Ruben's Adventure
Chapter 4: Civilization Revolution
Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft, just the characters involved.
Three cycles had passed since the group had built their city, after the first cycle the group elected Jack to be their leader, while he wasn't the most up to date on the newer skills he was a determined man who could make people work when commanded. Ruben was currently harvesting in the farm with Grrr, their dogs were sitting on the edge of the field watching them as they chopped wheat, sugarcane, and carrots from the ground and replanted the seeds. One of Grrr's dogs looked up and barked a warning, Ruben and Grrr lifted their heads to see Mark riding toward them with two horses tethered behind him.
"Come on! Someone's at the gate and Jack wants everyone there now," He said, tossing the reins to Ruben and Grrr.
They mounted their steeds and took off, heading toward the city's gate, a construction they'd made combining Jack's knowledge of the material known as redstone, and its ability to funnel power into devices like pistons when they were activated from levers and buttons. The gate was a simple construct of fence-posts that were aligned in a 5x2 column in the middle of the wall, activating a nearby lever would cause the gate to open and close as pistons pulled and pushed the fence-posts in place. The trio arrived and found Jack and the others standing by the gate, Adam was on top of the wall, his bow drawn and at the ready, aiming down at the newcomer. Ruben dismounted and climbed up on the wall and saw there were actually two people standing outside the wall, one was a man wearing iron armor and carrying an iron sword on his waist, he also had a horse that wore iron armor, a bow was strapped across his back and a quiver of arrows with it. The other one was a girl wearing a chest-plate made of iron. She looked up and saw Ruben add his bow to Adam's.
"Who are you, and why have you come here?" Jack asked.
"My name is Samuel, and this is Elizabeth," The armored man said, indicating himself and then the girl.
"We have been traveling for days, our kingdom was destroyed by a small group of black-clad warriors,"
"Martin and his group you think?" Sarah asked Jack
"Likely, but we don't know if they're with them and this is just some yarn they're spinning to get us to let them in," Jack told her.
She nodded and turned her attention back to the two standing in front of the gate.
"Do you know what the black-clothed man is called? One who could teleport and wielded a glowing blue sword?" Jack asked.
"I do not, nor do I know of him personally, my companion knows nothing on this subject either, she is just a simple summoner," he said.
"A summoner?" Sarah asked, "Didn't Martin have one with him in the attack on the cave?" She asked.
"He did, but he had a Spellblade with him, this guy doesn't look like he knows what enchanting is," Jack whispered in reply.
"What services can you offer us?" Jack asked.
"I was a knight in the service of our late king, and as I said earlier, my compatriot is a summoner of capable skill, she could summon constructs to assist in the defense of your city,"
Jack thought about it, "Let me discuss with my citizens on their thoughts,"
"Of course," the knight replied, bowing his head slightly, the girl did the same.
Jack looked around as the group gathered together.
"What do you think?" Jack asked.
"I smell no deceit," Grrr replied.
"They look genuinely innocent," Adam said.
Ruben nodded to agree with Adam and Grrr.
"I think we should check them for excess gear, to see if they aren't with Martin and are just wearing something they made to cover their tracks," Sarah said.
"That I can agree with," Jack said as he looked between everyone, "Anything else?"
The group shook their heads.
"Alright, you're welcome to our city, but first, we must check your equipment for any signs of deceit, anything that catches our concern and you will be banished from the city, does this suit you?" Jack asked them.
"Go ahead, we have nothing to hide," The knight replied.
"Alright then," Jack hit one lever and Samuel moved first.
He lead the horse and Elizabeth toward the city, as he stepped through the gate he dropped his pack on the ground and let the group look through it, nothing was there except from food, and there wasn't much. Elizabeth did the same when she made it through the city, the group found blocks of iron, snow, and a few pumpkins in her pack as well as a stone sword.
"Seems they're story checks out," Jack said, "Close the gate,"
Sarah hit the lever and the pistons shoved the fence-posts back into place. Adam and Ruben slid down from atop the wall and came over to greet the newcomers.
"Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Jack, a veteran adventurer and leader of this town," he said, "This is Ruben, he's also an Adventurer, and an apprentice to just about everyone in town,"
Rube nodded a greeting.
