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All readings that contain Violet's visions and the Relics of Enderquin - Session 236, 242, 246, 250, 279, 282, 283, 292

Despite having no promise of escape, I will need a viable way to access the Witherquin Soul Seeker in a manner that does not require elytra. Installing a railway from our Nether expressway will be key to integrating the farm within our transportation network.

The design of the railway will maintain the consistency of our other highways, and it will be a branch from highway Q5 at the Enderquin HQ terminal.

The Soul Seeker itself is not far from here, not even a hundred blocks – but, the point of entry is significantly lower in elevation than where we are currently.

Much like the farm itself, the railway will need to dive into the lava lake, as my goal is to preserve the purity and appearance of the farm as much as possible.

Dealing with the lava is a slight annoyance, but it isn’t much more than that.

Because I have ample building materials here, the construction of the railway itself is also not particularly difficult. The challenge will be how to integrate it cohesively with the farm, given my goal to preserve its look.

I cannot forget to slab the top of all blocks that I’ve added here – else, mobs will spawn and reduce the rates of the farm.

After much deliberation, I am choosing to construct two breaks in the arena from which you will enter the Soul Seeker. The first one is here at the bottom level, where you can access the ground level and storage area.

Keeping the aesthetic theme here, I now need to think about how to get to the top area where the actual farming takes place. After all, I am not keen on using scaffolding, nor do I want to build any ugly staircases that will detract from the visuals.

This is a much trickier problem than I originally anticipated, mostly because the ideal scenario is for this whole area to remain open. Therefore, the solution will need to involve the most minimal amount of new construction within the arena itself.

I think I have landed on a solution: building the staircase inside the lava lake, and creating a second breakpoint here at the top of the arena.

In doing so, I have found a trick that enables me to see under lava! By just barely straddling the edge of flowing lava where the lava meets airspace, I can see all the blocks underneath. This makes my life a lot easier, and furthermore illustrates how grueling that filling the initial arena was.

Inside, you will take a staircase next to the railway that leads to the top section.

You can see also how I am using the lava lake as a light source.

For the collection area, I am covering it entirely with glass. This is for added protection against any potential ghasts, of course (not that any should spawn, but still).

Again, the piston door is precautionary, as I do not want any worry at all should I decide to leave the farm run in AFK mode for an extended period.

^ This sign is smart, because on one occasion I accidentally left the chunks without turning the farm off. As a result, I needed to rebuild the slime block movers individually. I do not want to do that again.

From here, the Soul Seeker is fully integrated, and it’s time to farm wither skulls.

The Chosen One stated that in order to awaken Witherquin, we would need to create something called a “Wither Storm” – a pool of sixteen Withers that would be powerful enough to connect to the ancient deity. I have never attempted to confront more than four Withers at a single time, and even that was a rather ambitious endeavor (not to mention, we weren’t in hell either). The idea of spawning a force that I may not be capable of stopping scares me, but it’s the only hope I have left to get the hell out of here.

This presents the best opportunity to repurpose the Inferno Launch Chamber which was originally going to be used for bedrock destruction. Now, we will use it to create the Wither Storm.

All sixteen demons will spawn in a circle enclosed under the lava lake, where I expect they will not be able to get out. This will keep the destructive power of the storm contained, but it also means I will not be able to fight it should it come to that.

I will feed a line of redstone extending from the Inferno Launch Chamber down to the pool – it’s a very long line.

Doing my best to cover it up, I’ll now lay down the first two of three skulls for each Wither necessary to start the storm.

Of course, ghasts will show up to ruin my day, as they always do.

The third skull will be placed at all sixteen Withers simultaneously, and this will be done from the Inferno Launch Chamber lodged in the Nether roof.

With the mechanism wired up, I’ve readied my defenses at the Launch Chamber. It’s time to launch the storm. It’s time to awaken Witherquin.

*RATTLE*

*THUNDER*

I can hear the pulsating echo of netherrack cracking all around me. The ground shakes ever so slightly as the force of gravity begins to strengthen around the pool. Supernatural sounds emanate from the pool as the Withers reach the point of activation. Glowstone fades in and out like I’ve never observed before, the entire warmth of the Nether dying as the magnetic field surrounding the pool intensifies.

It isn’t long until I hear it.

The shockwave sends me flying through the air as the storm’s sheer power reaches its apex. The reverberations from the pool are so strong that I hear them from across the Nether, each rattle bouncing off the walls effortlessly as the storm increases in amplitude.

A voice emerges from the pool, though to say I could understand it would be polite more than anything else.

“CHEVDROL INIA SEDAKK, UNIER WRETCHI QOVA”

The voice completely overwhelms my ears, bouncing all around me like a chorus of disgruntled witches who have been brought back from death. It straddles a whisper, but very dominantly resonates throughout the entire cavern. Almost as if all sixteen Withers are attempting the same speech simultaneously, but their synchronization is eerily unbalanced.

“PLAS KETT II’SHETSKA, MORDOL RIDIA NONG SHI”

“I don’t understand!” I cry out, loud as I can from the safety of this ledge. “Please! Help me understand what you speak!”

“FLAAK PEZ TCHI.”

I wait for further words from the pool, but nothing further emerges. In what is probably one of my dumbest moves, I decide I must approach the pool.

…but that’s when a fury of bombs begin hurdling towards me, followed by another shockwave. I recognize that I must surely die.

Thunder fills the Nether as Withers begin popping up from underneath the pool.

“I SLEEP. YOU DISTURB.”

Witherquin must now realize that I am human. That’s good news… right?

“HOW YOU DISTURB ME…” I think that was a question, but it’s hard to tell from the ghastly slurs that intertwine with his words.

“Your dimension is a cage hidden from a much bigger war! Your creatures have been captured and their ecosystem has been destroyed!” I speak with confidence, feeling this to be a strategic move to show Witherquin that I am serious.

“I did those things. I corrupted your dimension to get your attention! Now, will you hear me?!”

“YOU DO NOT SPEAK HERE.”

“Your brother has captured the Overworld! Enderquin has taken the entire population hostage. He promises to rebuild it in his image – the same image you intended to destroy all those ages ago. But he has locked me in your realm! I need your help, to get me out of here so that I can stop him!”

A moment of silence which lasts longer than normal fills the air – not even a rattle is heard. I wait anxiously for the unpredictable god’s response, hoping this is the moment I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“YOU CAUSED THIS.”

My heart sinks as those words arise from my very last hope…

“YOU WILL DIE HERE, CREATURE.”

That’s when I realize that death is exactly what I want. If I die, that means I will respawn in the Overworld and finally break the curse! If Witherquin governs the rules of this realm, I am willing to bet that his power will burn through the curse like butter and kill me.

“Do it! KILL ME, Witherquin! Set me free!!”

I charge towards the pool, knowing full well that I am dashing towards the fury of a scary, chaotic god who wants nothing more than to destroy everything that exists. I will use that fury as the solution to this nightmare. I’m going home.

“What are you waiting for? Burn every ash of my being!!” The god hurls bombs at me while drowning me in lava, yet I am still alive.

“STOP HOLDING BACK, WITHERQUIN!! This is where you get to BEAT him!” I yell in a raging fury of my own. It’s time to end this.

“He took everything from you!! He forced you to rot in an unredeemable place that Sentien would be embarrassed to see!”

“He does not deserve to have the Overworld! He deserves to die without it!”

“Show him that your vengeance is far greater than his power will ever be! Destroy the curse and KILL ME!”

With not a scratch on my body and not an ounce closer to death, the onslaught abruptly ceases as one of Witherquin’s demons rises from the pool to greet me. And his message sinks me in an ominously different way.

“YOU. ARE. THE. GAUNTLET.”

“Thrives… with infinite lives…” I whisper to myself in defeat, echoing Enderquin’s words to me in years past. Only now, I understand that message was never for me. It was for his brother, to be delivered at this exact moment. Just as Violet prophesied.

The book of relics she gave to me years ago… it was a roadmap hiding in plain sight this whole time.

“Act upon the soul of sand,

Bring the demon alive.”

…

“Coax a crafty spirit besides

The hope which it holds tight…”

…

“Find the weakness in which it confides;

Bring its true form to light.”

