In my last My Time at Sandrock post, Lily had finallyyyyyyyyyyyyy bought a horse! She could now get from A to B faster, partake in longer journeys for resource gathering, and just... not walk anymore. It was grand.
She also caught Logan abandoning Andy, saying his goodbyes as he left the kid with the townspeople. Andy was devastated that Logan had left him, but Lily tried to cheer him up... and succeeded just a little, too.
It was likely not the last they'd see of Logan, but now that Lily had finally bought a horse and could now spend money willy-nilly, she decided to buy a few more land expansions.
Along with the land expansion, she got a chicken coop built too. She hadn't planned on getting into the farming business, but she was enjoying her little garden and having some eggs available would be great for cooking.
It would sure beat running around killing all the chickens in the desert every day just to get a few measly eggs.
Welcome home little gals! Grow big and lay juicy eggs.
JUICY.
Now that Lily had a horse and could go adventuring without fearing the time disappearing, she explored into an area beneath Sandrock.
It was green with poison gas and was filled with strange, mutated creatures. Better yet, it was filled with new resources! Here she was able to obtain aluminium, and advanced mechanical pieces. It was a treasure trove!
Thankfully the PPE she had created a few weeks back suited this area just fine and kept her safe whilst she explored.
After a few days, another town meeting was called.
The mayor informed the townspeople that the richest man in the Free Cities, Mr. Musa, was going to be coming to Sandrock! It was possible he could invest in their little town and get the ball rolling to connect the desert city to the rest of the populace.
She warned everyone to be on their best behaviour, and commissioned Lily to make some upgrades to the train station so Musa would have a grand first impression of their town.
Lily had finished the upgrades to the train station and had finished a hard day's work in the mines, gathering all the metal and resources she could carry back home.
'twas a beautiful night, and so, she set up her camera, jumped on Xander's back, and took some photos. xD
The next morning, Lily and the mayor met Mr. Musa at the train station and gave him a tour around Sandrock, hoping to convince him that the town was worthy of investing in.
Their final stop was a breakfast at the tavern!
As they entered, the entire town greeted the Richest Man in the Country and were eager to show him their town spirit.
Unfortunately, everything went awry.
A brawl broke out.
Food was set on fire.
The entire tavern lay in ruins.
Mr. Musa was most displeased, but somehow, by some crazy miracle, the people convinced Musa to stay for just a couple more days, to let them prove to him that they weren't so... disorderly.
Musa offered to just help shut the town down now. It was clearly already going down the drain, instead of dying with the town he could help the people move to a new place where they were planning rezoning efforts. They could start anew away from the drudgery of sand and despair.
But no. The people chose to stay, and to prove themselves.
I'm of the belief that this little tidbit, of Musa inviting the people to start anew in greener pastures, is foreshadowing of the next game in the series: My Time at Evershine.
With the craziness over and done with, Lily set about her usual work...
When she woke up the next day, however, it was raining! She had lived there for over a year now, and this was the first time she'd seen in rain. Perhaps Mr. Musa's arrival was a blessing.
Or maybe it wasn't...
People had started turning green!
Apparently a noxious gas was emanating up from the valley below, the valley that Lily had explored just a few days prior. She was certain that she hadn't broken anything while down there; the gas coming up here couldn't be her fault.
Justice and Unsuur of the civil corps asked her to create some more personal protection gear, and tomorrow they'd go down into the valley and see what was what.
Mr. Musa, of course, was even more discouraged by this news. However, he was eager to see how the people of Sandrock handled this threat.
It was time for Lily to do her thaaang.
Until next time! 🌵🌞