Great cities do not rise of themselves
Harden your heart, settler in a strange land
Build from the ground upwards

With the arrival of Valheim’s new Mistlands update, David, Ben, Austin and I started my fourth (but first ever modded) Valheim world on December 16th, 2022. List of Mods

In my third world, David and I had this cozy seaside island house near a black forest, full of lush cattails and green lily pads. With a nearly 360 degree view of the ocean, we were blessed with beautiful sunsets that flooded our entire island with various hues of red and orange. Our humble residence was quaint — barely enough for the two of us. Nonetheless, it was on this small abode with the tiny outdoor kitchen, the claustrophobic forge, and the docks that would flood every high tide, that we were able to beat the final boss for the first time.

So when we decided to start anew for the Mistlands update, I wanted a change of scene. I’ve had this vision for a while; A cabin in the snow, a castle on the hill. This time, we were going to live in the mountains. Not only did the place have to be large enough for the four of us, we had some specific requests in mind: David wanted a large kitchen, Ben wanted a place for JewelCrafting and a tower, I wanted beautiful views, and Austin, well, he just wanted to cut down trees.

We lived in a temporary house in the meadows, although it was actually a lot more spacious than your average starter home. Only when we were geared enough for the mountains did we start construction on the real house. Ben and I scouted out the top of this mountain (which coincidentally had a silver vein and a runestone), and we decided that this was the spot. We could overlook the ocean and the mountain range. We were high up but not so far that the render distance would crop out the surrounding forests. The lighting was beautiful. This was it.

And so construction began…
… and If I said I knew what I was initially planning to build, I’d be lying. Most of the final house and terraforming were organically added on as the days went on. In the beginning, it was just a one story house with a basement. Then it became a two story house. Then it became a two story house with a tower and double floored fireplaces. Then came the farming plots, the windmill, the outdoors forge extension, the chicken coop, and the connecting pathways.

In the end, the result was more than I ever envisioned. Here it is: our cabin in the snow, our castle on the hill.

I’m not exactly sure where else to go after this. Maybe something with mainly black marble? I’ve also seen partially underground builds. Or maybe something on the plains so David can stop complaining about the slow windmill (but then again, why is there no wind on the mountains??) Till next time~