…

“Though escape does not greet a traveler’s feet,

When all of his wits are lost.”

…

I reflect on all the texts that were contained in that ancient book. Enderquin knew I would try to wake Witherquin from his slumber. He knew I would be pushed to desperation and figure out how to do it. He told me right then, before we ever met face-to-face, that I would fail. I am a tool Enderquin has been using to taunt Witherquin in his own realm. Because I am the gauntlet that thrives with infinite lives.

It’s all coming true.

The fall chamber for the Witherquin Soul Seeker ends well beneath the lava lake, which is not the most ideal situation given how much space we need for the rest of the farm’s construction. That doesn’t even include the storage area.

Drawing out a perimeter, I will have no choice but to remove the lava that lives here. This task might as well be as laborious as slabbing the Nether, but thankfully the volume of work required is much less by comparison.

The walls need to touch the bottom of the lava lake, which is tough to measure since I cannot see anything under here.

So, I will have to do this one layer at a time, replacing all lava sources with netherrack. For each layer, I must be cognizant that the introduction of netherrack will allow mobs to spawn. Unlike pigmen, ghasts will have no issue spawning right in front of me, and that could be catastrophic for the farm.

^ Case in point; I need to be careful.

As I descend lower into the lake, you can see how even just being on one end of the arena will promote spawning on the other. It’s because there is nowhere else that mobs can spawn.

Now the spawning is getting out of hand, and they are burying themselves in the lava. Is it really all that comfortable? My opinion is on the contrary.

While this is a tedious task, I am gathering some creative ideas on how to give this farm the grandiose aesthetic that it deserves. It has already occupied months of my attention, and I have every intent to use the materials at my disposal to finish it beautifully.

As I get closer to the bottom (though I’ve yet to determine when that will be), I conjured the brilliant idea of utilizing invisibility potions. Why did I not think of this before? It is already proving to have been in my best interest.

Haha, you can’t see me, fool.

The area is excavated well beneath the floor of the lava lake, as you can see above. As I determine how much further to go, I acknowledge my desire for a substantial storage area that will not require consistent emptying – this is already an issue with the Gold Grinder.

Oh boy, I need to hurry up and slab this arena.

Let’s work on this for now. After building the collection area, I will assess whether the arena needs to be lowered further.

The collection area must accommodate a variety of drops at a relatively high frequency. Additionally, it needs to deal with both stone and gold swords, which will be treated as junk in this system. Understanding this, we start with a cobweb that will consolidate the items as they fall through.

These hopper minecarts will rapidly collect and dispense all drops that will be picked up – they transfer items much more quickly than regular hoppers, and having several here means that no items will be left sitting. Observers will detect when items are received, prompting droppers to deliver them through the cobweb and into the next section of the system.

It is also helpful that hopper minecarts can hide inside of blocks. Here, I am using gravity-powered concrete to completely conceal them, while the mobs will fall onto the hay bale to reduce their fall damage.

For the next section, we need to move the items just as rapidly as they are collected. To do this, I am setting up a pathway paved with packed ice.

String has the same use here as it does upstairs on the farm itself. When items pass through it, an observer will detect this motion and cause the piston in front to push them across the route.

The use of an ender chest here is uniquely required because it is not a full block, meaning that items that land here will rest on the boundary between two blocks as they move to the next corner. This is an essential behavior for the item sorter to pick up the drops.

^ As you can see, the items will automatically be picked up by the correct hopper in this sorting system – but, they would be unable to do so if the items were not straddling the boundary between the packed ice and the hoppers (hence, the use of the ender chest). Stone and gold swords are not being sorted, nor will any hoppers be left “available” for un-sorted items. They will simply continue to move around the four corners until they inevitably de-spawn.

Now, it is clear that the arena is not low enough – far from it, in fact. To avoid ghast spawns, I will lower the platform every four blocks across, slab it, then repeat.

Everything down here must be spawn-proofed to prevent zombie reinforcements from spawning.

I think this is a good size for our storage, and you can see all the different drops it will collect. Indeed, this farm is the jack-of-all-trades for Nether mobs.

Now, it’s time for the moment of truth – to start up the farm.

Exercising a controlled removal of all lighting sources inside, with each floor I begin to hear mobs spawning. This is going to be great.

With the toggle of one lever, we start the slime block movers, and the mobs start funneling down.

Oh yeah – keep them coming!

My goodness, this farm is almost too fast – I can hardly keep up with killing the mobs before they start dying due to max entity cramming! But this makes it an effective dual-purpose farm. I can either use it as an XP farm that also collects wither skulls, or I could leave it wherein mobs will automatically die after 24 are sitting in the collection space.

…But it can still be faster. I found more mobs that are spawning on the outskirts of my slabbed perimeter. In doing more calculations, I have outlined above where the boundary should be relative to the collection spot.

FINALLY, I got a bow! I’ve been trapped down here without one, and my relief at now having a way to deal with ghasts from afar fills me with unending joy. Small wins should always be celebrated.

I’m going to leave the farm in collection mode for a while – so long as enough mobs are sitting in the collection chamber, any new ones will just die instantly. The only drops I won’t get from this mode are wither skulls, blaze rods and gold ingots (no swords either, but we don’t want those).

While the farm works, I have a big task ahead of me. It’s time to design the arena.

I want the appearance of this arena to reflect the work that has gone into the farm project, and simultaneously the trials I have endured to get to this point. As this is the final project for the season, it serves as the pinnacle of all that has come before. The art will be intricate, and I will do my best to utilize a variety of materials that offer an industrial, but still very Nether-oriented, theme.

Starting with some lava rings around the arena, contrast is a huge factor given that a majority of blocks I have available are dark. For each “layer,” I will switch up the blocks used for the walls. The inner layer will be composed of iron blocks to help the rings stand out.

Each lava fall will be backed using magma blocks, and the lava will collect into a small pool at the floor bounded by coal blocks.

The floor of the arena is a distinctive challenge since it must be entirely spawn proofed. I am keeping this in mind as I forge a design that balances contrast with cohesion.

^ Here, you can observe how I use a variety of blocks that bounce well off one another. My approach is to use dark blocks as an outline, with lighter blocks comprising the “interior” shapes. Normal and red nether brick, black and red glass, terracotta, iron, and coal blocks are some of the primary materials here. I use buttons carefully to fit with the industrial theme, doing my best not to overdue them.

Additionally, the main walkways are enclosed with nether wart topped with glass.

The finished design presents two wither skulls on each side of the arena, and you can also notice that note blocks are used to separate the magma blocks from the inner wall sections. Iron is used sparingly in the lower area, as this is a bright block that can easily clash if overused.

The view from afar looks busy, maybe even too much so, but I liken it to a meticulously crafted mosaic – one which is fully spawn-proof.

From here, I need to figure out how to connect the storage access area to the farm collection upstairs. Before we dive into that, however, maybe let’s just appreciate the work done so far, and enjoy using the farm for a while. We’ve got a lot of skulls to collect.

The Witherquin Soul Seeker is already a better gold farm, an improved blaze farm, a supplementary regular skeleton farm, a proper coal farm, a powerful update-safe XP farm, and now the sole source of the black skulls that will enable me to call Witherquin from his deep slumber.

Oh. Hell. Yeah.

It goes without saying that the process of slabbing the entire Nether, within a 128-block radius centered on the fortress’s only surviving platform, was more than an arduous challenge. I could hardly complete it with the available stone I had at my disposal, which was a lot. Even beyond the initial spawn-proofing, I then had to check for caves, particularly in areas I never even realized existed. Suffice it to say that I learned more about these chunks than anywhere else down here.

The task was slightly helped by my rage-motivated obliteration of the Nether fortress, which left just one piece as the prime area to begin creating the farm of all farms. This is not just going to be a wither skeleton farm; it will also collect pigmen and blaze, effectively replacing both of those farms, too.

This project is my last hope, as it will be key to collecting enough wither skulls to summon sixteen Wither demons that will hopefully, by Witherquin’s mercy, set me free. I am placing my trust in the Chosen One’s roadmap.

