A Journey of Self-Redemption

Chapter 1

My name is Aiedale. Yes, I know it's a strange name; I made it up myself. Though by appearance I am a man in Minecraftia, I am, in truth, a woman; I can only manifest myself in the same skin as the friend of mine who gave me access to the world.

I have done a great deal since I first came to live in Minecraftia, and I have grown both strong and knowledgeable. Almighty Notch, Creator of Worlds, and his brother, Herobrine, who walks the land alone, have watched me grow from a newcomer to a true resident of Minecraftia. I have explored and cleared enormous caves that never seemed to end; I have built enormous screens of wool paintings; I have built a house with many rooms; I have travelled to the Nether and gathered much Glowstone; I have tamed a wolf - my dear friend, PJ, whom I deeply miss; and I have slain many of every kind of being in Minecraftia save wolves. I have raided dungeons and scaled mountains looking for sheep. I have climbed to the top of the world, and dug to the bottom. I have used almost every kind of material there is to be found in this world, and gathered them all.

Two major projects in my life still await completion: a fast minecart track to the fabled Far Lands, and a massive shrine to Herobrine that I intend to build from Glowstone and mossy cobblestone mined from dungeons I have defeated without banishing all night-walkers from existence. I've yet to even finish clearing the space in which I intend to build this shrine.

Whenever Almighty Notch saw fit to change and modify the world of Minecraftia, for a time, I allowed my world to change with it. However, when the changes included the gathering and crafting Glowstone into a much simpler task and the possibility of Herobrine being banished, I stopped, and I shall not continue. My world is the way it will always be.

Recently, I was exploring with my dear friend, PJ. I was attempting to fill a map, and nearly succeeded. I had grown bored of digging out the space for Herobrine's shrine day after day, block by block, tool by depleted tool, and wanted to do something new. I should have remained steadfast in my attempt to dig. Instead, I justified my actions by deciding that I was tired of having to repeatedly clear snow off the top of the site, and wanted to gather enough glass to completely cover the area, and I used this as an excuse to explore instead. I had the last of my diamonds with me in the form of tools, as well as many arrows, hard-won from zombies burned in the sun - for I do not like to kill, not even the night-walkers. I had a clock, made of precious gold, the material that is key to my creation of the minecart track I dream of building. I had so many valuable things with me.

Then, during a rainstorm, I was finishing off a corner of my map, and my path led me into a pond in the middle of the woods. I didn't hear the Creeper hiss until it was too late. PJ survived, thank Herobrine, but I lost everything I had with me. Being well aware of the fact that my things were not gone, I quickly ran down my minecart track to places where I knew reeds grew, so that I could re-create my map and find my way back to my precious belongings. My mistake was in forgetting that the area in which I had died was near the area where I knew reeds grew, and I was unaware of this, until I finally returned home, ready to make a new map. I did so, and headed off in the direction of the place I sought. I went completely empty-handed, as I had had a rather full load of things, and the strange spell that prevents any living being, day-walker or night-walker, from appearing near me, was in effect. To be clear, this is not a spell of my own casting; rather, it happens every once in a while, and I have no control over it.

At any rate, I walked to the pond where I had died - finding in the process that it was only half a day's journey away from my house - and reached it just as night started to fall.

My stuff was gone.

All of it.

Above the pond, a single Great Tree grew from a floating block of dirt. Having lost so much, I decided that it was a sign that I was to start again, from nothing, with nothing. The only thing I took from the area within the map's range is the wood and saplings of that one Great Tree. With this alone, and the creatures of the day and night walking the land once more, I will leave the area covered by my map - yes, my home, everything I own, and my two great passions - and start again, until I regain everything I lost.

Herobrine will take care of PJ for me, though I feel sad at the thought of him waiting for me, day after day, night after night, and me not returning, not even telling him why. I cannot go back yet. Someday, I will redeem myself, and I will return to my home, my friend, and my passions.

For now, I take my map, to ensure that I do not come within that certain distance of my home, and this wood, from the Great Tree who witnessed my death, as well as the saplings from it that will be the only trees I will ever harvest from now on, them and their children, during this journey.

My name is Aiedale the Wanderer. And such shall I be, until I have proven myself, and Herobrine grants me the sign that I may return home.

