Day Fourteen

Time to move on.

The last hours before dawn, I could here zombies and skeletons outside. I wasn't sure if they were downhill on the grass or directly above me in the tunnel. Last thing I wanted was to knock out the wall and have a zombie land on me. I stood back as far as I could as I opened my cave up to the morning.

No zombies yet...

I walked out of the cave backwards, sword in hand. The tunnel was empty. I crept to the ledge and looked down. Sure enough, a zombie and a skeleton were both trying to jump up at me. But both were on fire and dead moments later.

.

Burning zombie arm.

So on we go.

I worked my way down to the beach and pulled out my workbench to make a boat.

Wait. I'm missing something...

 ...and then I realised I had no wood. Whoops. The closest trees were back up the hill, so instead I decided to follow the beach north. I looked back at the baffling mountain one last time.

Goodbye, crazy mountain I once thought of as friendly.

Moving on, the ground was relatively flat for a time. The ocean followed me to my right, and several mounds rose to my left like giant termite mounds. Ahead east, what looked like a tall tower appeared on the horizon.

Mounds to the north.

Mountain ahead.

As I neared it. though, it became apparent that the vertical shaft was floating free of the mountain behind it.

.

The dirt bridge to the right of the mountain is cool, too.

.

I was temped to head north and get atop the mountain just to walk across the dirt bridge, but getting to it could take some time. Instead, I turned to the south where it looked like I may be able to walk around the mountain.

More sheer walls. Looks like a Mario level. South, though, was a way around.

Beyond the mountain was smoother ground with rolling hills and the occasional mountain to the north.

An easy stroll.

A deep valley to the north.

Some more cliffs, but not blocking my direct path.

And yet more easy going.

The day went on like this for some time, and I made good ground. Then I came across a small cavern beneath an overhang and, for the third time since leaving home, spotted the telltale mossy cobblestone.

The cavern is beyond the small pyramid-hill, center-left.

Just a quick look...

Dungeon!

Two chest and a spawner. But no mobs?

I drew my sword but did not move any closer. There were no mobs at present, but they could spawn any moment I made a deal with myself: if they were zombies, I would take them out and attempt to get to the loot; if they were skeletons, I would flee. I simply cannot take on a single skeleton without losing a lot of health. I held my sword and waited.

...and waited. Nothing spawned for quite some time. Perhaps the spawner was broken? I took one hesitant step forward. I heard the bow 'twang' before I even saw the skeleton. That was all I needed. I bailed.

Run!

I ran quite far, looking over my shoulder constantly for an army of skeletons that I was certain would be following me. It would not be an exaggeration to say my heart was pounding. Skeletons are serious business when you can't afford to die. I moved on.

The ground continued to be flat and green and hilly. It was quite nice, but doesn't make good adventure juice. After a while, though, i spotted this mountain to the north, pocketed with little caves.

Kinda cool.

But I didn't explore it. I kept on walking.

Looking east, down a hill.

Back west up the same hill. Sun is getting low.

In the distance I could see a lake on the horizon. But closer, and far more exciting, was a whole gang of chickens! Or ducks. People seem to disagree on this.

Hey guys! There were more behind the tree, too.

Approaching the lake.

Before the lake, I found a shaft sticking into the ground. Fortunately, I didn't fall in. But I did get close enough to have a look:

I see iron...

It had been some time since I found iron. I was not running out (I still had at least 50 ingots in my inventory), but I would like to replace my armour and tools soon enough. I looked back west at the sun.

Plenty of time... right?

I decided I would be fine. I jumped down into the shaft. I walked along for a while and placed some torches, mostly to ensure no zombies ambushed me again, but also to check for more potential iron veins. Alas, I found none. I did, however, find a crevasse leading down to a deeper cave. I decided to leave that alone.

Deeper down is not my way.

Just get the ore and get out of here, Brendan.

The sky was darkening as I climbed. Surely I had enough time to find a camp site...

...Okay. Perhaps not.

I was growing anxious. It was getting darker by the second now. I rushed down towards the lake, looking for some cover.

Nothing here...

Ah-huh! A small cavern! (looking back south and west)

I rushed for the small alcove, desperate to get underground. I almost dived in without looking, but luckily had the foresight to place a torch first.

Hmmm....

The 'alcove' was a deep shaft going straight down. This would not do. I needed somewhere small, secure, safe. I turned back to the lake.

This is NOT good.

I was beginning to panic. The moon was up proper now, and I was still wandering around the grass like a stupid cow. I was considering just digging straight down into the ground when I heard the sound I had been most dreading: a twang.

Skeleton in the water!

It was too late. The mobs had found me. I started to flee back north around the lake. I could hardly see. I got stuck on a ledge I could not jump up, and a creeper exploded right behind me, denting my armour and taking me down to three and a half hearts. I got myself unstuck with the help of a torch and rushed on. I could hear skeletons, zombies, and spiders behind me. Another creeper was bobbing up and down in the middle of the lake. An arrow flew past me. 

I was screwed. Completely screwed. Even if I found a cavern now, I could not seal it up before the mobs overtook me. Could I just keep running all night? Doubtful. Before long a skeleton or creeper would surely ambush me from the front. And in the dark I would probably trip and get myself cornered in a ditch. I really had no options.

There was one other option, though. Once I was certain I had put some distance between me and the skeletons, I quickly opened my inventory. At first I couldn't see them and thought I had left them at my last campsite but sure enough, there they were: 25 cobblestone blocks. I quickly set them to my hotkeys and ran on.

