Homesteading in a fantasy world

Next day started off as any other but after my chores as I went to check the bridge and while I was on top of the tower, I noticed activity at the forest edge.

There was a bunch of goblins there “So they finally showed up”. As I prepared for another fight, I waited and kept waiting and soon the reason became apparent.

They were setting up tents a bit further from the edge of the forest but still long ways off from my effective range. And more worryingly, they were cutting down smaller trees and doing something with them.

It also became quite quickly apparent that they will not attack immediately, so I climbed down and went to get all the things I need to start putting feathers on arrows on top of the tower.

It took me three trips to bring everything and also all the extra arrows I have for the short bow as well.

Now the extra space I made looked a bit fuller. An unexpected positive side is that I can now lie down flat and straight, so if I wanted to, I could actually sleep here pretty comfortably.

And that might become necessary if I’m under siege. I kept watch, but also kept finishing the longbow arrows.

Using string to fletch is a lot easier than trying to glue them on with some kind of glue. It was actually quite a pleasant time just working and watching.

I counted about 30 of them constantly working and setting up camps while working on some construction. I wonder what their plans were going to be.

As the hours went by and I finished all the arrows, I finally understood what they were planning. They were building movable fortifications, so I will not be able to shoot them.

Skill increases basic fletching level 6

It will not be a perfect plan because during the cross they would not be able to use them. But I’m guessing that the spear throwers will stand behind and wait and when I tried to shoot, they would throw spears at me.

It will slow me down for certain, but they were not going to get past the bridge this way. But they will wear me down, eventually.

Meaning I had not much time left. I need to get my armor done so I could go out and strike. When they will strike back for killing all the females, it will be on mass and I’ll want better protection if it ends up in close combat.

So, I did something crazy and left the watch. They didn’t seem to be the best builders, and it was taking them quite a while to get something done.

I brought all the leather I have as well basically all that cloth bags I have that are meant for grain transport.

I start by making the gambeson. I was able to get 15 layers to sew together. It took a lot of work and pricked fingertips, but in the end, I had a full coat.

You have gained a new skill basic tailoring level 1

It covered my torso, a bit of my neck, my arms up to my wrists, and half of my thighs. Beneath my waist it splits in two on the sides, leaving them exposed, but that’s needed for movement.

Thanks to it being so many layers, I was able to sew them from lots of places, making them strong but keep my mobility.

I also made the head piece the same way that covers the top part of my head and a bit on the sides. It took half a day to make both items. Now it was time for that brigandine.

For that, I started off by cutting the pieces of leather. The largest piece that I needed to cut was the back. To get it in one piece, I had to use the biggest piece of leather I have.

In the front, I will use two pieces, making it a lot simpler to get them. Then it was time to sew them together, similar to a vest.

I also redid the measurements a few times to check if I had left enough room for the gambeson and for me to be able to still move. This time the wise proverb was correct because I did need to adjust it a bit.

Then it was time to start riveting. I had all the rivets I need from forging them, but I needed to get one end flat first.

So, I got the tongs I made to hold them and then hammer one end flat. And so started the endless hitting because the other end needed to be flattened also when everything was in place.

At one point I put on the gambeson coif so it will help muffle the sound a bit. When that wasn’t enough, I added some more cloth so it would tamp it down even further.

It was a time-consuming job as well, but it was made a lot simpler thanks to the strength I could put into hammering down the rivets.

The plates couldn't just be placed and hammer down, they needed to be shaped as well. I had to bring in the anvil to help cold forge them into the correct shapes to fit my body.

An interesting fact about this armor is that the waist needs to be constricting, similar to a belt. The reason being that will help take off almost all the weight from the shoulders.

Bringing it to the place that can handle the most weight easily. This means that this armor can be worn for a long time before it starts to fatigue a person.

It was late in the night now but before when the light was out and while working on everything, I still did constant checks on the goblins to see what they were doing.

I made it quite far with the brigandine armor, but I still needed to do some work the next day. I woke up early to do the chores quickly.

When I was finished, the goblins were still waking up, and I went back to making my armor and putting finishing touches on to it.

Like the letter straps and buckles, so that I could tighten it up and make a few more adjustments to make it fit perfect.

But the piece wasn’t finished yet. The leather was a bit too soft and malleable and easy to be damaged. I want it to be somewhat flexible, but I also wanted it to resist damage a bit more.

