Tsy Does an Archaeology

Entry 24 ()

What? A new post already? Well, what can I say – the exploration itch still needed more scratching. After doing some trading to restock my map supply and mend everything (including the newly‐enchanted, newly‐dubbed Shear Madness), I made my way southwest again to the Halo to check out more of it en route to the new stuff.

Pretty quickly, I stumbled onto an exposed skelly dungeon!

On top of a forested hill with a cliff visible nearby to the left. A narrow dip in the hill leads into a dungeon.
Not sure I’ll do anything with it since I’ve already got an unused one at Roam, but it’s good to know it’s there. (−6,272 W / +6,862 S), looking northeast.

I really oughta prioritize seeing more of the Halo. It’s got its own vibe that even the new terrain gen can’t match. The thicker‐yet‐not‐oppressive forests, the shallow dirt oceans…

Looking downhill toward a forest. A wide gap separates it from the camera, filled with gravel and several small ponds, rimmed with dirt two meters high at all visible points except a small area at the far left.
Where else can you get almost‐but‐not‐quite trapped in a gravel basin like this? (−6,271 W / +7,012 S), looking southeast.

The Halo is only a kilometer across, though, and it wasn’t long before I caught sight of its southern edge…

Looking over some trees and a shallow, lifeless ocean that abruptly ends at a wall of stone and dirt topped by an old growth birch forest.
Looks like a good place to hunt for trail ruins… (−6,348 W / +7,074 S), looking south.
Looking over a forest toward a shallow ocean dotted with small islands. The terrain sharply changes at a “corner” in the distance, with a wall of mountainous grassland on the right and a deeper, lush ocean on the left, where the water itself rises by a meter.
Southwest corner of the Halo, and beyond it, brand new lands. (−6,934 W / +6,929 S), looking southwest.
On the water looking at the bow of a beached shipwreck. On the left a wall of stone and dirt, some grass and trees visible atop it, bisects the ship and has erased whatever would have remained of the stern. At right a turtle is entering the water and a birch forest begins a bit farther away.
Only one chest to check in this one, I guess. (There was no armor trim.) (−6,669 W / +7,183 S), looking northeast.

Firmly into new terrain, the new terrain did not disappoint.

A large stony pit in the birch forest. Some trees continue down the far face, and five or so waterfalls pour down along the left side. A sort of ridge divides the pit, and at both left and right are dark cave openings.
The thought of rolling past (or over, or through) scenery like this is why I eventually want a rail network in the Overworld, too – practicality be damned. (Didn’t look like either of these caves went straight down to deepslate, but that doesn’t make it less cool.) (−6,555 W / +7,297 S), looking northeast.
Looking down into a deep ravine. Three waterfalls pour down from above, and there’s a sort of landing on the near side where another flows in next to a tree. Deepslate and tuff are plainly visible at the bottom, and the ravine extends into darkness at both ends, with moss and clay barely visible to the right.
This one did, though – and right in broad daylight, even! (−7,010 W / +7,297 S), looking south.

Got lucky at a ruined portal with an Enchanted Golden Apple, bringing that count to three!

Loot chest at the ruined nether portal. Besides the enchanted golden apple, there’s a regular golden apple, two obsidian, and four flint, plus a gold axe, sword, and pair of boots.
Don’t even mind that there’s zero chance of armor trim from these. (−6,332 W / +7,675 S), looking northeast.

The luck continued when I headed out on the ocean, finally sighting some ruins!

At sea in a warm ocean, looking down at some ruins against the backdrop of a kelp forest. There’s one large, well‐lit building with a drowned inside, but it’s surrounded by a number of smaller, unlit ones.
Approx. (−6,270 W / +8,320 S), looking southeast.

After clearing the drowned, I set about investigating the place. It wasn’t too deep, and there were a few magma blocks around, so I didn’t bother bringing out the potions. Definitely packing lights next time, though.

