Disclaimer: Notch Owns Minecraft, and most everything in this story, castle and people names aside.
Author's Note: A little story I decided to write after having my first encounters with the Endermen in the 1.8 Pre-Release "Leak".
The Enders of Men
-The following is a collection of journal entries found in a book found one morning on the castle ramparts of Castle Creeperheade-
August 5th, year unknown:
It was another one of those nights, the kind where you see a bunch of those rat bastards outside of the walls, and you know how much they want to come in, and how much they can't. Cap'n doesn't want me killin' any more of 'em 'cause she says we're runnin' out of room in the storage sheds to put all the feathers, bones, gunpowder and strings. I think she's just jealous 'cause I'm makin' the rest of us guards look like useless little shits.
The nights are long here, as one could expect, and I'm alone while everyone else in the castle sleeps, makin' sure no Creepers decide to do any kamikaze shit while we're all nappin'. The Zombies are the real dumb'er'n hell ones, lemme tell ya. I watched a Zombie claw at the cobblestone walls today, tryin' to climb. CLIMB! Zombies! Can you believe that?! The little buggers don't have the dexterity to walk straight much less climb.
A Skeleton grazed me with an arrow tonight, nearly took my ear off if it had been a little higher. I know Cap'n said she didn't want me killin' 'em no more, but I can't let that little bonebag get away with almost makin' me prettier. So I knocked an arrow and split his skull wide open. If Cap'n's got a problem with it, I'll take the arrows and turn the bones into fertilizer for her mahself. Other then that, nothing really interesting happened tonight.
August 6th, year unknown:
Somethin' caught my eye tonight. Can't really tell you what it was, but it was fleeting. Something strange flashed in the corner of my eyes, and I don't think it's somethin' we've seen before. I tried to see what it was, but all I saw was a couple'a Creepers havin' a party with a Skeleton or two. Cap'n said that somethin' was built outside the castle walls tonight, about six hundred feet'er so away, near the edge of the forest. The loggers found it when they went out to gather enough firewood for tonight. Descriptions were a touch vague, one of 'em said it looked like a sand sculpture of a three-meter high humanoid figure with long, lanky limbs. Dumb fuckers broke it before any of us could take a look at it. Cap'n was pretty pissed about that, sayin' that if there are other people here (wherever 'here' is) then we shouldn't dismiss their attempts to communicate, and we should be lookin' for 'em.
Personally, I don't like it. That thing I saw tonight, coupled with what the loggers found? None of it makes any damn sense, and I'm starting to feel a bit uncomfortable. I'm sure I'll feel better about it this evening after I've slept, but I must get some rest for my shift tonight.
August 7th, year unknown:
I saw it again, whatever the hell 'it' was. It was too dark to see much of anything, save for a flash of grass-green in the far distance, near the treeline on the east side of the castle. It was in a mix of a few spiders, so I couldn't really get a good look. The trees are crawling with them lately, so it's no big surprise.
Spiders, I mean, not whatever that other thing was. I haven't told Cap'n about what I keep seein', 'cause I don't want her to think I'm hallucinatin' or nothin', but with what happened earlier in the day, and what I saw tonight and the previous night? Don't like it none.
August 9th, year unknown:
Haven't written for a few days, and fer damn good reason too. Remember those 'things' I kept seein' on my last two entries? Well, I saw one'vthem tonight, like SAW saw. Scariest shit I've ever seen. It stood... shit... nine feet tall with this blank expression on it's... I dunno if it even HAD a face. All I saw were those eyes, those green, eerie eyes. It was watchin' me from the knolls, starin' up at me and shit. We were both kind of studying one another, I didn't know what ta make of him, and I daresay he didn't know what ta make a' me.
It didn't do anything hostile, or even remotely aggressive, so I have no reason to shoot the bastard, but know this, if he DOES turn violent, I won't hesitate to put an arrow b'tween his eyes, and not give a fuck.
Loggers found another'a them statue things today. Same thing, made of sand, 'cept this time, it was closer, MUCH closer. They found it in the clearing about a hundred'er so feet outside the walls. No idea what or who built it, and I'm afraid I didn't see it be built. Whatever did build that statue, did it in the time it took me to walk once around the ramparts. Which is about six and a half minutes. That's an impressive time to build something so intricate so close to the castle. Cap'n says that if I see who keeps makin' them sculptures, I'm to call her. Think I will tomorrow, if'n I see another one'a them.
August 14th, year unknown:
Sweet mother of god. I don't know how to describe what happened tonight. I saw another one'a them things tonight, starin' up at me from the ground. I decided to play with it, see if it was smart, 'er somethin'. So I called down to it, told it that it could come up if it was friendly. Fuggin' thing just... vanishes into a puff of smoke. That's not the freaky part though.
As I'm lookin' around down there for this thing, I hear this breathin' from mah side. I look right and there it is! The fuckin' thing fuckin' TELEPORTED or some shit like that, up the castle walls, and right fuckin' next to me! Thing's taller'n me, and it grabs my shoulders with it's unending, unblinking stare, and I hear... voices in my head, tellin' me that 'this world does not belong to me' or some crazy shit like that. It opens it's mouth and... I don't even remember... I must have passed out or somethin', 'cause when I wake up next, Cap'n standin' over me lookin' all depressed like I was sleepin' on the job, 'er somethin'. Against my better judgment, I tell Cap'n what happened that night, and she just thinks I'm crazy.
That seals it, though. That thing was definitely hostile, and when I see that bastard next, he's getting an arrow, I don't give a damn what Cap'n says. He's getting an arrow.
-The following is an excerpt from Watch Captain Erizen Prophecy's Journal.-
...bringing the total to twelve. I'll have to tell Steve when I see him next to stop using the chickens as target practice, we can't afford the losses anymore.
Which brings me to my next point of offering. We lost a watchman tonight, Pipe, who usually watches the Ramparts at night. I found him asleep yesterday morning, looking ghost white. The strange thing about Pipe's 'death' though is that I'm not entirely sure if he even IS dead. We found his bow lying neatly on the ground, a quiver of arrows nearby, and his journal on his table. There was no... arrow-riddled pincushion to suggest a Skeleton, no charred body or structural damage to suggest Creeper, no Zombie infestation in the walls, so it wasn't those walking dead, and spiders can't climb the castle walls. I know I told him to stop sniping the creatures of the forest, and I've been coming down on him pretty hard of late... but would...?
No, I don't want to believe Pipe would just up and leave. He'd never survive in the forest, and he knows it. Hell, we barely survive in this castle, and that's with some generous rounding. He told me about something yesterday... some creature he'd never seen before, standing about three meters tall, and black as sin as he described. I thought he was just going crazy, loosing his mind from lack of sleep, or a messed up sleep schedule, something simple like that. Now? Now I'm not too sure.
The last entry in his journal unnerves me more then anything else surrounding his disappearance. I've seen Pipe's writing. It's shaky, unsteady and very informal. The last entry in his diary was done in a very steady, practiced, meticulous hand. It was a simple entry, one that chills me to the bone whenever I think about it. It read "We are Death. We are Legion. We are the Enders of Men."
Judging by the descriptions in the diary, and these 'Enders of Men', I've decided they are most assuredly hostile, and I am calling on all guards of the day and night watch. If you see any of these 'Enders of Men', they're to be killed on sight. Sword, bow, fists... I don't care how, just kill them. I'm not loosing another guard, or any civilians, to these 'Enders of Men'.