Into the Depths

I've had a very fruitful, albeit frightful, night. I'm not exactly sure what happened out there, but it was certainly not normal. Not that I should be surprised with everything else I've encountered in these strange lands.

Good news first! My experimentation has worked, and I was able to fashion me some rudimentary tools that allow me to harvest the minerals here. I was worried it wouldn't work, but sure enough the wood pick I fashioned was enough to allow me to collect stone. The stone, after a lot of hard work with a wooden pick, isn't in the greatest condition.

Next to the some ore, I noticed what appears to be iron deposits; however, my wooden pickaxe is not enough to even dent it. Even if I could crack it, I fear it may be too ruined to use at that point.

However, after collecting quite a bit of stone, I had a marvelous idea. Stone pickaxe! It was just so obvious. With that, I was able to collect some iron for future use!

Not sure what I will be able to do with it, but like the seeds, I'm sure I'll find something out! Maybe even some iron tools if I can get a hold of enough!

And then, I found a different ore. A very, very useful ore. Coal!

And my stone pickaxe did its job expertly!

It also paid off double in this case as the removal of the coal revealed even more Iron ore!

The stone wasn't just useful for a new tool; though. I was able to forge some nice steps out of it for my mine shaft to allow easier access to the lower levels. And the coal was useful for making some nice torches to light my way.

I spent so much time collecting stone, coal, and iron. I don't even know what I'm going to use it all for yet; however, it was far lighter than one would imagine. I do think this again has to do with the strange properties of this place.

Regardless, I had completely lost track of time. As I emerged from the mine (I had used the previous "hole in the wall" cave to start my shaft), the moon had begun to rise and the last rays of the sun were sinking below the horizon.

There I was, naked and defenseless under the rising moon and overloaded with various ores. This was where the frightful journey home started. I heard the moans began. The snicker snacker of whatever travels these lands at night.

Then, there it was. At long last I found the source of the moaning. I couldn't make out what it said; however, it did look like it was once human. There was a strange familiarity to it as well.

It wasn't friendly, and it was just like the other odd creature I had encountered during the day: violent. It was coming for me. It clearly wanted me. To eat, to kill. Both? I don't know, and I didn't intend to stick around to find out the answer!

I had to drop a bit of my ore, but I managed to make it back into my outpost. The creature did follow me back, but was unable to get through the door. I was safe, for now at least.

Progress

It's been a bit since I've been able to write, but I've been working quite a bit. It takes a lot of work to survive here alone. But I've been making progress. Thanks to the wood, I was able to create new tools. With those tools I could collect more wood. And, as expected, the seeds from the trees came in handy, but more on that later.

I was able to terraform a small hill side into a base with the batch of tools I made. It's not exactly "home", but it'll do until I can get some spare wood to build something else.

And then the seeds! Oh, boy, let me tell you about them! First of all, the trees! So, there is something strange about this place, that's for sure. I planted the seeds not long after I returned from my foray into the forested area.

It didn't take long at all. In fact, I would say it was only a few nights when I awoke to find a full forest. It was outstanding.

The first batch was a bit unexpected, and didn't exactly pan out. Well, it did pan out, and there was a lot of wood to collect; however, I admit that I didn't really consider the placement. Many of the trees grew together, and it was just a huge mess. I was able to collect a lot of useable wood and even more seeds.

I took a moment to plan out the planting this time, so I think the next batch of trees will be a bit more manageable. Now, what causes the trees to grow so fast is a bit of a mystery still. I have noticed that the day and night cycles here are shorter than what I can remember. Yes, I know, I can remember mundane things like day and night cycles, but not who I am.

However, I still think this mystery is something big. Something that has to do with the bigger picture here, but I just haven't grasped it just yet.

The same is true of the seeds I collected from the long grass. I planted them, and wheat grew in a few days! Though, a few of the critters showed up near my outpost one day.

Turns out they had stomped all over my crop! Luckily, I had more seeds, but I could see this would be a problem. Since I arrived, I have noticed quite a large amount of critters here from cows and pigs to sheep. So, I had to find a way to protect my crop.

My first plan was to take the harvest somewhere else, but I didn't really have the resources. Instead, I built up a secure area for my crops.

Now I've been able to build up quite a bit of wheat supply. I just need to find a way to turn it into something useful! And by useful I mean bread. An easily renewable resource. I've had about enough of sun-baked fish for a life time.

Days and nights going fast along with trees and plants growing overnight are just small portions of the oddness that has been cropping up since I've been here. I've mentioned before, there have been strange sounds at night. There is moaning and moving about that cannot be explained by the normal critters I see during the day.

Then, one morning I ran across something that could have been the cause of at least some of those strange sounds. I'm not completely sure which sound; though, as I didn't get too close. Whatever it was, I have never seen anything like it before. It seemed very intent on getting near me; though, so I stayed far away.

Despite the oddness of this place there is a certain beauty that exists here. The mountains, the plains, the ocean view. It all just a lot to take in. I can only imagine what else is out there.

But there is still a lot of work ahead, and I'm thinking of new steps to take to improve my living standard here. My new home still isn't the most comfortable, but is far better than the hole in the wall cave.