grinder for me! That was very kind - thank you
Anyway... I'm happy to be back so let's go on with it! First and foremost, some news from one month ago that unfortunately didn't get to be posted on time...
I got my first boar!
Unfortunately it seems that I cooled down a bit my hunting skills while away and a boar got me yesterday
Luckily there was a boat nearby and I managed to escape more or less intact. Lost my leather armour, though
I've also found a theft scent. It was outside - so I don't really know what could it be. I'm guessing someone might've left something for me (just like the Meat Grinder was left on my door) but someone else took it away for themselves. Anyway, I tried to investigate but found nothing while following the scent - it was too far away and I didn't want to risk going too far... Since I don't know what was it, I suppose what we can't see won't harm us, right?
Anyway, with hunting being a big necessity for surviving on the mountain and taming now becoming essential (I *need* a horse - especially because pulling the cart up and down the mountain to get basics like water and wood is annoying) I decided that since I can't rely much on skills (far behind on LP; barely eating for FEPs) I should probably rely on armor. If I get enough armor to simply ignore mouflons I could at least get some sheep, for example - which is useful for bandages, food, milk, &tc.) Also the horse.
With an objective set, I now had a path to follow: I need metal! The first thing I'd need was to set up a good blacksmith shop. At least q20-30 for smelters and tar kiln, &tc... So I had to go down the mountain and hunt for materials. Took me a while but I actually managed to get all the wood I wanted (Walnut) and also found a good clay node - which is great news! It's not as close as I'd like but... beggars can't be choosers, y'know.
I needed several journeys with my trusty cart to get all the things back, only finishing the job by sunrise.
With all the materials I needed, it was time to start working. The Blacksmith Shop is located on the soon-to-be 'public' area of Wulf's Retreat, so it's thematically arranged to look nice :3 (Not finished yet, of course.) It's also really close to the West gate, which is next to a cave entrance which I hope to mine out and find some ore.
I needed the whole day to bring the house up and, as usually, used my metal tools for higher amounts of boards and blocks. Every resource has to be carefully counted beforehand if I don't want to spend another 20 minutes going down and up the mountain
I also brought loads of clay so I could rebuild my kilns with the better quality materials and make nicer bricks for the smelters.
After the house was done and while working on the bricks, I suddenly noticed a loud noise and some movement outside. For a pleasant surprise, I realized I had a visitor - and a furry one!
Better not let it in, though. I'm afraid it won't be so cordial to my cutlery nor my skull.
Can't deny it was a mighty sight, though. I'm glad to live among these creatures now - have seen 3 so far :3 - not only they're lovely but it also really adds to the atmosphere!
Anyway, the bricks were finally complete and by the end of the day I had finished the smelters and got my first few ores. Not mined yet - surface boulders I had saved. Ore nonetheless.
The smelters started working and the fires of industry were lit!
All the hard work left all my characters almost starving, though... so before calling it a day I had to go for some night hunting. It was a very good hunt and I managed to feed everyone on a big feast by the moonlight.
The gods apparently approved... for in the next morning, I've stated good fortune was on my side!
A good amount of iron for the first batch. Hopefully the luck will last longer this time
The age of industry has arrived to the mountain!