"Next to him is Adam, our Huntsman and local animal tamer, then Grrr, our Wolf-Master, Paul, our Enchanter, Sarah's our Alchemist, Mark's the Herder, and Bill, our Blacksmith," Jack said, pointing to everyone as he introduced them.
They nodded as he pointed at them.
Samuel looked around "It seems you've got a good city going,"
"We try, the desert isn't the most hospitable place, we have to send parties out to hunt animals to bring home as well as wood for fires and tools," Jack said as he led Samuel and Elizabeth through the city.
The rest of the group dispersed, going back to their chores.
Jack led them past the housing district, where eight identical wooden houses stood, each with their own unique additions, in front of the homes was a large oasis, in the center a fountain of cobblestone rose out of the water. Before them was the blacksmith, where Bill was currently at work forging swords, melting ore, stringing bow, and fletching arrows.
"Over there is the animal pen where Adam and Mark work, keeping our animal populations up, and breeding the horses for speed and endurance, they're vital to our survival so we try to breed the fittest we can get," Jack explained, indicating a set of fences off to the right of the blacksmith.
Mark looked up and waved at them as he rode a horse around the paddock, Adam was currently feeding a pair of cows some wheat and watched them produce a smaller cow.
"To the right is our store house and farm," Jack said, indicating a small, square building and a set of dirt amongst the sand to the right of it, the lake was centered in the city.
"You've seen the walls," Jack said.
Ten block tall walls stretched all the way around the city, leaving five blocks of space between them and the nearest building.
"Why did you leave so much space?" Samuel asked.
"We did that so we have room to expand, once a wall of this size is put up, it's not just something you can tear down and take with you," Jack explained.
Samuel nodded and looked at Elizabeth was who had a light smile on her face,
"Do you mind if we un-pack our things and take some food? We've been on the road for a long while and are very hungry and tired," Samuel asked.
"That's fine, I'll set Sarah and Ruben to work on a house for you two, and you can take mine and Ruben's house for now," Jack said.
"Thank you kind sir, we will reward your gratitude and your decision to allow us into your fair city through dedicated service," Samuel said, bowing his head and putting a fist to his chest.
Sarah did the same, bowing from the waist atop the horse.
"Also, leave your horse with Mark, he's got a good hand for the creatures and will make sure it's taken care of," Jack said.
"Your kindness knows no bounds sir," Samuel said happily.
Jack patted him on the shoulder before he turned and left to go get Sarah and Ruben, Sarah was currently in the storehouse, collecting some of the ingredients needed to make her potions. She had made a point of getting everyone outfitted with her potions, so that runs could be made a little easier, so far she'd gotten most everyone a potion or two, and with Ruben's help the workload was completed a little quicker. Jack walked in and saw Sarah rummaging through a chest.
"Sarah, I've got a job for you and Ruben, those two newcomers need a home built within the city walls," Jack said.
Sarah grunted an agreement without looking up, she produced the item she was looking for: a small, pink, coral-like object, she pocketed it and then opened another chest, grabbing some wooden planks, two beds, and a door.
"Did they want windows?" She asked.
"Leave it as a base for now, they can add on as they see fit," Jack explained.
She nodded and took a step forward, then something dawned on her, she half turned and opened the chest again to grab a stack of torches. Jack nodded to her as she walked out of the storeroom, he followed her out and went to work on his own projects. Sarah approached Ruben who was leaving the fields and she told him about their job. He nodded, pocketing his hoe and went with Sarah and they found a place that had been cleared away and set to work. The sun was high in the sky when they began, but had sunk to the horizon when they finished.
Ruben wiped the sweat from his brow and as he looked on the house he'd built. A simple structure, four blocks tall with a spiral roof. Light emanated from inside as the torches burned brightly, the wooden door gave a completed look to the building, and two soft beds could be seen inside.
"We did a good job," Sarah said.
"It's easy when you have a pattern to follow, you remember the first few houses we tried?" Ruben asked.
Sarah giggled as she recalled the houses they'd first attempted, large structures that had empty rooms, small structures that held just a bed.
"I think we did good with this," He said as he and Sarah began walking toward their own homes. The others were coming back to bed for the night as well.
