Homesteading in a fantasy world

When I made it back home, I had to take a big break. Bringing over this amount of wood iron was quite exhausting. But the first thing I did after that was not to fire up the forge but go into the forest to locate a big oak tree and cut the similar branches that I got from the iron oak.

What this let me do is use my trait to get an idea of what I needed to do to make the branches grow into a tree and then copy it with the iron oak branches. Hopefully, this will give me a better chance at growing them.

They basically just need extremely moist soil and some sunlight. I will most likely need to make them plant pots so I could keep them inside during the winter because it wasn’t the perfect time to plant them. That time was long past.

Now that this was taken care of, it was time to see if I can make workable iron from the leaves and acorns I brought. At the start, they did heat up similar to iron, but as the temperature got stronger, they started to crack. I tried to forge them, but one hit made huge cracks, and another broke it apart into smaller pieces.

So, plan number one had failed, and they can't be just forged from the beginning. I probably needed to melt them in a crucible if I had any chance of making workable iron from these pieces. For that purpose, I dug up some of the brown clay and made it into crucibles and left them to dry.

The next step must be left for tomorrow. They still needed to dry longer than I had daylight. I still had some time this evening to start planning and digging the future site from the root cellar.

I had quite a big problem, and that was the grains. I couldn’t store them with the rest of the root vegetables because the grain needed a higher temperature and less humidity. So, I would need to build two different storage facilities.

I would need to make them big, and they would need to be quite deep to have a stable temperature. I started to dig between the house and the vegetable fields towards the river a bit more, to be out of the way but still easily accessible.

I will most likely make a road between the house and vegetable fields to the entrance of these two root cellars that I was going to make side by side with two different entrances.

I will also need to start cutting grass to make into hay for the winter so the cows would have something to eat. There is much to do and I might run into trouble if I can’t build this root cellar fast enough because, in less than a month, I can start harvesting my grain fields. I can’t believe that the summer will soon be over. Time really goes by fast when you always have something to do.

Honestly, I won’t need this much storage because I will never need this much food and the village most definitely does not want it, perhaps the goblins will. Whatever, it is still a good idea. I might need to put myself into high gear in my activities and push myself harder because otherwise, I would run into time troubles.

The next day after my chores, the first thing I did was to go towards the hills to look for a good place to start the quarry. I found a promising place further away than I wanted to, but hopefully, I will be able to make iron so I could make tools and a cart. That would make everything go a lot faster.

Now, with my abilities, I could just use a regular axe to help quickly cut out the stone needed, but better tools for the job will help amplify the abilities to work better for that activity.

The main rock is granite which is quite a good choice for what I have in mind although better options exist. I had to do a bit of digging to expose the rock face better, but it looked like it was solid for a long way into the hill and underground. But I couldn’t be certain.

As I hoped, the piercing cut worked quite well helping me penetrate deeply. If I used enough energy with my other abilities stacked up on it, it would made cutting out stone basically a trivial job.

Now it’s time to put Francis to work. During the time I built the sauna and didn’t need his help, I put him to make the road. I let him focus on the roads between the fields, making them better, and I was going to use one of those roads and extend it towards the future quarry.

Francis was quite happy about the new route that went in between two of the hills and that bit further on was the site for the quarry that I plan to make. I only had to show him the route once that I wanted him to do and left him to do his thing.

It astonishes me how fast time passes. It was already past midday, and the clay was now dry enough to be used in the forge to see if I can get some workable iron.

I loaded the crucible full and placed it into the burning coals and then covered it with more coal and started to crank the blower. This time, when I had done that for a bit, I removed some of the coals to see if the same thing was happening as before.

The crucible itself produced heat, which was so interesting. I covered it back up to properly melt the iron inside. As I opened the lid, there was a lot of slag that I had to remove and then add more acorns and leaves.

I continue this process until the crucible was quite full, and I covered the top for the final stretch of the melting process. I then took the crucible out and started the next one while this one cooled down.

It was quite interesting to see how it cooled down and how it was able to hold its shape thanks to the iron keeping the crucible hot for a longer time. This really surprised me, and I wonder about the mechanics of this clay and how it worked. It seemed so wondrous.

When I finished the third one and put in my fourth and final one, the first one started to show signs of crumbling. When the fourth one was finally finished, the first one had crumbled down, leaving a piece of metal behind.

It was already evening, and just a bit before I unhooked Francis, ending his workday. The road seemed quite good, but a little bit more would be needed to make it stronger. The carts will be moving a lot of weight when I started to bring back big blocks of rock.

As I heated up the first iron ingot, I found it acted a lot like steel, so I was quite happy about that. I could actually make workable things now and I was really happy about it. If the steel had any special properties, I would need to wait until I can properly work it tomorrow.

The next morning as I finished my chores, I contemplated what to do first: tools to cut the stone or start building the cart that would bring the stone back.

My thoughts were interrupted by owners land notifying me of goblins entering my land. I wondered why they were coming this time, but it didn’t take long for me to find that out for myself as three humans also entered with them.

Had they made such big leaps in diplomacy that they were able to actually make deals with other humans, or were they their prisoners? If so, I am quite interested in why they were bringing them here. I guess I will find out later and I think I will start making the tools I need to more easily cut out the stone blocks that I need.

I had plenty of time to do some smithing. It turned out the hardest thing was to start. The round ingot was bigger than my anvil and getting a piece of it was a lot of work. With the first pieces, I made a cutting tool to cut up the ingots faster. After that, it was easier again.

This steel was strong. I made a long narrow piece to test it and its springiness was impressive. This was excellent for tools and weapons, but a waste for the other things I needed to make. After that, I made a chisel and tested it. I wanted to know if piercing cut would work if I placed it and struck it with a hammer.

It took a bit of manipulation, but it worked. Making grooves will be easy. I made a few more and then I made the hammer/axe to cut the stone out from the rock. Last, I made a new and bigger hammer for hitting the chisels.

I will need to make handles later because it was time to go and meet the goblins. I did not want the humans to be led to my farm directly. Meeting them in the forest was the best idea.