So, here's a chain of screenshots I took. Personally, I had fun here, though I feel I should mention that neither of these places was protected like the first place I found. (I will not disclose location, though I will tell Ven where they are if she wants to protect them) Anyway, on to the journal of the mad scientist Glitchfinder
Day Two-Hundred Eighty-Eight:
I was wandering the landscape today, when I came upon the oddest of things. Off in the middle of a bay, I saw something. Something unbelievable. A sunken tower, just barely breaking the surface of the ocean. I decided immediately that this required investigation, and headed toward it. Below is a photograph of the tower, as it appeared from the nearby cliffs:
As I reached the tower, I realized that, against all odds, it was still structurally sound. To further my incredulity, it was also
not flooded. I was shocked. But at the same time, I realized something. "I
must explore this tower." I thought to myself. And so, despite the immeasurable dangers it must surely contain, I descended into the tower. When I reached the base, I was astonished. Before me, I saw a grand library, full of knowledge lost to the ages. Knowledge that could see the light of day once more. What was even more stunning, however, is that I required no light source. The lights were still there, and
they still worked.
Soon, I found my way out of the library, and to a crossroads. The choices were there, and the decision was to be made. But oh! What choices! I was at a loss to decide! So, finally, I let fate guide my way. I grabbed a torch, spun it, and went the way it pointed. Which was straight into a wall. So I tried again, and it led somewhere.
On may way to wherever fate was leading me, I found the cutest thing. It was an animated cube of some gelatinous substance. And it was following me! I assumed it would try to kill me, but it seemed content to simply bounce into me, then off a wall, then back into me again. I named it Cogsworth, and decided he would be mine forevermore. But then, to my horror, Cogsworth bounced into my fist and burst into a shower of golden gears. I will forever wonder how that miracle of alchemic transmutation occurred, and I will forever mourn my dear Cogsworth.
Soon after, I came to one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen. Tucked away in a hidden corner of this long-forgotten citadel were mountains of pure gold! It was enough to make my jaw drop, my palms moisten, and my heart to beat in sheer anticipation of the wealth it would soon bring. Assuming I could muster the strength to lift these massive blocks out of their resting places and carry them up the long stair to the top of the tower. I must wonder how the residents of this ancient fortress were able to acquire such tremendous amounts of the stuff, or how they managed to move it into place.
I was wandering further into the fortress, and soon came upon a shocking discovery. I had found shrines to long-forgotten gods of old. Oddly enough, the people of the citadel felt the need to explain each gods' actions, as though there were so many they couldn't always remember which did what. Among them was a shrine to some poor god who had no name, nor anything else to indicate their actions or character. I will always wish I knew who this god was, for the question will burn in my heart for all eternity.
After exploring further, I realized that I had spent an inordinately long time within the fortress, and must make my way out of the lost stronghold before I was thought to have been lost to the monstrous pigmen of the palisades. After weaving my way back through the fortress, taking more wrong turns than right ones, I finally found the tower, and ascended back to the surface, just in time to see the marvelous dawn of a new day.
After making my way back to land, I decided to investigate the mysterious lights I had seen on a cliff nearby. Soon, I came to a small staircase built under a massive tree, which led to a door carefully concealed behind some climbing vines. Upon trying the door, I was stunned to find it simply unlocked. So emboldened, I stepped inside, and was greeted with an otherworldly hall, the likes of which I had never seen before.
Obviously, this hall had taken some damage since its creation. I came to this conclusion thanks to the fact that part of its wall was dirt, with the root of some tree climbing through it. Having realized that the place may not be structurally sound, I decided to continue anyway, since I had not known anything in this world to collapse, save sand and gravel. I don't know why I even bothered thinking about the structural soundness of buildings anymore. They would always stand, even if it made no sense. I don't even know where the concept came from, now that I think about it. Although I suppose it
could have come from that mad alchemist, Ripsand was his name, I think.
Upon reaching the end of the hall, I found a steep drop, with heavily damaged ladders leading down into the depths of the earth. Having just come up from said depths, I figured I might as well give it another whirl, and threw my life into the hands of centuries-old wood and rope.
Astoundingly, I survived my trip to the bottom of the descent, and was greeted with the sight of yet another door behind yet more climbing vines. I certainly hoped this wasn't going to become a consistent theme, as that would get tiresome rather quickly. That said, I decided to try the door, seeing as the previous one had been unlocked.
I was almost not surprised by the fact that the door was, yet again, unlocked. Upon entering the mysterious chamber beyond, I was greeted with a truly marvelous sight. Beneath an artificial sky lay a stunning recreation of the surface, dotted with a few houses of what appeared to be nothing short of truly enormous mushrooms!
Emboldened by the previous unlocked doors, but still fearing the worst, I tried the door to one of the cottages. Shockingly, it too was unlocked. I paused for a moment to consider the fact that whoever built this wondrous place had never heard of such a thing as a crime. I dismissed the thought immediately, seeing as that sort of thing would be nigh impossible. However, I realized that the owner of the cottage had quite a nice view, and decided to compliment them on it should they ever come home while I was over to visit.
After poking around their house and peeking inside their cabinets and drawers (they are such
boring people! Not a single piece of lingerie in the house!), I decided I should visit the other cottage. Obviously, its owner was a much wealthier person, seeing as he had such a nice path and such a stunningly large mushroom to live in.
Upon trying the door, I was once again shocked to learn that it was actually unlocked. I was starting to wonder if I was the only person in the world who knew how to lock a door. I dismissed the thought immediately, after remembering that I had taught several of my allies the technique. That said, I was captivated by the beauty of the house, and stood in the doorway a moment before snapping yet another photograph. I must wonder where I got this camera, but I do admit it works wonders.
After making my way up to the second floor, I took it upon myself to look out the window. The view was simply breathtaking. I decided that very instant that I would insult the owner of the other cottage for his view, should I ever meet him, for this one was far more to behold than the other could ever have been.
After exploring this house to its limits, and deciding the owners had rather strange taste in music, I left and wandered a bit more within this subterranean Eden. It was simply stunning, and I
must keep more of pictures of this place. I will treasure its memories forever.