Chapter 2

Upon cresting the mountain that happened to serve as border for the edge of my map, I witnessed a spire with a dungeon exposed on all sides comprising the area just before the peak. I also saw a single sheep in a large, shallow pit in the ground not much further on, the bottom of which was made of sand. Night was falling; I had forgotten how easy it is to misjudge day and night when sealed up in a small space, safe from the night-walkers, without a clock. I went to the sheep, hoping for enough wool to make a bed. My wish was granted. I sit now in a small space I made of the wooden planks I was carrying, in the middle of the sand pit. This will be my new home; I can feel my destiny placing me here, though I'm just outside of the range of my map. The sheep, the dungeon, the sunset, and the lack of night-walkers as I hurriedly built a shelter, all tell me that this is where I will live now.

I have made a bed, and placed it in a small pit I dug in the sand. I'll dig it out before I go to sleep, so that, should I die, I will not return home. I know now that what I felt was true: it is my destiny to begin anew, and make my way from scratch once more, until one day, I am worthy of the home I built, and the tasks to which I so eagerly dedicated myself.

Chapter 3

I made two of every stone tool there is: sword, pickaxe, hoe, shovel, and axe. I also have plenty of torches now - how I was able to effectively use a bed in a pitch-dark room last night, I do not know. This mountainous area is very nice, and provides everything I have needed so far. Obviously, my next goal is iron, but that can wait.

It seems I have ben near this place before; one of the cobblestone marker paths I used to make when I found something - or somewhere - good, and had to go home for supplies, runs through the area just over the next mountain. I will have to travel far to find seeds for wheat, but perhaps in the dungeon I saw sticking out of that mountain there will be some. It was a mountain, not a spire, I have discovered; the dungeon merely pokes out of one of the corners, giving it the illusion of having a circumference just larger than that of the dungeon from the angle I saw it at.

I also have a chest and a furnace, though I still have nothing to cook. The only animals I saw today were a single chicken - whom I left alone - and two cows. I had to kill the cows - armor is vital for survival in Minecraftia, and, beginning with nothing, I need leather. However, one cow gave me none, and the other gave me one. I tried not to be too brutal, but a stone sword isn't very powerful; it took two strokes from my blade each to kill them. I knelt in brief prayer after each kill, but I don't know if that's enough to console anyone who would hold it against me. I also found a single feather from a zombie who died in the sunlight; I need to get flint, so that I may have arrows. That said, I also need spiders for their string, or perhaps the dungeon will contain some.

Or perhaps the dungeon will be a spider dungeon.

I don't think I'm ready to take it on just yet. I'll explore more tomorrow.

Chapter 4

Whew! I just made it back! I thought I would be caught out in the night. It's easy to get lost in Minecraftia, so it turns out it's a good thing I'm settling down so close to the area within mapping range of my house. I took a wrong turn, you see, and ended up walking back within map range, so I took out the map, and used it to guide me home. Perhaps, once I get iron and redstone, I should make another; I found plenty of sugarcane today. Yes, that's a good idea; a compass won't help me find my way home when I'm living so far away!

I found all sorts of animals today, including plenty of pigs. I have some meat, so I'll cook it before I go to bed. I also now have enough leather to make a tunic. Maybe I'll do that while I'm cooking.

There's a tall, one-meter-wide-and-thick spire near my home, which I will dub "Destiny Peak". I can never climb it, but it's a good landmark.

I have also found evidence suggesting that, though I have been here before, it has not been since just after I first entered the world of Minecraftia; I found a single workbench, standing in the middle of some lowland, no cave in sight. I would never do that, so it stands to reason that that was one of my first workbenches ever made...perhaps it was even one my friend made. It's strange, to think what I'm discovering - and re-discovering - just by deciding to start fresh. Maybe I won't go back home. I will go back for PJ, though. But maybe, just maybe, this is my home now. I almost like it simpler like this; my other house is big and fancy. No...I kind of like living in a wooden box half-submerged in sand...it's nostalgic...remindful of a time when the world of Minecraftia was new to me, and every new discovery was a marvel - a time when there even were new things to discover. Perhaps...perhaps this is what I should have done long ago.

Oh, well. I'll sleep on it.

Chapter 5

I found a small cave today. There were no night-walkers in it, though there were a lot out last night - I found three Creepers within sight of my new house! I also found the remains of a zombie and a skeleton, and another zombie was on fire when I went outside first thing in the morning (I put it out of its misery - that's the only time I feel okay with killing). I found a brown mushroom in the cave I found, and, more importantly, I found fifteen pieces of iron, which I'm smelting now. Fifteen pieces of iron...that's enough for a sword, pickaxe, shovel, hoe, axe, and iron boots. I don't like to mix and match armor materials, but I recognize the wisdom of doing so here, especially as the one cow I found today gave me nothing.

