Tent
| Tent | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | Location |
| Address | The Mountain |
| Open Hours | 6am to 2am |
| Residents | Linus |
The Tent is the home Linus has pitched high on the Mountain, and it is the only front door in the valley that opens for a complete stranger. Every other villager keeps a closed house until friendship grows, so the tent is often the first interior a new farmer ever walks into. Linus sleeps inside, keeps a campfire burning in front of it and spends almost his whole day within sight of the flap. The spot sits above the Carpenter's Shop and just west of the mine entrance, which puts it on the route most players walk on a mining day. Befriending the man who lives here is cheap, since the forage picked on the way up the hill is exactly what he wants.
Area
The tent stands on the upper shelf of the Mountain, northeast of the Carpenter's Shop and east of the passage through to the Railroad. Robin and Demetrius live downhill from it, and Robin has said she does not mind Linus camping behind her house as long as he keeps to himself. Leo's Treehouse grows out of the big tree to the west once he moves over from Ginger Island.
A campfire and a bush sit on the open ground in front of the tent, and Linus is usually standing at one of them in the morning. The Mountain Lake spreads out below to the east, with the Spa around the water, so his daily circuit never leaves the one screen.
Inside, the tent is a single cramped room with his bed in it. It is the smallest home in the valley and the only one with canvas for walls, which is rather the point the game is making about him.
Residents
Linus lives here alone. He forages for his food and keeps clear of the shops, and he says openly that he thinks the town would not welcome him. He also enjoys the life he has chosen, and the two feelings sit side by side in nearly everything he says.
His day follows the weather more than the clock. On a dry day he is out by the campfire early, drifts down to the lake shore or around to the Spa for the middle of the day, and is back inside by evening. Rain keeps him in the tent for most of the day, with short trips to the bush beside it and a spell under the purple leaf tree in the afternoon.
Two villagers count as his friends. The Wizard treats him as an equal, and the pair of them stand together at Spirit's Eve while everyone else mingles. Leo becomes his neighbour after moving to the mainland, and the boy takes to calling him Uncle Linus while Linus teaches him what he knows about living off the land. Penny and Emily both say in passing that they wish the town treated him better.
Notes
Linus knows the Mountain better than anyone, and he is one of the villagers who may carry the farmer home after a blackout deep in the mines.
His gift tastes suit a forager rather than a shopper. Blueberry Tart, Cactus Fruit, Coconut, Dish O' The Sea, Yam and The Alleyway Buffet are the dishes and fruits he loves, and most wild food, eggs, milk and fruit go down well. Gems and foraged minerals do not, which catches out players who assume a man living outdoors wants a shiny rock. He is also the one villager who hands a Treasure Chest straight back.
In the first Fall a letter arrives saying his blackberry picking basket has gone missing. It is lying on the grass of the Backwoods road beside the tunnel mouth, west of the Bus Stop, and it stays put until somebody collects it, so the job can be finished long after the letter comes. Handing it over is worth a full heart of friendship.
Four hearts bring a scene by the tent, late in the evening on a dry night. Linus invites the farmer over to the campsite, apologises for not trusting a stranger and takes them inside, which is the only time the tent is more than a place to sleep. Recipes for Sashimi and Fish Taco arrive by post at three and seven hearts. The eight-heart scene plays outside Robin's house instead, and the kind answer there is to say plainly that he is doing well, rather than to offer him a roof he has already refused. His birthday falls in Winter, when anything he loves earns far more friendship than usual.
All Locations
Every entry in this group, with its key details.
