This post is not a recruitment thread, or a sudden announcement that we are about to undertake some big campaign, it is merely to document the current history of our town and to show others that such places can exist and thrive. More often than not towns are only heard of when they fall, which can lead to the impression that any attempt to form group is doomed from the start. The truth is that you are only really doomed if you never try. Our town still has a long way to go, and anything can happen, but at least for now we stand.
Our group was made up of just a handful of people whom had known each other for at least a year through a different medium. A few of us had ventured into the wilds of Salem some years before but most were as green as the land itself, thus this was truly an adventure of discovery.
The first stone was placed in the month of August last year, just a simple stone hedge around an area large enough for a farmer’s house, fields and drying racks. Others in our group set off in the area, each securing their own piece of land, close by yet not under the shadow of one another. We very early on decided not to go down the normal route of all living under the same roof. By having our own homes we could all play our own way without stepping on each others toes and it is for this reason we feel our town has thrived.
The world was harsh those first months, bears were common place in our lands and would often stop our bid to forage while deer roamed as if to taunt us with their flesh that was for so long out of our reach. Thankfully the tables soon turned as we grew in strength and skill. Now it is the bears that must hide and the deer that watch their step.
Our first taste of destruction happened when two of our forts got raided. At the time only the big fort had the town claim covering it and we were all only just starting on our Palisade walls so stone hedges, personal claims and some braziers and torch posts were all we had for defence. The two guys that got hit were devastated. Its not just the damage that was done or what was stolen, it was the feeling of having someone going through your stuff without your permission. Our forts are our homes and getting raided was heartbreaking...but that was not going to stop us.
Both guys quickly patched up their walls and defences while we all worked to extend the village claim to cover them. A few in our group called out for blood but I managed to still their rage, I did not want to risk my people, my friends, over a few trinkets. Instead we went a different route and stocked the thief, then again, and then again, until all evidence of his crimes had been wiped out. Every lashing during those days helped strengthen our resolve to carry on in this world and it became almost an event to get together and watch him get his comeuppance.
Life after that carried on its peaceful pace. I did what I did best and continued to farm and cook for my hungry town mates while others found enjoyment in digging deep into the earth or hunting the beasts of the land, each of us pursuing whatever it was that brought us joy. Many times we were tempted to bring others to our happy town but each time I decided against it, we were not yet ready, not yet strong enough. Fate had other ideas.
A few months earlier I had been foraging close to the town of Providence and I had come across a fellow doing the same. We waved and exchanged pleasantries, spending great lengths of time discussing food recipes. We soon because good friends and continued to share correspondence over the coming months. Often times one of us would have a glut of one type of crop which we would gladly part with in exchange for another we were low on. It was a happy friendship. This happiness came under threat one day when I hear terrible news that my friend was facing total destruction.
A large force had taken it upon themselves to claim the land that he had called home, his small writ of homestead would never stand up to the town’s claim that started to encroach. Left with no other choice my friend called upon my help to save his most valuable possessions. Time was short but thankfully most everything, but the home itself, was saved. And so, that random stranger whom I had only met once by chance, came to join the village of Timber Wolf.
More people were invited to join the village over time after this, including a family with their kids who were, and still are, excited to have a place they can call home while also have friendly and helpful neighbours. That is after all what we strive to be, a true town of people, of homes and of stories in Salem. I have told you mine, or at least its beginning. Maybe other village members will tell theirs.
I leave you with this message, stand strong and fight, fight for every moment you are given in Salem and fight for every friendship you make. This world is amazing, but the people even more so.