My initial tests checking the spawn rates on this platform have been fruitful. This farm design is going to be a multi-layer slime block mover, and I need to make sure that every layer is counted within the fortress (hence allowing skeletons and blaze to spawn). Thankfully, because this platform happens to be at a bizarre intersection of fortress pathways, there is a lot of available spawning space here. No, this is not the typical “four-way crossroad” that perhaps you may consider as the ideal starting point for such a farm as this.

In fact, I may be able to show you where this platform is located within the fortress…

^ This is what that platform looked like before I tore it down back in Session 295. As you can see, it was already a wide-open playing field, rendering it perfect for our purposes here. This is integral to the farm’s design since we will not be building it entirely of Nether brick.

Normally, if the platforms are made of Nether brick, then it would not matter whether they were inside the bounding box of the small fortress “rooms,” so to speak. They would simply need to stay within the larger bounding box of the fortress, and fortress mobs would spawn. However, if the platforms are made of any other block, then we must be more selective of their location (they need to be bound within specific rooms, hallways – areas that were able to spawn mobs upon the fortress’s initial generation).

Here, I am building them of packed ice, so that they move more efficiently by the slime block movers I’m going to install. As you can see, fortress mobs still spawn on all three layers, which means we are in the clear.

Now that these considerations are taken care of, the hard work can begin. First, I am implementing wall posts every two blocks to prevent magma cubes from spawning. They will mess everything up. Lighting is also key – I really do not want those mobs distracting me while I try to build this.

Above, you will note the spawning platform layout for all three layers. In the center, there is a line of stone slabs on each side. This is where the mobs will funnel down into.

This next bit seems a bit odd but hear me out. The more Nether brick that surrounds our spawning space, the more likely it is that the spawning algorithm will produce fortress mobs. This “encouragement” is done on a logarithmic scale, which is to say that after about 4-6 blocks of platform extension, the actual increase in rates would be infinitesimal. For all of these, I am spawn-proofing most blocks. Some sections are left clear, as this is where my slime block movers will be based.

Rinse and repeat – that’s where we are now.

Looking good! Three platforms are not going to cut it, however. I need to build more.

For the top two layers, the spawning space is smaller. This is because my AFK position will be underneath the farm, and as you may know, the spawning radius around you is circular, defined by a Euclidean sphere. The edges of the “circle,” before mobs may risk de-spawning, are being outlined by the top layers here.

You will also notice that they are being built of Nether brick. I am not certain that this space is within the bounding box of the inner “room,” so using Nether brick will guarantee that fortress mobs spawn far above the original spawning location.

A fifth platform tops the farm off, even smaller than the fourth as you can see here.

I do not have access to much glazed terracotta at the moment, but I do have a generous number of leaves. The unfortunate fact about these is that they can catch fire, which means I will need to be extra cautious to prevent blaze from spawning (or seeing me if they do spawn). Leaves will make up the walls of the spawning platforms because they will not attach themselves to slime blocks as the movers do their work.

Lighting seems to be appropriate, as no blaze are spawning. This is excellent news.

Oh, well, I spoke a little too soon.

It’s coming together!

For the front and back, I will use some of the terracotta that I do have on hand. The terracotta must be of the glazed variety, else it will stick to the slime blocks.

^ Here, you can see all five layers, finished and ready for installation of the slime block movers.

The easiest way to build this will be from the bottom up, so I am using scaffolding to outline a base platform from which I can work on the collection space. This farm design is entirely based on slime block movers and other mechanical means of transporting mobs. Going this route is a little more involved, but the results are far more profitable.

For this bottom section, I need to condense the long collection spaces into a 1x1 area.

Each side gets its own one-block-wide collection corridor, making a total of two separated by an inner wall. Within this space, beds are installed to prevent mobs from taking fall damage.

^ Here, you will see how the mobs need to funnel yet a third time, from a 3x1 space into a 1x1 space. Hay bales prevent fall damage as well, and the block in-between both hay bales is the single fall chamber wherein the mobs will be killed.

The fall chamber protrudes into the lava lake, which means that I will need to do significant work within this area to prepare the collection area itself.

I will deal with that later. For now, I am moving onto the redstone.

A single lever will activate all the slime block movers via a torch tower.

This first mechanism is an observer-based detection system that will push mobs from the hay bales down into the final 1x1 fall space. String is placed here, the state of which will alter when a mob falls through it. That’s how the observers will be toggled, causing the pistons to extend and thrust the mobs into the chamber.

Next, I’m constructing the first set of slime block movers to get mobs into the 3x1 hay bale space from the initial, longer collection corridors.

^ Here, you can see how one mover on each side of the 3x1 area takes care of both sections.

At each end of the movers, obsidian is used to signify the terminals.

Admittedly, this is complex work, as there is significant interplay among the various models we are constructing.

Buttons are placed to prevent mobs from spawning on the slime block movers, which technically could occur at any point as they move about their route.

The same torch tower that toggles these movers will continue ascending to activate the haulers on every floor of the farm.

Up here, I extend the torch tower on the side of the upside-down stairs.

Repeaters are set to different tick lengths on each floor to prevent too many mobs from entering the collection area at one time. Doing so could cause many to die on impact due to the mob cramming rule.

Moving inside, the inner wall separating the two sections will be used to trigger all the movers.

^ What you’re seeing here is a unique chemistry. Observers control everything in this system, and beautifully so. When you initiate the farm, the torch tower will cause slime blocks to extend. The observer attached to the slime blocks is then detected by the observer above it, sending a signal to the Nether brick which will also extend. The repeater takes that signal, and sends it here:

Extending that piston will be used as a repeated input for an observer on the slime block mover itself, which is how the loop continues to feed.

^ As the movers return to the center, they will be detected by the outward facing observer you can see, and the cycle repeats (mover > observer > observer > repeater > piston > mover).

The system is compact and gorgeous; the mechanic in me marvels at how far redstone has come such that projects like this can exist employing intricate but economical combinations of blocks.

Haha, leave it to ghasts to ruin my day, except that the day is not ruined!

The outside terminals are much simpler, using simple observer-based feedback loops to tell the slime block movers to return back to the center.

Finally, I am building the machines that make the magic happen:

Above, you can visualize exactly how the process works in concordance with what we discussed earlier. Starting the farm causes the outward observer on the left of the first picture to extend, which will cause the piston on the right in the second picture to extend temporarily. Notice how this extended piston will allow the observer on the mover to receive a signal. After the mover returns to center, the sticky piston on the left of the first picture toggles the observer behind it, restarting the cycle. When you turn off the farm, there will be no observer present to continue the cycle, as is the case currently.

I am now repeating this construction nine more times, on each section of each platform. Since this process is redundant, I don’t need to show you every small step again.

^ However, I’ll take a slight detour to show you this oddity.

Apparently, there is spawning space above the roof here that I never knew about. I’m certain that more such spaces will show up as I move further in the development of this project.

All slime block movers are installed, which means it is now time to turn my attention to the collection area. But first…

I noticed a huge cluster of entities in one of the caves I covered, but clearly, I missed a spot. This is good news because it shows that the number of available spawning spaces in this chunk of the Nether has become so concentrated that our farm should run very competently.

After a quick test run activating the machines, I see that all slime block movers are working elegantly as intended. This gets me excited for the next phase.

Our farm will be designated the Witherquin Soul Seeker, as it will be responsible for brokering communication with the destructive god. Time is of the essence to commence the brigade of the black skulls.

“Enderquin wasn’t always like this,” he claims. The Chosen One’s gentle yet slightly frail tone suggests there is quite a bit of history between the two of them. History that, unfortunately, has never been recorded in writing.

“It saddens me to see that his ways have skewed from Sentien’s intentions,” he continues.

“Who is Sentien, exactly?” It’s a name I’ve heard twice now, but never before.

“How do you not know? A young child you are, however blessed you might be, positioned to become the next Chosen One – yet you lack understanding of how nature runs its course in our precious world.”

“So, help me understand – I have been trying to find reasons for all that exists. I have nobody here to guide me. I’ve made mistakes, but all towards seeking answers.”

…also I’ll just casually skip over the fact that he stated I am destined to become his successor, whatever that actually means. The Chosen One contemplates a moment before gesturing towards the enchanting table. I point towards it, unsure of what this gesture means.

