Year 1121
Chapter 1
Joshy Boy clutched his chest as he suddenly spawned into the world. His breath finally caught up to him as everything began to render around him and he soon found himself in the middle of a vast plains. Tall grass textures and blossoming flowers swayed in the gentle wake of the cool morning breeze that brushed against his brown skin. The plains continued its stretch westward, until it could no longer be seen beyond the haze that lied further ahead. To the south of his position was a deep forest hills and to the east was a wide winding river that flowed north into the unknown beyond the plains. The morning sky was painted in shades of pink and orange as the sun began its slow ascent and chased away the lingering shadows of the previous night.
Joshy Boy shifted in his black leather jacket and adjusted the gray hood attached to it. He tugged at the short brim of his black fedora then shoved his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans. He started walking the plains, enjoying the soft crunch of grass underneath his black boots. Early spring had come in the time of his arrival and new life began to emerge from the previous winter season. Bees buzzed and butterflies fluttered from flower to flower gathering nectar. Birds sang their songs amidst the trees whilst rabbits fled back into the safety of their burrows. Flocks of chickens and turkeys clucked and gobbled as they hunted bugs and seeds upon the forest floors.
Herds of Friesian cattle and Angora goats and even flocks of Merino sheep grazed the grass blocks of the plains as they wandered. Pigs of different breeds sniffed around for truffles within the deeper part of the forest hills and frogs croaked loudly along the bank of the river. Deer moved cautiously throughout the wooded biome to avoid wolves hunting in their packs. There were even hedgehogs that scuttled about into the tall grass textures as Joshy Boy continued his exploration. But there was something strange about these animals that the player suddenly noticed.
Each type of animal had a modular blocky form – even creatures as small as the bees and butterflies. The only exceptions to this rule were both the wolves and the player himself. They possessed a more realistic nature in contrast. Joshy Boy had fingers to flex and toes to wiggle within his boots. He had arms and legs he could bend and had a more roundish physique. The wolves had similar features, being able to bend their limbs and twitch their ears and wag their long tails. As he wondered over this new discovery, he spotted something else in the forest and froze.
Dryads manifested from the trees and stretched themselves out after a long slumber during the winter season. They appeared in two variants – oak and birch – and greeted one another before wandering deep into the wooded biome. Their hair was made of grass and their legs of tree bark and their dresses were fashioned from leaves. Their eyes were the color of tree sap and their smiles were gentle and sweet. A couple even waved at Joshy Boy when they noticed that he was observing them.
Next were the honeybees: monster girls with the characteristics of buzzy bees. Each had antennas that arched from their heads and had glossy black sclera with light blue pupils. Their wings buzzed as they causally flew by and each were equipped with a large stinger. One of them glanced at Joshy Boy as she buzzed by and stopped to observe him. She floated gently in place, bobbing up and down as she looked the player over. After an awkward moment of being examined – and determining that he was not a flower – the honeybee lost interest in Joshy Boy and causally moved on.
Suddenly he heard the sound of thundering hooves far off behind him and turned to see a tribe of centaurs galloping across the plains. They were half human and half horse with both male and female counterparts. Each carried with them the long bow as well as a quiver of arrows and strapped to their horseback were small saddles. Accompanying them was a small clan of satyrs that were prancing along, playing their wind instruments and toasting the new year. These were beastmen with the characteristics of goats and consisted solely of females. Strapped to their backs were short swords and broadswords made of tin and extra flasks of wine hung at their side.
They were just like himself and the wolves when it came to their appearance where they boasted the same realistic features and physique. He watched on as each beastman type settled into their respective camps, the centaurs settling upon a small hillside and the satyrs settling closer to the forest hills. Each tent within the centaur camp housed a small family of four or five, for young ones were seen trailing closely behind their mothers. There was more of a comradery among the satyrs in their camp – on the other hand – and no more than two or three stayed under the same tent. Soon campfires were lit to stave off the morning the chill that the previous winter season had left behind.
It was still dawn when Joshy Boy had finished his observations and began to wonder what it was that he was going to do in the strange new world he found himself in. But again his attention was drawn to the beastmen when they emerged from their camps; the centaurs taking to the plains and the satyrs traveling south toward the forest hills. A small band of centaurs galloped toward the herds that grazed along the plains with bows raised and strings drawn. They felled the male counterparts of the herds with terrifying precision, scattering the startled animals in every direction. When an animal was slain by an arrow, their body would disappear in a plume of smoke and leave behind its meat as well as either its leather or its wool. All but the meats were abandoned by the half-horsemen.