"That's true," Sarah said as they reached her home, she opened the door and waved good-bye to Ruben before laying down in her bed.
Ruben met Samuel and Elizabeth on the way to the new house, he nodded a greeting.
"Your home is finished, so you can spend your time looking around, it's not much to look at right now, but with a bit of personal touches it'll be something that'll serve you well,"
"Thank you," Samuel said.
Elizabeth nodded her thanks and the two passed Ruben and entered their new home. Ruben walked into his and dropped onto the bed, his armor and dual-diamond swords were all in a chest located at the foot of the bed, along with his potions, axe, hoe, pickaxe, and shovel. He also had a few books, some bones, fish, and ink sacs. His dog was laying on the opposite side of the house on a black-carpet part of the floor. Ruben's eyes began to droop close, and soon he was fast asleep. He slept for hours and the next morning awoke to a happy sun shining over-head. He got up out of bed and collected his tools, it had been three days since he'd been on a run for wood, so it was his turn again, he grabbed his armor, swords, and bow, donning the armor and tying the swords to his waist, he slid the bow over his shoulders and slipped his quiver over his back.
He left the house and headed for the horse pen, he arrived and found his partner Paul waiting for him. The Enchanter's armor glowed in the pale light of the morning.
"Ready to head out?" Paul asked.
Ruben nodded as he opened the fence gate. He walked into the middle of their horse herd and selected one that was black with a white diamond on its chest, mounting it he waited for Paul to mount his steed before they set off together, as they rode out of the paddock Ruben leaned over his horse's side and shut the gate. At the main gate, Adam was waiting for them, as they approached he hit the levers that activated the door and the fences slid apart, opening the way for them.
Ruben and Paul continued in a Northward direction for about ten minutes before arriving at the forest they'd called home before. Earlier missions had yielded animals for food and tools, saplings were being collected so they could form their own tree farm and stop with the missions. Ruben and Paul were sent out to day to collect a few stacks of wood and to bring home any saplings they could.
Ruben took his axe out, a simple tool of iron, and dismounted his horse, handing the lead to Paul who stood by and watched, Ruben cut the tall tree down and soon it began to rain with small saplings, after the leaves had all decayed they moved onto the next tree in line, repeating the process.
"So, do you think this'll be the last run?" Ruben asked.
Paul considered his question before making his reply, "I think so, we've got more than a dozen saplings back at the city, and with all this wood we'll have enough sticks to make tools with for a long time,"
"What do you think Jack's next plan is?" Ruben asked.
"If I had to take a guess, it'd be to establish a mine that starts in the city limits,"
"That could be useful," Ruben said as he felled another tree.
"It would give us a limitless supply of stone and ores, and it would all be secured from the safety of our own home, it would be very useful," Paul said.
"Switch," Ruben replied.
The two switched places, Ruben on horseback with Paul on the ground chopping trees, the lead tied to the saddle on his horse, his bow at the ready.
"I wonder why Martin has let us survive this long," Ruben pondered.
"If I had to take a guess I'd say he's waiting to find a way into the city, sure he could teleport inside, but then he'd be at the mercy of all of us, he'd need to find a way to get his troops in with him," Paul explained.
"And with Elizabeth making golems to protect the city, it'll be that much harder I'd think," Ruben said.
"Golem creation is an interesting form of Magic, never much took an interest in it myself, but you should ask her to give you lessons on creating and controlling golems, you never know, it might save your life one day,"
Ruben nodded. The rest of the mission was spent in relative silence, the occasional 'switch' being said to indicate when one of men had gotten tired and needed rest. As the sun began to set Ruben and Paul turned their steeds toward the city and took off. It took them another ten minutes, and soon they were safe within the confines of the city's walls.
"Did you see that skeleton back there? Almost had an arrow on me," Paul said.
"Lucky he missed your horse, these guys aren't the bravest and tend to buck when they're hit," Mark told him as he took the leads from the two runners.
"That I am," Paul said
"We should be going," Ruben told Mark who nodded.
"Alright, see you around fellas," Mark turned and waved farewell as he put the horses back in the paddock.
