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Monday, December 13, 2010

Day Thirty-Nine

The mountain to the east blocked my first views of the morning until the red rays of sunlight crept around the northern and southern edges of the horizon.

North-east
South-east
The moon setting over the frozen ocean back west.
As the daylight cleared the mountain proper and the skeletons and zombies began to burn, I lowered myself to the ground. My four cacti had grown somewhat overnight so I jumped the final few cubes to land on the sand beyond.

Mobs burning to the north as I descend.
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I had already been traveling in snow for most of the previous day and continent and I imagined that the biome would be coming to an end very soon. But as I started to climb the mountain east, there was no end in sight to the winter wonderland in any direction.

Heading up the mountain.
Morning creeper.
Frozen lake to the north.
Snow-covered forest stretching off to the north-east.
While checking out the scenery from this small crest, I was ambushed by several mobs: two creepers and a zombie out way past his bedtime.

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Back!
I dealt with them and worked my way down off the crest, ignoring the greater bulk of the mountain to the south. Though, just as I returned to ground-level, I looked to the south and spotted a magnificent bridge of ground joining the mountain to several other hills. I decided to go investigate.

Looking south.
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Guess I better walk through it.
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There was a deep tunnel heading down into darkness back beneath the mountain I had slept by the previous night. I quickly checked its entrance for mushrooms and iron but found nothing and continued on my journey. After exiting the southern side of the valley beneath the bridge, I continued east and hit another small ocean. Or a large lake. Either way, it was  frozen over and I walked across.

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I kept expecting to come to the end of the snowfield but over every hill the snow just kept going.

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And going.

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And going.

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Walking across another frozen ocean.
Across the frozen ocean, I hit another snow field. There were no trees, no movement, no sign of life aside from the occasional yellow flower protruding from the white.

Trekking across the snow field.
A mountain on the horizon. And more snow.
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Several steps after taking the above photo, I suddenly began to fall and found myself a moment later with my head under water.

Wha?
Beats falling into a pit of lava, I guess.
I climbed out of the lake and continued on. I seemed to have ended up on the northern side of the mountain. There was a deep cavern and, more excitedly, what seemed like the end of the snow.

A cave heading south.
The end of the snow?
Not to the south, at least.
Over the next hill I hit an ocean. An unfrozen ocean.

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Couldn't quite make out if that is gravel in a cave or cobblestone in a dungeon. Either way, something is probably lurking beneath me.
To the south, it looked as though the land may swing around east again, so I decided to check it out before crafting a boat.

The southern shore. No east-heading land here. Boat it is.
Heading east.
It wasn't long before I hit another continent, this one covered in trees.

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I followed the river to the left of the above image inland, but it soon dried up. I left my boat behind and continued to follow the sand. After a bit, I came across the deeper lake I have ever seen.

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This isn't the bottom, but it was as deep as I was willing to go.
Perhaps it was an underwater cave, linking on to a vaster network of caverns, all underwater? I've never seen that before but the idea of it possibly existing sure is cool. I left the pool behind me and continued to follow the mostly dried-up river through several other small lakes until I hit a large, closed off lake.

Following the river east. This final section was not as dry as most of it.
A large lake mostly closed off from the river with a small, pointed island in the centre.
The forest to the north.
I followed the sand around the southern side of the lake and continued east by its shore.

Pumpkins on the southern shore.
Looking back west past the river from the far side of the lake.
I hadn't noticed how close to sunset it was. It was time to make camp. On a whim, I decided to camp on the island in the middle of the lake. Why not? I marked its corners with torches and built up several cubes of cobblestone from its peak to ensure no aquatic skeletons would get close to me. There was still the danger of mobs in the water not burning in the morning, but I would deal with that tomorrow.

Placing the torches.
Safe for the night.
Tomorrow's land.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Day Thirty-Eight

A star-less night.
The night was darker than usual. I could see no stars and not even the moon. At first I thought perhaps a large cloud was passing slowly overhead, but then, just before dawn, I realised I had just bumped 'F' and turned the draw distance to short.

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If you look closely, you can just spy a zombie hanging out in the water below the tree.
This was the first night I had spent underground for sometime. I could not hear any mobs, but I still quickly turned as I left to ensure spiders didn't jump down on me.

All clear.
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As I started east, the zombie to the north still stood beneath its tree, safe from the sunlight. Before I traveled behind the next mountain, though, it took one misguided step and flame engulfed it.

So long, zombie.
I continued east up and down hills through a thick wood.

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Underground reeds.
I waded into the lake and looked closer at the reeds. Hidden behind them was an entrance to a deep cavern. I left it and continued on. The woods began to disperse as I headed east.

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Mushrooms!
As the last of the trees were left behind me, a mountain raised up before me. And a creeper.

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I climbed up the lower hill just to the south (above the creeper in the above image).  On the other side was more uneventful land, as well as the tip of a desert to the south near the ocean.

Looking south east.
I walked up and over another mountain and hit an ocean.

Up and over.
Boat time!
(Looking south-east) or maybe not.
I followed the sure around to the south towards the desert. I began to climb the sandy mountain and could spy the sand stretching off east, south, and north.

Approaching the desert.
Climbing up.
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The desert came to an end in a valley of mountains and caves.

The desert continued off to the north.
Gravel pit.
Angry mountain! Grrrr.
I think the desert stretched back around east after it went off to the north and came back down towards me behind another mountain.

Looking north, the desert returns.
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After deserts, mountains, and gravel pits, the flat nothing-ness beyond the waterfall was alarming.

Well that is a lot of... nothing.
Looking back over a mountain at the early afternoon sun.
This lake was probably the most eventful landmark in this area.
The ground must have been rising as I walked as I came to a ledge that looked down into a valley.

Heading into the valley.
Back west from whence I came.
I headed through the gap in the canyon, stopping briefly to pick up some more mushrooms in the shade.

More mushrooms! That is dinner sorted.
The ground rose gradually beyond the valley into another mountain. Down to the north I could see the beginnings of a snow field.

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Snow atop the mountain.
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Looking north.
The ocean came up from the south and threatened to block my path. Fortunately, it was nearly completely frozen over.

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I headed north to move around the water and walked down onto the ice.

Looking back west. The day is nearly over.
Across the ocean.
I crossed over the narrow islands and the frozen ocean continued. I kept expecting it to break up and for me to need to swim, but the ice just kept going.

Beyond the islands.
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Snow island.
I looked back behind me as the sky began to dim and could see nothing but ice.

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I approached land at last, but the snow continued. My day, however, had come to an end. I planted my cacti on the beach by the ice and began to build my tower.

Tomorrow's land.
Setting up camp.
You can't have too many sunset pictures.
Up we go.