tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10368720890974733442024-03-18T09:00:45.612-07:00Towards DawnLeaving the Miner's Life BehindBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-58893685171330762132012-04-19T00:19:00.000-07:002012-04-19T00:19:35.511-07:00Towards Dawn: The Complete AdventureAs requested, here is a video of the entire adventure, from 2010 to 2012, from alpha to 1.0, from day one to day sixty-two. All 2300-odd photos. Enjoy.Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-92210235474225447652012-03-31T01:22:00.000-07:002012-03-31T01:22:57.016-07:00Day Fifty-Eight (And Onwards)[This is the final post in the Towards Dawn story. If you are new to this blog, perhaps you want to avoid reading this post and instead start from the beginning.]
I have a confession to make.
For more than a week now, I've started to grow weary. After fifty-seven days of walking and sailing, I don't so much feel like I have seen all there is to see, but I have seen all that I need to seeBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-44319856326826930842012-03-29T01:06:00.000-07:002012-03-29T01:06:18.398-07:00Day Fifty-SevenThe blizzard continued long into the night but let up as the moon was descending towards the eastern horizon. The moonlight covered the snow-capped mountains in an eerie blue light.
.
.
.
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I headed off among the trees, keeping the ocean to my left. It threatened to twist around in front of me at some point (I had crafted a boat the night before for that very purpose), but a bridge of Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-41281260672301481092012-02-18T20:12:00.000-08:002012-02-18T20:12:37.852-08:00Day Fifty-SixI caught the faintest glimpse of the sun cresting the horizon before a sudden downpour hid it from view. I would not see it for the rest of the day.
.
Worse still, the many zombies and skeletons wandering around beneath my pillar refused to catch alight. There was nothing for it but to lower myself down and pick them off with my bow.
.
Once on the ground two more zombies came out from Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-50050028658147442912012-02-08T21:51:00.000-08:002012-02-08T21:51:08.242-08:00Day Fifty-FiveAfter a break for Christmas, New Years, and an interstate move, I returned to my nomad atop his pillar between a desert and a forest. Dusk, my trusty canine companion I had only the briefest meetings with before climbing my tower, sat obediently below me, seemingly unfazed by the zombies and creepers lurking around.
Looking east through the forest ahead.
And back west across the desert.
&Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-82190381826477030182011-12-19T23:24:00.000-08:002011-12-19T23:24:58.022-08:00Day 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. Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-82591219750416383302011-12-14T19:33:00.000-08:002011-12-14T19:33:56.981-08:00Day 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 eastBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-75894811236293241732011-12-13T01:01:00.000-08:002011-12-13T01:01:24.784-08:00Day Fifty-Two
.
The sun rose over the swamp, still 90 degrees from where I was still convinced it rose the previous day. Though, that mattered little now. The daw was where the dawn was. Quite a few skeletons were hanging around the nearby hills, and I waited until they caught on fire before I descended. Still, I ended up dancing with one on the ground before he finally dropped.
On the way down.
Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-59270156982665586912011-12-08T19:37:00.000-08:002011-12-08T19:38:44.965-08:00Day Fifty-One
.
Dawn rose over the forest ahead as I began chipping away at my pillar. Not before I was greeted by a friend, however.
I see you behind that tree.
Been a while since I had to use my bow.
A spider observed the conflict from atop a nearby tree, but he seemed content not to join in and let me put down my sign and carry on in peace.
.
I trekked on through the forest, passing more than a Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-35101293946675875632011-11-30T22:14:00.000-08:002011-11-30T22:14:21.822-08:00The First Fifty DaysBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-68202976696058401612011-11-30T03:39:00.000-08:002011-11-30T03:39:04.190-08:00Day Fifty
.
I spent my first night on land at my workbench. I made new tools; I unloaded old junk; I devoured several bowls of mushroom stew and crafted several more. Through the night, several spiders watched through the house's windows, but moreorless behaved themselves and made little noise. When I looked up from my workbench, sunlight was creeping around the village.
In return for their Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-78414038087440308482011-11-20T23:09:00.000-08:002011-11-20T23:26:29.605-08:00Day Forty-NineLand!
I was so excited to get out of my boat and go to shore. I did not even wait for the zombies to catch fire; the moment it was light enough to see my surroundings, I went ashore.
Waiting for the sun.
From whence I came.
Up we go!
Oh man. Oh man.
Goodbye, my trusty boat.
And off we go!
Before me was a steep-yet-climbable hill crowned in conifers (or so the Minecraft Wiki tells meBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-61535455305738867972011-11-20T00:34:00.000-08:002011-11-20T00:37:47.098-08:00Days Forty-Seven and Forty-EightThere are only so many photographs one can take of the ocean before they all look the same.
Day Forty-Seven. More ocean.
Day Forty-Eight. More water.
