Week Seven: Castles in the Ayre

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Today I will start with the final status of Ayre this week: Ayre is ready for the beginning of Season One as a settlement in the Medieval Charter Challenge!

I am so excited about starting the challenge!

This week started with Ralf Forester dropping by the Almshouse. He needed a bath.

I was in the middle of testing these awesome effects with the almshouse loaded:

Fog!

Next, I built a forest with a camp for the Foresters to use for logging.

And of course, had to test it 🙂 I used Marvine’s wonderful waterfall shower on the lot, and managed to fit a little fishing hole in at the pool.

Testing the lot turned out to be a great opportunity for lots of sims to meet. I had wanted them to start out knowing pretty much everyone in the village, since it seems realistic that everyone would know each other.

Gertrude Wise showed up, and must have gotten too much sun during the day.

The sims ate and chatted most of the night at the camp.

In the morning, Ralf cleaned up while his dad slept, and then they headed home.

The forest is full of Sun & Moon’s “Giving Tree” set trees. Once their body skill is high enough, they can fell the trees and cut them into logs to sell. Then other households will need to buy them to light their fires for cooking and warmth in the winter.

I also built a King’s Forest for hunting, where sims must pay for a license or be prosecuted for poaching.

Near the King’s Forest there is a Glen, with a pristine stream, which is a holy site of the Goddess. I also built a small henge on the bluffs overlooking the sea, where followers of the Goddess meet at the summer and winter solstice to feast and dance.

Next, I created the Chevalier family and built the Manor. They are the only Gentry in the settlement at this time, and the head of household is Lady Jane Chevalier, the Squire. She is a knight. All of the men left or died, and she was happy to step up and defend her hold. Her wife is Lady Rosalind, the beautiful woman with the blue eyes, fair skin, and raven hair.

Lady Jane’s mother, Lady Joslyn, is to her left in the black habit. She will be moving to the nunnery, where she will be the Abbess. Her sister, Lady Elizabeth in the blue dress, will move to the Almshouse and manage it’s affairs.

Lady Rosalind and Lady Jane are a love match and seem quite content. As soon as I loaded the lot, Lady Jane gave Rosalind a kiss.

They are a bit unconventional, as followers of the Reaper, rather than following the typical nobles’ deity, the Allfather. They don’t attend church often, preferring to occasionally pay their respects at the family cemetary.

Lady Elizabeth, and Lady Joslyn, however, are devout followers of the Allfather and visit the family chapel daily. Lady Joslyn sees to it.

Since the Church of the Allfather is currently in ruins after being burned down, this little chapel will be open to all followers of the Allfather for now, at the order of Lady Josyln.

Lady Jane and Lady Rosalind dine with James, one of the few men-at-arms still in the hold. He, and the six other men-at-arms, live at the Barracks across the fallow fields from the manor. James is the one I created for Giles Porter to be able to buy the tavern, and he sure gets around! He shows up at every lot!

I didn’t take many pictures of the Manor, which is mainly a small keep and the great hall. I was too focused on finishing the last few lots, but I am pretty excited about how their keep and hall turned out, and the two courtyards.

The next, and last task, after building the Barracks, was to make Ayre’s last founding family, the Honeycutts, and their home.

Rourke, Anais, and their daughter, Destiny, are Ayre’s most avid social climbers. They have a small orchard and keep bees to make mead for the manor and, later, for the king. They are Yeoman farmers and although free, have a long way to go before being able to buy into the merchant class.

Anais and Rourke are ambitious and serious. They follow the Allfather, and rear their daughter, Destiny, to be able to marry up one day into the merchant class.