“Please, come” – he is so inviting, that I should be weary. But I join him at the table. Suddenly, he casts a charm onto me, taking me out of this world and into somewhere new. Perhaps, this is a vision, or a memory – maybe his memories.

“Before Quintropolis, there was only the Celestial Sanctum – a place of nothingness inhabited by twelve divine beings called Zaex. These twelve beings spent an eternity trying to determine the best way to express themselves to Sentien, their omnipotent ruler. In truth, they always competed to get his blessing.”

“Enderquin was always a competitive spirit. Always needed to be the best. But he fostered great care for his brothers and sisters, and never wished to see them as less than extraordinary. In fact, he is the one who proposed the notion of creating an Overworld – a place where creatures could exist and express themselves however they so choose. A place of sentient beauty – much like the leader he served.”

“In a way, the other Zaex attached themselves to the possibility of harboring corporeal forms. They began looking towards Enderquin for answers, as he had already suggested the laws of physics that would govern how the Overworld would work. Sentien took notice, and agreed that perhaps it was time for the Zaex to construct a canvas to display their natural gifts. Everything you see, and touch – everything that you are – it is because of Enderquin. He always had a vision of a universe blessed with celestial splendor, with creatures of excellent diversity and design, who would see each other and respect one another to live peaceably.”

“While most Zaex loved Enderquin’s idea, and participated rightfully in the Overworld’s original creation, not all were as brightly supportive. One of Enderquin’s brethren, Witherquin, had notorious aversion for the sky god. In fact, they regularly engaged in brawls, often trying to prove themselves as better than the other in the eyes of Sentien. As the Overworld continued to grow, so too did this jealousy. Witherquin could not accept that he would not be chosen as Sentien’s successor, and so he regularly started corrupting the Overworld with demons of his own design.”

“Sentien grew distasteful of this, stating it was not proper that the Zaex be at odds against one another. But Witherquin’s persistence caused problems among the other gods, and it threatened the Overworld as a whole. Enderquin created the endermen to shield other creatures against Witherquin, and to allow himself access to the Overworld whenever he so chooses. This was not seen as an act of bravery to Sentien, who threatened to expel both gods from the Overworld. To him, the natural environment was already threatened by their resentment for one another, and this was something he could not risk.”

“Sentien created separate dimensions for the two gods, to show them that greed has no place in the lineage of the Zaex. Enderquin was banished into a sky dimension of his own, while Witherquin was given full reign of hell itself – the place we occupy now.”

“Enderquin’s new home was once beautiful, full of life and magnificence, exactly the way he would have designed the Overworld. His greed cost him that world. But he found bountiful blessings in this new one.”

“It was once ripe with plant life, animals, gorgeous structures. We called it Paradise.”

“What do you mean, we?” I ask, interrupting his story.

“Well, I once lived in the sky dimension – after I summited the tallest peak.”

“Enderquin showed me Paradise – he was the only Zaex who offered me a place among them after what we sacrificed.”

“He showed me things I would never have even dreamt could be possible in this world. Amazing things. Sentien had blessed him with power, and I was grateful to be in the presence of such a gift.”

“But something was off about the way he presented it to me. In many ways, Enderquin treated me as his equal, much to Sentien’s dismay. Sentien knew that I was no god – I was just a man given a place among gods. Although I made clear my intentions to reach them and become like them, only Enderquin assimilated these interests among the remaining eleven Zaex who despised them.”

“As I searched Paradise, I found something which intrigued me greatly: wither skulls – the same ones you see in my cozy abode here. I postulated what such things would be doing in a place like that.”

“When I asked Enderquin about the skulls, he assured me that they existed as part of the natural landscape… but his reaction was somber, and I knew that a more pressing matter lurked beneath the surface. I sought to discover this for myself, as it became essential for me to know whether my new life in Paradise was warranted by all the sacrifices made by my people over the generations.”

“Of course, at the time I knew very little about anything, much like yourself. I tended to assume the best, and admittedly I must confess that my awareness of the rivalry between Enderquin and the other Zaex was starkly absent. It was not until I began collecting the Wither skulls that Enderquin approached me – an act that had never before been done outside the day I summited Asevís.”

“He asked why I did not listen to him, why I insisted that his declarations were incorrect regarding the skulls and their place in Paradise. He knew that I didn’t believe him, else I would not have continued pursuing their true origin. It was in this moment that I faced a glaring truth concerning my new supernatural mentor – we did not share mutual respect. In any kind of relationship, even one that is not personally forged, respect must be mutual – otherwise, there is no equality, only division. I knew that I was not a Zaex, but I admired that one could still think of me on a similar level intellectually. It gave me hope that one day, the boundary between Zaex and humans could be broken as we would learn to coexist peaceably among one another.”

“But Zaex created us, and consequently they will always see us as lesser beings. When I told Enderquin that the skulls looked remarkably similar to his brother, he showed me a side of him I hadn’t yet seen – the real one. Realizing this was a sensitive topic, I hastened to switch modes, but he didn’t let up so easily. He asked if I knew what it felt like to burn in a fire while my family and friends danced around it, laughing and pretending that I wasn’t even there. He asked if I could even fathom what it is like to work so hard, to give your entire existence to something so that your family could prosper, and then to be cast out as a result while they capitalize on what you created.”

“In truth, I did know that feeling quite well. It’s why I chose to climb Asevís. I had nothing left for me in this world. But when I started to explain that to Enderquin, he dismissed my feelings. They were not real, because I was just an artificial creation by him and his brethren. I could not possibly understand what it was like to live in a god’s world.”

“He became enraged, he tore down the illusions of Paradise – that’s when I realized that he harbored great power. None of it was real. He knew that he could not leave Paradise, so he did his best to present it exactly such that I would be in awe, worshipping him as the almighty above all others. But now he did not care, and I finally saw the desolate, ruined land that had eluded me ever since I first visited.”

“He showed me exactly who he was – a god filled with rage against his own, and that rage has persisted against all of us, because we represent them. We represent what he could never have – a family. His family locked him in a separate dimension so that they didn’t have to deal with his pride, took his idea of the Overworld, and created a new Paradise – the one that you and your family has enjoyed.”

“I understand that pain every bit, but there is nothing that will change his perception of me, and by extension you, as being a lesser creature created by those he hates. He made this very clear to me, even after I appealed to his fulsome nature, blabbering about the dedication my people harbored for wanting to reach the gods, to become like them.”

“He chose to show me exactly what happens when you try to become a god. His furious dragon form threw me out of Paradise, and into this place. He entrapped me here, and although I had built portals and stone structures across history to try getting out – it never worked. I understood that all Enderquin wanted was someone to worship him, to appreciate him. That’s why he took me in and gave me the illusion of Paradise. It was never to provide me with god-like power, or give me any sense of attainment about the sacrifices my ancestors made. Our rituals were for nothing, and much like our paranormal designers, arrogance had destroyed us all.”

I waited for a moment, processing the Chosen One’s story. To think that Enderquin’s fight has always been a savage move against his own beings – it makes sense. He and Witherquin have been locked away in two very different hellscapes, though it seems the latter has made peace with such disparity.

“How do you… how do you obstruct the reign of a god like that?”

“When you try to usurp a prideful king, it is not the king itself you are trying to conquer – it’s his arrogance, which has proven the downfall of so many. So then, if it is arrogance you seek to defeat, you must consider carefully your own strengths and weaknesses. Are you, yourself, likening to the same flaws that distinguish your enemy? Is it pride that drives you, so that you can become the king yourself? A king’s motivation can be explored, and once it is understood, it can be used against him. But I must warn you… One should not drive the last nail into the coffin if they are not privy to the matters which got them there.”

It's a heavy statement, and I know that the Chosen One is thinking cautiously about what information to share with me. He knows that my heart is currently resting in the same rage that got Enderquin where he is now, so I must ask myself whether that rage ought to define me and my actions. Those things I said about the villagers – I said them because I was angry, but does that automatically make them justified and otherwise untrue statements? We often claim that we say things we don’t mean in anger, but perhaps it’s the other way around – that we tend to say exactly what we mean, and we are too fueled by emotion to care what others might make of it.

