Village

Village 1.0 Ideas

very small village, near the ‘frontier’. AKA after this village, not much is known. A ‘Hear be Dragons’ kind of a thing. For protection they don’t live on their farms, but live in a cluster of buildings in the center of the village. It’s a co-op place, all grain is put in one silo, etc. People who don’t want to be a part of it must trade or pay for the items they want. There are a group of farmers, a small merchant group who sells extra to the outside world, and tradesmen who work in exchange for other services. It’s a fairly ideal place to live, but the only reason it works is because it’s a small community.

The tavern/inn is also where most of the unoffical town business takes place. The majority of the men go there after a hard days work, to relax and talk to their friends. It’s name is ‘The Winking Gnome’; the sign is a poorly painted representation of a gnome holding a tankard, with a sly grin and a winking eye.

Metal is pretty rare in this world (or continent), so a metal spear to a wooden spear is like ‘Long Sword +1′ vs ‘Long Sword’. There are some harder wood than other in this world, so once a year, men from the village travel to a forest several days away and cut down enough hardwood to last the year. It’s used to make the majority of their tools, and their few weapons.

The women are the ‘wise ones’ of the village. Some of the older men are included in the ‘Old Ones’ but the majority are women. Women generally keep a cooler head when trouble arises, and don’t fall back to violence until it is needed.

There is a school in the village, where the children learn the basics of farming, as well as carpentry, cooking, etc. Men learn the more masculine skills, women the femenine. They are also taught how to read and write, and are encouraged to pursue painting, writing, and so on.

Here are some more thoughts about the day to day activities of the village..

The farmland of the village is split up into numbered lots. People don’t know which lot they will get at the beginning of the year, so everyone always keeps the lots nice. Once you pick a lot, it is your groups until the end of the harvest, that way no one is picking up another’s problem area. The foodstuffs produced by the members of the co-op is stores in two areas, for safety purposes. Large stores of grain is kept, as well as large cellars full of veggies, ale, and preserves. There are some cows and chickens that are taken care of by everyone; again they are spread out in different areas. For the most part, the members of the village are vegetarians, eating meat only on special occasions. It is their way.

There is a grain mill outside town a bit, next to a river. It’s water-powered, and there is a windmill thing on top as well. The miller (with apprentice) is a busy man in the village. He is in charge of the granaries, of recording what is in storage. He has a wagon that he can pull under the silos and fill up. He then goes to the mill and grinds it. He has a schedule of transporting grain to the mill, milling the grain, and taking the flour to different families homes. There is a schedule set up so everyone gets more flour every week. He picks up the families earthen jars in the morning, fills them up, and delivers them in the afternoon. Families often decorate their jars, to make them unique, and to let the miller know who’s is who’s.

A couple times a year, the majority of the men go out and do some serious lumber jacking, stockpiling as they near winter. Then they come home, and fill up the storage sheds they have near their homes. There is also a supply in the main area.

Milking is carried out in the two livestock areas. The non-parent women are there, along with children of families. There is a different mother to manage the job every day. They also gather eggs from the chicken coop. They then take the milk and eggs back to their families homes. The smaller kids borrow a small, kid sized cart that is pushed in front of them. Because it is hard to carry a jug of milk and eggs with small hands. Once back at home, they load up the cellar with what they received, then return the cart to the livestock area.