Bleakbane... Farms...? 14 [Stardew Valley] · 10:55am Aug 9th, 2019

Part 14: Illy's Quarry

Let's head back to Erinyes Farm and check in with Illy!

Thursday, Spring Day 25, Year Two

Off to a nice start - Robin has sent Illy some wood.

The cauliflowers have all come in. Illy harvests and sells most of them. She won't re-seed, since nothing will have time to grow.

Looking at the community centre bundles, Illy could really use getting the vault done (which requires 10k + 25k gold) so she can repair the bus.

First, though, today she'll see if she can get that machine off Marnie.

Wow, shock of shocks, who is actually in! She also tells Illy Jas really doesn't like wild horseradish, for what it’s worth.

Illy wonders why people are more keen to tell her what people hate that what they like. Illy isn't a mean prankster or anything, she doesn't like giving people things they hate.

Illy goes back and drops the autograbber off. She is intending to try and find that secret note #16 with the railway today; but first, a trip down to the mushroom cave (and thence to the mines from the minecart). There is a lot of forage today!

HUZZAH! Illy finds a treasure chest buried in the location.

(FINALLY got one of these without having to look it up!)

Well, as that went well... Maybe Illy will venture in the bus tunnel in search of the "secret" mention by this mysterious "Qi" fellow in note #22. Since he knows Illy by name...

Nope, nothing but road in that tunnel... Where else might there be a tunnel...?

East of the farm,. over the bridge near the crab-pots?

No, that's not a cave, but Illy is able to at least get to it now with her gold pickaxe.

(She really must get around to upgrading the rest of her tools...)

Uh... That's ominous!

Illy didn't realise she was on that much of a time limit!

Illy chops a few more trees down in that areas and then heads to bed.

Profitable day, though!

Spring Day 26, Year Two

Yep, that autograbber is handy!

Now the chores are done, Illy looks at the secret note #18 she found yesterday.

Hmm... down by the cliffs maybe...?

Illy is thinking duggy hunting in the mines next.

Illy finds a lot of rocks, several secret notes but no duggies...

Maybe here?

No, those two slimes were literally the only monsters in the "infested" area...

She finds but ONE duggy on the next level... And then it is time come to home.

Still, five secret notes!

How did a page of Abby's diary get in the mine... Oh well, it tells Illy a lot!

#11

Ooooookay...?

#15

That's... Huh. Well, looks like Illy will be going to see that again in Winter...

#20

That's even less helpful...

#22

Secret woods and bring maple syrup. Okay.

Spring Day 27, Year Two

Emily's birthday today!

Last strawberries, potatoes and kale...

Okay, so for Emily's birthday, the note said she likes gemstones, so Illy will try a topaz.

Clint's first, to crack some geodes... Nothing special! Then the museum to donate a Chewing Stick Illy found yesterday. This gets her - OHHH! A skeleton! Abby is going to LOVE that!

Emily likes that topaz, ace!

Where next... Map time!

Okay, that is probably where the Secret Forest is, but Illy has no idea how to get there.

That must be where the bus goes (Illy has heard someone mention this Sandy in conversation, Caroline or someone...?)

Not sure what to do with either of these...

Illy hasn't hacked her way down there yet...?

Okay, maybe a trip up past the beach and loop around that bottom area.

Whelp, can't get to the lonely stone...

Illy ends up having to go home, having ran out of inventory space.

There, a nice skeleton!

So, Illy will explore that far bit of the farm, then. some hacking later...

Hmm....

Can she use the boat...?

YES! Yes, she can!

Where is she?

Ohhh...

It's a QUARRY, full of copper!

Not that Illy could have gotten it before upgrading her pickaxe, mind.

Illy is a little late to bed, but she's barely started on the quarry and what a haul! She's found loads of geodes, some iridium ore (she actually has enough to make an iridium bar now!) and two prismatic shards...!

Spring Day 28, Year Two

Now, Illy must be sharpish today, she needs to check the bush in the playground at exactly noon...

She will pick the tulips and jazz flowers today though, since they'd die tomorrow at the start of summer.

Illy may well not bother with the jazz plot again, since the tulips were enough.

Well, this must be the bush... Just a case of waiting now...

Okay, got it!

Right, community centre on the way to Clint's...

Illy will do the 10k bundle, but she'll save the 25k until after she's bought all the summer plants! The 10k gives her another lightning rod.

Oh, that's where Emily and Haley's parents are. Illy wondered, but dared not ask...

Oh, one of THOSE world tours, right...

Plushy by the fire.

Illy doesn't have a lot of time left, so she heads back to that quarry and mines.

She comes away with tons of copper ore, a fair few iridium and a staggering over twenty different geodes!

Illy watches telly long enough to learn how to make luck lunch.

