Bleakbane... Farms...? 23A [Stardew Valley]

Part 23A: Finale

Had to devide this into two parts (I hope two will be sufficient!) because of the number of images in the last gasp! (Yell if you see any broken image links, but it all appears clear on my end!)

Thursday, Winter Day 18, Year Two

Time is moving on... It won't be long now before Illy has to go to magical paladin school!

Olivia is the one Illy will be giving a secret present to this year... Wine? No, a diamond, everyone likes diamonds.

Illy finishes her chores and then goes to both quarries, searching for geodes. She doesn't find many and heads to Clint's to open them - nothing.

She steps back home and sets out for the mines. She finds about seven magma geodes, as it down the mines until past midnight (she had a farm totem with her).

Bat objective completed...

It's getting towards one before she heads to bed.

Winter Day 19, Year Two

Gus has left a letter to say he wants a coconut! that's shouldn't be too hard, since Illy keeps one or two on-hand!

Illy does her chores and heads through town,. Krobus has another iridium sprinkler for sale (every Friday), so Illy buys another one, and wishes she had found this out much earlier, it would have saved her a lot of iridium. Clint is not there, to Illy's annoyance, so she heads back home and out to the mountain lake to try and catch a lingcod, since to her knowledge, that is where they are found.

Illy is pretty sure she encountered no less than four, but even with her tackle AND fishing boosted to eleven, they dart up and down so fast (and the STUPID, STUPID bouncing of the bar on top and bottom), she doesn't even get CLOSE to catching one.

She goes back via the adventurer’s guild to get her reward for bat-slaying... A vampire ring, which heals her after she kills a monsters. The glow and magnet ring are far too useful at the moment, though.

Home, a little bit of clearing up some tree seeds, and then it is bed-time once again.

Winter Day 20, Year Two

Gus has sent Illy a recipe for cran. sauce, that's nice. (Cranberry sauce, she assumes.)

The starfruit and ancient fruit wine is done (Illy is a bit surprised, she thought it was a week); she doesn't load the keg yet, though, since there will be a new crop of ancient fruit tomorrow.

The geodes yield... Two iridium ore, which is enough to make one more bar. Illy is not going to get her tools upgraded before the year is out, is she?

As Illy's luck is said to be bad today by the fortune teller, she doesn't bother with the mines, but elects that she might as well try fishing again.

Illy manages to catch a couple of hard fish - but they, of course, surgeon. *sigh* She also spots a shimmer in the water, but apparently, panning spots are ALSO timed, as it disappears before she's finished fishing. Well, that would explain why she seen so very, very little spots to try and pan.

She goes down once more to the farm quarry. Well, her luck can't be THAT bad, since she finds enough iridium ore to make two more bars! She just needs, like six more bars to upgrade her tools, plus about another four to make upgrade all her sprinklers...

Yeah, that seems unlikely with less than a week to go (with one day being a festival!)

FINALLY!

Well, that's something, at least!

Winter Day 21, Year Two

Okay. Illy has a plan (a stupid plan, but a plan nonetheless). Today, she is going to take her money and just dump it into stone. She should be able to get enough to make 37 stairs (at the cost of cleaning her out), plus another 20 from the stone she already has. Then, starting from tomorrow (and excluding Wednesday and Thursday) if she gets a lucky day, she will drop everything and rush to the desert (well, she can't get there before 10, since Pam won't be there, but...) and try and get as far down as she possible can and get as much ore as she can. As there is one more Saturday before the end of the year, she will have another influx of cash (and, if she needs it, she stored away another 24 starfruit wine as well she could sell, though ideally, that's a reserve for the casks).

Illy learns how to cook bruschetta from the queen of sauce.

Twenty-four ancient fruit go into the kegs; the last five seeds go into the seed-maker.

Illy must remember to ship one ancient fruit and coffee bean next week (the former will have to be next Sunday, the last day of winter!) to complete her crop shipping collection...

She gets ten ancient seeds from her crops. She only plants eight, since the last three spots before she runs out of sprinkler space are for her coffee beans (she's planning on producing a fair bit of coffee, and you need five beans for every one per keg, so sixteen plants should ensure a steady supply).

The other two seeds will go away for future use. (Had she realised this about five minutes earlier, she'd have shipped that last fruit, but oh well...)

Next job, Robin's for stacks of stone!

After collating her stacks, Illy finds she can make 58 staircases (with 28 stone spare). That ought to get her down a goodly way!

