Harvest Moon: A New Dawn [IC]

[Soulserenity20]

Welcome, to the Village of Blossoms....

Deep within the forested mountains lies a small village known by the locals as Springtown, though any outsider would know it as the Village of Blossoms for it is in this forest village that so much life springs up, blooming out of the wilderness with vibrant life.

Once, the village struggled to grow and sustain itself, the locals working hard to keep their homes so far from the big city, but as time went on and the locals worked and worked, their efforts paid off. The Village of Blossoms is now a vibrant, self-sustaining land with great beauty and prosperity all about.

A few weeks ago, the locals were met with a hardship not unlike the one their ancestors faced: the village was taken by the power of great winds and rains of the stormy season and much of the homes suffered damage. Farms lost crops, livestock suffered illness, wares and stock were destroyed, the village struggled to rebuild and as they work together to bring back the beauty of their town the young mayor introduced plans to bring about a new dawn for the Village of Blossoms.

The Mayor wants to build the village up to much greater heights, but it's going to take hard work and a hefty budget. It's up to the locals and whatever help they can get from visitors to rebuild Springtown into a brighter, stronger, more sustainable settlement than ever before.

Build friendships, work hard, do your part in the expansion and enhancements of your home and you will reap the rewards of prosperity with all those around you.

Map of Springtown

 

[Quiet Souris]

Tamar Chas

• 
  
  
  

  The small shop is damaged, it's sign hangs crooked and the weathered wood of the outside walls is in need of ​

  some serious tender, loving care and quick. The Mayor had already directed her to the shop, as she had asked earlier that morning where she would find where she was staying. The crop store was to be her pride and joy, once she could get Chas to fix it up a little it would be right as rain. She let herself in and left the majority of her things outside, as Chas had taken them from the cart for her and already headed up to his own place, near the mountains she thought. He'd stabled Ariella for her, a kind gesture she'd expect from her gentle older brother.
  ​
  
  
  The inside was typical of a shop, with a counter set up and a storage facility, as well as shelves to store product on. Tamar headed upstairs, taking with her a small bag of her essentials and looked around happily. It was small but that suited her perfectly, decorated in dark browns and the sand-yellows of her home. There was already basic furniture, for which she was grateful and she quickly set up her basic cooking wear and her left over food in the kitchen, noting it's rustic wood seeing and smiling.​
  
  
  Tamar headed back down stairs and brought the rest of her things in, mostly boxes of crops she had stored to keep fresh here so she'd have something to live off and sell while her crops had time to grow. Speaking of crops, she quickly unpacked her farming equipment and seeds into a wooden crate in the corner, reminding herself to start planting sometimes in the afternoon. It was going to take a while to get an orchard up and running but she hoped it would at least be possible.
  ​
• 
  
  
  

  Chas smiled as he saw his sister begin to enter the house, just as he finished brushing down Ariella, a dapple​

  grey mare, and stabling her in the small stable behind the house. The fields were chock-a-block full of weeds but his little sister was determined, she'd get them out as soon as could. He turned back to the cart that belonged to his sister now, making sure the back was closed up in case they got rain and turned to his own horse, Boaz, a dark stallion he'd raised since he was 18 and who was his closest companion. He hitched him to the cart and began to make his way down the path towards the mountain he could see ahead, mentally reviewing the directions to the house allocated to him as the carpenter.
  
  The log cabin comes into view swiftly, a small but serviceable house he almost immediately falls in love with. It's weathered and battered and it seems older than any of the houses he has seen in town but he loves it, the rustic nature and the beautiful master craftsmanship of the carvings on the outside. Yes, this place will do perfectly. There is a place to put his cart out the front, which he leads Boaz to and quickly unhitches him from the cart. He grabs his brush out of the back of the cart and quickly brushes the dirt of the road off the dark stallion, who attempts to nibble his hair playfully.
  
  Chas stabled him behind the house, where a large pile of wood and bracken is piled up and a small stable which he leads the faithful steed into, feeding him an apple he has produced out of his pockets. There is a small field, not very big but big enough to grow enough food for him to live off, which is good since he knows Tamar packed seeds into his crates. He walked back to the front of the house, hitching the door open with a log and breathing in the familiar scents of wood dust and shavings, oak and pine heavier than the the sweet scent of cypress wood. He brought his belongings inside, his clothes going into a chest at the end of his bed and he lovingly, with great tender care, laid out his carving utensils on the work bench. He has forged the blades and carved the handles of every single hammer, chisel and saw and whittling knife there, each lovingly tended and perfectly useable, in perfect condition even after years of use and damage.
  
  He walked to the front of his veranda, wondering where the best place to find someone to meet and get to know would be but really, he had no idea what so ever. He just stood on his verandah, enjoying the morning sun and the crisp smell of spring in the air.
  ​

 

[Soulserenity20]

8:12am, Lumina Ranch
Shade looked out at the field he'd been tending for so many years of his life. The last few weeks he'd been working harder to nourish the land than ever before, but the damage from the storm was crushing in its magnitude. The fields were torn apart, only a little over half the yield would be harvested this season to feed his livestock and it'd be at least a full second season before he could hope to bring back what was lost. He shook his head, lifting a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow, glancing behind him at the tilled soil he'd worked this morning. 2 hours he'd been out here already and it seemed like so little had been accomplished. With a sigh, he lifted his hoe and trailed slowly back to the barn, supposing it was about time to let the herd out.

