Generations of Early Expansion ~ Part 3
Direction desired by the peoples (questions listed at the bottom of the CJ entry):
19 members have voted
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1. Oakfall has fallen into obscurity and stagnation. What course of action should the residents of Oakfall embark upon?
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2. Tidehook is sick and tired of hearing about how magnificent the ports of Godhaven are. What can the bold sailors of Tidehook do to try and steal the spotlight?
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3. Many mysteries exist, such as the Overnight Growing Mountains, & the Haunted Forest, & the Great North, & what this realm is called. Is there a Simgod? What approach should be taken?
Previously on Uncovering Junon Vale:
- Opportunists and would-be farming tycoons ventured southeast of Slyside Lake and discovered swaths of farmable land.
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Sundown Fields was founded! ~ No sleepin' on the job farmhand!
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Graincove was founded! ~ Hardworkin' and stylish farmers choose to live here, unlike those lazy Slyside Lake folk.
- Eager sailors ventured southeast to the great island, jaws dropped at the unique landscape along the coast.
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Port Ravenloch was founded! ~ The grandest port in the land (just don't tell anyone else yet because we still need to eat and get supplies from them, ok thanks!)
- Brave scouts seeking answers (and perhaps fresh air away from Oxtrain Village) crossed forth into the North. While awaiting their return, a secondary expedition was sent in their wake.
During various village gatherings, it was decided:
- An alternate path from Tidehook to Slyside Lake and Graincove should be constructed -- as well as a port -- in order to ease the burden of the heavy wagon traffic along Southpath.
- Port Ravenloch of the great island wanted to become self-sustainable. To do so, they'd require expansion to other ports on the island, as well as a focus on farming. "We're #1!, We're #1!"
- Secondary expeditions would be sent through the north ravine, further carving the trail taken by the fearless first scouts, and looking to create settlements. "We're #2!, We're #2!"
The previous map:
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Few things in life would ever motivate sims - if that's even what these settlers were called - to work harder and faster than the prospect of making money. Sure sure, there were some lazy folk in Slyside Lake whom might never truly learn what a honest day of hard work was, but those from Tidehook, and Graincove, they were quite accustomed to busting their asses all day long; they might even work in their sleep if they could. With the chance for some of the more ambitious families to become powerhouses of the farming trade, combined with their work ethic, a path from Tidehook to Slyside Lake (and the farming lands beyond) was laid with breakneck speed. The path became known by many as the Prospect Path.
Prospect Path laid:
^The Prospect Path meandered around the idyllic coast, wrapping around the rather large sloping hill, before finally heading north to Slyside Lake. Off further to the east, was the unnamed river leading up to Slyside Lake... the lake itself.
To families of Tidehook and the other sharktooth (or fin!) villages, the Prospect Path represented hope and success in their futures, a chance to make a name for themselves. Instead of just being known as the families whom were the fishermen and fisherwomen of the lands, they could make their names known as farmers and explorers as well. Over time, though quicker than one might expect, a few small settlements naturally sprung up in suitable locations along the coast, which unsurprisingly became known as the Prospect Coast.
Shoresteppe founded:
^The first village to spring up along the Prospect Path was Shoresteppe, a tiered little village with many taverns and saloons. Everyone who stayed the night in Shoresteppe was filled with the excitement of whatever awaited them in the east, so they usually drank and danced the night away. 
Tavern girls often danced on the tabletops, and sailor's sea shanties filled the air. No good tavern night was complete without some rambunctious barfight as well. However, Shoresteppe was a bit too exciting for some of the older sims, or settlers... whatever they were called by their god... if they had one.
Pinnacle founded:
^Pinnacle was founded on the top of the Prospect Coast hill, an offshoot path from Prospect Path proper. Pinnacle was a bit of an odd town, not much to see or do, and the local children found it to be boring beyond belief. However, to many older settlers whom wanted to make a name along the Prospect Coast - and those whom were against all that excitement in Shoresteppe - this was where they came to settle, at least at first.
Over in Graincove, things were as bustling as ever. Food was in high demand because well... umm food. 
To make their food shipments to the west easier, they were all aboard the idea of linking up their paths to the Prospect Path, so they set their eyes to the west. A very strange phenomenon occurred during this time... all the settlers of Graincove noticed the sharp and scattered mountains to the west. It wasn't that they hadn't noticed the rocky features previously... instead the settlers were quite surprised because they had seemed to grow larger overnight. "But... how is that possible?" they all thought. 
Satisfactory answers never did come... at least not yet. Some of them felt like it was the work of a Simgod, others cited magic or maybe ghosts from the haunted forest up by Port Novel, others felt like perhaps the mountains had always been like that, this was just the first time the settlers stopped working the fields to really notice. At any rate, they couldn't ponder long, a path had to be laid.