I channel these considerations and attempt to make some more sense of my situation as I prepare to think about how to move forward.

“You say that you were entangled in this place much as I was… How do you know that Enderquin is not watching you right now? If he can control your ability to access or not access other dimensions, who is to say that he does not have power beyond his own home?”

“Enderquin operates where his spirit lives, which might be in Paradise – it may very well be in the Overworld currently. But he has no power here, because his spirit is not allowed in this realm.”

“How is he not allowed here? What stops him?”

“Where do you think you are right now?” The Chosen One gives me a dumbfounded look, as though I missed that whole section of his story. “Enderquin cannot get here because Witherquin does not allow it. Frankly, your best chance at finding a way out, is to ask Witherquin yourself.”

“Tell me how to do that.”

The Chosen One eyes me partly with suspicion, and partly with fear, knowing that’s a path that may be catastrophic. But he knows I am willing to do whatever it takes.

“You’ll need to learn how his spawning rules work here.”

“You’ll have to find a way to control his creatures, confine them into a single space.”

“You’ll have to remove their freedom, take away their ability to wage war with you, or with one another.”

“And even after all that, it won’t be enough.”

“You’ll be required to awaken Witherquin from his slumber.”

“Ask him to set you free, lest he cannot kill you directly.”

“Show him that you have control of his world. If you want him to take you seriously, you need to match his level of aggression.”

“One demon won’t be enough – you will need to summon a Wither Storm, a fury of sixteen demons, in order to communicate with the destructive god.”

“Witherquin is not known to be a great communicator. If you thought Enderquin treats those beneath him poorly, then just wait and see what Witherquin thinks of you.”

“It must be calculated, and it will be complicated – but in my opinion, it may be your only chance to escape this despicable place.”

“What happens next?” I ask hurriedly, for I know what I must do. “Even if all that works, what do I do on the other side? To stop Enderquin, when I don’t even know what he has already done?”

The Chosen One is silent for a moment. “I’m afraid I cannot help you beyond that.”

“But you know so much – perhaps you could talk to him and-“

“No,” he stands his ground. “I’ve done my time in this world. This is your fight now. But, I can give you one more piece of advice... Don’t believe everything you see."

If you look back at Session 208, you may recognize a familiar photo.

My heart races as I settle down and stare into the deep red space of hell, subtly recognizing yet still consistently denying my utter failure. Passion and motivation mean nothing when there is no hope – a reality I am slowly beginning to swallow so sickeningly. Why is it that when I am at the top of my game, always seemingly ahead of the curve, reaching new heights, something terrible needs to push me back down the hill into the valley of death? Do I deserve this? Does my passion and heart to protect the villagers of this world mean absolutely nothing? I once believed that all gods were benevolent, that they cared for us, that they wanted to see us flourish into the best versions of ourselves. Now I realize they just want us to worship them as gods.

Are they even worth saving? The Inner Circle doesn’t even appreciate what I do for them. “Stop,” they said. “Surrender,” he says. Pfft – do they even know what I sacrificed for them? Of course not! Why would they? They’re just stupid villagers. They couldn’t tell an iron block from white wool unless you literally put them side by side.

It’s not even that hard to tell the difference. Obviously, iron is going to have a more robust texture. IT’S IRON. For God’s sake! Sometimes, I ask myself why I work so hard to save their lives from such turmoil. Perhaps it’s good that Enderquin is taking control of everything – let them see how much better that life is. Maybe then, they will worship me instead of him. Except, I never wanted to be thought of as a god. I only wanted to challenge them. I guess I am paying the price for that now.

In these moments, despite my outburst about the stupidity of the villagers, they truly were my purpose. I have nothing left to live for without them, and Enderquin knows that. Such is why he will not let me die. As long as I am down here, trapped in the underworld, I will have nothing but these thoughts to propel me beyond into darkness – reminding myself that with every passing moment, the greediest god of them all is using my passion and purpose to destroy me while he takes over my world. If he decides to let me leave, then I presume it will only be to watch whatever sick game he is playing on the canvas which is Quintropolis. Because that’s all this is for the gods – a game.

They will die; I will run a sword through their souls until every last one of them begs for mercy, and then they will understand karma. For every minute Enderquin spends in the Overworld, that’s how many times I will kill him if it means beckoning the same suffering he intends to inflict upon us. My rage has no choice but to be contained in this hell hole, but by the mercy of the other gods, should a miracle come my way – Enderquin will feel the wrath of a person up close.

OF COURSE, because timing is a b*tch, I don’t have a bow on me. How the hell do I not have one? Enderquin couldn’t have at least let me grab my bow before locking me up? Such a petty god.

At least I have access to my Gold Grinder. But even that brings me no joy. I am fueled with a compulsion to destroy, which means I should actually be far away from here.

If I could blow this entire fortress to hell, then that is exactly how I would channel my rage.

Destroying it piece by piece will have to do.

I will rip out every ounce of its nether brick, every blaze will be pulled apart, and then I’ll use those blaze rods to beat every skeleton so far into the lava, they will wish that they were not fireproof. This I will do, because I literally cannot do anything else. And that fact angers me, it terrifies me, it fills me with such unrest knowing that Quintropolis has been taken over, and there is nothing I can do about it.

If Enderquin can see me, then his twisted self is probably laughing at my misery. His plan worked, I am out of the picture, and now he can say “I told you so” like the arrogant, evil being that he is.

He wants me to fear him, but the only thing I fear right now is myself.

He gets what he wanted – to present me with my greatest fear of being unable to protect my world. Now he gets to control all of them with whatever their biggest fears are. What a way to govern your creation who was otherwise existing so peaceably.

You know what I am now considering? Enderquin is not really a god at all. It’s a plague – a depiction of disease and destruction, that looms over the world finding cracks through which it can invade and spread. All I did, in my excitement and yearning for discovery, was widen the cracks that let him through. I should have listened to Violet. That portal should never have been opened.

It is because of me that the plague has come, and every inhabitant of the Overworld will suffer directly as a result of my own interests. Mayor Sensha was right – I have no idea about anything, and this is nature’s way of reminding me that at the expense of freewill, nature will run its course. Enderquin will take that away, bend the poor villagers to his will, then control their minds with hallucinations so that they continue to obey him.

Knowing him, he will then paint the illusion that every villager is happy to be there, that their lives are perfect, and that there is nothing wrong. But underneath, in their minds and in their hearts, they will be dying. They will wish that they could, and then that will become my new purpose. To put every single one out of their misery.

And it is all my own fault, because in my ignorance I decided to open a mythological portal to a place, the consequences of which I never even considered. I am the plague, and I have failed them.

THEY WILL HATE ME.

Even if there was a world in which I managed to save them, they would never think of me as a hero. Enderquin would most assuredly make sure they knew that it was me who caused this plague upon them. There would be riots – they would believe that I am a satanic creature from hell. Which so far, would be accurate.

There exist no good outcomes of this entire scenario. Either Enderquin controls Quintropolis as he has planned, and he will keep me in hell for all eternity. Or he will eventually let me out, after he has already terrorized the Overworld, and allow me to pick up the pieces while I try to survive the onslaught of villagers who will forever try to kill me. In both cases, Enderquin wins. My purpose drains. And I can never rest.

WHERE YOU GONNA SPAWN NOW, YOU PATHETIC MISTAKES??!! Those blaze fireballs are making me angry, even though I am fireproof. Everything down here disgusts me, and if I could destroy the entire Nether, I would do that too.

Now what have I got to show for this? Anything at all? Has anyone’s life changed? It doesn’t even matter; nothing here does. This place is the bane of all that exists. With every attempt I make to get out, it reminds me how much control it has over me, and that I cannot escape. And so, all I can do is soak in the instability of whatever I choose to do to survive in its presence. This is my life now.

Now that I’ve exhausted all my destructive energy in a relatively healthy fashion, I will just run. And run. Far away from here, far from everywhere. Even though I know I cannot get out.

I will collect quartz and glowstone.

Here, I found a nice vein of some quartz here. Somewhere.

Look! Soul sand!! Let’s get some of that, too. So that I can build a Wither, or many, and never succumb to them.

