Cruxdaca

A short journal on the day.

Some discussions were had closeby, and I overheard a gentleman called Cruxdaca looking for a place to settle. Knowing that Independence has lots and lots of golden land to use, I also realised that it is hard for new settlers to find this land.

A man that asks politely for assistance, is one thing. One who is considerate enough to ask about settling anywhere, is a gem. I started to talk to him, and he was very kind, albeit also a bit injured. A few cotton balls later, I took him around our area, to the spots I know was ripe with oppertunity.

He was a non tax payer at that stage, but planned to go premium, as he said, so I kept in mind that it would have to a spot that we can clean up if he turns out to be a temporary squatter. After about 10 minutes of walking, we reach a fairly large, abandoned mining settlement. He loved it at first sight, and started looking around. There was water, mining, some junk he could start with, forges and ovens. A good starting point. I left him in peace, while he scouted and planned. Before I knew it, he was premium AND bought a settlement contract. He was happy.

Three nights ago I stopped by with the cart and some shards to repair a few decayed holes in his fence.

It felt good to assist. I haven't paid him a visit in a few days, and should. I am sure he has made some great advancements so far. Fortunately, there is a guard tower there, because that mine is likely riddled with mobs.

Goodluck and welcome Cruxdaca.

Cruxdaca buying his settlement contract from the FM Trader.

The Beauty and The Beast

Two sides to life living in the lands of Wurm

A rainbow over Dragon Fang, with Valrei and Jackal clearly visible.

Food and leather, and death...

What's West Of Freedom Market?

There is not much to say about this hike. We felt like getting out, perhaps hunting a bit for meat, most of our meat is cooked, and we want raw steaks for the dogs. We actually never went to explore much around Freedom Market, not westerly anyway. Decided to take a stroll that way.

A few superb deeds, and some suprises too. The whole area is on the downslopes of Dragon Fang mountain, and most deeds have excellent sea view to the west and south.

Something else that caught my attention was the amount of open land, or at least, disbanded and abandoned land. New players, and old alike, should investigate the area. There are many blocks of land, still fenced up, waiting for settlement. I keep finding these, and wonder why people never find a place to settle. Sure, it might not be very remote this near to Freedom Market, but it is convenient, and mining possibilities is all over, should that be what you are looking for.

Meerkat Stables

After levelling the new area east of the highway, Meerkat ended up with tonnes of dirt to spare. This was used in here usual timely digger fashion to build up the sidewalk area and create her third, tidy, stone walled horse stable. It probably ruined a bit of Kanenia's view, but he took the same oppertunity to finish the part north of this, into his new crop farming section.

This is, without further ado, the new stable at the front of Plattekloof.

Plattekloof's new signed entrance, with the stable area on the right of the picture

A trip to Greenwood

We made a quick (several hour) trip to Kasumi's settlement, Greenwood, to collect a pony and a dog. On the way there, Meerkat found a wild dog, tamed it (sort of) and then we headed back with all of the animals lead by rope, with me, trailing on the cart. Markeast is a slow horse, but does not tire easily.

Some more pictures from the trip to Greenwood and back.

Kasumi, in her very rare, very expensive, very light and very protective drake armour!

Before the Black Dog Canal crossing. Swim, all of us, including the horses. No other way.

A little tour to find Mckallister's place...

...again.
And again we could not find it. The man is building something up there, somewhere, and yet there seems to be no road leading to it. He is an awesome neighbour to Plattekloof, respectful, crafty and silent. He is never seen, whenever he walks past, he yells a quick compliment and then dissapears. One day we will visit him, or see him.

Here are some pictures from the little southern highway trip.


Beds for rent, at some point...

Meerkatjie's maul is a pain in the neck for goblins...

Abandoned stables

Not so abandoned, stables

In the tunnel that leads off from the Great South Mountain road.

For the dead, the thirsty and the traveller

General news on the deed

Things are changing again. There seems to be more time now that we have most of what we need. By no means do we have everything we need, but we have become self-sustainable.

Meerkatjie, being the only one that can dig almost anywhere on the deed, started shaping the unused part of the settlement, east of the highway. This area is quite rich in soil, and will either become a farming area or something else that produces. At the very least, we want it to be beneficial to the area and not ugly. Do not worry your souls about the tree felling, we replant, reshape and fix up as we go along. The old Maddzer cabin area is becoming a forest again!

Pay some good attention to the following picture. This is what we call our 'sidewalk'. Meerkatjie has set her sights on it becoming another horse playground. Stay tuned for massive land reform. Kanenia is also planning to extend his crops on his section.

A Villager and a Friend

We never thought that we would have someone in the local area this much, but it happened. Fortunately, a friend, and an all-round awesome skill hungry villager, joined us.

Welcome Kanenia.