She makes another dozen bombs, and another dozen life elixirs, plus a farm totem. She also cooks a couple of lucky lunches and thirty sashimi (she needs to be as lucky as possible, and have a nice big store of healing items!)

Bedtime!

Winter Day 22, Year Two

Given the time available, Illy is not going to hope she gets maximum luck tomorrow, so she decides sod it, go!

She does actually have time to do her basic chores, and reaches the bus stop with some time to spare.

Ready to roll!

At ten-past ten. Pam arrives! Off Illy goes!

By half-past, she's ready to go down!

Illy makes good progress, rarely stopping but to drop a bomb on areas which are fairly safe. She finally uncovers a hole.

That leads her to another hole that drops her three more levels (nice!)

Also nice!

(GRAAGH! Got down to level 64 and then the stupid game made me leave the mine instead of eating an item! I'd just found another treasure room with five damn farm totems, too. Good job I saved after the first treasure room...)

Level 100!

Illy drops down one more floor and grabs a couple more iridium ore, then teleports home. she doesn't bother to unload, just goes straight to bed (it's half-past one before she's under the covers as it is...

Hoo-fracking-rah!

Winter Day 23, Year Two

The fortune teller says Illy's luck would have been poor today, so good job she went yesterday after all!

Illy did it four times over, darn it...

Well, Illy got 72 iridium ore from that trip, so it did achieve its objective! She might JUST get all her tools upgraded before spring!

The rare seeds sprouted their sweet gem berries. Illy will hold onto one for the statue in the secret forest; the other will be sold (since she can't do anything with it).

It takes Illy two trips to Clint's to open all the geodes she has (she found twenty five omni geodes yesterday, which is a trip of its own all by itself).

Illy then facepalms - she forgot that she needs 25k to be able to upgrade her tools. So she takes ten diamonds (she still has over thirty) to sell to Clint, and that gives her enough cash to put her hoe in for upgrade.

It's Leah's birthday today, so Illy grabs a poppyseed muffin and heads out. Leah is at the bar by this point.

Oh, hey! something is happening! It's been a while...!

Good to see Sam is as good as Illy at this game...

Okay, maybe very slightly better than Illy...

Pssh, Illy can't make it past the first stage!

But apparently, she has to lie about it.

(Really? No, "I absolutely suck at this game" answer?)

Illy and Shoulder!Alluria exchange glances and raise their heads to give the heavens a hard stare.

Has Sam considered splitting the difference and composing music for games instead?

Bye, Sam!

Happy birthday Leah!

Illy goes home and takes a trip down to the mushroom cave to fill the rest of the day.

Winter Day 24, Year Two

Illy has one very important task to do today, for soon she will set out to magic paladin school!

But first, chores. The starfruit in the greenhouse as come in, so Illy spends some time making seeds out of them until she has enough to re-plant.

While she's waiting for that, she uses one of the iridium bars to make an iridium sprinkler and re-organises her main crop field.

Half done!

In the afternoon, Illy heads out to do the most important task!

Illy finds Abby in the museum.

Illy sidles up to Abby.

So, Abby, Illy is thinking she is needing to go to magical paladin school soon. Which means she'll have to leave the farm. After all, paladins can't be farming 365 days a year.

Abby blinks and points out there's only a 112 days in a year.

Abby, Illy and Shoulder!Alluria exchange glances and raise their heads to give the heavens a hard stare.

Uh, so... Maybe Illy can come back on the weeks when she's... Not actively at magical paladin school? (The heavens has happened to all the other days? Has she just been sleeping, like, really heavily?)

Um, anyway, Illy is getting side-tracked.

So, yes, leaving the farm. Illy has been thinking lately, especially as she's been a bit busy, trying to get all the iridium sorted out, that as she's been running away from Bad Things in the mine, that she ought to be making a little bit more of a commitment to the girls. A serious commitment. She doesn't want things to end just because she's going to be a magical paladin, Illy means, one day, might actually retire like, for reals, once she's properly made amends...

Illy is thinking that maybe the girls need a centralised meeting place where they can hang-out that's suitable for private time, so the farmhouse is a good spot, now it's all big and stuff.

Abby is the obvious choice to hand the keys over to, because Abby is, as Illy has noted before, freaking the BEST. But it wouldn't be very fair to have Abby walk over all the time to the farm and stuff. Abby ought to move in, really, for that.

