Flammulina Velutipes
1701 Words
The party of four entered the cellar steps one at a time and soon were enveloped with near complete darkness. Fat Bastard entered last and then he left the trapdoor of the cellar to be slightly ajar as he fumbled for a candle before the light soon illuminates the whole basement.
The cellar had some sort of moist and mouldy earthy scent and there was a feeling of dampness within. As the eyes get accustomed to the flickering light from the candle, they soon saw many rows of shallow shelving that were arranged in the walls like some kind of grains drying kiln back in town.
There were also shallow beds of earth arranged in some kind of trays that were arranged in the centre of the cellar and lo and behold... What greeted their eyes were mushroom farms...!
No wonder they had not seen any crops fields on the surface as the settlers of this village had grown their crops underground instead and its a whole year round too...!
There were more than 5 varieties of mushrooms that were grown in the cellars and according to Guy and Gillian, these farms could provide sufficient food for the household all year round as the certain mushrooms could be harvested within 5 to 7 days time...!
"Welcome to our mushroom farm, where crops that are hard to grow in the surface due to infertile lands, it could be grown effortlessly here underground in our own cellars. I am sure you were wondering why there weren't any crop fields on the surface, the moment you came here right?"
"This village is able to grow these mushrooms in their cellars and provide food all year round. We do not need many crops like wheat or wild rice et cetera to survive but with these mushrooms, we could have them roasted, stewed, made into soups and so on."
"With some wild vegetation that grew around the village here, among the private plantations from each house, it would be able to provide the citizens here with an abundance of resources. Not that I want to be boastful but we had been relying on these mushrooms for our sustenance."
"Coupled with a small garden within the compounds of the house, even 25 square-foot vegetable gardens could provide something, better than nothing at all."
"Quite an achievement and beyond one's expectation, am j right to say that, young lands?"
Indeed, the mushrooms farms delighted the Adventurers as they could visualise every single house in the village had their own mushroom farms that grow throughout the year, even in the wintertime.
No wonder they had not seen any crop fields like wheat, or any other types of grains except for some corn ears that was growing at the sides of the house. The Adventurers thought it was some kind of decoration vegetable farm and not for mass distribution, unlike our town.
"Pretty surprising, Fat Bastard. We never knew you would have so much of these varieties of mushrooms growing here under the cellar of every single house."
"But how about meat, do the other citizens hunt for their own meat out there in the fields? Besides its in the midst of Autumn and we wonder if anyone had actually hunted for rabbit, hares and woodchuck which are abundant here in the fields."
Guy was delighted and so does the rest of the party members as they peered at the mushrooms growing on each of the wooden planting beds they were lined against the wall like some kind of shelves.
There were baby Bella, button mushrooms, shitakes and one that looked like Brussels sprouts. In fact, there were not all mushrooms as beans sprouts were also grown in one corner of the cellar. It seemed that this village was pretty much self-sufficient in its own way.
Fat Bastard then plucked a few mushrooms of various kinds and packed them in a simple, small hemp sack and handed it to Gillian and told them that its free and would be used to make a lovely stew later on. That's all he could offer his hospitality to the Adventurers.
"Oh... We also hunt those as well. We normally lay traps or simply dig into the grounds where they burrow themselves to sleep in the day or in the evenings for hares and rabbits. As for other underground animals, we would hunt them as usual with bows and arrows too."
"We rarely had any passing by wild boars or red deer here since there's no body of water about a 5-mile radius around this village. That's why I had devised something like a water purification plant where I would be able to purify those water from the well into good drinking water."
"There is no tavern here where one would make and distil small table ale and we used to have a steady supply from merchants before the merchants stopped coming some 2 years ago."
"The town folks here were left with those aged between 50 and above as their children and grandchildren had moved out from this town before and rendering it to fall into a village class instead."
"It won't be long when I would decide to pack my things and then move out from here. But with no horse or an ox, I don't think I would be able to haul my water purification plant along with me."
"Sigh... Guess I would also soon die off with the rest of the citizens here... A slow ageing death."
Fat Bastard lamented to the Adventurers of what he had kept bottled within him for some seasons already and after he had said what he had meant to say, he led the whole group of Adventurers back to the surface.
"It seemed that all four of you had come all the way here with an intent, or else you won't be draping yourself with a blanket, and holding your bow in such a manner as well as hiding your short sword behind your back."
"Frankly, this is a town where you would meet no violence or evil intent at all. It's a dying town where the residents were waiting to spend their old age peacefully before their demise."
"Look around you and you would find that the whole population of over 30 citizens here are in their silver age."
Guy nodded his head and advised the Adventurers to withdrew their arrows from their bows, finally...!
Guy then stated that their intent to move about the undiscovered lands was to look for serfs and peasants that would be willing to travel to our town.
It would be enhanced by means of raising the population as well as giving others a second chance of having better living conditions and their employability.
This would also increase their survival rate rather than being in their current state as well since living in the wilderness exposes them to harsh weather conditions and not conducive to having a family too.
"Seems your mission is rather noble, young lad. Even though I may be young at heart but I'm nearing my 50's too. It's too far for us to travel back to where you come from since it's a 3-day trek, as you had mentioned."
"Besides, look at the state of the townfolk here... Do you think they could survive by stepping out from their warm homes in Autumn?"
"I guess that half could not even survive a one day trek and need to be wheeled back here. There's no means of transportation as the animals were slowly being slaughtered for food before."
"And this leaves only the rickety handcarts that had been unused in many seasons. Sigh... If only we had some kind of transportation then we might have a chance, but then... It is just my wishful thinking."
"I don't think the rest of the town folks wanted to leave as they knew how redundant they would become to others and they do not wish to be a liability too."
The party of four listened and could not give any consolation to Fat Bastard as he deemed adamant on not leaving the town folks behind. How would they get their good drinking water if Fat Bastard decides to pack up one day and leave town?
After receiving the small help sack that contained at least about 3 pounds of different types of mushrooms and listening to what Fat Bastard had lamented to them, the party of four decides to excuse themselves and leave the place, before giving Fat Bastard the specific directions to head to Gracehaven.
"What's the nearest town from here? Would there be inhabitants there as well?" Guinness asked as they were about to leave Fat Bastard's house.
"Hmm... There's a settlement about 10 miles from here and near a duck pond. The chief there seemed rather friendly and the settlement, if I am not mistaken was called Camp."
"The chief ever came here about once a month to purchase some mushrooms from the town folks and trade with some grains in exchange. That settlement is quite flourishing, maybe because it had its own oasis. Hahaha."
"Well, Fat Bastard, in case you have a change of heart later on in the seasons to come, please head down to our town called Gracehaven where you would be surprised at the development that the town had to offer for you."
"Your water purification concept would be a boost for the town folks as it would somehow alleviate the needs for the town. Who knows, you might even start a revolutionised water purification plant back there."
"Remember to state that Guy MacDonough and his party had sent you there."
Guy advised as they have his parting words to him so that they would somehow able to entice not all but some of the town folks that would be willing to travel all the way down to Gracehaven for improved living conditions.
They made farewell and soon the party of four head back to the Hawthorn bushes where they had concealed their knapsack and uniforms from underneath the underforest.
Besides, as what they had learnt from Fat Bastard about the village named Camp, they would inevitably make their journey there.
- Writer
