Day 45

Took me quite a while, but I got all the doors installed more or less properly. Ran into a little bit of an issue with the brick walls: their shape would not let me connect doors' hinges correctly, so I had to painstakingly dismantle and replace them with normal brick blocks. Can't say they're any more solid, but hopefully it won't matter that much. The doors work exactly like they're supposed, so I say it is a worthwhile trade.

On the same wave, I took all of the stone walls and the fences - all but the broken one anyway - and built, well, something like a "door beyond a door", where a tiny area just around the iron doors (inside my base) is closed off by the same walls I broke down earlier (and Dust, was it a trial to make sure everything was connected again), and the only way through is through a fence gate. Basically, a second layer of defense of sorts. That way, if something does get through the doors, they'll have another obstacle to tackle. These might look kinda silly, but as long as they keep my place safe and secure I'm happy. And it's not like I can't think of a way to make them prettier in the future.

Man I am brilliant sometimes.


Went to Eastside for a routine supply run. Along the way explained my little wardrobe trouble and asked around if anyone's had any experience with leatherworking, or clothesmaking in general. I was told that there was indeed a very skilled guy supplying everyone, but he disappeared a few months or so back; his home/workplace was at the very edge of the village, and it's been abandoned ever since. Apparently, it's quite an issue, since he alone was responsible for creating warm clothing for everyone; and with nobody else being able to step up to his role, some have had it quite hard, with their outfits getting damaged, worm down or something along those lines. People didn't protest when I went to that house and took the cauldron, and a few pieces of unused tanned leather inside - on the promise that I would provide them with much-needed replacements. Some even wished to pay me, but I declined: I'm not about to take money for that, unless my situation gets really dire. One couple let me take a closer look at the clothes, so that I'd know how to go on about this.

New Recipe(s) Unlocked: "Tundra Clothes", "Plains Clothes". I guess my problem's solved? The water in that tiny river Eastside has running by it is evidently salty enough for my task, since the leathersmith had to have used it for his job. With that, I'll be ready to try my hand at some leatherworking once I get back. I might see if Westside or Northside don't need the same kind of help as well.

P.S: I finally know at least one person's name! The farmer's, in fact - it's Rasheed (initially I thought it was Rashid, but he corrected me). Can you imagine how awkward it was, asking somebody's name two weeks after meeting them for the first time? I mean, I know I'm a Reigning King of Awkward Situations, but this is just next level. And he's the only one to do so so far! With how much I've been doing for everybody (not just in Eastside), you'd think I would be trusted more; and maybe I am, just not enough to know their names, apparently.


Examined the clothes recipes I got. Plains Tunic and Plains Pants, in particular, don't seem to be too different to the regular Leather clothes, albeit they're thinner. Tundra Clothes are exactly the same in base, but with added wool and fur lining all over to make them warmer. That's fair. Let's see if I can put some of that free tanned leather and my own sewing expertise to good use.


Okay, so maybe I'm not as good as I thought. The entire supply of good leather donated to me is used up, and the only thing I have to show for it is this lousy, ugly jacket, that's almost coming apart at the seams; the less said about my first two "attempts", the better. Who'd have thought hardened leather was so much harder to sew? Gotta go and make a tougher needle. I can't imagine Eastside folk being very happy about all of this, but that's why I still have my own cow leather; just have to tan it. Need to hurry, cause I think I'm on my way to catching a cold, so tunics first; the zombie-looted pants are still doing their job, somehow.

And I just reminded myself that a zombie walked in these pants, and now my legs feel itchy. Great!


Turns out I didn't have nearly as much leather on hand as I thought, so I had to pay a visit to my cows. Oum, I don't think I'll ever get really used to skinning animals.

Tanning all of that stuff wasn't actually that hard, even if System really didn't tell me much about the tanning process (only that raw leather goes into boiling saltwater and comes out not raw): like, for example, how long I was supposed to keep the pieces in. I just dipped a single piece into the water, lit a fire under the cauldron and started watching. Within about 20 mins, the raw leather had become solid-brown, whole lot more rigid and stank up my house with awful smell of burned skin mixed with something acidic.

Why didn't I think it was going to do that?

Moved the cauldron to the toolhouse ASAP, stuck as much leather inside as I could, and then freaking left to catch my breath.

After tanning a few more batches (I might really need to build something like an extra shack just for this, because it is rank inside), I tried making some more of those Plains-types tunics again, and what do you know? Much better results. These 3 tunics are still pretty mediocre, mind you, but that's a huge improvement over the "jacket" that looked more like a victim of Grimm chewing. I think the tanned leather from the village was left unused for too long, so it may have lost its good qualities, or something like that. Point is, freshly tanned leather is a lot better to work with.

Too bad I, once again, ran out of it. Didn't even get to work on new pants, or boots, or anything. Really sucky situation, cause right now it means I either have to go and slaughter more of my livestock or wander out and look for some wild cows to kill. Ugh.

In any case, the few tunics I made, I "upgraded" to Tundra with what wool I had. Thinking about going back to Eastside, gifting them two and keeping one for myself, cause I've started coughing a bit.

(Totally going to build a spot for a fireplace in my house, once I'm done with this.)


Changed my mind. I'll give the Eastsiders all of the clothes I produced. I suspect it won't be a good look for me anyway, with the mediocre quality and all, but to keep one and end up lying to them as well? That just isn't right; the people there put their faith in me. They're the ones really in need; I can tough it out a little bit with this lousy first-attempt jacket. Sure, it's far from comfortable and awful-looking, but it's warm. Besides, the wool-covered clothing seemed to be a bit too bulky for me to wear with armor, so not like I could've gotten much use out of keeping one for myself.


Don't read too much into the name. I thought it sounded cool, so I added it in lol.