 A bit later I stopped, looked down, and started building. I raised myself on a tower 15 blocks high, jutting out in the middle of the forest. And there I sat for an entire night as the moon passed slowly overhead and the mobs congregated around me. They knew I was here, I didn't doubt it for a second. At any given time I could see a dozen zombies and skeletons, and half a dozen creepers. 

It's dark, but you can see them if you look closely.

At least when I spent the night in the boat I was able to keep moving forward slowly. Here, I could not move at all. I stood perfectly still on my single cube, watching the moon and watching the mobs. It was going to be one of those nights...

.

Go away! Go away!

.

Waaaaah!

At last! But what to do about all the creepers...

Day Thirteen

Almost time to get going...

I'm not a superstitious person. But when you are spending your days walking across new lands, when a single misstep could send you tumbling into a pool or lava or a dungeon full of skeletons (which there are a lot of lying around, if those Cartograph numbers are to be believed!) it pays to be careful.

 A spider had been scuttling back and forth over my glass ceiling all night, so I decided on a less orthodox exit, by digging into the river.

Teehee.

There we go.

 The water rushed down the shaft I had dug over night, undoubtedly flooding all the torches I had placed down there. Not that it mattered. Not that I would ever return here. I swam out of the camp and started my day.

Fingers crossed...

Directly east was water. I had picked up my workbench without crafting a boat, though, so I followed the land as it crept to the north. 

.

Following the edge of the island north-east.

I came to a shady knoll beside the water. A pig was out splashing around.

This looks nice.

Morning, Aqua Pig!

Continuing east, it looked like I would finally need that boat.

Boat time.

.

It didn't last long. The land closed in around me and even though I could see more ocean ahead, I had to abandon the boat. Or dig a ravine, which I considered briefly, but it didn't seem like a very nomad thing to do.

The grass was flat for a while, but ocean was ever-present just to the south.

.

Then, after crossing a small inlet, the water was to the north as well.

Looking north.

The woods grew thicker as the land grew thinner.

Trees and water.

A big tree, but the land is running out.

Those are fairly sheer cliffs. Doubt I can swim to shore.

Okay. I guess it is boat time again.

Here we go then.

I followed the cliffs for a time until they swung around north. Then I had to hit the ocean proper for a time until several small islands appeared on the horizon.

Islands!

A literal desert island? (looking south)

Another odd island (looking north)

I made landfall on a weird beach that was part sand and part clay.

.

I gathered some sand before leaving. Mostly for glass, but I had another idea too. See, I had been carrying around a fair supply of gunpowder for some time, ever since I took out those five or six creepers last week. With some sand, I could craft some TNT. What on earth would a nomad want with TNT? Well, it could potentially make my brief mining spouts swifter. I could dig down a shaft, place some TNT, and grab any minerals from the resulting cave. Though, without any redstone to remote detonate, it could be a risky business. I'll craft if for now, and decide later if I use it or not.

Anyway, that is still in the future. For now, I left the beach and kept walking. The ground rose gradually up a hill until I came out on a clearing that looked east towards another grand mountain, though one that looked easily passable.

Hills. Hills. Hills.

Oh. Hello there.

Quite friendly looking, as far as mountains go.

As I drew closer, I spied a cavern digging into the hillside. I decided to check it out briefly.

A cavern...

...of grass?

Yep. A grass cavern. Well there you go.

Leaving the fruitless cavern behind, I began to climb. I barely had to dig away any dirt blocks, the hill was gradual and evenly stepped.

Easy going.

And then I reached the top and saw exactly what I was not expecting. I mean, there is little that I could have seen from the top of this mountain that I was expecting less.

Meep. 0_0*

A cloud. Right in front of my face. And look how high up I was! What the heck?! I was dumbstruck. I had no sense of having climbed so high since leaving my boat. This was incredible. The view just went on in every direction. Amazing! The top of this 'hill' was a mere block wide before dropping straight down. Who would have thought such a friendly looking hill could house such a cliff on its opposite side. I tried to creep closer to take a picture looking down the drop and, uh, fell. Fortunately, some way down, was another single-cube ledge. It still hurt, but my armour took most of the damage.

Ow. Thank you, iron armour!

The view from the 'lower' ledge.

Still quite a long way down...

This ledge put me in no better situation than the last. I had no choice from here but to dig my way down to the more gradual slopes. It was slow work, and I had to mine my way through stone part of the way. Once I got to sea level, I looked back at the rear side of the friendly mountain.

No, really. What the heck, hill?!

 Then I saw the cavern. How could I resist the urge to look inside such a bizarre hill? Just quickly. I clambered back up and ducked inside. There was nothing there, sadly, except a tunnel that hooked around to a northern entrance.

The tunnel and its lack of minerals.

I turned back to head at the water, and looked at the sky for the first time for some minutes.

Oh. Is that the moon?

Yes. Yes it is.

I didn't just want to sit in the tunnel all night--mobs would surely flank me from whatever entrance I wasn't guarding. Instead, I dug down into the east-facing entrance. At least there I would see the sun rise.

Not too bad for a spur of the moment camp.

I dug quite deep that night, but I found nothing. No coal, no iron. Just a heap of stone. I considered crafting my TNT, but had already unthinkingly placed all my sand in the furnace to make glass. Whoops! At least I wouldn't be blowing myself up for at least another day.

And that was the thirteenth. Almost fell to my death once, but otherwise a decent day.

That mountain is still blowing my mind, though.