Chương 26: 7
Chapter 7 Hell and Back
A chance discovery would make my beloved Windlance even more lethal. I came across it right after my trip to Braavos. I had bought a huge array of tools and instruments and only really paid attention to my Inventory to see if I still had room.
It wasn't until I got back and started unloading my haul that I realized just how much I had bought. It was way more than the thirty-six spaces I had available too. And that is how I stumbled upon a whole new category of incredibly useful items, containers.
The tool belts and harnesses actually acted as packaging and made the entire set of tools count as a single item. Even better it inspired me to experiment. After all, chests aren't the only way to store items in the world.
In the end I found two new items. Doubtless there are others, but I'm satisfied with the two I discovered. The first was a money pouch. It actually had four slots, each able to hold a stack of coins. It was convenient.
The second discovery was the best. Quivers. A quiver, like the money pouch, had slots. It only had three, but each could hold a stack of arrows. The best part was I could build a quiver in an ammo hopper. My Windlance was never going to run out of ammunition.
Sadly there were limitations. Neither could be stored while holding anything so my brand new archery kit didn't work with them. Still, it was a small price to pay because with the quiver I finally felt ready to brave the Nether.
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I made sure to sleep in a bed before unblocking the portal. I don't know if I can actually respawn, but no use taking chances. I'm a bit nervous since my first plan had already failed.
I wanted to build some iron golems to protect me. The problem was I couldn't. Four blocks of iron and a pumpkin later and nothing. Just an odd shaped set of blocks. I really hope the Arcane Workbench has it listed under there. Not really sure what else could be there.
Standing there in front of the portal I make one last check of my equipment. I have several melee weapons and two bows, all enchanted in my hotbar. I also have a stack of food and cobblestone. I even have a shield. It's neat being able to pop out a shield when I wanted. Still a bit sad each hand didn't get it's own hotbar. I guess the lack of restrictions on worn gear made up for it.
I was wearing my usual set of plate and chain armor. I also had a quiver at each side. I wanted one on my back but I just wasn't tall enough to use it comfortably. Like my weapons, everything I wear is enchanted.
Bracing myself I step through.
From a first person perspective the warping of the portal is really disorienting. The world seems to twist and shudder. I am really glad I don't get motion sick.
My first impression of the Nether is that it's hot. I guess it makes sense since water evaporated in the game but I hadn't really thought about it. After all you can walk next to lava and even carry it in buckets in the game.
Well the Nether is hot. Even with my resistance to basically everything I can feel it. My second though was something along the lines of thank god I'm not floating in mid air. Not being attacked was also a good thing.
Oddly enough I seem to be in a hallway. I'd think I was in a nether fortress but everything was still netherrack. I don't waste much time. Seeing the coast is clear I dig up the floor, walls and ceiling.
I expand it a bit, but soon enough I had a nice fortified cobblestone room. A glowstone lamp ensures nothing spawns inside. I'm not crazy enough to chance using a bed but I do create a few chests. This should work as the start of my new base. Like the Romans I intend to periodically build fortified areas as I explore.
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For now though I retreat. I already realized a few things just from my brief incursion. First, I need to make sure everything I have is fireproof. My quivers already looked a bit scorched. The second was that I was going to need a lot more resources. I already used two stacks of cobblestone. I forgot how much I normally go through when I conquer the nether in the game.
I exit the portal and immediately am face to face with a zombie. Reflexively I lash out. Fighting a zombie in close quarters is much worse than a human. They don't have vital spots and pain doesn't bother them. I take several hits before I manage to cut him apart.
Ok, so securing the other side does not stop zombies from spawning from the portal. Good to know I guess.
It takes two days to fix my equipment and gather more supplies. There is no way I'm running short again. Most of that is just because I had to wait for another wave of spiders to refill my energy levels.
On the other hand I wouldn't say my time wasn't productive. Netherrack is amazing. In the game it's mostly a fragile dirt-like block that occasionally turns into a fire hazard. It's only real use it to make Netherbricks.
Right now one it it's more annoying properties is perfect for me. Netherrack can easily be set on fire and never stops burning. It doesn't consume any fuel and nothing less then submerging it will put it out.
Unlike in the game I can break blocks up into smaller chunks. Conveniently, after converting a piece I gained a recipe to convert a block of netherrack into nine chunks. Less than if I do it by hand but so much faster.
I wasted no time experimenting with it. I now have candles, torches and lamps that never go out. I was even able to replace the fuel source of a Furnace and Metal Fount with netherrack. This is almost better than magic, this is a source of unlimited energy! This opens up so many possibilities.
I was so excited I almost didn't want to go back. Two things convinced me otherwise. The first was that my smith was busy and I had already given him a list of projects to work on. Most of what I was thinking about would take an actual workforce to put together. The second reason was that I was out of netherrack.
