Year One, Summer: Recap

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The summer round began in real life January and I finished playing it on July 19 of that year. This was what the settlement looked like at the beginning of Year One, Summer.

Here’s what the village of Ayre looked like at the end of Summer, Year One!

It took a long time to play the round because several milestones were reached, requiring building and adding families. Ayre moved from being a settlement, to a hamlet (at $8000), to a village ($15,000), and ended with a treasury balance of $54,000. At $60,000, Ayre becomes a town. At $100,000, the monarch family can be added to the game.

Summer was full of romantic affairs of various kinds. Lady du Beaumont and Lord Stirwuard revived their old affair and made a formal arrangement, which resulted in the Steward granting the restoration of her title and a gift of lands to her. (I need to build her manor before I play their household again!)

But before that, she and her deceased daughter’s husband, the Baronet of the Vale, had a short-lived affair.

Which was officially ended when he was angry to see her flirting with Rob, one of the men-at-arms, before vespers.

Lady du Beaumont also had a tryst during the summer ball, with last years’ tournament champion, Brice, in the kitchen of the manor keep.

Jada Stirwuard, the caretaker of the foundlings, also managed to check off the classic romance sim want for three loves: Rhett Forester, Rob Fitz, and Oakes. She and Oakes are also best friends. This all occurred while setting up her household. The Foundling Home will not be played in regular rotation unless needed.

Gareth Thayer flirted with his neighbor’s wife, Natalia Stroganov.

She seemed to like him, but nothing came of it, as she is expecting her first child with her husband, Leonid, and is family-oriented.

Gareth’s distant cousin, Lubbert Faber, initiated a betrothal negotiation between Gareth and Lubbert’s daughter, Karin. They are actually a great match, if Gareth could see the possibility and commit to Karin.

Bentley Wise and Lora Forester went to the mid-summer fair together. They saw quite a bit of each other, and he shared his first kiss with her at the mid-summer solstice, at the Henge. Their mothers discussed their possible betrothal, but decided to wait, to give each of them time to mature before deciding if they were truly compatible to marry. He’s a popularity aspiration, and Lora has the romance aspiration.

The most heart-wrenching, star-crossed romance was between Hadley Gothard and Brodie McGobhan. He is Ayre’s new blacksmith, a recent widower traumatized by the war and his wife’s violent death. They quickly fell deeply in love when she came to visit her friend Marigold at his home for dinner. Later, Destiny Honeycutt’s parents invited Brodie over and began to discuss betrothal negotations, which are likely to fail due to differences in religion. Hadley does not have a dowry, and her mother had to take an oath of indenture when her grandfather stole money from the treasury and fled, and they could not pay their rents, taxes, and tithes. Becoming serfs makes Hadley even further from Brodie in class and station, and makes it even less likely a socially acceptable marriage can be made. However, Brodie and Hadley met one night outside her house and spent the night together in secret. Neither of them have much to lose. They are in love and I can imagine Brodie leaving everything to become an outcaste with Hadley, since his blacksmith skills are fledgling at best, and his other ties in Ayre are minimal. Brodie has a daughter from his first marriage, Fiona. I think Fiona is the only reason Brodie would not run away with Hadley and he could leave her in the care of the Foundling Home but I don’t think he would do that. Perhaps, having lived through the attack on his prior village, he would think she will be just as safe in hiding in the hills as living in town.

Births & Deaths

Rourke and Anais Honeycutt celebrated the birth of a healthy son, Charles, after his release from being unjustly imprisoned in the Tower.

The only death in Ayre this summer was when Deirdre Berry was expectantly stung by wild bees, and subsequently died, leaving the orphans with her sisters Zelda and Hilda.

Nuptials & Betrothals

Gertrude Wise and Giles Porter had successful betrothal negotiations and were married.

As were Marigold Wise and Cadby Fisher.

Daralis Gothard and James Fitz, who have carried on a passionate romance since the beginning of Spring, when he returned from the war, were granted permission to become engaged, he proposed at the mid-summer fair tournament, and he was dismissed from the men-at-arms. They will marry in the Autumn, a love match. James will take on Daralis’ oath of indenture, $20,000 in debt to the Squire.

Break-ups & Run-Ins with the Law

Eva divorced her husband, Rhett Forester.

Rourke Honeycutt was wrongfully imprisoned, but was released three days later when his name was cleared.

Unfortunately, Gabe Gothard, the actual thief, had to run for the hills and is now an outlaw living in the far reaches of the Vale.

Rhett Forester dumped his lover, Ella Wise, when he saw her flirting with Lubbert Faber at the well.

Notable Friendships

Lady Rosalind and Natalia Stroganov bonded over their mutual concern for the broken-hearted blacksmith, as well as their mutual desire to start a family, and they are now friends.

Destiny Honeycutt and Karin Faber also became friends.

The Abbess and the Prioress at Saint Lorien are friends.

Haylan and Hadley, who are next door neighbors, became best friends when he reached out to her when she was sad.

Mildred Wise and Eva Forester became friends through Mildred’s support of Eva in her divorce, and beginning betrothal negotiations for Bentley and Lora, their children.

Round 3: Year One, Autumn Begins!

For Autumn, I plan to write fewer story updates. For each family, I’ll provide a recap and tie-in with the other developing stories but I don’t plan to write a full story for each family’s session. Looking back at the first half of year one, I think the story updates are too dry and although I love reading funny sims stories, I just don’t know that I am capable of keeping it light-hearted. If inspiration strikes, I will write about the family and what is happening in their lives in story form, but otherwise, updates will be shorter and more straightforward, with information about how the random occurrence scenarios, Medieval Charter Challenge and the Warwickshire playstyle figured in to the gameplay developments that happened.

EDIT: I forgot to include the betrothal of the Baronet of the Vale and Lady Eithne, the Steward’s daughter. They are going to marry in winter.