Driftwood MMC - Year 1 - Winter - New Builds & Households
I can’t remember if I said, but I ended up adding a couple of extra roads to the terrain so that I can create a “high street” of sorts. I also added a couple of deco buildings, for the townies/NPCs (of which there are not many yet, but it’s still nice for my immersion to imagine e.g. the garden club lady has a place she lives). I’m so happy with how this settlement is coming together! I think it looks so beautiful :D
The timing is quite poor since it’s the middle of winter right now, but the residents of Driftwood unlocked a Midsummer Festival lot that’s sure to prove fun once it warms up.
The summer festival as described in the rules is meant to be a kind of market, and we also unlock the Weekly Market this round… According to the official Medieval Charter Challenge rules, only merchants can have community lot businesses - yeoman and peasants are meant to have home businesses.
However, I’ve been getting a little bit ticked off with the way home businesses work in the game! So I made some itty-bitty 1x1 lots that some of my peasants can purchase and sell goods from. I think they fill out the awkward 1x3 space really nicely.
Peasants can also sell/trade with their neighbours, or sell directly to the new merchant family and have their goods re-sold at the larger Weekly Market. But the thought of all that price calculation & bookkeeping for selling a huuuuuuge haul of fish (for example) was giving me nightmares, so peasants with a large amount of goods to sell have this as a nice option, too.
(As a side note, while on the topic, I am using the Simulated Sales mod so that everyone is not constantly broke. But I feel sort of sad that the items my sims are crafting get “wasted” this way, especially since most Sun&Moon items are useful! So I am thinking of bringing in townies after all, and pretending they are ‘bonus’ farmer peasants, who work off-screen tending to rest of the Lord’s lands. Not decided 100% yet, but it might be something I do when Year 2 rolls around!)
Here’s Driftwood’s new Weekly Market! Owned by the new merchant family, the market sells imported goods from across the kingdom, as well as some of the goods made here in the village.
Some of the stalls are a little empty for the moment, as I’d like the merchants to have to make trade deals with the yeomen/peasants in order to resell their goods. I do have the TSM market stalls, though, so sims will be able to buy generic “groceries”, accesories, and new clothes here.
I have mostly avoided using deco buildings in Driftwood so far, but I wanted the market square to feel nicely closed-in and surrounded by buildings, so I added a “warehouse” at the back, where the goods are presumably stored during harsh weather. There are a few horses and oxen around who I imagine pull the carts etc. The market is near the bridges, so it all makes total sense to me, I’m super happy with it!
Next door to the market we have a townhouse for our brand new merchant family. I’m really happy with how it came out!
Here’s the merchants: the Bartlys! Cristofur and his wife Joane have been blessed with good fortune and plenty of children. Their eldest, Artheur, has just started to learn the ropes and start getting involved with the business.
Chris’ sister, Sadie, has not been so lucky. She’s a hopeless romantic but has a hard time finding that special someone! Maybe because she’s both hot-tempered and too clever for her own good - her brother’s always telling her nobody wants to marry a girl who will constantly start arguments, and win them!
Cristofur is a bit of a cad with a wandering eye, but Joane is far from oblivious. She married him for status as much as love. As long as the kids and her have their nice house, high standing in society and good fortune, she’s happy.
Driftwood gets a Foundling Home - an orphanage run by the church. Religion in the kingdom places a lot of emphasis on family and community, so orphaned sims are well taken care of and even recieve something of an education.
Once they become teenagers they typically set out on their own (as peasants or as soilders, usually). However, some do choose to stay with the church and live a monastic life for a time, perhaps eventually joining the clergy.
I decided to roll for the foundling household like I would any other, and liked the results! Branwyne recently was made abbess of this new home - she’s always loved children but was never able to have any of her own, so the job suits her wonderfully. She can be a little stern at times (the crying toddlers wake her up in the night, and she’s always been a light sleeper), but she has a playful side that the orphans get to see once in a while.
Grace grew up in the system, and is highly family-oriented. She’s always wanted to give back to the community that raised her, and joined the clergy when she aged up, hoping to become an abbess someday like her mentor. However, her desire to do good and give back is at odds with her strong dream of starting a family of her own.
The kids are Godric, a good kid who has sticky fingers, and Walter, a shy child with a kind heart. The toddlers are Alisone, Isabel and Rachel. I’m glad that our abbess ended up with an adult to assist her - she’s certainly going to need the help!
It’s a little empty right now, but I built a new house for Driftwood! This is a farmhouse for the Topsfields, a pair of yeoman gardeners.
The Topsfields - mother and daughter duo Belsante & Rosamund. The two of them have a large garden where they farm vegetables - finally the residents of Driftwood can live off a balanced diet that isn’t all meat, fish, honey, and dairy!
Belsante has never been one for worrying about what is and isn’t appropriate, always following her heart whever it takes her. She can be sloppy and a little clumsy, but she’s worked hard, been lucky in life and is more than happy with her lot. She’s also a marvelous cook!
Her daughter, Rosamund, is forgetful, lazy, and struggles with her mother’s sense of humor. She’s not particularly fond of farming, and wishes she could marry into an easy life, without worrying about being her mother’s sole heir.
Some final new sims for the Winter! With Lawrence leaving the army (and dying) and then Elliot marrying Primrose and becoming a knight, the barracks have been feeling pretty empty… We’ve also got a whole lot of women in Driftwood with nobody availible for marriage. So, here are some new recruits!
From left: Avery London, Andrew Twarby, Reginald Moore, Sir Roberte Mondegreen, Brian Fromond, Nicholas Parry and Wulfgar Garard. We’ll get to know them as I play.