When I entered the Nether this time I was fully prepared. Entire stacks of pallets of stone filled most of my inventory along with one of dirt. The dirt was for a crazy idea I had. The spiders destroyed any large scale life, including plants so growing many trees wasn't feasible for me. Sure I had an indoor orchard, but it wasn't easy to set up.
I can't really dig down since who knows what lies beneath me besides the hordes of spiders. I'm also not comfortable setting up elsewhere yet. So I'm going to build a tree nursery in the Nether.
Sure people do it all the time in the game, but this is real life. The idea of growing trees in basically hell just seems ridiculous.
It works beautifully. Once I excavate a large enough area I reinforce it with stone and start planting. Unlike in the real world physics here seem truer to the game. Gravity doesn't seem to have a hold here as my tests with floating blocks proved.
Sadly it does mean my favorite tactic of dropping stone pillars on things won't work. Still it means I don't have to limit myself and I don't. I expand explosively, only partially fueled by my desire for more netherrack.
What I find is strange.
The Nether is pretty random in the game. Here is seems even worse. Case in point. I seem to be inside a normal mining dungeon. Except it's in the Nether. It's really weird seeing railroad tracks scattered along neatly dug tunnels.
It seems I can't rely on my game knowledge to keep me safe.
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I advance, my shield holding stead as it is bombarded with arrows. Having made it a few feet closer I drop another wall to give myself time to recover. It's netherbrick. Not as good as stone, but I've long since run out of that.
I check the shield. It's pretty damaged, but should hold for another push. I make sure I have a spare in my hotbar just in case.
Most of my equipment is heavily damaged. I resist the urge to block the tunnel and retreat. The end is in sight. I caught a glimpse of the green of the moss stone blocks before putting up the wall. Deep breath.
I charge with my shield in front. I keep a close eye on it's health bar. As soon as it empties I switch to my spare shield. It's now or never. It's my last shield.
I'm finally close enough. That's a lot of skeletons. More than I suspected. I thought I had thinned their numbers more than that. Too late now. I switch to dual swords. I need to cut their numbers down.
The fight's a blur made worse by the heat shimmers and my sweat. I don't really feel heat much, but three days of combat has taken it's toll.
I finally break through. I don't waste any time. I drop a glowstone lamp on the Spawner and turn around to face the remaining skeletons. I drop a wall to keep them from shooting the lamp.
When it's over I collapse. So tired.
I had suspected this Nether was different. I wasn't paranoid enough.
The first undead I ran into were zombies. These were not normal zombies. Standing fifteen feet tall and wearing bronze armor they were terrifying. They were also automatically hostile.
Fighting giant armored zombies wasn't too bad since all the corridors were short. They had to crouch to chase me and that let me pick them off. The only thing they seemed to drop was giant zombie heads and blocks of rotten flesh.
The problem came after I looted the first one. The head was labeled Giant Zombie Villager Head. Villager. As in people to trade with and can be cured of zombiesm. In theory.
So I shelved that problem. Easy enough, just wall them in and go around. The mining dungeon seemed full of them so I left. That's when I hit problems.
Outside the area was much closer to what I remember from the game. Twisting tunnels and large caverns. Lava everywhere. Ghasts and Magma Cubes scattered around.
There was one key difference. The horde of skeleton archers. They were seemingly endless and worse were intelligent. They didn't just rush forward. They tried flanking me, they tried ambushes. Hell they actually tunneled around walls I dropped. The first time they surprised me and I also got surrounded.
They even chased me back into the mining dungeon. They also had some way of communicating because I ended up cut off from my base and the portal. So I fought.
I couldn't take them on directly so I had to ambush them in small groups. Fortunately although they wre intelligent they weren't smart. A series of ambushes and traps let my thin their numbers out.
It's expensive though. I ran out of stone on my second day. I'm just glad I kept a furnace. With it I was able to make Netherbrick. It slows me down but I couldn't afford to let them surround me.
I ran out of food too. Never expected to be here that long. Just lucky bone meal still works. I'm pretty sick of baked potatoes though.
From there I just needed to get close enough to find out where the skeletons were coming from. That's when I found it. The spawning room. Just like in the game a large moss stone room with a Spawner inside.
Thankfully I can store a Spawner without a Silk Touch enchantment. I just dig under and when it's floating store it. Then I started hunting down the rest of the Spawners.
There were eight all together. None of the others were as difficult as that first one. Honestly if it wasn't for my fear of dying I might even have considered it tedious and repetitive. Of course if I could respawn this would have much easier.
It didn't escape my notice that the Spawners seemed to be in the same relative location as the underwater outposts I had torn down in the overworld. The mining dungeon also seems to correspond to the maze. It seems the Nether and the Overworld here share some kind of connection.
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I'm running two days late when I finally go to Lorath. The next time I'm going to make sure I have plenty of time before trying something that risky. Well, hopefully there won't be a next time.
"Maekor!" Moira practically bowls me over when she charges forward to hug me. I grin down at her cheerful face. She really is adorable. "You came early!"
