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Terrans Survive


This is the third in a series of stories, set in the game world of Banished. Read Part I.

Five years have passed since we came here, to Earth. We have only survived through sheer hard luck and determination. The first 
winter was bad, none of us expected the snow to be so cold or to come so early. But we managed to build houses for everyone before anyone died. There is so much to learn...

After the houses were ready, the first public building to go up was the woodcutter. Some of us gathered fallen branches and cut down trees while Castin chopped them into firewood. Castin volunteered for the job, although I would have selected him even if he hadn't. He was the strongest of us all and can actually wield the axe without hurting himself. Still, it is better that all of us take turns to do everything. If something should happen to Castin, there should be someone to replace him.

We have enough food to last us through this winter and even next year. But for a while there, we lived only on the roots and mushrooms we could gather from the ground. That was before the fishing hut was completed. Now the children are eating better and falling ill less often. In spite of the hardships, they seem to be happy here. I think we should start farming soon. Once we have farms going, we can concentrate on building a school and also a trading post on the river. We will quickly run out of resources on the ground, we have to trade with the Towers if we are to flourish.

I worry sometimes, for my little band of fellow Terrans. We decided to call ourselves that, after the ancient Latin word for Earth - Terra. All of us share the vision of a new future for humanity but we have turned our backs on many things, especially modern medicine. Thankfully, Deloi has some knowledge of old Earth plants. She has set herself the task of gathering herbs and treating the sick with them. But quite surprisingly, we are all far healthier than we expected. The human body is far more resilient than we thought.

We are slowly making progress, some of us have already given birth to babies. Our village has 16 citizens and hopefully, more are on the way. Berry has grown into a responsible adult, she is now the village blacksmith. She is already impatient to get the school started, determined that no one in the village should be uneducated. Those plans will take time. For now, we have survived and it is enough.

-Acelyn

Excerpts from the diary of Acelyn, 3650 UT.

Read Part IV

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