Isn’t it a bit strange that there are Nether bricks so far removed from the closest fortress? And there is lava pouring down here, too.

What the hell? Am I hallucinating again? Who the hell are you?

OUCH, and what is that??!!

“It’s a wither rose. For trespassers not unlike yourself,” he, or she, or they, or it, says. I truly don’t know what is going on here.

“What… are you, exactly? Some kind of mangled human who has been living in hell for eternity?” Oh no, that sounds like me.

“Is that supposed to be insulting?” is the response I get, which again doesn’t answer my question. Not that I have much reason for existing anymore, but this kind of “guess who it is” game really pisses me off. And I’m already done with everything.

“Excuse me?”

“I said: Is that supposed to be insulting?”

“I heard you the first time – it’s just that is not what I-“

“Then why did you ask again?” Their tranquility further infuriates me, though I cannot pinpoint why. Maybe it’s because I fail to see how such calamity can beget calmness. This individual is clearly violent – I see Wither skulls everywhere.

“DO NOT INTERRUPT ME, CREATURE!” I burst out. Silence follows.

“I’m sorry. That was not… I am losing my mind. I have already lost it, actually,” I admit.

“Your particular manner is intriguing,” the relaxed creature states, again bolstering an uncanny composure. It unsettles me far more than it should, I reckon.

“Please just tell me why I should care about being here right now.”

“Do you have somewhere else to be?” they ask – and I now wonder whether they already know the answer to that. “If so, then I recommend you move along.”

I think about this a moment. This creature has rarely moved an inch since I invaded their hideout and then yelled at them.

I take a minute and try to regain some dignity.

“I actually do have somewhere to be, but I cannot get there. I’m stuck here. Enderquin – he sent me here… well not HERE directly, but into the Nether, from which I have failed to find any way out. Quintropolis is now destroyed most likely, and I have spent the last several days… weeks? I don’t even know how many cycles have passed since I’ve been here! I’ve been so busy bathing in my self-loathing about how I caused the most ultimate form of destruction – violation of the mind of everything that lives – and even if I do find a way out of this wretched place, there is nothing I can do that will thwart the reign of a god who can literally make me believe I just witnessed every resident of Starlight City zombify then drown themselves, just because he wanted me to know he was alive! Therefore, I guess you could say I have nowhere else to be.”

After a moment, the calculating character formulates a response to my fragmented state of anxiety.

“Enderquin… very interesting you mention that name.”

“You know about Enderquin?”

“I met him once. He sent me here, somewhat in a similar manner to what you describe. And I have remained underneath this lava lake ever since.”

“Do you have a name?”

“I did, once. It’s been so long that I forgot it.”

“What can I call you, then?”

“Many used to call me the Chosen One.”

His answer furthers my assertion that I am in a hallucination – this cannot be real. I know all about the fabled legend of the Chosen One… and it’s an old one.

“You… you were the last to see Asevís,” I claim.

“Someone knows their history. Maybe, I can shed light on some more that might be of use to you.”

I sit down.

In ancient Quintropolis lore, there is a story about a villager who once theorized that the boundary between worlds was built out of bedrock. He suggested that by finding a way to break through the mysterious bedrock layer, that one could find their way into the Netherworld. Of course, this was just an ancient legend, as we now know there is nothing above the Nether’s bedrock layer… but what about below it? Even if it’s true that there is nothing but void underneath, that should still be able to kill me and cause me to return into the Overworld. After all, Enderquin has made me fireproof, blast resistant, and effectively unable to kill myself… but nothing survives the Void, and there is no evidence to suggest that Enderquin has any power down there.

I had a new theory regarding why the portals did not light. Enderquin specifically said that I would not be allowed to leave the Nether “until his work was done.” He made no direct mention of the portals. He did not say “you will not be able to light any portals” or something that would infer they could be lit by other means.

In trying to understand the supernatural nature of the curse, I realize it may not be as simple as trying to get one of the portal frames lit. I believe this is a byproduct of the curse, and the actual source of the curse lives inside of me. After all, there are only two ways that Enderquin could patrol this power here: (1) the curse self-sustains itself, and is therefore by itself a living entity, or (2) he is actively in this dimension also, controlling it himself.

If it’s the second option, then I really would not have any options for defeating this madness. I would have to accept my defeat. But in the event of the first option, there would theoretically be a way to destroy the curse just as you would a mob or some other living entity. I believe this is the reality of the curse – its power may stem from Enderquin, but it is something else entirely. And that means it can be killed. My theory is: if nothing survives the Void, then maybe it can kill Enderquin’s curse, too.

It’s a risky theory, because if I manage to break the bedrock, and the Void doesn’t kill me, then I could possibly remain stuck falling for eternity. But desperate times call for desperate measures, because if this doesn’t work, then I’m worried nothing else will.

I am going to first create a machine that will charge lava down to the bedrock – this will not be used to destroy the bedrock itself, but it will be held on standby to drown the area in lava once we’re done, covering everything up. I don’t really know what to expect, so I’m erring on the side of caution with this plan.

^ Here, I have chosen a location far above the Nether islands, and quite a way out from Brimstone Beach, where I will be constructing a launch chamber that will be used for the lava cannon.

Doing so lodged into the Nether roof is ultimately the safest location given the destructive nature of these mechanisms, and it greatly reduces the risk of becoming victim to the lava.

To get up here, I need to build a hallway that will extend far enough away from the launch chamber.

The launch chamber itself will be outfitted with bright blocks, most notably iron, to make it easy to spot. The way it will work is that TNT will be dropped first through the chamber to clear the area, and this will be followed by lava to drown it all. The bedrock I intend to remove will be located directly underneath this chamber.

The vertical lift into the chamber will also be outfitted with iron blocks – again for ease of visibility.

As you can see, the actual entrance into the chamber is well enough away from where I would be launching TNT.

^ Here are the dispensers, which will be connected to a pulse clock that will drop them one by one (or five by five).

Activating this machine is not to be done by accident, and so there will be three locks that must be enabled to engage it.

From here, I am now going down to bedrock to build the next key part of the mechanism. For this, I need a few pistons, a trapdoor, and some other things.

The ancient legend of the bedrock boundary suggested that by combining an explosion with very specific piston movement at exactly the right moment, the laws of physics would be faced with a paradoxical encounter, causing the removal of the impermeable bedrock layer. According to legend, the villager was unsuccessful with this attempt… but they also likely did not have sophisticated redstone knowledge to accomplish it.

It isn’t often that I attempt to mess with the laws of physics, because we can never truly predict the consequences of doing so. But like I said before – this is a last-ditch resort to escape the Nether.

How it works: TNT will be placed on the redstone block. When it detonates, the piston should be destroyed, except that I will be placing a new piston on the block it’s occupying at the exact moment it blows up. This will cause the world to believe the piston is still there, and it supposedly should retract, whilst the block beneath it will be removed. All in theory, so far.

Let’s give it a try.

It failed, but that’s okay… let’s test it out on a fully exposed piece of bedrock first.

Here is a good piece we will try to remove. And 3-2-1…

Also didn’t work. Hmm… maybe I’ll swap the obsidian and redstone sides.

It worked!! The bedrock disappeared and the piston did not get destroyed. I now know that it’s possible – wow.

The next step is finding bedrock at the very bottom layer, with enough space on both sides for all the blocks we have to place.

^ Here’s a good spot, but it will be a tight fit.

Here we go…

Ha, good thing I have eternal fire resistance… ironically here I would’ve been pissed if I didn’t.

After a few attempts, sometimes the piston does blow up if I don’t place the new one at exactly the right moment, so I just have to keep trying. But it worked before – it should work now.

Only one looming problem though… I’m almost out of TNT. And since sand cannot be found anywhere in the Nether, that means I need this to work before I run out completely, or I’m at a dead end.

IT KEEPS BLOWING UP!! COME ON!

Sh*t, last piece of TNT…

YES! The piston retracted and did not blow up!! Now the moment of truth to see what’s underneath…

It didn’t work.

Come on! Why is the portal not lighting?? This goes against all the laws of nature!