"Moira! Milord I'm truly sorry..." I wave off her mother's apologies even as I spare a nod for Trent. I'm thinking furiously. I was sure I had spent three days in the Nether. Afterwards I spent another doing random chores. I was supposed to be two days late. If I wasn't...
I keep thinking while absent-mindedly nodding to Moira's babble. It's become a routine by this point since Moira considers my her personal hero. I don't really have the heart to stop her.
"I guess I am early then. I guess I lost track of time." How is it that I haven't gotten around to making a calendar yet? "But I guess if I'm not late I don't really need to give you this cake then."
I grin at her protests. With a flourish I pull out a cake. It was a new recipe I had made based off my memories of devil's food cake. I grin as I watch everyone's eyes grow wide. I've actually never brought a cake before. I just hope they don't get sick trying to eat the cubic meter of dessert.
There's a reason I'm feeling so generous. The loot from the spawning rooms had more the most part been very generic. There were two exceptions. The first was cocoa beans. Unlike in the game it grew its own trees which was good. I had no way of getting fresh jungle wood.
I had actually spent a few hours using the cocoa to replicate several of foods I remembered fondly. Maybe I should open a restaurant later on?
The second was a music disc. It looked like a small, thick record, the kind which only held a single song. It was much stiffer than vinyl though. The song itself was just ok, I wasn't a real fan of any of the music in minecraft. No the recipe I got was the important thing.
Glass, Clay, Iron and Redstone is a very odd mixture. I'm even sure how it works, but than again the game seems to follow it's own rules. The discs made are of course blank.
I've already bumped up my plans for a device based off a phonograph to Locke. I can't wait until I have a recording device and can make my own records. Of course I need to find musicians and … hmm, I guess my music problems aren't gone just yet. Damn.
I console myself with watching the Barnes family eating cake. I've always had a soft spot for kids. Moira is making quite a mess. Kids it seems are the same everywhere. I note the grateful looks Matilda keeps shooting me.
She might be loyal enough for me to work with. Maybe give it a few months just in case. It's not like I need the money. Which reminds me that I need more people. Raising and training followers myself would be the best. That took time though.
I'd have to run some tests, but time might not be an issue for much longer.
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Sadly I was horribly wrong about the passage of time in the Nether. I figured my sense of time was just distorted during the constant fighting. What I remembered from the game wasn't any help since I'm pretty sure chunk loading is not the same thing as time passage.
The upside was that having cleared out so much of the immediate area I had a fairly large chunk of the Nether that was uncontested. I massively expanded my base and even built a set of outposts based on the ruins of the skeleton spawners.
I have yet to locate a Nether fortress though so the zombies remain trapped in the heart of my territory. Until I can brew the appropriate potions I can't really try to cure them. Until I know it won't work I don't want to chance losing a potentially valuable resource. If I can recruit actual giants...
The Windlance project is coming along slowly. I really wish I could have picked up some Myrish craftsman. All the smaller parts are taking Locke forever to make.
On that note I broke down and actually built something by hand. It wasn't really created so much as constructed from parts and pieces of other items I scavenged. It didn't even look that good since I was more concerned with making sure all the parts worked.
The first thing I build is a cut down Dispenser. It was simple really. I just smashed one with a normal sledgehammer and picked through the pieces. Everything my power works on is more magical than anything so the weird bow shaped cluster of glowing red runes, that's what I wanted.
Like everything my power constructs, once it's broken the majority of it fades out of existence. I had only brief glimpses each time. It was a good thing I had essentially unlimited resources. I went through a lot of dispensers.
Right away I notice the runes are using the same letters as the Enchanting Table. Thanks to my work with enchanting I have a fair idea on how to read what they say. After a lot of testing I found I could even duplicate it.
I'm pretty sure this isn't how my powers do it, but I found I could inscribe runes by filling carved grooved with a mixture of redstone and wax. It uses way more redstone than any recipe calls for but it works.
The dispenser enchantment means I can't squeeze it into something smaller than a foot across. Still, a foot wide tube is actually able to be wielded. Sadly, not by me until I grow some more.
I'm able to something similar to hoppers. They look more like pipes and can't store anything, but they use up way less space when I'm done. I also tore apart a set of brass instruments and figured out how to build a miniature redstone circuit.
Lots of very shoddy work later and I was the proud owner if a brand new recipe. I labeled it the Arrow Storm. Basically a bunch of mini-dispensers mounted on a ball joint turret base. It had dedicated arrow storage behind along with large brass handles that contained the redstone to power the dispensers.
It wasn't particularly powerful, but thanks to the numerous Infinity enchantments on it, it will make up in volume what it lacks in power. And boy did it. The array was five across and two high, meaning it shot ten bolts at a time. Thirty bolts a second wasn't enough to darken the sky, but with enough of them working together...
The mental image makes me even sadder I can't enchant the dispensers.
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