As he approached the old, dark wood barn he heard a sweet melody drifting out of the slightly ajar doors. His sister's voice was impossible to miss and the melody pulled at a memory from his childhood. His parents used to sing the lullaby to him and his sister in their youth and now Skye could always be counted on to bring back the gentle rhythm each time she worked with a birthing hound, believing the soothing tones would help set the temperament for calm, gentle pups. He wasn't sure if it truly worked or not but one thing was for sure: his twin sister had a way with the animals that even he envied on the occasion.

Strolling down the center walk of the barn he glanced into each stall, checking briefly on each anxious animal standing in wait for pasture. When he reached the end of the barn, he looked into the last stall on the left and saw a girl with the same brown hair as his sitting on the light straw, calmly singing to and comforting a large black shepherd whose belly writhed with the movement of life.

"It won't be much longer now, Shade. She's birthing too soon for my liking but with the stress of the storm I can hardly say I'm surprised. Poor Mara should never have been so stirred up this far into term. There, there girl, you're doing great." She stroked the panting dog's dark fur systematically along areas of her head and neck that would offer a soothing result by the nerves that ran under the skin. "How's the field looking? I'll help out as soon as I'm certain Mara can be left alone."

"Naw, don't worry about it, Sis. She needs you more than I do. I'll get these animals out of here to give you all some quiet. I have to venture out to the woods today to speak to the new carpenter... Chas, was it? It's about time we do some real repairs on the fencing. The makeshift holds have worked so far but my schedule's clear enough today that I can get started on fortifying what we have so far. Do you need anything from town?"

Skye looked up with her light brown eyes and smiled at her brother, her best friend in the world. "I think I'll go for a stroll myself and gather some supplies. We're in need of groceries, I'll take Vega out with me, he could use the exercise." Vega was Skye's personal pet and the father to the pups Mara was struggling to welcome into the world. Both were black shepherds, but Mara was here on business. A gentleman in the city had wanted to breed her and keep a single pup for his granddaughter but wasn't sure what to do with the rest, so Skye was charged with breeding, rearing and re-homing the pets. Once that was complete Mara and a single pup would head back to the city to make room for whatever next breeding project Skye chose to take on.

Beyond the breeding of Mara and Vega, she had 2 collies on the farm, one with black and one with brown markings and a small pup she was raising up to rehome. The pup wasn't much, just a white mutt, but it was smart and had a good temperament. She'd have no problem finding it a home. Luckily she was dealing very little with cats at that point. The farm had two mousers, one of which belonged to Skye and one of which she had intentions of re-homing, though there was no rush: a good mouser was always welcome on a farm. Cats, dogs, Skye even had a black arabian horse she called Deva which she used to train horses for other people. The woman was so consumed with animals Shade often wondered how she ever found time to leave the house, yet she did and she did it all very well.

Shade nodded at his sister's words and departed from the stall, whistling for the snoozing collies to come to his aid in herding the animals outside. While they only had about 14 head all together in the herd, it could be tricky for one man to control them, especially when the alpacas began acting up. Luna and Sola, the female collies, responded immediately, diving in to their jobs with such enthusiasm and precision Shade hardly had to lift a finger.

Soon enough, the cattle were out to graze, the collies were on watch along the fences and the day had broken enough that Shade decided he could make his way down town. He'd only met the carpenter at the welcoming ceremony the Mayor insisted on putting on each time a new person moved to town, but that was quite some time ago. Frankly he felt a bit embarrassed that he hadn't taken the time to get to know the new guy and his sister very well, but with the storm hitting just shortly before their arrival he hadn't exactly had a lot of free time on his hands.

"Well, I guess it's better late than never." Setting off down the path that led south from the farm. The woodsman's hut was across the town and into the eastern woods, the walk would be beautiful and serve to take his mind off the stresses of farm-life.

 

[Windsong]

Built into a hillside this new home was in definite need of repairs. All the new doctor had in mind to get done first was to make sure the door in worked. A few nails and some hammering that drove the lazy cat to the garden was enough to get the hinges back into working order. Everything about this small building spoke of quaint simplicity and the ease of living that Mary had come to expect with living so far from even her hometown, which was no large city by far.

The roof came next. She felt the designer a genius and a workaholic like herself. What looked like lush green tile from a distance became living and lush upon closer inspection. A whole yard of grass and peat provided thick roofing to protect the office and home below. Word was it had escaped relatively unscathed when the great storm blew through just before she arrived.

The carriage ride of the day before had been long and incredibly bumpy, wet and rutted roads almost made her fear she'd not arrive with time to meet the mayor, as the letter suggested she do. Her fears were realized when the carriage grew stuck more than once. By time she'd arrived the greeting party had all but left save the man himself, quietly dozing in a pilfered chair.

It was all too breath taking just arriving as the sun cascaded its waning warmth over the mountain side town. Home. The word she desires to utter most was finally said as her booted feet met soft earthy road.

Some hours and a check list of items later Mary knew what she needed to complete the few repairs upon her new home. The garden beside would have to wait until tomorrow, there was still plenty of time left for planting after all.
"Now then, Collee. You wager they'd mind me leavin' my post to get supplies?" She asked the lounging cat who sat beneath one of the dirty window sills. Mrrrooow. They replied, standing up slowly to follow their owner as dutifully as they'd done for years before.