While the centaurs hunted in the plains, the satyrs gathered near and in the forest hills. They were going about breaking food gardens that were scattered all over the two biomes and it was at that moment when Joshy Boy took notice of them. There were two kinds: windy gardens and shaded gardens. Windy gardens looked a lot like wild wheat growing in the plains, whereas the shaded gardens looked like lush bushes growing in the forest hills. Whenever a satyr broke one of the two, an assortment of different foods would drop from them. These goat-like females were picky in their gather and took only grains and berries they would later use for wine and ales. When the beastmen had gone back to their camps, Joshy Boy seized the opportunity to retrieve the abandoned items.
There were many food items left behind by the satyrs, but very few hides of leather and wool blocks abandoned by the centaurs. Joshy Boy found it difficult to carry everything in his arms and began to wish he had a place to store the items for safekeeping. He suddenly noticed the straps around his shoulders and shifted to see a big blue backpack fastened to his back. So he put the items down and swung off his backpack to set it to the ground. And when he unzipped it to open its inventory, a six-by-nine grid suddenly appeared before him and displayed several other items at the top row. There was a tan book, a stack of torches, some kind of jerky, and a small hatchet made from flint.
He stored the extra items in the free slots then looked upon the tan book before selecting it. It popped into his hand where the title read Crafting & You and he wondered about the contents written inside. So he closed the inventory of his backpack and sat down underneath an oak tree, then cracked open the book and began flipping through the pages. There were a whole manner of different crafting recipes for various tools, weapons, blocks, armor, and even primitive machinery like furnaces and smokers. The book listed numerous different materials that could be used such as stone or iron as well as their many uses other than mere tool or armor upgrades.
The tan book was going to be essential for Joshy Boy's early progression and so he returned to the first few pages to learn about getting started. The first thing he needed was something called a workstation – which consisted of three different working tables and a pattern chest. All could be made from wooden logs and planks and Joshy Boy quickly remembered the flint hatchet he found inside his backpack. He reopened its inventory and selected the hatchet, then checked the sky to judge the time of day. It was now mid morning with high noon only a few hours away. I hope the dryads won't mind if I cut down a few trees, he thought.
The rest of the morning was spent felling trees and collecting the wooden logs he needed for his workstation. The dryads had fortunately left Joshy Boy to his work, so he showed his gratitude by planting the acorns that had fallen so that new trees could grow. By the early afternoon, Joshy Boy had accumulated a stack of oak logs and fallen sticks and stored everything into the inventory of his backpack. He needed to find a spot to set up his own camp so he could rest and eat lunch. He decided upon the plains and made his campsite there; it was completed with a tent, a sleeping bag, a large wooden chest, and the workbenches he had gathered the wooden logs for.
As he sat and ate under the afternoon sun, Joshy Boy pondered over what he would do in the lands around him. He thought of the assorted food items that were now stored in his wooden chest, recalled the different animals that roamed the biomes, and kept looking out into the plains with an idea forming in the back of his mind. They were largely flat and were the ideal location for cultivation and agriculture. He began to visualize where everything would go; from his cozy little farmhouse to the large stable where his animals would live. He imagined himself sitting in front of a fireplace and...fire, he repeated inside his head. He snapped from his daydream and quickly came to a realization. He had no campfire and the last thing he wanted was to be shivering in the cold on his first night.
He remembered a recipe where he could craft a campfire block using a few sticks, three wooden logs, and either a single piece of coal or charcoal. But that was the one ingredient he lacked and it would require him to find a cave if he wanted to obtain one. He would not have much luck finding a cave in the plains. It was much too flat and lacked cracks or tremors and was sparsely populated with oak trees. He considered trying his luck with the forest hills until he looked over toward the winding river in the east. There was a small hillside on the other side of the river where he guessed that – with a little bit of searching – he would find a cave that provided what he needed.
Putting the workbenches to use, Joshy Boy crafted himself a sturdy wooden pickaxe, then headed over to the winding river. He leaped over a small jump upon the bend of the river, as its main body was too wide and deep. It was late in the afternoon when he began his search and for an hour he wandered the hillside, keeping near the river as much as he could so he would not lose his way. At last he found what looked to be an opening of earth and hurried over to it. He stopped and stared fearfully into the gaping darkness that was below. The descent was steep but manageable with a drop that was only two blocks deep. Though he could climb in and out, he would make for an easier way later on.