He decided to take our neighbouring area, where Grace Manor used to be. It has decayed to a state of ugly weeds and rotten wood. Knowing Kanenia, he will clean up quicker than we can knock down a few mine walls.

News about the stables/pens and progress

Since a lot of time have gone passed again, here are some picture updates.

Meerkatjie has been working very hard on her horse stables. The wild horses we brought back from the steppe area, needed to be somewhere, and she's been burning to start taming, husbandry skills to come!

Our view to Crystal lake from the stone house patio.

Off topic, but newsworthy, the mine has been opened, even if there is no mine yet. We made a road around from the crossing area on our deed, to the mine. This is a north-western view of the crop fields and mine road. It is stunning, even if I have to say so myself.

Lastly, we have our very own, self built forge and oven!

Bad weather on the way, will write soon again

The Grand Steppe

The steppe is a drier, grassier piece of land, known for it's creatures, great for the hunt.

We had to see this, and we just couldn't wait for horses. We are back and alive, but it was harrowing. Horses are needed for this trip, next time. Both for the reason of time (it is very far) and fighting advantage. Creatures were everywhere, especially spiders. We did have fun, even though we had to hide in someone's (lucky us!) unlocked writ, with three spiders around it, lurking. It became dark, and it was scary, but we took an oppertunity to get out and run.

Here are some pictures of a unicorn, and a big amount of loose lava spiders. A great motivation for moving along quickly.

We will go to the steppe again, but better preperation is needed. The hunt will be on.

A troll in the fog.

Meertkatjie, almost completely, killed a troll today. I assisted of course, but pain was not uncommon.

After killing the troll, we decided to go to freedom market and spend some hard-earned coppers on armour and weapons. She got a maul, and some boots.
I picked up chain boots, a studded leather hat and jacket.

Other than that, it was a weekend of working, mining for materials and grinding. Well done again to Meerkatjie for all of this. She wants to finish things, to eventually get her horse stables ready for horses.

A short update. West.

We went west today, south on the Great South Mountain road, and then west towards Nippy Shores, and a place called Killing For Food.

I do not have any nice pictures, as usual, our adventures changes sporadically as we go. We ended up on something, which is mapped as a great big white spot. It is some special kind of area with whole different climate and plant growth.

Really interesting, but dangerous nevertheless. Walking into these plains, we did encounter a lava spider and some neutral (but potentially aggressive) animals like warthog.

The Madzzer

We are generally weary about neighbours. While it is a warm feeling hearing fires crackle, and anvils being hammered close-by, some neighbours bring destruction and unrest. This one however, turned out to be just fine. He isn't around much, but when we asked for his assistance he didn't flinch. He shared high quality meals, sold us some cheap starter animals and he is keeping his writ in place. I don't think he will be around for long, he seems to be a nomadic type, he is constantly scouting and moving. Meerkatjie noticed some bulk storage bins belonging to him down at the docks, which is strange for someone living up here.

Since he entered the deed so many times (we need a doorbell), It was easy to get a picture of him.

This is his writ, and that of a friend, Josh, who we never saw again...

You most probably noticed the giant spider at his door...

What would the daily grind be without some fire

Occasionally, or more, frequently, we get something aggressive walking into or close to the deed. Our natural drive to became decent hunters (fighters perhaps?) and the quest for meat, means we either try to kill it ourselves, or call in a guard or two to assist.

Most of these encounters end in 2 KG of cotton being used on cuts, bruises and burns...

Huge scorpions, spiders, goblins and lava creatures of all sorts. The Lava Fiend was a problematic one. He entered the deed from the back, and got stuck behind a wall. We had to destroy our fence, to lure him out to the guard tower before finally, after a long battle, defeating him. Thanks to 4 guards, one who perished in the conflict.

Many weeks have gone by, we still stand.

It is becoming a habit of ours, to not update the settlement news.
Time has gone by. Meerkatjie completely finished the fields, the roadkill cafe has a roof, and she is now honing a LOT of skills on her stone cutting and general masonry. We are getting a home on the upper level of our hilled deed. This is excellent, and she is excellent. Planning and driving this endeavour to its fullest, with a great design, two levels, and a view to kill. I will share the pictures that I can share for now.

This is the farm yard, secure and crops protected against wind. The gate is put in place, since we are planning a mine-engineering mission soon. She thought well ahead.

Here is the late night pictures of the stone house plan, while having a meal around the fire. It may not be easy to see, but we have such an excellent view of Crystal Lake to the East. This is an old picture, the progress of the stone house is much further along, as you can see below.

Here is the stone house, so far, hundreds and hundreds of bricks have been cut and placed into mortar lovingly made by her. Making mortar is a very tedious task, and just doing it continuously like she has, shows a lot of commitment and drive. She deserves every title that is coming her way.