My, my, does time fly by! The first 10 years of the Chapman family have been typed up and experienced and a lot has happened. Time to do a quick recap of what we witnessed this decade:
CW for references of infant death, funerals and mourning in several years.
1300
Our young and freshly married Gen 1 heirs, Olyff and Byrhtnoth, began their life on the small inherited Chapman farm without a coin in their pocket but with lots of hope in their hearts. They got straight to work on their crops and settling into their quaint stone bungalow and Olyff fell pregnant quickly! They struggled to earn enough money to afford a bathtub and so we saw Olyff hilariously give birth to her first daughter in a stinky appearance. They named their first daughter Pipa.
1301
This year saw the new parents be hit with the reality of how needy babies are, with Pipa waking them from slumber early in the morning. The farm chores were squeezed in between all of the fishing and baby minding and Olyff found herself with child once more! Just as the year was ending she went into labor and gave birth on the first day of the next year.
1302
The Chapmans immediately welcomed their second daughter into their family and named her Cyneswith, after Olyff's late mother. Their first daughter, Pipa, was growing fast and well, crawling around the farm and discovering the world around her at her own pace. Byrhtnoth committed to providing for his ever growing family especially once Olyff was pregnant with their third child! But tragedy struck the Chapmans for the first time this year as Cyneswith failed to live past her first year, dying from malnourishment.
1303
As our land of Praaven was swallowed by the winter frost, and the parents navigated the grief of losing an infant, Olyff found herself in labor. The birth was a success and they named their third daughter Linyeve. The handcrafted basins and baths that Byrhtnoth made began to spring leaks and Olyff continued to be an attentive mother and caring housewife, even as she was pregnant once again with their fourth child. (How they were this successful is beyond me, and I'm the one who watched it unfold!) They saved up enough coin to afford an extension to their home and made it so the parent's slept upstairs. As the frost set in at the end of the year once again Olyff welcomed baby Eddida into their bungalow and kept her warm.
1304
The Chapmans settled into the bustling and busy life of a growing family and on Byrhtnoth's fishing trips he learned of a new way to preserve fish to keep over the long winter months. The children grew fast and healthy and the home was only filled with positivity as Olyff bore child yet again! As Olyff harvested their crops that year she learned to make a soft cheese from their cow's milk and fed her little girls warm dairy porridge. One day when the snow settled on the farm's ground Olyff went out to make a snow angel and her water broke! She welcomed their fifth daughter and named her Teffan.
1305
As their daughters all grew older and were more active than ever Byrhtnoth tried his best to balance his fishing trips with caring for his daughters while Olyff continued to care for the farm animals and their stone cottage. Olyff's pregnancy was smooth and quick and she felt like she began to gain experience with how often she brought children into the world! She gave birth to her sixth daughter, Mabel, just as the first snow settled across the land. There was also a big celebration in the home as Pipa turned five years old! They celebrated with a delicious honey cake and made her feel loved.
1306
This was definitely the most difficult year the Chapmans faced this decade. What was initially a welcoming and memorable first half of the year became a nightmare for the entire home in the last six months of 1306. Just before they began their construction of a major extension and rebuilding of their home Olyff gave birth to a baby boy called Eawulf who was born asleep. Not long after the construction was complete they also lost their infant girl Mabel as Olyff was too deep in grief to notice her health decline. The chapter featured extensive and descriptive happenings alongside the falling out and reconciling of Byrhtnoth and Olyff.
1307
The year began with the Chapman's first burial, as they moved the bodies of their three deceased children to a plot of land at the Lughaven graveyard. A serene funeral was held and the parents, along with Pipa, learned to make peace with what they had witnessed and continue living for each other. They settled into their new farm house for the remainder of the year and Pipa began to take an interest in baking and selling her goodies at local markets. At the annual Praaven keep market Byrhtnoth was recognised by the King and solidified a deal to deliver their finest fish and farm produce quarterly, bringing in a handsome amount of coin!
1308
Linyeve celebrated her fifth birthday surrounded by her family and received the wonderful gift of a fishing rod from her father! She quickly accompanied him on local fishing trips and learned the skill well. It was this summer that Linyeve encountered a unicorn for the first time but nobody in her family believed her. Pipa also met the King and Queen of Praaven but her parents were skeptical of her tale too. One thing that was true for Pipa was that she met a boy called Frank who was the son of the priest from Lughaven church. The end of the year saw Eddida comfortably grow to five years old also and they celebrated with another honey cake and another unique gift, a handcrafted easel.
1309
After a long period of grieving Olyff and Byrhtnoth felt it right to try for a child again! Their three oldest daughters all engaged deeply in their respective hobbies and continued to contribute to the home labor through housework and minding each other. During the summer Olyff marked her 30th birthday and her daughters worked together to make her a honey cake, as she made one for each of them! Pipa continued to be friends with Frank and Olyff learned more about his father, considering Frank as a future suitor for her daughter. It had been a while since tragedy brushed the Chapman home and it was back once again when Teffan had an unfortunate fall off of the family horse. The year, and decade, ended with the family going back into mourning and getting ready to bury another young family member.
Conclusion:
The Chapmans faced a multitude of highs and lows this decade, with the highs being welcoming seven children into their home but the lows being four of these children passing away one way or another. Here is the breakdown of each member of the family and their status:
Olyff Chapman - 1279 to Present - alive, 30 years old
Byrhtnoth Chapman - 1281 to Present - alive, 28 years old
Pipa Chapman - 1300 to Present - alive, 9 years old
Cyneswith Chapman - 1302 to 1302 - died from malnourishment at 10 months old
Linyeve Chapman - 1303 to Present - alive, 6 years old
Eddida Chapman - 1303 to Present - alive, 6 years old
Teffan Chapman - 1304 to 1309 - died from falling from a horse at 4 years old
Mabel Chapman - 1305 to 1306 - died from malnourishment at 1 years old
Eawulf Chapman - 1306 - stillborn
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