Difference between revisions of "Farming and Mining"

Latest revision as of 23:10, 22 July 2014

Through use of plow, hoe, shovel, and pick, those not content with scrounging for a living, or stinking of water and fish, have carved themselves an admirable place from mountain and wood to ply their crafts. Through their efforts, Myrken Wood is kept clothed, fed, and reasonably independent from other provinces in the Kingdom.

Crops

It is a struggle to maintain farmland, even once it has been wrested from the arms of a jealous forest. Nevertheless, with axe and fire, and long, hard hours, the centuries of decay, mild summers, and ample rainfall of Myrken Wood create prime growing conditions. Wheat is a major staple, with rice close behind it, grown in the soggy marshes of Geilston, near Ghreu Fenn, and Fitchton and Dunby to the south. Melons, squash, pumpkins, and roots do particularly well in the river valleys and slopes, with corn, tomatoes, and cabbage more popularly grown around Myrkentown proper, where they can be shipped quickly - or eaten - to avoid spoilage. Almost every industrious citizen has their own little garden or claimed patch of land to supplement them.

Husbandry

With Myrken's forests and a relative lack of open places, Myrken's beastholders as a rule tend to shy away from large, heavily-reliant cattle, save for small herds of dairy cows, and pockets of fattening calves meant for slaughter. Instead, they focus more on hardier, independent stock, able to care for themselves.

• Sheep are popular on the uplands and moors, their fleece noted for thickness and ease of weaving.
• Down in the valleys and towns, chickens, pigs, and goats are easy to keep and feed on tablescraps. Particularly noted is a native goat breed known collectively as the Large Myrken White, whose propensity for twins, heavy-fatted milk, and cleverness has made it a target for further breeding and export.
• The average peasant typically keeps a chicken or squab or two, who may wander away and feed themselves at no cost to their owner.
• Beekeeping is rarely done anywhere save around Myrkentown herself.

Mining

To the west lie the Silver Mountains, and to the east lie the Sikasoon Mountains, which trails down to form the border between Myrken Wood and Derry, and between them they provide much of the metals that helps fuel Myrken Wood's industry and exports.

Silver Mountains The rich silver mines that originally brought people to Myrken Wood have, for the large part, been long played out. That does not stop rumors of further veins and lodes that continue to lure many to their deaths in the deep canyons and on the snow-frosted peaks. Fueling these rumors are carelessly-traded gems from the elves at Erlkynwold of such size and purity as to be worth their weight in gold, yet the elves treat them as mere cast-offs. The few who survive the mountains' hazards become furtive, secretive, and paranoid, yet always have a bag or three of cautiously-packed raw gems and precious metals to trade before scurrying back to their hidden, jealously-guarded claims.

• Silver
• Copper, Gold, and Electrum, in smaller quantities
• Diamond
• Topaz
• Obsidian
• Peridot
• Emerald
• Arsenic and mercury

Sikasoon Mountains Long known and respected as the mountainous realm of various dwarves, their long and lingering decline and tendency to introspection and aloofness have sent men carefully exploring these imposing mountain ranges. That is not to say that dwarves are still not in presence; they have a long-standing, if tentative, friendship with the province of Derry, and Derry is often gifted with mechanical wonders and advancements from their allies that is many times beyond her neighbors, such as steel weapons. Much of the old dwarf strongholds, however, now lie empty, and their mines lie empty with them. Those who are less adventurous, or bold, settle instead for the many iron or coal mines that lay along the Sikasoon foothills. Myrken Wood's Wheldale and Ashwood house miners who toil in the Iron Mountains, a small offshoot of the Sikasoons, and their labors are taken to Minehead to be smithed and smelted. From there raw ingots are shipped, or the many who reside in Minehead as tinkers and blacksmiths further refine the metal into the various, and essential, tools needed for every-day life. That's not to say that even the iron and coal mines are devoid of more precious materials, as shaft offshoots, guarded well by hired men, attest to.

• Iron
• Coal
• Opal
• Turquoise
• Garnet
• Jade
• Lapis Lazuli
• Pyrite
• Shale for building, and - sometimes - fossils for curious historians.
• Earth-pitch, Earth-tar, or naphtha, as it is known by the dwarves.