Pelican Town
| Pelican Town | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Location |
Pelican Town is the valley's town and the place almost everything else connects to. Most of the villagers live, work and gossip here, and the buildings along its streets cover nearly every service a farm needs: seeds at Pierre's General Store, tool upgrades and geode cracking at the Blacksmith, medicine at Harvey's Clinic, cooked food and a beer at The Stardrop Saloon, and the Community Center or JojaMart depending on which way a save has gone. The river running through the middle holds the Angler, the square holds the special orders board, and the ground underfoot turns up more different artifacts than anywhere else in the game. Lewis has been mayor for decades and mentions, without being asked, that nobody has ever stood against him.
Area
Four roads leave town. The north-west entrance goes to the Bus Stop and on to the farm, which is the walk most mornings start with. The south-west passage leads into Cindersap Forest, where Marnie's Ranch, Leah's Cottage and the Wizard's Tower are. Directly south is the Beach. North is the Mountain, and with it Robin's Carpenter's Shop, the Mines, the Adventurer's Guild, the Railroad and the Quarry.
The middle of town is the square, with the Community Center on its north side, a fountain beside it and a playground to the west. The river cuts across from the north-east and out to the south, crossed by bridges, with the Museum and the Blacksmith on the far bank.
The town starts the game untidy. Weeds grow near 2 Willow Lane, in the space behind 1 Willow Lane, behind JojaMart, and west of the Community Center below the playground. They die back in Winter and come up again at the start of each new year, so clearing them is a chore that returns rather than a job that ends.
Most of the trees in town cannot be felled. Swinging an axe at them only brings up a line about not cutting down trees in town, so the wood supply has to come from the farm or the forest.
Shops
Pierre's General Store is the town's hub and the shop a save leans on hardest, carrying seeds, fertiliser, saplings and the backpack upgrades. Harvey's Clinic next door sells the valley's only medicine. Across the river the Blacksmith upgrades tools, buys ore and opens geodes, and the Museum beside it takes artifacts and minerals rather than money.
The Stardrop Saloon is the evening half of town, selling cooked food and stocking the arcade machines. JojaMart sits over on the east side, undercutting nothing until a membership is bought and staying open far later than anyone else.
The Bookseller is the town's irregular visitor, setting up a shop in the square for a day at a time rather than keeping a permanent address.
Residents
The shopkeepers and their families account for much of the population. Pierre lives above the general store with Caroline and their daughter Abigail. Harvey lives above the clinic. Clint has the Blacksmith, Gus has The Stardrop Saloon, Gunther has the Museum and Morris has JojaMart. The Community Center has the Junimos, once anyone has noticed them.
The houses hold the rest. At 1 River Road live Alex with his grandparents George and Evelyn. The Trailer is Pam and Penny's. Lewis has the Mayor's Manor to himself. At 1 Willow Lane are Jodi and her sons Sam and Vincent, joined later by Kent when he comes home. Next door at 2 Willow Lane are the sisters Emily and Haley.
Foraging
Town forage is simple and generous. Spring puts out Daffodils, Summer Sweet Peas and Fall Blackberries, each of them the only thing on the ground in that season, and Winter switches to Crocuses, Holly and the occasional Crystal Fruit. Items appear fastest in Spring and Summer and slow down through the colder half of the year, but the rate is high enough that a walk through town on the way to the shops pays for itself.
Digging is where Pelican Town really earns its reputation. Its artifact spots hold the widest spread in the game: Rusty Spoons and Chipped Amphorae turn up often, and the list runs on through the Ancient Doll, the Chewing Stick, the Ornamental Fan, the Ancient Drum, the Bone Flute and the Prehistoric Rib and Scapula. Both Strange Dolls are in there too, at odds low enough that most farmers go years without seeing one. Clay, Stone, Copper Ore and Lost Books fill out the rest, with Winter Root and Snow Yam appearing in Winter.
Winter is the season for it. Through most of the year only a small fraction of the town's ground can hold a spot, but Winter opens up a far larger area and the spots arrive several times faster, so a cold morning spent hoeing the town square is one of the better uses of a Winter in a save that is chasing the Museum.
Fishing
The river through town carries the standard river catch, and the list rotates with the season: Sunfish and Smallmouth Bass in Spring, Rainbow Trout and Pike in Summer, Salmon and Walleye in Fall, Lingcod and Perch in Winter, with Bream and Green Algae all year and Catfish and Shad on rainy days.
The north end of the river is the important spot. In Fall the Angler can be hooked there, which is one of the legendary fish, and the harder Ms. Angler swims in the same water for anyone who comes back later in a save for the legendary rematches.
The fountain beside the Community Center is worth a cast or two for a different reason. Most of what comes out is a single piece of wood or a single stone, but a present box turns up now and then with a Decorative Trash Can inside it. The fountain will not refill a watering can, so it is for fishing and for looking at.
Notes
Three hidden containers are scattered around the edges of town and almost nobody finds them unprompted. In the fenced area north of the Blacksmith a brown box takes a Super Cucumber and gives back a secret statue. North-east of the Bookseller's spot, in a small fenced patch behind a Large Stump, a gift box holds a Prize Ticket. Furthest out, in the easternmost corner of town, a concealed gap in the fence just north of the minecart track leads past a log and a boulder to a golden rubbish bin holding The Alleyway Buffet.
The special orders board in the square is the town's steady source of work, handing out quests from the townspeople that pay better than the Help Wanted notices.
Trash Bear changes the look of the place in the third year. On the first dry day he turns up in the southern part of Cindersap Forest, and bringing him the four things he asks for triggers a scene in which he clears the rubbish out of the forest and out of the Trailer's front yard, and Dusty's Dog Pen is upgraded at the same time.
The valley sits inside the Ferngill Republic, which is at war with the Gotoro Empire across the Gem Sea. The town itself never sees any fighting, but the war is the reason 1 Willow Lane is a house short at the start of a save: Kent is away on military service, and he comes home at the beginning of the second year.
All Locations
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