I don’t know how I neglected to see this coming. Of course, my worst nightmare would come to pass, and now I get to live through another one. In the Nether of all places. It’s almost like things have gone full circle in an ironic fashion. I started this season escaping into the Nether, and now as things come to an end, I need to escape from this place. Only this time, the rules I have come to learn will not work.

Enderquin, now patrolling from Violet’s heavily mutated corpse, has locked me into this dimension while he takes over mine. This is, by every measure, an absolute nightmare. The Inner Circle is left helpless, with nobody to guide them or protect them. Starlight City has no idea what is coming. Even I don’t really have a clue what Enderquin’s plan is. Nobody does. I have failed them.

All of the portals are deactivated. I can’t light any of them.

I don’t really know what to do, so I’m just going to do what I do best: react.

I’ll set up a basecamp a bit south of the Utopia portal. If there is one thing I have always been good at, it’s adapting to circumstances that take me by surprise. I might be under a curse, but that means there is some cure or some way to remove it and get me out of here.

As far as I know, the curse is limited to me. But then, if that’s true, then how would Enderquin be able to turn off all the portals? Is this only happening from my perspective? This is to say – can other creatures still enter/exit Nether portals? Knowing this fact will help me determine whether I can feasibly escape.

To orchestrate this science experiment, I am going to first build a basecamp here at the lava beach.

We will call it Brimstone Beach, because it’s hell, and I’ll decorate it with granite and coal blocks.

Starting from the Utopia portal, I will construct a bridge across the lava lake to access the beach. Thankfully, I have my ender chest with me, which gives me access to a ton of resources. If I didn’t have it on me, I would be completely helpless even more so.

I also have the Blaze Blaster, which doesn’t work all that well anymore, but there is a ton of redstone storage here.

Ghasts will be the bane of my existence as they have always been, but they will be key to testing this experiment.

I’ll keep the magma blocks as they add to the theme of the beach. It’s hot.

Brimstone Beach is a basecamp for a project I am going to setup that will act as a science experiment positing the question: if I cannot light and enter portals myself, then can others? If it’s true that they can, then perhaps my escape from the Nether can be propelled with the manipulation of certain creatures, i.e., ghasts, to light the portals for me.

I am also collecting generous amounts of glowstone and quartz, because why not? I have nothing else to collect here, and quartz mining is a far better experience farm than the Blaze Blaster right now… oh wait, I forgot I still have access to the Gold Grinder. That’s a plus in case I run out of food.

Speaking of the Blaze Blaster, let’s see what we can do to fix it.

The main problem is that it simply doesn’t work as fast as it used to – somewhere in the update evolution, I guess the minecart-based system used to transport blaze failed to work as efficiently. I really don’t know what else to conclude.

First thing that we can do is to remove all that nonsense. This also means that the Blaze Blaster’s signature feature – the central killing tube – is no longer useful. That’s a shame because it looked cool.

There is an interesting mechanical behavior with blaze in which they will be drawn towards solid blocks, and away from transparent blocks like glass. This mechanic will be used as the basis for the Blaze Blaster’s new design.

A lot of deadweight exists to clean out, including a ton of wiring above the Blaze Blaster itself – the original crusher mechanism used to run automatically.

From what I am seeing, this mechanic is not all too efficient, but that may be due to the fact that the Blaze Blaster is well enclosed by solid blocks. Let’s see about clearing the area around it and replacing the walls with glass.

Aha, so it seems that they do tend to gravitate towards the closest solid blocks – in this case, that will be the railway that runs alongside it. I do wonder if that should be torn out completely and moved elsewhere.

I am clearing a lot of space around the new Blaze Blaster so that I can better observe their behavior. To be honest, at its current state, it seems to be hit or miss.

My goal is to attract them into the killing chamber using a magma block.

Underneath the blaster, I am building a new collection area, which will now automatically collect blaze rods – this is new.

There does seem to be more extensive work required in order to deal with the large array of solid blocks all around the farm, but I think it can be done.

For right now, though, time is of the essence, and I need to prepare the first test to see if it will get me out of here.

Okay, I am building two giant portal frames in the open area. The goal will be to lure a ghast fireball here so that they can light it.

Waiting and waiting…

There we go – let’s see if it works!

And… it didn’t work.

It didn’t work again.

Third time’s a charm, right?

Wrong. The portal does not light. That means Enderquin’s curse does not just affect me. It affects everyone, meaning that I will not be able to escape this place through a traditional portal.

This is detrimental news, and leads me to believe there is only one way out…

Through death.

Except… I cannot die. Enderquin must have granted me eternal fire resistance, such that not only am I trapped inside a hellish dimension where I do feel pain, but that pain will never put me to rest, because I cannot use death to respawn out of here.

Please let me die! I am bathing in a lava ocean while a ghast continues hurling fireballs at me. The pain is excruciating. This is a nightmare.

PLEASE, Enderquin, let me die. Or wake up. Is this real? I don’t even know.

All I know is that I have lost.

This session is told through the perspective of Violet following the events of Sessions 249-250, and references a number of other important events that occurred throughout Season 3.

You always said that you would protect me. Ever since that day you found me in the jungle. And I was naïve to believe it. I told you that death and destruction would come, but you chose to dismiss my visions as paranoia. Now look at where we are.

I still remember when I woke up. After you led me to death. It was cold, and eerie. A world yet undiscovered.

You left me there. You left us all there.

I began to explore this barren place. Death had eluded me many times before; it’s as if someone of a higher power did not want me to die. As though my work here was not done.

My journey stagnated on the yellow brick island upon which you first slew the dragon – you destroyed the Enderquin you always proclaimed you would.

Well, if it isn’t fate that brought us back together, then perhaps it is something more powerful.

Something more meaningful.

The mind is a fragile prison. Trying to break out is akin to chewing away in a bedrock cellar, locked in the deep dark with no promise of ever seeing the outside world again. Wherein your only hope resides in absolution by way of the benevolent gods.

That’s when I realized – it wasn’t an eternity of sorrow that had been bestowed upon me. Death was the end of a chapter, not the book.

Voices began to creep into my conscience the same way they did when I was alive, with the prime exception being that my conscience had been vacated of my own volition. This is the way of the afterlife.

There is a particular curiosity in the colors of this realm. Violet seems to be Enderquin’s hue of choice. I never believed much in coincidence; however, death has given me many new concepts upon which to consider.

The voices guided me with newfound tools and abilities. Death meant that my human form had been transcended. Perhaps this is the ascension that legend would speak of – the ascension you, yourself, tried so hard to acquire.

Metamorphosis is always a messy process. The voices and I eventually became one, but not without setbacks. Although time is the ultimate enemy of us all, equally is it also the supreme healer of all wounds – at least, the ones that do not kill us.

However, time had also become a factor in brokering our reunion. I needed to regain strength.

You had inspired me in many ways to look after myself. You taught me the importance of survival, especially in an environment that constantly seeks to destroy you. You should be proud of what I created.

My machine, quite effortlessly, provided me the sustenance I needed to rebuild my strength. The endermen and I are one mind after all – you figured that one out, remember?

I will admit – you had me on the edge of my seat when you killed my theatrical form. I always figured it would be amusing to illustrate a dragon reigning upon its own island – a metaphor, of course, in which the island represents Quintropolis.

But there was a slight flaw in your plan to attack me in my home turf.

You forgot that everything you possessed was provided to you, by me. Including your arrogance.

You are not a god, and therefore you are not capable of destroying one. It is like a small insect trying so desperately to attack the sun because it is too hot. Again, a metaphor, in which I am the sun, and you are the insect.

I alone built this world, ages ago, long before you and your friends came to be. I fought for this world, protected this world, molded this world – all the while my fellow gods despised me, simply because they were not given precious dimensions of their own.

In this way, you are very much like the other gods. Jealousy ran through them like blood. It infuriated them knowing that one of their own had been blessed. They could not simply accept that Sentien had chosen me as his heir.

Instead of showing support, they chose to fight me. But they made one critical mistake in this decision. They came to my home, my dimension – just like you. And just like them, you underestimate the power I hold. Power that was granted to me by Sentien.