She heads back to bed, all ready for the start of summer tomorrow!

Summer Day 1, Year Two

Okay, Illy's first thought it, now she is starting to get some iridium is how she can use an iridium sprinklers. (She might have thought about it yesterday, but to be fair, she didn't have any iridium bars at all anyway).

A quality sprinkler is basically a nine-square block; after doing some research, an iridium is a 25-square (which is less than Illy was thinking, but easier to manage than a 24-tile radius). A little planning indicate that Illy could use two vertical strips either side of the scarecrow of three blocks, which would give her 144 tiles instead of 128.

The block now is getting both iridium bars (Illy might get three out of the ores she has), but she only has probably two of the requisite battery packs.

Hmm... Illy thinks she might need to heavily invest in rain totems and try and get some more storms, since battery packs only come from lightning rods in storms.

...

Nope, Rain Totems require truffle oil, which requires truffles, which requires pigs. And they will only extend storms if used on a stormy day.

Well then, Illy will not be rushing to move over to iridium sprinklers yet, then. Darn!

To Pierre's for seeds, then.

'Ello, what's going on here?

Hi, Demetrius!

Taxes...? Uhhhh...

Seriously, what taxes, Demetrius? Illy doesn't want to get into trouble!

Then... How is Demetrius getting his data...?

Illy has done a lot of stuff since... Wow, was it the middle of last summer?

Yes. (But Illy might move that silo that the tree is poking out of because it bugs her at some point, though.)

Uhhh, wait, does Illy know this one? Is it something something star only visible in the sky from the valley or something?

HAH! Illy is great at this!

Well, that explains all the iridium, Illy supposes.

History is fascinating.

Illy just assumed that she was just ace at farming, honestly.

So, what Demetrius is saying is that Illy is basically farming SPACE PLANTS! WOOHOO! space plants are only second to starships, Illy thinks.

Bye Demetrius!

Illy checks the calendar - Jas's birthday on the 4th, Marnie's on the 10th... No-one especially important after save maybe Demetrius on the 19th...

Sam wants a red mushroom, well that shouldn't be hard to do...

It takes Illy far into the night to get her seeds planted (so late she has to quit at 2 am).

(I was ready to save if she collapsed - you get charged - but it immediately saved before I could quit out. It takes too damn LONG to get stuff planted, there just isn't enough TIME to plant everything, which is REALLY annoying.)

Summer Day 2, Year Two

*sigh*

Back to what Illy was doing before she was so rudely interrupted.

(On TOP of that, the little [expletive] wiped out immediately two squares of land I'd cleared and fracking fertilised!)

Eight sunflowers and sixteen wheat (this was the bit that caused problems)...

Sixteen red cabbage, ten wheat six hop, eight tomato, blueberry, radish and pepper, thirty-two melon and corn.

The flower bed by the hives has three poppies, three spangles and two sunflowers - Illy will see what makes the best honey.

As Illy had taken some pickles and jam for gifts, she actually runs out of inventory space before she opens all the geodes. Well, Clint might as well have some pickled potatoes, then...

NATURALLY, the last two items were things Illy has already found...

But anyway, to Gunther at the museum!

Darn, neither Vincent nor Jas like jam. Whoops... Haley does though!

All those geodes, and the only thing that is new is a dwarven gadget that looks like a computer or typewriter or something...

Sam gets his red mushroom, but he does not like pickled corn. Illy is not doing well today...

By the time Illy has headed back and unloaded, and generally messed around (finding that tree growth is a bit weird, some of the ones she planted for tapping have grown, other haven't, and collecting her first oranges and peaches), there's only just time for a quick trip to the new quarry before Illy is too tired and it is too late. Still, she has tons of copper ore now, and a fair bit of iron, plus another load of geodes.

Illy is thinking at the moment, she's going to leave the greenhouse, maybe look at it come autumn or even winter, since it is another thing she will have to check every day otherwise! She half-considered buying some of the spring seeds for the repeating crops, but didn't (still, maybe she can make some...?) as those will make good crops for sowing in the greenhouse, presumably allowing them to produce all round.

Summer Day 3, Year Two

Chores, and then Illy grabs some jam and heads out. She has started some orange and peach jam, and when she has finished that, she is going to have a clear-out of her jams all at once and see which ones are actually worth making to sell, and which ones are best used making for giving out.

She heads over to Robin's to try and move that silo, but it looks like she'll have to clear more grass first.

She gives Robin and Demetrius some jam and then wanders - more by accident than design - downstairs.

Uh, okay.

It's fine. (Illy supposed she will have to get to know Sebastian somewhat at some point...)

Illy isn't herself that much into black unless it is space (Abby's choices notwithstanding), so she's more interested in what he's doing.

Ah, that does seem rather in keeping with the family, doesn't it?

