This Terrarian Life Part 2

Death is an ever present force in our lives. The specter of death is enough to keep us from doing stupid, life threatening things. It’s the reason we don’t walk out into traffic, drink from the funny shaped bottles under the sink, or sleep exposed to the elements every night. Caution leads to a long long life.

Hence, my first priority in this permadeath playthrough of Terraria was to build some shelter–standing out in the open is just asking to be killed. If things got bad, I had no safe haven to run to and since the monsters were relentless I knew there was no hope in out running them. Using what little stone I had on me, I built a small ledge over a small pool of water for my floor. But that wasn’t enough, I needed walls too. Fortunately there was a sand pit nearby that had some stone in it that I was more than happy to take.

My first emergency shelter was beginning to shape up. I fashioned two walls, a roof and a floor. Using some of the wood I had left over I made a solid and sturdy door. Certain this would be strong enough to keep out even the most determined slimes I set about making my workbench and furnace. Before long I was no longer living in a shelter but rather a base. It had everything I could need right there. A workbench for furniture, a furnace for smelting metals, an anvil for creating weapons and an apothecary to keep me healthy. Feeling like a true survivor protected from the elements and shaping the world to meet my needs, I could now begin to thrive!

Creating the anvil used up the last of my iron. I needed to make an Iron Pickaxe and an Iron Sword. My Copper tools worked just fine but they were far from effective. The many dings and dints on my pickaxe were evidence that it made a poor weapon and only barely sufficed as a mining tool. I needed iron. Since I already had a good start in the sand pit nearby I decided to make my mine shaft there.

The ground beneath my feet started to tremble and quiver. Ethereal sounds seeped from the earth, a deep crunching and grinding sound that shook me to the quick. I readied my pickaxe prepared to strike but not knowing where to swing. The sounds grew louder and seemed to be gaining speed. My feet started to slip into a fissure but it was already too late for action. A grotesque worm erupted from the earth launching itself high in the air, and came crashing back down like a meteorite. And as soon as it had appeared, it was gone in a shower of dirt, even though my flesh retained the memory of its presence. My legs were badly wounded.

I should have known better than to relax. My previous experience with the creatures of this world had taught me one thing, and that was that it would be back for more soon enough. As soon as I readied my pickaxe again, the earth heaved and I was met face to face with many rows of teeth spiraling into an inky blackness. Acting on instinct alone I swung my pick as I ran. My pick met immediate resistance but sliced cleanly through. A sound something like an underwater squeal met my ears and I swung again. This time no sound from the terrible worm. I looked behind me and found it motionless on the sand in a pool of royal purple blood. I found little of value on the worm, save for some coins presumably consumed from some other less fortunate explorer.

I may have won the battle but I wasn’t out of danger yet. My running had taken me near a small white rabbit. I knew this had to be no ordinary rabbit. Every living thing was hostile, and I wasn’t about to let this get the drop on me. Savagely I let loose a roar, a roar that no civilized man should have have to emit, and lept upon the beast. I struck blow after blow on the rabbit to no effect. And to my surprise it didnt retaliate either. In fact it seemed totally indifferent to my presence. My previous inclinations were right, this was no ordinary rabbit. I must kept this rabbit for observation and find a use for it. Maybe a suit made of living rabbits, able to repel all attacks. I dug a pit around the rabbit to make sure he couldn’t get away before I got back, and went back to my mine.

I drank a potion I had made from my apothecary earlier and dug straight down. It wasn’t until the shaft was far deeper than I was tall before I though about how to get out. I decided I would worry about that later. Right now I was on a mission for iron. I soon came to a small cave where I found a terracotta vase. A terracotta vase in the middle of a cave with no entry and no exit except the one I had carved. What was even more bewildering was that the vase was filled with torches. Was this a remnant of the poor explorer that the worm had eaten? I shuddered at the thought and vowed to not succumb to the same fate. Finding no Iron here I continued to dig down.

Light from the surface was fading and I found myself shrouded in abyssal blackness. My hands blistered and calloused, covered in mud. The only sounds around me were the persistent of drips water into the mud and trickles into unseen pools. The torches I placed along the way provided very little but much needed comfort. A fear unlike what I had ever known struck me. What if I dug myself into a pool of water in which I could dig my way out? Or what if I struck an underground river? Perverted, mad visions crept into my thoughts. I saw myself clawing the stone ceiling trying to scratch out the last bits of air, chipping and cracking my fingernails off in desperation, but only able to breathe in short gasps due to the constricting cold of the water pulling at me. It don’t want to die in the water. I don’t want to drown. I tried to shrug off the feeling as best I could and kept digging. But the thoughts never really left me.

It was about that time I heard splashing. Something beneath me was in a pool of water in a cavern just under me. I carefully removed a few feet or rock and dirt under my boots which fell into a cavern. I carefully threw down a torch and watched as the orb of light fell through the darkness. Lo and behold the torch landed near a shimmering vein of raw iron in the wall. But the torch didn’t last. It landed in a small trench of water. The drop wasn’t deep enough to injure me so I took the leap. As I was in the air I remembered the splashing sound I had heard earlier.

Did it come from this cavern? I answered my own question when I landed. I felt my ribs snap like twigs as I was tackled by a giant Yellow Slime. I writhed in pain trying to pull my self back to my feet to mount a defense, but I was not fast enough. The full weight of the Stygian horror was upon me, pinning me to the ground. I swung my pickaxe barbarically praying for freedom. The pick bounced off leaving barely a scratch each time I managed to land a hit. My legs started to burn with an electrifying pain. Looking at my trapped feet I saw some strange liquid seeping out of the slime causing my skin to caustically burn. I was being digested by the slime.

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