Day Twenty-Four

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The torches did not seem to work as well as the previous night. I heard no zombies, skeletons, or creepers (no one ever hears the creepers), but the spiders were deafening. Occasionally one would scamper past the glass, but I could hear others overhead. I broke the glass, ran outside, and turned.

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The spiders jumped down off the hill and gave chase... for about two seconds. Then they just stopped and loomed around my camp, losing all interest in me. No creepers tried to ambush me, either. Perhaps the torches did work.

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The ground rose as the day progressed, occasionally dropping off into canyons to the south. The ocean was visible in the distance from time to time.

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Canyon to the south.

Atop a mountain.

Ocean off to the south.

South-east. Ocean to the south, woods to the east.

Passing through the woods, I came to the edge of the continent and a rather fruitful seaside cavern.

Through the woods.

One lone pig.

(looking south) I see iron...

And even more iron!

I worked my way down into the cavern, slowly and carefully. It was still early and there could be mobs lurking in the shadows. My fears were unfounded, though, and I managed to obtain more iron in this one cavern than the past few nights mining.

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Floating sand!

With nine iron ore in my inventory, I left the cave and walked onto the coast. Beyond a few slithers of sand, I could just make out some land far to the south-east. I crafted my boat and headed east.

Land to the south east.

Same land from my boat. Looks like some tall mountains.

Heading east. I decided to sail around the peninsula and keep my boat for a while longer...

...but that didn't work out so well.

The thinnest bank of sand was separating me from the rest of the ocean. I didn't want to waste the wood on a second boat, nor did I want to waste the time sailing further north, so I pulled out my spade.

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Success!

I could see pockets of land in the mist, but nothing worth landing on for some time.

Land to the north.

After a few minutes of sailing, land came into sight to the south. As I came closer, it grew into a rather impressive mountain of spikes and arches, like some kind of natural castle half turned to rubble.

Southern mountain

A closer look.

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Land closed in from the north, too, and I was funneled into a cavern with high cliffs on either side.

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Looking north and- oh! More iron!

Never thought I would be mining from a boat.

As I collected the ore, I could hear zombies moaning. Lots of zombies. There had to be a dungeon just through the wall. I did not dig deeper to find out for sure.

To the south.

The wide canyon continued for some time. The ground on each side leveled out, but I decided I would keep my boat and make good distance while I could. I was slowly leaning to the north, I was aware, but I could make up for that later.

Following the river. Mostly east but a bit north.

Stopped to grab some coal.

Sun getting low.

I had been in this boat since midday. Perhaps I was missing some crazy stuff on the land, but the sights from the water was worth it. It was a really nice change of pace to just sit in my boat and watch the land drift by. That said, I did not want to be stuck out in my boat after dark again. The land drew back behind a beach to the south so I pulled up and made camp.

Land to the south. Gonna camp on the beach.

This should do.

Not a moment too soon.

Do your thing, torches.

Ocean views.

As the stars came out, I considered my options for the next day. I could head back south and inland, or I could keep my boat for a while longer and see where the water takes me. I'm thinking I'll keep my boat, if I can. What do you think? Let's take a vote. Boat or land?