Paul and Ruben deposited their wood and saplings in the storage shed. As they left the small building Ruben parted ways with Paul, seeking out Elizabeth as his friend had suggested.
He found her and Samuel behind their house, Samuel had a stack of pumpkins lying on the ground next to him and was currently giving Elizabeth a boost up so she could put a pumpkin on top of a pile of iron.
"What are you doing?" Ruben asked.
"One moment Sir Ruben," Samuel said with a note of struggle in his voice.
Elizabeth set the pumpkin on top of the iron and muttered a quick incantation, the iron came to life and merged with the pumpkin forming a creature Ruben had never seen before. It was a large being, that stood a whole block taller than he did, it had large, red eyes and long arms made from iron, it was covered with vines as if it'd been around for centuries. It looked at the group before it and Elizabeth began to chant again. The creature looked to each of them, and then outward toward the city as she spoke. When she finished the golem began to move toward Ruben, his hand instinctively reached for his sword but Samuel put his hand on Ruben's arm.
"Don't do that, you'll anger it," He said.
The creature continued to lumber past them and into the city, where it began to patrol the area, looking for anything dangerous.
"What was that?" Ruben asked.
"An iron golem," Samuel replied, "One of three constructs that can be made with the use of golemancy,"
"Golemancy?" Ruben asked.
"The magic of creating a golem, I'm not versed in the craft, but Lady Elizabeth is,"
"So I've heard, in fact that's why I'm here, Elizabeth, would you teach me to create a golem?" Ruben asked her.
She looked to Samuel and nodded energetically,
"She would be delighted," he said.
Ruben looked between the two curiously, he opened his mouth to speak, but Samuel cut him off.
"You're going to ask why she didn't reply herself aren't you?" Samuel asked.
Ruben closed his mouth and nodded.
"Well, you see, Lady Elizabeth was born differently than the rest of us, she wasn't able to speak by the age of three cycles like most other children, but she had a knack for golemancy and learned the language in a mere four cycles, where it'd take eight for most others," Samuel explained.
"So you can't speak?" Ruben asked her.
She shook her head.
"Then how are you going to teach me?" He asked.
She turned and lifted up a pumpkin, handing it to Ruben. He took it and then she handed him two snow blocks.
He looked at the components curiously, "What am I to do with these?" he asked.
She lifted her robe slightly and used her foot to draw a diagram, three blocks placed in a tower shape, the bottom and middle blocks had an S in the center, the top had a P.
Ruben looked at the illustration then at the components in his hands. He made the formation as shown, but nothing happened.
"What?" he asked, looking at Elizabeth.
She used her foot again and wrote the incantation in the sand: "Efil wons siht evig" it said.
Ruben repeated it to himself quietly, and when he was sure he'd memorized it he looked at the tower and repeated the magic spell.
"Efil wons sigt evig!" he said.
The snow came alive and murged with the pumpkin, forming a small creature with no arms or legs, only a large lower half, a smaller torso, and a large pumpkin head, the creature looked at him before it began to flash red and eventually collapsed, turning into a pile of snowballs.
"What happened?" He asked, looking to Elizabeth.
Elizabeth drew in the sand again, drawing a circle, and then making another square with an S in it, she drew an = sign in the middle, then slashed it out.
"What?" Ruben asked.
Samuel looked at the diagram before nodding, "I remember overhearing this lesson as I passed through the castle one day," he said.
"The instructor told his students that sand and snow do not mix, making it impossible to summon Snow Golems in the desert," he explained.
Ruben nodded, "What else is there?" he asked.
Elizabeth drew three wavy lines, the same crossed out = sign and the snow block.
"Water?" he asked.
She nodded.
"So I can create a snow golem in water either?"
She shook her head.
Then she drew a picture of a zombie and the snow diagram, then she drew a circle halfway between the two.
"It throws spheres,"
She nodded as she erased the zombie and drew him further back.
"And they knock the target backwards?"
She nodded as he looked up at her.
Then she erased and redrew the zombie further and further back each time.
"It can't kill the creatures can it?" he asked
She shook her head,
"Then it's only good as a support for a real warrior to play correct?"
She nodded and then erased the diagram altogether drawing a new one. Four blocks with an I in them made up the lower half of a + sign, the top extension was missing, but was quickly added with a P block.