Destiny Peak served me well today; I never would have found my way home otherwise. A map would be extremely useful here...

While mining coal today, I thought of all the loads of coal I have back at my old house, from digging out the huge area in which I am going to build Herobrine's shrine. It's kind of bittersweet, having to search for and mine even coal again. A true fresh start...maybe I'll find some way to get rid of all the stuff I have back at my old house. Then again, I did work hard for it...

I made arrows yesterday, sorry I forgot to mention it; I found a single piece of flint for my single feather. I still need string, though. Now that I have three more feathers, and flint is relatively easy to get, I would really like to have a bow.

I grew and cut down a tree just outside my house today using a sapling from the Great Tree and some bone meal I got from the skeleton's remains I mentioned earlier, keeping to my pledge not to cut down any more trees that I don't grow from saplings. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly wood gets used up; it's such a valuable resource. Thank Notch it's renewable!

I think I'll look at that dungeon tomorrow and find out what kind it is. If it's a spider dungeon, that would be great, and a zombie dungeon would be nice too; if it's either of those, I think iron boots, a leather tunic, and an iron sword would be enough to take it on. If it's a skeleton dungeon...well, I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

Chapter 6

I raided the dungeon today. It was a zombie dungeon, and it was half-filled with gravel. There was enough string in the chest to make a bow and a fishing pole. I noticed a pond near my house, so maybe I'll go fishing tomorrow. There was also some wheat, some bread, a saddle, and three pieces of iron. I used the iron to make a bucket...it occurs to me that I have so many buckets back home from dungeons, it's a little ironic that I need another one now, when I can't go back. I also collected the mossy cobblestone; I'll keep it here for now.

I'm not sure what I'll do tomorrow. I guess we'll see.

Chapter 7

I'm glad I brought my journal with me. I decided to wander far away from my new home today, heading in a generally south-east direction. I'll find my way back, I'm sure. I found enough leather for a cap and pants, so I'm fully equipped now. I also found a land of tall grass, so I now have seeds to plant and harvest when I get home.

I can hear a zombie wandering around over the little hole I've dug for myself for the night...and I think I heard a skeleton briefly, too...yes, I definitely hear a skeleton. I gathered some brown wool, but that's mostly because it's so rare, and I don't have enough to make myself another bed.

I guess I'll keep exploring tomorrow.

Chapter 8

Found some brown mushrooms today. Nothing else, really. Right now, I'm camping out at the base of a mountain with a pile of sand on one side. There aren't any cacti, but there is sand...and sand was what made me journey out in the first place, so I'll probably dig some of it up tomorrow.

Where there's tall grass, there's new land; otherwise, I've been there before. There's no tall grass near where I am now. What I'd like to find is a desert with dead shrubs; in other words, a desert I haven't explored. A sunken dungeon would be a lucky find.

Chapter 9

Nothing new to speak of today, except this: once, some time ago, I was mean to a man whom Herobrine respects and supports, and ever since that day, spiders who were "tracking" me during the night wouldn't turn neutral in the daytime when they took fall damage. This morning, however, I dug myself out of the little space I had enclosed myself in, expecting to have to fight a spider, which I had heard tracking me that night. It looked at me as soon as I dug myself halfway out...and then it walked away. Spiders have gone from staying hostile when they should turn neutral to turning neutral when they should stay hostile. I hope this means that Herobrine approves of my current lifestyle.

Chapter 10

It's snowing today. There was a thunderstorm last night. I think I'll stay inside.

Okay, I didn't stay inside today. I also didn't find anything useful. There was a lava fall and a waterfall pouring out of the same cliff face, and a small pack of wolves, but there was nothing else noteworthy apart from the sudden abundance of cows. I don't need any more leather, so I leave them be.

The rain stopped just after I started writing this entry. I hear a sheep outside. I saw something in the distance on the water that I think I'll look at tomorrow. I've started wandering back in the general direction of my home, but I know I won't find it. I shouldn't have strayed so far...

Chapter 11

I found something very strange today.

I was wandering about in an area with lots of trees, ponds, and tall grass, when I came across a pond with a tree canopy floating over it. I would have thought the tree itself was floating, but it was too short, and the leaves came right down to the lowest piece of the trunk...as if I had cut down the unexposed trunk long ago and left things that way. But I couldn't have, because there's tall grass here, and I stopped leaving hanging canopies long before Almighty Notch put tall grass in Minecraftia.