So, I used tar to coat the outside of it. The leather will pull it in, and it will make it a bit tougher, similar to how fiberglass gets its strength.

If I kept adding tar and even use some heat, I could make the leather as stiff as metal. It will be a lot weaker overall compared to iron and, if overdone, it will become brittle.

There is a perfect recipe to get the most out of a leather piece, making it strong as possible, but that would make it not flexible, and I need some of that flexibility.

I wanted to tune it so it will not become overly stiff but still had a bit more resistance than just leather itself.

When I put on the tar, I put on the armor to move with it. It took three coats before I stopped, and the piece felt excellent. That took a while, and the morning was over.

You have gained a new skill basic leatherworking level 1

You have gained a new skill basic armorer level 1

Skill increases basic tailoring level 2

During my constant checks on the goblins, I finally notice some different movement it seems that I was out of time.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to make a leather helmet or other pieces that I wanted, but the current state was still quite good. Climbing the tower with so much extra weight was a bit weird, but nothing my body couldn’t handle.

As I reached the top, I could see them moving behind some movable fortifications. This time, I didn’t stay hidden and watch as they approached.

I used the time to get used to the armor and the shooting motion in it. I was quite pleased that my design didn’t hamper my shooting that much.

Now, if I needed to move and shoot, it would be a different situation. I would be a lot slower at shooting then, but I am currently stationary, so it shouldn't be that big of a problem.

Now, if the goblins were better disciplined, this strategy might have been a bigger problem, but they were not.

As they got into accurate bow range, I started to try to pick off any that didn't have proper cover. During the approach, I was able to kill one instantly and wound two.

If the goblins were a bit more merciful, they might have saved them, but they just left them behind and made them easy pickings for me.

I killed 3 goblins from the 15 that were approaching and another 15 were watching from the campsite.

The closer they got, the easier it was for me to shoot them, but they also were more cautious now. I started to wonder why they were doing this.

If they could make stuff out of wood, why not make something to help them cross without using my bridge? But when they were getting closer, I saw how bad the workmanship was.

When one of their fortifications while pushing fell apart leaving two goblins undefended, I quickly killed two more. This helped me understood why they wouldn’t try to cross with anything that they built.

Everything they had was simple and crudely made and that made me realize what the problem was. It wasn't that they couldn't learn to make stuff, it was because of the system.

If they didn’t have the class or skill, they would have penalties to everything they made. Similar to when I tried to make the box before I picked my classes. No wonder that they will need to use this bridge because they had no way of making their own.

But speaking of that, their tent looked quite well made, as well as the leather armor some of them wear.

I wonder if they had a racial affinity to making leather stuff or something like that because otherwise those items would also be extremely crude. If they knew that there was a way to make leather even harder, I wonder how much they would pay for that information.

Before they were in place in front of the bridge, I figured out the rest of their plan. They had made more crude defences this time into shape to protect them from arrows fired when they tried to cross the main support.

I wondered how they were going to keep themselves from falling, but that was soon revealed when they connected the two pieces together with leather straps and a long pole.

An interesting way to keep it balanced and keep themselves safe from arrow fire. They will be able to move across and then start hacking apart the spike traps.

Their weakest moment was when they were going to rush the main support because the front needed to have openings for them to be able to hack at the traps.

It was a good plan and while I did kill one goblin when they were at their most vulnerable, they were still able to get in place and start moving safely towards the traps.

Their plan had an extreme vulnerability, and that was the pole that connected both sides. It took three arrows for it to crack and both sides of the construction to fall into the river.

It took all the goblins in it with it. There was a bit of silence and then a lot of cursing and then a lot and yelling.

Skill increases archery level 6

Level up frontier farmer

frontier farmer now level 12

strength +2

dexterity +1

vitality +2

endurance +1

Level up animal husbandry

Animal husbandry now level 7

Strength +1

Dexterity +1

Vitality +1

Empathy +1

Some nice level ups. I looked for any opportunity I have to kill them, and I did start to see weaknesses in the fortifications.

So, I tested one of those out and shot at it. I could see the entire thing shift and one more arrow made it fall into pieces, exposing another three goblins. I was able to kill two before the third one got into cover of another fortification.

When I started to shoot at another fortification, the goblins broke and ran. It was an actually good choice because I only got two more kills before they got out of range as they could run surprisingly fast for their short stature.

I didn’t think that they were going to make another run today on the bridge, so I got off the tower to start to prepare for the mission.