"That's the one you were making before weren't you?" he asked.
She nodded and handed him the components.
He made the pieces into the diagram as shown. He looked to her for the incantation.
She wrote in the sand: "Efil nori siht evig"
Ruben repeated the phrase and the creature came to life, looking down at him with its large red eyes.
"Now what?" Ruben asked.
Elizabeth began to write in the sand, Ruben began to repeat what she wrote to the golem, and after she finished he completed the incantation and the creature began to walk away.
"What was that?" he asked.
Elizabeth looked at Ruben, indicating him with her finger, then she looked at Samuel and indicated his sword, crossing her arms in a defensive stance, then she threw her arms out to indicate the city.
"What?" Ruben asked, confused.
"I think she means to say that the incantation you said means that your golem with protect the city," Samuel said.
Elizabeth nodded.
"That's amazing," Ruben said.
Elizabeth handed him more Iron Golem components and went to work making her own, she left the large incantation in the sand for Ruben to use, and the two began to produce golems, with Samuel helping Elizabeth to reach the top of her golems on occasion.
When they had run out of materials and made approximately three golems each, they heard feet running through the grass toward them.
"Guys, come quick!" Sarah shouted.
They turned their attention to her as she burst from between the houses, "Someone's at the gate, and he's wearing black armor!"
The whole group looked surprised before grabbing their weapons and following Sarah. They all arrived quickly to find a man wearing a suit of black leather, a diamond sword glowing with magic was strapped to his waist, a set of potions Ruben had never seen before was also on the man's belt, with a few splash poison potions.
"Who are you?" Jack asked, holding a torch up to show the man's face.
"I am known by most as Blake," he said.
"Blake, what brings you here," Jack asked.
"I seek refuge from the assassin Martin, who has declared war upon all assassins," He said.
"Why should we allow you into our city?" Jack asked.
"I can bring you the means to defeat Martin, or to at least thwart him from entering your city and destroying it," he said.
The group looked at Jack who signed,
"You are welcome to enter, but you must show your belongings before that," he said.
Blake nodded as the gate opened and he stepped through, he deposited his sword on the ground, as well as his potions and poisons, and opened his pack to reveal food and a large amount of strange green orbs.
"What are these?" Jack asked, holding one up.
"Ender Pearls, they are infused with the power of the Enderman they come from," Blake said, "All assassins carry them as part of our standard kit,"
"What do they do?" Ruben asked.
Blake held his hand out, and Jack deposited one of the pearls in it. Blake put his arm back and threw the pearl, as it landed the sphere cracked, releasing a large amount of purple-pink particles, the citizens had followed the orbs flight path, but when it cracked they were surprised to see Blake standing in its place, he walked over to them and they saw he was injured slightly, his nose bleeding profusely.
"What happened?" Jack asked.
"The pearls weren't designed to be used by Adventurers or Villagers, so there's a cost to using them, you take a bit of damage when used," Blake explained, "I've heard there are enchantments to reduce the amount of life it takes from you, but I'm not experienced enough in magics to try," he said.
The gates closed as Jack nodded.
"Thank you for bringing this to our attention Blake," he said, "Because of that we'll allow you to live in our city,"
"Thank you," Blake said nodding his head and lifting his pack and weapons, returning them to their positions.
Jack introduced everyone and set the group to work on building Blake a home, when they were done and began to disperse, Blake grabbed Ruben by the shoulder.
"You, Ruben correct?"
"I am Ruben, yes," he replied.
"I have a gift for you," he said, handing Ruben a stack of Ender Pearls.
"You are the one apprenticed to the citizens, I think as payment for letting me stay I shall teach you the way of Assassination, hopefully you'll be able to help me then if we have to fight Martin,"
Ruben took the orbs and slid them into his pack. "Thank you," he replied.
Blake nodded, "We'll begin training tomorrow, bring only those ender pearls, your blade, and your bow," Blake said.
Ruben nodded. The Assassin turned and entered his new home, lying down in the bed. Ruben traveled toward his own home and soon fell asleep in his bed, excited at the prospect of learning how to defeat Martin the next morning.