So he selected his stack of torches in one hand and carried his wooden pickaxe in the other, then at last began the trek down into the depths of the cave. It was cold and musky. Droplets of water echoed off the stone block walls and sounds of crackling and crumbling reverberated around him. Joshy Boy learned that he could place his torches upon the stone walls to make illumination and navigation easier, though he was careful on spreading them out. He crept carefully and quietly, feeling more and more unnerved as he traveled deeper into the darkness and the light of the surface fading away. There were various metals that glinted off the torchlight that caught his eye and he noted the many layers of different stone blocks that colored the cave: marble, limestone, slate – as well as a few others.
He turned a corner and placed another torch when he finally found what he was looking for. There was a small vein of coal ore blocks embedded into a wall of andesite. He grinned with relief and took to mining out the entire vein so he could hurry back out into the surface. But as he was breaking the first block, Joshy Boy suddenly heard something from the darkness. There was a click and clack of footfalls echoing off the cave walls, followed by what seemed to be a rattling of bones. He paused to listen and suddenly heard the sound of a bow being drawn back. And just then, an arrow came flying out of the darkness and whizzed mere inches passed his head.
He let out a yelp and scrambled for the surface, the clicking and clacking of footfalls picking up pace behind him. Another arrow shot passed him and grazed his right shoulder, causing the player to nearly fall. Despite fear and desperation gripping him, Joshy Boy risked a glance back at his pursuer. Following closely behind was a skeleton, now fully exposed in the torchlight. It was blocky in form – much like the animals the roamed above ground – but appeared to be more simplified rather than modular. It carried a short bow in its right hand and had countless arrows stashed in its worn quiver. Again it drew its bowstring and loosed another arrow, which nearly pinned Joshy Boy's ankle.
Joshy Boy looked ahead of him and saw that he was nearing the surface. He picked up his speed and made a great leap unto the ledge of the drop, then climbed out as quickly as he could. He was now back out into the surface where he could see trees and the sky and the winding river ahead. There was no more clicking or clacking behind him nor were there any more arrows whizzing by. The skeleton had ceased its pursuit and remained within the depths of the cave. Only when he was back on the other side of the river did Joshy Boy allow himself to finally collapse from exhaustion. His heart thundered inside his chest and his brow was beaded with sweat.
He sat up quickly and searched himself and when he found what he was looking for, his heart was filled with relief. In his hand was a single piece of coal and now he had all the ingredients to craft a campfire block. Dusk had shrouded the plains and forest hills in eerie shadows by the time he had returned to his campsite. He quickly crafted the campfire block and place a few blocks away from his tent. Fire immediately crackled to life as soon as he placed the campfire down and Joshy Boy felt comforted by its warmth and light. Finally he placed a few oak logs together near the fire and sat down, taking a moment to breathe easy after his terrifying encounter. The sound of crickets filled the air as night fell and white rabbits darted to and fro across the plains. An eerie hoot of an owl resounded from the forest hills beyond and frogs continued to croak from the bank of the river. Everything else seemed to have gone to sleep for the night – save for himself and a few partying satyrs at their camp.
The campfire seemed to ward off danger and monsters and bring about a secure peace that Joshy Boy felt reassuring. A half moon rose where the sun had once been and offered little light for the biomes beneath it. He gazed up at the twinkling stars above with a new sense of awe and wonder. They were all bright and countless and seemed to fill the endless empty void that stretched out into the unknown. Then he returned his attention to the fire that danced and flicked embers from its wooden frame. His eyes grew heavy and his body drooped and his head hung low as he began to nod off. So he retired to his tent and crawled into his sleeping bag after removing his boots and his fedora.
He had set his backpack next to the wooden chest outside of his tent and soon he was underneath his sleeping bag where he faced the campfire. Howls erupted from deep within the forest hills. As Joshy Boy drifted deeper and deeper into sleep, he began to imagine himself being accompanied by a loyal wolf that would help keep his animals in check. But he was uncertain of whether or not he would be able to tame one. And much lesser he did not know what he would name the thing. But as the last of the howling sailed into his ears, Joshy Boy became determined to find and tame one of the wolves that roamed the forest hills. At last everything grew silent and the player felt himself fall into a deep slumber.