^In addition to the new Prospect Path, it had been decided to built a port near Graincove as well, a place to set up food shipments to the other ports.
^The farmers-turned-trailblazers from Graincove moved on further to the west, along past the odd overnight growing mountains. "Ghosts from the haunted forest don't come this far south, right?" Soon enough the workers hit the eastern side of the river. There they founded an encampment to begin construction on the region's first bridge, which would officially link Graincove to the Prospect Path along the Prospect Coast. On the other side of the river, the western trailblazers had also prepared to begin the bridge on their side. The bridge encampments quickly became ports of their own, as having ships nearby was the easiest way to transfer supplies from one side to the other.
Speaking of ships... while all that landlubber activity were occurring up on the mainland, the seadogs with the grandest port in tall the lands - Port Ravenloch of course - had been hard at work themselves. They were quite committed to their own prospect of becoming entirely self-sufficient, instead of needing food or supplies from the the mainland. Paths quickly extended out to the north, and to the south, as they explored more of the great island to settle and farm. In fact, the island was so great and grand, it was during this time most of the settlers in those parts started calling the island Godhaven.
North Ravenloch founded:
North Ravenloch was nothing more than a stone's throw from Port Ravenloch, or a skip of a stone across an ocean wave as most of the sailor's thought of it. While North Ravenloch did have some land with rich soil for farming, it simply wasn't enough to truly become self-sufficient from the mainland. More exploration was needed... thus those who settled these parts ended up mostly using it as more of a staging ground to send out more explorers and settlers either northwest to the Westlance tip of the Godhaven Island, or inland east to find more flat farmland.
^A few fishermen, lazing the day away at the docks when they should be out exploring for farmland. They must be from Slyside Lake. 
^Exploratory paths branching out from North Ravenloch. Finding swaths of farmable land was a priority.
Meanwhile, the explorers to the south of Port Ravenloch weren't having better luck than those who went north. To the immediate southeast, nothing was found but dense forest and rolling hills. Whilst it would have made for decent farmland, it simply didn't impress the hoity toity settlers from the grandest port in all the lands. They knew in their hearts more suitable land for both farming and settling was just around on the other side of the island. Why else would the Simgod have sent them here? It was afterall... their Manifest Destiny!
^Just around the bend to the east held even less potential farmable land than just south of Port Ravenloch. Our explorers of Godhaven pressed on, further around the shoreline.
Eventually, as they rounded the shoreline to the north, they descended upon one of the more breathtaking views any of the settlers had ever seen, perhaps ever would see in their days in this region... whatever their region was called . This particular area however, they all knew right away what to call it. On the opposite side of the raven-like peninsula of Port Ravenloch, it was only fitting there would be a talon-shaped peninsula, thus, this bay would be known as none other than the Talonway Bay.
Talonway Bay (to be settled):
Back along the path from the North Ravenloch side, a narrow section of farmland was settled, as the path continued inland. This path was a bit similar to Oxtrain Pass, winding through the hilly terrain, though it certainly was not as extreme. As for the little village, they really just considered themselves part of North Ravenloch since it was so close.
^Those laying the trail inland - deeper into Godhaven - pressed on and on. One day they broke through and discovered what their southbound trailblazers had already discovered... Talonway Bay! The inland path was actually a shortcut from North Ravenloch to the east side of Godhaven!
^ The trails finally met up on the east side of Godhaven, by Talonway Bay. From the west came the inland shortcut path, and from the south was the long path around the shoreline, from Port Ravenloch. In Talonway Bay, there was ample flatland for settling and farming. Its discovery created a lot of excitement all across Godhaven, and both paths were travelled well.
^Explorers from North Ravenloch had laid down a trail towards Westlance, but they quickly turned back. As impressive as Westlance was, it was hard land to farm due to the steep hills, and while it might make a great spot for a village one day, that day was not today, for food was the top priority, as was settling Talonway Bay after its discovery.
Expansion was not just reserved for those of Godhaven however, as meanwhile, our teams of secondary scouts from Port Novel and Oxtrain Village travelled north through the nearby ravine. They followed in the footsteps of the original fearless scouts who crossed into the far north. The purpose of the secondary scouts was to dig into the trail further, creating a more permanent pathway, as well as founding a few outpost settlements to the north, always vigilant and on the lookout for our scouts who have ventured forth many many many moons ago at this point. Would they ever return?
As the trail was dug in further, it became clear that the coastline valley our fearless scouts had traversed was not an easy trail, but it was undeniably a beautiful one:
Outposts sprung up quickly, and those who settled these parts all felt they had a greater purpose, to one day be the ones to hear back from our fearless scouts who ventured off into the unknown.