And so the ocean went on for two more days with no end in sight. Then, in the middle of the forty-eighth night, something miraculous happened. I stumbled out of my mind-numbed haze of just holding down 'w' as I realised why the stars were Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-34889741730182530282011-11-15T18:41:00.000-08:002011-11-15T18:41:39.781-08:00Days Forty-Five and Forty-Six
I continued my trip across The Vastest Ocean Of All Time Ever throughout the night. As the sun rose on Day Forty-Five, no land was to be seen.
Nothing to the east.
Nothing to the south.
Nothing to the north.
Onwards, then.
I spied a small island early in the morning and pulled over to place my sign.
.
The morning continued as the last three days had continued: with ocean and Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-28797609206995703422011-11-06T21:02:00.000-08:002011-11-06T21:08:43.923-08:00Days Forty-Two to Forty-Four
Sunrise. Finally.
It was the longest night ever, but the sun was finally rising. A new sunrise of a shade the nomad had never seen before.
.
Looking east, I remembered where I had fallen asleep: on the edge of a continent, looking across east to the southern point of another island, and what seemed like a vast ocean to the south of that.
.
.
The island ahead looked mountainous Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-63733995337837290792011-09-20T14:56:00.000-07:002011-09-20T14:56:32.654-07:00Down off Your Pillar, Back on Your Feet.
I owe you an apology.
I never meant to abandon Towards Dawn. I don't think I ever anticipated just how much effort and time it would take to continue, nor how mind-bogglingly popular it was going to be. Since writing the last day waaaaay back in March, uni got intensely busy and I also started picking up more freelance writing work.
And I would have been content to just let it die, but two Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-24450709041393953372011-03-15T04:37:00.000-07:002011-03-15T04:37:48.372-07:00Day Forty-OneAfter dreaming he traveled across the world to attend GDC and then back to Australia to begin writing a thesis, the nomad woke up as the sun was rising on Day Forty-One. The mountain to his east blocked the view of the sunrise, but it wasn't long before slithers of red light crept along the northern and southern horizons.
Looking south from my pillar.
The only mob I saw all night, waiting Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-7331092685707326232011-02-23T02:59:00.000-08:002011-02-23T02:59:44.103-08:00Day Forty
Skeleton watches the sunrise.
My fear that mobs would swim out to my island in the night was unfounded as the sun began to rise. I watched the skeletons and zombies burn on the eastern shore and the few spiders wander off, disinterested, before I climbed off my tower and swam ashore.
Finally!
Desert ahead.
I followed the grass to the south and crossed the small sand-bridge. A mountain Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-72079881284123912192011-01-08T22:02:00.000-08:002011-01-08T22:02:40.600-08:00It feels like nearly every second post this past month has been an apology for not posting more. Sadly, this is another one. I got ill near the start of December, and then there was a death in my family, and then it was Christmas, and then I got ill again, and now I am in the process of moving houses. All this time, I've had other writing deadlines to reach and Towards Dawn (and, even worse, my Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-21030967034716264492010-12-13T22:49:00.000-08:002010-12-13T22:51:40.428-08:00Day Thirty-NineThe 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 soBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-54220230408728296052010-12-08T20:52:00.000-08:002010-12-08T20:52:55.211-08:00Day 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.
.
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 Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-20647598682295157272010-12-05T18:45:00.000-08:002010-12-05T18:45:21.926-08:00Day Thirty-SevenBefore I get started, someone requested to see my inventory, so here you go:
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A couple of notes: every night I craft a chest in which I place all the useless things I pick up during a given day such as dirt blocks and spider webs (and a flower, it would seem). This picture was taken at night, pre-chest, so things are a bit messy. I always carry at least two picks and two spades as well as a Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-39063110782966305562010-12-02T05:24:00.000-08:002010-12-02T05:24:23.207-08:00Day Thirty-SixThe night passed slowly. I spent what felt like weeks atop my pillar, watching the skeletons and creepers wandering below on the sand. I took a few pot shots to pass the time.
.
Dawn at last.
Looking south.
Nearly time.
Flames began to lick at the zombies and I began my decent, cautious of the many creepers I could see off to the south.
Down we go.
Wait a minute. That isn't a cactus..Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-1896989538546452010-11-22T01:03:00.000-08:002010-11-22T01:03:22.995-08:00A Brief HiatusMy apologies for the utter lack of updates this past week. My life became very hectic very abruptly and I now have more writing commitments that I must deliver in the next week or so than I anticipated having. Towards Dawn will return to its regular schedule early next week. I appreciate everyone who has been reading and commenting with motivation and suggestions and I'm sorry for the delay. I'llBrendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1036872089097473344.post-19619078370565824442010-11-16T23:37:00.000-08:002010-11-16T23:37:59.277-08:00I Knew That Mountain Looked Familiar!
Thanks, Glynn and Michael!Brendan Keoghhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01772283679871140397noreply@blogger.com4