I promised you that a day of reckoning was coming to Quintropolis. Now, I make good on that promise. Violet did her best to warn you – but like my brethren, you could not simply allow nature to run its course. This is the way things are meant to be.

I gave you a chance to turn things around, and all you have done is lead your villages by fear. What kind of leader is that? Now I have no choice but to reshape this world into something new. Something meaningful.

By my hand, you are now cast into the realm of fire, where you shall remain until my work is done. I enjoyed our little game of cat and mouse, and I’ll let you ponder who is who in this metaphor. It’s all you will be able to do, since by my hand you will not be permitted to leave the realm of fire.

Quintropolis might be the world in which you live, but it does not belong to you. It belongs to me, as it always has.

“Joey! Quick! There has been a discovery!” Böshtok claims with such vibrant energy.

“Hold your horses, I’m coming. What’s up?”

“A stronghold,” he states, much to my surprise. “There is a stronghold under the island.”

Oh boy – this is not good news. A second stronghold? Underneath the island this whole time??

Indeed, as I followed this lead, it’s true that a stronghold – or rather, the only small piece of it with an end portal – had been lurking underneath the island. And I never knew it.

“What does this mean?” asks Staz, who is more curious than anxious.

“I don’t know…” Böshtok implies, but in reality he does know.

“Could it be? That the legend of the sky dimension is true?” asks Staz, who is now borderline excited.

“Okay, that’s enough,” I intervene. This curiosity must be put to rest. I don’t like that a second stronghold with an active portal to Enderquin is resting underneath my home. And I really don’t like that these villagers found it.

“Joey, there is other news you should know about…” Böshtok continues, but he doesn’t sound happy. “A message arrived here last night, from beyond.”

“Oh? What exactly does that mean?”

“A wandering trader arrived with a message – he said it was for you.”

“Well don’t leave me hanging. What did he say?”

“He said, and I quote, that ‘the walls of your guilt will find closure in the aftermath,’ whatever that means.”

“Huh… interesting…”

I left the village for now, contemplating this message. What does it mean? And who sent it? One thing seems to be for certain: I might find the answer at Aftermath.

My return to the old base is a nostalgia trip in many ways, because it has been a while since I was last here. That’s when I remembered that the guardian farm, in fact, was never fully completed.

While I awaited an answer to that message, I figured I could get to work on finishing this project, once and for all.

The guardian farm has two modes – one that sends the guardians to the Nether to die, and another that keeps them in the Overworld… to die. The problem is that somewhere in the updates, guardians no longer fall through lava all that fast, and so the farm doesn’t even work anymore.

It also never had a proper XP mode installed, which was always intended (this is what the second mode was supposed to entail).

Both problems needed to be solved today.

Campfires would be used to kill the guardians automatically on the Nether side. All that needs to be done here is installing a huge item sorter and storage system.

It is not cheap, but it is necessary. This farm works extremely fast, even though the design is quite old now (recall that the farm was first built in 2016 – right at the start of Season 3).

In fact, I’m putting sorters on both sides. This way, it will take a long time before the chests reach capacity.

Very good – now, I need an area for storing the finished prismarine block types, including sea lanterns.

^ This small space in the back, overlooking the large lava lake, will be perfect for that.

Wondrous! Now, I’ll let the farm work for a while. I have been consistently running out of sea lanterns, which have become a principal lighting source throughout my builds as of late. The timing therefore could not be better to get this farm back up and running.

Next, we need to deal with the fact that the whole Overworld section of the farm no longer works. Since the guardians die in lava before reaching the bottom, that means there is no longer a use for this storage area at all.

After thinking quite considerably about this, I realized two things:

• We already have the automated farm working quite well. Guardians getting sent to the Nether die immediately, and the items are sorted efficiently. I don’t need another version of that in the Overworld. Instead…
• I want the ability to use this farm as an efficient XP farm as well. The gold farm works great, and I love it, but it isn’t always the most accessible farm unless we are at Starlight. Even then, it requires heading to the treehouse and furthermore up into the Nether sky to access. As no other XP farm currently compares to it, I need to start building new quality XP sources.

The second mode, therefore, will be the XP mode of the farm. And this will take some considerable preparation.

First, to maximize efficiency, I need the collection point to be quite a way out from the farm itself.

This is because I will also be utilizing Nether portals for this mode, such that in the XP mode, guardians will be sent into the Nether, and subsequently back out, at the new collection point here in the sky.

To make this happen, I need to build about 190 blocks high, well above the Nether roof, where I will create a containment chamber for the guardians.

I am building an automatic timer which will start the moment guardians enter the holding container. It will hold guardians there for a few minutes in the scaffolding, before releasing them back through the same portal by way of fence gates. Except that this same portal will actually take them to the new collection area in the sky, which you can see above.

From here, the guardians will fall down a large tower, such that they will become one-hit kills in the collection area.

Why are we sending them to the Nether in this way? It’s to maximize spawning. The goal is to get guardians out of the Overworld as fast as possible so that new ones can continue to spawn. This means that the collection area would potentially build up more guardians than are technically allowed to spawn by rules of the Overworld spawning.

Next challenge… getting them out of the Overworld.

To get the guardians into the holding container I built in the Nether, without interfering with the already-existing Nether portal directly underneath (for the automated version of the farm), I need to send them way up into the sky.

To do this, they will funnel past the portal on the ground floor (which will be turned ‘off’ in the farm’s XP mode). Here, I am building a glass tube that will rise far beyond the current height of the farm.

Using kelp, I can create water source blocks all the way up the tower. This will then allow a bubble column to be created, which will shoot guardians to the top very quickly.

^ Here, you can see the portal they will be sent into (on the right). This portal sends them to the holding chamber in the Nether. After a few minutes, those guardians will be sent back through the same portal, but instead of exiting here, they will exit at the collection area just southeast of here (pictured on the left), where they will be killed.

Now we test the system.

So far so good, but there are bottlenecks.

^ Here, you can see that the farm is in XP mode. The ground floor portal is turned off, allowing the guardians to enter the glass tower into the XP area.

I fixed the bottlenecks for the most part – guardians love resisting the flow of water, so I have learned.

This is working… very well.

One primary issue, though – the collection area is a bit too far from the spawning spaces. Because this farm utilizes a somewhat older design, it relies on the guardians actually swimming into the system itself – there are no bubble columns used in this design. This means I cannot be so far away that they won’t move.

^ The sweet spot, I have found, is actually way below the original collection area. The next platform is built on the bottom. I now need to move the entire killing chamber to this spot.

Doing so also means that I need to redirect the guardians without them taking damage. I’m not moving the portal at all.

This is much better – the rates of the farm have already improved drastically.

I have noticed very slight bottlenecks here, but nothing of great concern. Guardians tend to push each other through to the killing area, anyway.

The terrain is ugly, and these new linear glass towers are also ugly, but that’s not an issue I have the resources to fix today. Functionality first – then I’ll deal with how it looks.

I have a nice little enchanting area up here now, just floating in the middle of the sky. Currently, the only way to get here is by way of elytra. This is not something I intend to change in the immediate future, mostly because doing so correctly would involve building a giant skyscraper right here – to cover all this up.

Well, that’s all done, and the guardian farm now gives the Gold Grinder some worthy competition! The renewed production of prismarine materials means that my sea lantern supply can start to grow at a steady rate. This is great news indeed and makes me glad to have come here today. But that begs the question… is somebody waiting for me here?

Hmm, there is nothing here out of the ordinary, so I’ll just head back to the Inner Circle and claim that the message was bogus.

Wait…

“Joey_San, welcome to the aftermath.”

Huh? What is this strange-looking villager?

“Who are you?” I ask curiously. “Why do you block my exit?”

“This is no exit, Joey_San. It is an entrance. Always has been,” speaks the strange illusioner.

“Okay, so are you responsible for the message you had sent through the wandering trader?”

“Remember what I always told you?”

“That it is your choices which would lead to your ultimate demise?”

“You refuse to listen, even after I have given you every opportunity to surrender.”

What is this sorcery?? I have not seen powers like this before! “You’re still in my head! Get out of my head! This isn’t real!!”

“Oh, my dear Joey_San, you have no idea what’s real. I want you to remember that I said that.

Best regards,

Violet.”