Day Fifty-Four

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The sun rose over the swamp, exposing the many mobs looming in the desert around my tower.

Enderman over to the left.

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Spider seems happy enough to leave me alone.

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I stepped down into the swamps. There were quite a few chicken/ducks around and a gathered up a few eggs. As a commenter pointed out a few days ago, eating something other than mushroom stew for once might be nice. Maybe I'll take some wheat from the next village and make a cake.

Into the swamp.

Collecting some eggs.

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I came across a narrow chasm, dropping down into darkness at one end. A single cube of iron was exposed to the sunlight, and I thought i might as well grab it on my way. Foolishly, I stood on the cube as I mined it--something I only ever seen to do when there is nothing underneath.

Getting some iron..

Ow.

I picked away some stairs in a nearby wall and got back to the surface without too much trouble. The swamp continued for a little while longer but then, next to some sheep, snow started to appear on the ground.

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 I stepped up the hill onto a winter wonderland.

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Snow pigs.

The snow continued off east, north, and south as far as I could see. The snow softened my footfalls, making it eerily quiet. After a while, I crossed a frozen river.

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I was so lost in the serene environment that I was not paying attention to where I was placing my feet, and nearly ended the whole journey.

Exactly where I was standing when I noticed the lava. I don't doubt this is how this adventure will finally end, one day.

I continued more carefully across the snow, keeping my gaze turned slightly downwards. I passed frozen lakes and stubby mountains, weaving in and out between them.

Frozen river.

Frozen lakes.

Frozen mountains.

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Decided to weave between the mountains instead of climbing them.

Wrong festive season Mr. Pumpkin!

More swamps ahead.

Between the edge of the snow and the swamp was a deep chasm.

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Looking east, it seemed the swamp was just to my north and a forest just to my south. I decided the forest would be slightly easier to traverse than the swamp so I swerved towards the right.

Swamp to the north. Forest to the south.

Forest it is.

The forest didn't last long, however. Soon enough I found myself looking across an inlet at a desert.

Desert ahead.

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Over the horizon appeared tall mountains crowned in conifers as the sun slowly sank behind me. Atop the mountain right ahead of me were some wolves. I was carrying a few bones from yesterday's skeletons and, well, it was time I decided I got some company.

Mountains ahead.

My future friend.

To get to the wolves, I had to climb up the southern side of the mountain and circle around to the sheer cliff. The sun was slowly setting, and surely their would be more wolves further ahead, but I had made up my mind: I wanted this wolf.

Working around.

There they are.

My new best friend.

 I decided to call him dusk, as he will always be at my back (I hope, at least). But as the moon was rising, we would have to wait to morning to get to know each other. I hoped he could get himself through the night as I climbed my tower and made camp. Looking back west at the sunset, I spied another lava lake that I must have walked nearby without noticing. Truly, I need to start paying better attention in the future.

Lava lake back west.

Goodnight.

(This will be my final update before the new year. Thanks for reading even after my many-month hiatus and have a merry Christmas and all that!)

Day Fifty-Three

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The rain continued through the night, giving it something of a timeless feel. I could not follow the moon across the sky. It was not until the sickly yellow of the clouded dawn appeared in the east that I knew it was time to get down and continue on.

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Looks like I'm walking blind for now.

 As the sun rose and the orange faded, I did my best to remain conscious of which way was east. I'd gotten lost too often recently, and it would be too easy to do it again without the sun to guide me. As I walked under the conifers I came to a bay. Swimming it was going to be quicker than walking around it. Besides, I was already wet.

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Just beyond the hills of the far side, the forest ended and opened up on yet another large plateau. On the horizon, though, was some slightly more interesting terrain.

Another plateau

Ah. That's more interesting.

Coolest mountain I've seen for a while.

I walked around to the right, hoping to get some photos of the archway going through the middle, when I noticed the flickering to my right.

Lavafall on the far side has lit a tree on fire. ...Maybe I don't want to be standing in this forest right now.

Before I could investigate, an arrow flew by my face, making me jump quite a bit. A skeleton had been waiting in the shadows of the mountain, and refused to catch alight in the sunless day.

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I took care of him with only some minor injuries that quickly healed, and went to check on the fire. Fortunately, the rain seemed to be keeping it from spreading to any more trees. If it hadn't been raining, I wonder if I would have stumbled across a giant bushfire rather than a forest.

Safe enough.

Confident I wasn't about to go up in flames, I grabbed some quick photos of the mountain.

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Tree growing on an outcrop.

And yet another skeleton!

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Final shot, looking up at the mountain.

I moved on before more skeletons could ambush me. I walked around the right hand side of the mountain, to the south, where more bizarre mountains jutted out of the far side of a large lake.

Mountains to the south.

The lake stretched off east, too. I could see the far side, but it would be quite a swim. I quickly crafted a boat and off I went.

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Heading down the river.

The thin river placed me before a giant, monstrous mountain.

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 The left side looked more welcoming. I climbed up past the sheep and looked down the far side.

Oh good. Another swamp.

It's the right weather for it, at least.

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I climbed up the sand dune and found myself in a desert where it was rather inconspicuously not raining.

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In the distance I could just make out another village. At first I was worried I had gotten lost in the storm and had managed to do a complete loop and come back to the village in the desert beside a swamp that I had passed through the day before. Fortunately, though, my fears were unfounded. As I drew closer, the village was clearly a new one, with the houses following a stepped path up a small hill.

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The main road through the village seemed to strike east, so I decided I might as well walk on through.

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The desert stretched on east beyond the village, but I wondered how close dusk was. If the day was nearly over, I might as well stay here. Sadly, though, the overcast sky wasn't giving me any help.

Looking back west.

I decided to move on and if it suddenly grew dark I could just dash back to the village.

Continuing east.

More mountains rising up to the south.

Still raining in a valley of non-desert.

As I continued on through the desert the sky suddenly cleared. I looked back to see if I was still on track. Sure enough, I was. But the day was, finally, drawing to a close. I walked on for a bit longer and stopped at its edge.

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Monument to the south.

More swamp ahead and a rising moon.

Time to make camp.

I built my tower in the sky and was about to level out the platform when the unthinkable happened: I slipped.

Ow.

Three and a half hearts! That was the closest my journey has come to ending in a long time! Luckily, I still had enough blocks of stone and dirt to get me back up onto my tower before any mobs found me.

I don't think I let go of the shift key for the entire night.

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