But it's a lovely day, the sun is shining, the birds are singing... In fact Illy feels like singing - ♫The hil-

-oh, hi, Robin!

"Sebby!" Illy tries to smother her smirk with a cough. Nobody is fooled.

Wait, why does Abby want to see "Sebby?" Maybe she wants something programmed...?

Abby must really need some programming done.

(I hear you, dude...)

Illy sometimes bothers Maru at the clinic!

(Shoulder!Alluria would like to bother Maru in a lot of places.)

Hmm... Maybe Abby is just his friend, so maybe Illy ought to try and help; paladin relationship counselling is more than just romantic stuff, after all.

...

Is Sebby entirely sure he's a programmer? "Straightforward and unselfish" is probably the last words Illy would use to describe a computer.

She gets that Sebastian needs space, not everyone is as outgoing as Illy or Alluria, but even so, Sebby ought not to get too stuck inside.

(Bleakbane does not strictly agree... )

Illy will leave him to it.

Well, have a gift of Illy's jam to make everything a bit better and Sebastian hates it, oh well, never mind!

(What does everyone have against jam, Illy ponders?)

To the community centre. Illy has enough cash left to finish the 25k vault bundle and complete the vault!

Oh, the 25k bundle gives Illy a crystalarium! NICE!!!

Hooray! Only the fish tank (oh Illy is so behind there...) and the notice board to go!

Hah, Evelyn appreciates Illy's jam!

Oh, right, bus is not working yet!

Oh, a train is passing though again. One day, Illy might work out what that means... Wait, she wonders if she goes to the railway now whether she'll see anything...

YES!

That was a long train!

Illy has no idea if they ever stop or anything, but she's seen it, right?

Back home, Illy puts her crystalarium down and wonders what she can duplicate... Well, diamonds are really good, right? That seems like a good start!

Ace! Illy can make bazillions of diamonds!

Illy goes back to the farm quarry - it refills much faster than the other one!

She clears a load of the trees out of the way so she can see what's there better now. A bit more mining, and then home for bed!

(apparently, no-one ever though to call a mechanic...?)

Summer Day 4, Year Two

Aw, Rassy is so generous. Illy must go by his house with some more essences soon.

Right, chores are done! Illy decides to try one of her precious ancient fruit as wine. She will maybe try seeing is she can turn one into ancient seeds as well, at some point, and maybe plant one indoors.

But, the quickest way to Robin's is via the minecart so...

Wait, Pam has been drinking her life away unemployed as the bus driver because no-one thought to get a mechanic in until Illy paid a small fortune to get magic woodland fey blobs to come and fix it?!

Oh well, Illy guesses, never mind... To Robin's...

There, that looks better!

Right, darn, it's Jas' birthday, so before Illy goes to the bus, she'd better find her and grab a present, since Illy forgot to bring one from the farm...

Wait, Jas is at home, so maybe Illy can hot-foot it back and catch her there.

Penny's note suggests the best would be a fairy rose or plum pudding, neither of which Illy has to hand... Okay, maybe a gold crocus, then?

It may have taken Illy running all the way to the beach, but Jas gets her flower!

It's four o'clock before Illy gets back to the bus, but Pam is still there!

Illy grumbles about the lack of free transportation, especially since SHE was the one that got is started up. She at least ought to get a half-fare bus pass or something. (And she's well over sixty-five too!)

That was a long ride... for saying it took no time at all...!

Right, let Illy see what is here!

Oh, new forage! Cactus fruit!

Uhhh... Well, maybe just a quick peak in, Illy's not exactly ready for a hard dungeon crawl!

So, that's one mystery solved!

That did not go like Illy expected at all! She didn't even get past the bottom of the ladder!

(Oh, EXPLETIVE YOU, game! You give me a "there are tons of monsters," thing mist, take it away, and then kill me the second I try to fracking leave the dungeon! Just after I took that last screen shot, I took one step forward and something else appeared, and I couldn't even get back to the ladder to escape! (AND it didn't let me save.)

Oh, and you took Illy's sword from her backpack? Which is irreplaceable?

NO.

FRACK OFF, GAME.

FRACK. RIIIIIIIIGHT. OFF.

I was prepared to take that one on the chin, but now, no.

Choice between the save now (after making a back-up) and item-spawning the sword back and redoing the day. And THEN I realised "six items" magically included 11 geodes. By the time I'd sorted all the screenshots from that session (since I had to close to futz with the saves), frack it, re-do the day again.

FRACK THAT, though, that was ridiculously cheesy.)

So, go through the day exactly the same, except remember to take stuff for Jas earlier, give a few more gifts out and generally do it faster, but only by 50 minutes... (Oh, except Illy has brought food this time...)

(Oh, and I saved in the entrance way successfully this time.)