Northmoor Founded:
The first outpost settled to the north quickly constructed a moor - thus became known as Northmoor - so as to receive supplies from Port Novel, or even further south along the coast down to Tidehook. Maybe even one day they'd trade with the magnificent Port Ravenloch they've heard so much about. In time maybe they would grow and even be able to ship their own goods to the other villages. For now, this outpost was a humble one, and the men and women there always looked to the north, awaiting word of whatever was up there.
Northend founded:
Like Northmoor to the immediate south, Northend was a humble outpost with high hopes. Would these two northern outposts be long forgotten as the other ports and villages to the south focused on expansion, and boasting for whomever had the most marvelous port... or would Northend or Northmoor one day be made famous by being the first to hear word from the fearless scouts. Perhaps one day it would be these outposts that would first learn about this mysterious realm their ancestors had all awoken in.... as well as the answers of their origins, and their futures. After all... what was this realm called? What were they called? Were these things decided by the stars, or were their fates decided by their Simgod... if there even was one? In Northmoor and Northend... they wondered and wondered hard.
To the east of Northend, the path continued... but not for long. It seemed to fizzle out in the dense woods... but if one looked closely amidst the trees, they'd see a lone structure that stood just a bit taller than the trees surrounding it. The Northwatch Tower, which housed a rotation of watchers from Northend and Northmoor as they looked into the great beyond, keeping their eyes vigilant for the scouts.
^Northwatch Tower, the loneliest place in... well... in whatever this realm was called.
Far, far to the South, in a place where not much thought went to the North, much progress had been made creating yet another magnificent port on Godhaven Island... the port of the Talonway Bay. Nearby farmland on the flatlands were also taken advantage of, and the breathtaking views were rivalled by none elsewhere.
Talonway Bay founded:
^A little offshoot where settlers decided to congregate their homes, on the western side of Talonway Bay. Perhaps the first glimpse into a "neighborhood."
^Talonway Bay also contained various pockets of sandy marshlands which became a leisurely place for walking, hiking, relaxing in a boat, or fishing.
With both Port Ravenloch, and Talonway Bay...how could any other port or village claim they were as magnificent as the ports on Godhaven Island? To those snooty sailors on Godhaven, nobody could dare boast more than they could. And now that they had the farmlands to back up their boasting, it just happened even more frequently. 
Time passed, and more and more of the land inland was revealed as new settlements and new paths were birthed into existence:
A closer look to the north:
A closer look to the south:
And so the expansion continued, but always there were seemed to be more questions than there were answers. The most ambitious of the farm tycoon families, and the fishermen families - whom were undoubtedly the defacto leaders at this point in time - turned to the people for their desired direction. The families knew that keeping the people happy was what was needed to continue prospering. (See above for a poll on these questions).
- Oakfall seems to have fallen into stagnation, as the farmers and fishermen rule these lands. The woodland village must make key choices to make a name for themselves again, lest they fall deeper into obscurity.
- Every day the sailors of Tidehook hear how fabulous Port Ravenloch and Talonway Bay are... can they do anything to attempt to trump the glory of these new magnificent ports of Godhaven Island?
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There are rumors of growing rocks and haunted forests, and many settlers - or sims, whatever they are called - have started asking again where we are, the name of this realm, and whether or not there is a Simgod.
Updates of Uncovering Junon Vale
- Prospect Path was laid, connecting Tidehook to Slyside Lake, with a bridge planned to connect Prospect Path all the way to Graincove.
- Shoresteppe is founded! ~ Party like it's... wait, what year even is it?
- Pinnacle is founded! ~ Call the constables, they are partying too hard down in Shoresteppe again!
- Workers from Graincove started laying trail to the west, where they would soon start construction on a bridge. They discovered mountains that grew larger overnight!
- Settlers decided to name the great island Godhaven, and the sent trailblazing explorers both to the north and the south, planning to link up on the other side of the island.
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North Ravenloch is founded! ~ Not as cool of a shape as Port Ravenloch proper.
- Talonway Bay discovered by the southbound Godhaven explorers, their trail having wrapped around the island!
- The Unnamed north path was dug in and made more permanent, following in the footsteps of the fearless first scouts.
- Northmoor is founded! ~ What more can you want than a moor in the north? Oh... alot more that's right.
- Northend is founded! ~ Last outpost before the great unknown to the north.
- Talonway Bay is founded! ~ Just more proof that Godhaven is the most magnificent place ever.
- The Unnamed inland shortcut path, and the Unnamed Shoreline path were linked up on Godhaven.
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