Brushing some suspicious sand on the seabed, exposing a pottery sherd.
Beginner’s luck? (−6,230 W / +8,376 S), looking east.
Brushing complete. Toasts notify “New Recipes Unlocked! Check your recipe book” (showing a decorated pot at a crafting table) and “Advancement Made! Respecting the Remnants” (showing a brush).
Yup! Pottery sherd (“shelter,” specifically) on the first try. (−6,228 W / +8,376 S), looking east.
Brushing some more suspicious sand, this time exposing a sniffer egg.
Just a little while later… (−6,222 W / +8,367 S), looking southeast.
Brushing complete. A toast notifies “Advancement Made! Smells Interesting”, (showing a sniffer egg).
Now I can hatch my very own six‐legged splooty cutie! (−6,222 W / +8,369 S), looking east.

I kept at it, eventually packing up four eggs and seven sherds (no “snort” yet to decorate the sniffers’ future home, but I got two “shelter” and five “angler”). Back in the boat, I did spot a source of armor trim…

Still in a warm part of the ocean, looking at an ocean monument. A distant guardian at the surface stares at the camera.
…but decided to leave it for another time. (−6,234 W / +8,783 S), looking west.

That’s fine though, because I found some anyway!

Map chest of a shipwreck. It contains two coast armor trim smithing templates along with four feathers, five paper, and a buried treasure map.
Babby’s first armor trim. (Same as everyone else’s first armor trim, it seems.) (−6,349 W / +8,921 S), looking east.

Finishing up the mapping I came upon this little wonder, too.

Varied terrain from a high vantage point. Below is a hilly plains, but at right as well as farther ahead there are large overhangs, arches, and floating islands, with much higher points ahead. Biomes include mangroves at right and savanna ahead on the more exotic terrain, forests and jungle in the distance, and warm ocean off to the right.
(−7,185 W / +8,533 S), looking southwest (from Y=+126).

With three maps full, I decided to take a break and go dive into some of those deepslate holes I’d found last time. It paid off!

Third‐person view standing inside a rather large geode lit by a couple torches.
I know these are kinda common – on this little caving run I found two or three of them – but I haven’t run into any deep under Roam yet, so this was my first experience with amethyst. (−8,122 W / +8,056 S), camera looking southeast.
A blob of at least six deepslate coal ore in the wall of a dripstone cave, right at the transition from stone to deepslate.
This stuff, on the other hand, is decidedly not common. (−8,187 W / +8,063 S), looking northeast.

Went back to the badlands, too, to investigate the surface mines there. Disappointingly little gold – actually, I don’t think I saw any kind of ore exposed in those tunnels – but I loaded up on free rails, terracotta, red sandnote 1, and other goodies, including this:

Chest cart in an abandoned mineshaft. It’s got an enchanted golden apple, 11 torches, a powered rail, two bread, four iron ingots, and three beetroot seeds.
Two parties in one night, whoo‐hoo! Enchanted Golden Apple count is up to four now. (−9,106 W / +7,013 S), looking south.

Shulker boxes almost full, I bid the badlands farewell and returned home to unpack. It was a good trip! The big prize of a trail ruins remains elusive, but it was a great adventure all the same.

I added Mending to my now‐trusty brush – renamed Brushie Brushie Brushie :3 – and made some room in the storage system for all the new things there were to unload. It’s going to have to be expanded again before long.

There’re still like three and a half columns of chests free to spread into, but I wonder if it’d be worth it to just bite the bullet sometime soon and add a third module. I’ve got the iron for it no problem, and of course it’ll be easier to reorganize while there’s less stuff to move than there will be later… but it’s not urgent, and there’s plenty else I want to do, too. It’s something to think about.

Next time: Probably a break lol I’ve played a lot this past week or so

Nah, but whenever “next time” is, I’ll probably do some mangrove/cherry farming, then give Roam some more attention and see where I can make use of those new hanging signs. I don’t see bamboo being as useful there, though it might have a place building a sniffer enclosure – don’t wanna totally rip off GeminiTay’s sanctuary, but definitely taking inspiration from it!