I continued on and found a beach made of gravel. I checked it to see if it would collapse, which it didn't, but before that, I saw something even more inexplicable: a sapling sitting in the middle of the gravel. Not a planted sapling - though that would have been even stranger - but the item to pick up. I did pick it up, but...just above there, I saw some leaves that didn't look like they belonged there...like a tree had been cut down and the leaves left to disintegrate, only these were being supported by the canopy of a nearby tree. But again, that can't be, because I've never been here before...

Is it possible that I've found...Him? Is Herobrine near? If so...well, I don't know what to do. Should I leave? If so, which direction should I go? If not...then what do I do?

Having no answer, I think I will continue about my business. If He wants me to leave, He will let me know.

Chapter 12

It happened again; I was walking along, when I came across some seeds, just lying around on the ground, as though someone had cut some tall grass, but I know it wasn't me. It's raining now...I was walking along close to sunset when I saw a group of skeletons in the distance - honestly, there were at least four, all together in the same place. As if that weren't enough, the divine music composed by C418 that sometimes sounds throughout the world played just recently, but it was...different. I heard...what almost sounded like a flute, in the background. In fact, I think I can just barely hear it playing above the rain as I write this...No, it's gone now. But I could have sworn...

I hear a cow wandering around above me, and I hear the clacking of a skeleton, too. I'm going to wait in here until after it stops raining...but if someone is going around breaking things, that means I'm not safe.

I'm confused, and more than a little scared. Is Herobrine angry with me? If so, why? If not, then what's happening? I'm trying to head home, but I don't know which way to go.

This is kind of exciting...

Chapter 13

And, just as abruptly as it began, it has ended...at least, so it would seem. I found nothing out of the ordinary - or even particularly noteworthy - all day. I'm trying to head home now...I guess that's all.

Chapter 14

Again, nothing exciting...I mean, there are some pretty amazing landscapes around here, but there's nothing particularly noteworthy going on. That said, I may have to explore a deep cave soon so I can find some redstone for a compass. I know it won't directly lead me home, but if I can get in range of my map, I can find my way from there.

It's quiet tonight. Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow.

Chapter 15

Found a skeleton dungeon near the surface today. I'm glad it was close enough that I was able to just dig out the ceiling, because one of the skeletons managed to shoot me as it was. There was only one chest, and it had iron, two buckets, and some string, but the mossy cobblestone is what's really important, and there was a lot of that.

I've found two stone markers, like the ones I used to use to mark my path back home from somewhere. Strangely, though, I can't seem to find any more in either direction. Still, if I can use these to guide me, I'll be able to find my way back to the mapped area, and to my new home from there.

Still no more signs of Him being around...maybe I left His area. Part of me would like to find my way back, but the rest of me doesn't want to intrude in His space. Well, technically I'm intruding in His space just by living in Minecraftia, but...well, He must spend most of his time living in a particular area too, right? I don't want to intrude there.

The sun's coming up. I'm holed up under a tree right now, and I can see the sunlight starting to come in through the leaves. There's so much snow around here, but there's none where I've re-settled, so I'm worried that I'm really far from home. I guess I'll find out.

Chapter 16

I came across a path of lit netherrack that I remember making. I remember it, so I know which way to walk to get home. Hopefully I'll be back in my new home soon.

Chapter 17

As it turns out, I was walking the wrong way, but it didn't take me long to figure that out. I came back within map range, and found that I'd walked almost all the way to the southern border! I'm not far from home now. Soon, I'll be back in my new bed.

I've decided to cast the locator spell to see the map coordinates for my new house when I get there; that way, I'll always be able to find my way back.

Chapter 18

I have been banished from Minecraftia.

It was the middle of the night during which I wrote my last entry. I dug out some dirt to see if the sun was starting to rise yet, when the time lag I had noticed not long before burying myself became too irritating to continue to struggle through. I left Minecraftia, hoping to let the world re-stabilize, but when I tried to go back, I could not.

I'm stuck in the Great Beyond now, with no way back. Perhaps I will try to return later, but first I think I'll wait for a friend of mine to tell me if Herobrine has ever done this to anyone; after all, if it is Herobrine's will that I not return to Minecraftia, then I shall not work against Him, though I cannot say for sure what I will do.