Abby nods, wondering where Illy's babble is going.

Illy is thinking that, as a paladin, she ought to Set An Example and not to be living in sin - Abby snorts with laughter - especially since Illy's done that a lot - Abby laughs harder - so...

Illy gives her most innocent, hopeful beaming smile.

Will Abby marry Illy?

Abby splutters, eyes wide.

Abby, Illy and Shoulder!Alluria all squee excitedly and bounce up and down. Elliot and Gunther - the only other two in the library - jump out of their skins. It is quite likely everyone in the valley hears it. The girls certainly do, Illy telepathically is broadcasting so loud, and their mental squeals of delight join the physical ones.

Once the ringing in his ears has ceased, Elliot is the first to congratulate them (and good naturedly curses his luck).

Abby is the BEST! Sounds good to Illy!

They have a little sit down and work out how they should propose to the other girls in due course (as Illy insists, it IS Abby's harem, after all, Illy is just chief consort.)

Neither did Illy, for that matter!

Oh, so much so!

Illy wouldn't say that, Penny...!

Speaking of surprises, Pierre will be having one soon...

Awwww!

Nothing, Haley should express herself however she likes! (Well, maybe not with, like, going Evil and laying waste to the everything or something, but Haley knows what Illy means!)

Yes! Excited and nervous - magical paladin school is going to be a whole new experience for Illy!

Illy skips home. She takes Celestia out for a ride to the Secret Woods.

She gives the statue the sweetest thing it has been looking for...

And gets a stardrop in return!

Home a little late, but Illy doesn't care, she's too excited! And tomorrow is the festival of the winter star!

Winter Day 25, Year Two

Aw, Illy has watched quite a lot of this show!

While she's waiting for the festival to start, Illy looks at some crafting. She finally makes a flute block to go by the drum block.

Oh, snap, that would mean Illy could free up a ring slot... But DARN, she only has 25 solar essences!

She should buy some from Krobus...

There, some fancy crystal floor to impress Abby!

Feast of Winter Star time!

It sure is!

Well, Illy suggests Demetrius makes a really large list of all sorts of ideas as that gives everyone lots of ideas and it also means there is still some level of surprise at what Demetrius might get. That's what Illy thinks, anyway.

(Always worked for me. Bonus points if you keep the list dynamically updated between birthday and Christmas...)

Ah, George, cheerful as ever, Illy sees!

Actually, no Illy is resistant to cold!

Ooh, Illy hopes there is one for Haley too!

Hi, Emily!

Ooh, ooh, how about some nice mead!

Emily can have as much of a taste as she likes, if Emily knows what Illy and Shoulder!Alluria mean. (Which Emily does, and giggles a lot.)

Oh ho, steady, Caroline!

Illy would like to see that! For several reasons, including, aside from naughty ones, it would be really funny if Abby got her tongue stuck! Abby swats Illy upside the head.

Olivia, time for your present!

Wow, Illy is apparently really bad at presents. Should have gone with the wine, Illy...

Oooooh!

Don't have to tell Illy twice!

Aww, no, it's lovely! Illy will put that in her special stash!

Feast with Abby and company!

After a great day with the girlfriends, Illy heads home.

Winter Day 26, Year Two

After chores, Illy heads out, but Clint is not in his shop today, so Illy will have to get her hoe tomorrow - and she won't have chance to get her axe done. Oh well!

Illy grins.

It's that last moment. You know, before everything changes, that last little zone of calm, like the last few minutes before you have to get up, but extended out. Illy is making the most of her last time here!

Farmer-turning-paladin, please! Like all Good farmers!

It is. Illy is kind of nervous, actually... But a good nervous.

Illy go to Krobus. She has to buy her solar essence in three goes, because Krobus will only sell her ten at a time. Illy presumes this is some sort of regulation that exists but it kind of easy to get around, like buying paracetamol...

She also buys a sprinkler for good measure.

First batch of coffee is done!

Illy crafts her iridium band, which means now she can put on that vampire ring as well! She makes two more iridium sprinklers, which means the primary crop field is FINALLY updated!

Illy takes her last dish o' the sea and heads up for some evening fishing at the lake as her last chance to try and catch some lingcod!

She is in luck! the increase to her skill is just enough she can catch two before it is time go head back to bed via a farm totem!

Big day - the BIGGEST DAY - tomorrow!

To be continued in Part 23B!